Chapter 1: The Fall of Ravengarde

LYRA

The world was ablaze and blood filled my mouth as Ravengarde. My home… was under attack. Smoke choked me and stung at my eyes while screams burst from my people. I slashed through the chaos with my sword, cutting down every Shadowfen soldier that came at me.

"Move!" I shouted, my throat hurting. I parried a strike from a warrior in worn leather and drove my sword into the gap in his armor. He collapsed, choking on blood. I did not stop or look back. My eyes stayed fixed on my father, still battling ahead.

"No," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Not him. Not now."

I burst into the broken courtyard, breathless. My father, Thorin, the King, was fighting alone against many enemies. He saw me, and his eyes widened… not in relief, but in terror.

"Lyra!" he shouted as he parried an axe stroke, sparks flying from the blow. "To the tunnels! Now!"

"I'm not leaving you!" I shouted, stepping forward with my sword gripped.

The pain on his face hit me like a punch. "You have to live… you're the last…"

The words trailed off as a huge warrior figure appeared out of the smoke. He moved fast and jabbed a spear into my father's side. Blood streamed over his tunic. He collapsed to his knees.

I screamed. The shout ripped out from me before I could stop it. "FATHER!"

I threw myself forward, like a wild beast but two of the soldiers grabbed my arms and held me back. I fought against them, but my father's dying eyes locked with mine again.

"The betrayal…" he whispered. Blood streamed from his lips. "It wasn't… just him…"

And then he was gone. The light went out of his eyes and I stopped struggling. Numbness crept into me, cold and heavy, and I didn't think I would ever feel anything again.

The nearby cheers around me turned into a loud chant as a shape appeared through the smoke, a dark shape against the fire. Kael. Shadowfen Pack Alpha. His black eyes located me where I knelt paralyzed over my father's body. He smiled slowly. Not a smile of triumph. A smile of recognition. Possession.

A burning spark shot through my chest. It was hot. It was terrifying.

My voice shook, and I cried as tears streaked down my face. "You… You monster. You'll pay for this. I swear it."

He stepped forward, his eyes on me. He held up his hand, and the soldiers holding me let me go and moved away. His voice was cold and steady.

"Treat her well," he ordered, his eyes still on me. "Do not harm her.".

Harm? He'd just killed my father, and rage tore out of me as I spat, the saliva hitting near his boots.

His smile grew. He bridged the distance between us in two steps, his presence heavy and suffocating. He stank of smoke and sweat, bitter and musky. It was offensive, but powerful.

Our faces were just inches apart.

The fight is over, little wolf," he whispered. His voice was low and intimate, resonating deep in my bones.

"Go to hell."

He leaned nearer, his breath brushing my cheek. The sexual tension between us was a pressure weighing me down. "Go to hell? Do you have a choice?" he whispered, his black eyes drilling into mine. "You're mine now.”

His lips were close to my ear. It wasn’t a threat of pain. It was a violation.

“Don’t resist,” he whispered, his words soft and commanding.

I jerked back. “I’ll never be yours! Never!”

He stayed where he was. His smirk grew, slow and sure.

"Oh, but you already are," he replied, his voice low and sure. His eyes held me in place. "I see it… how you look at me, how your breath catches when I'm close." 

My chest rose and fell rapidly. I attempted to deny him, but my body betrayed me, trembling under his gaze.

"You make me sick," I spat.

He didn't buy it. He leaned in close, close enough that his body heat scorched through my clothes.

"And yet." he whispered, his voice rough and low. "You're shaking. You feel it, don't you? This attraction between us."

My grip on my sword hilt tightened. "I'm not afraid of you," I said to him.

His eyes glittered as he reached out. His fingers brushed against my jaw, gentle and purposeful. The touch startled me, sharp and unwanted. I shuddered.

"Fear isn't the point, little wolf," he whispered, his voice quiet and steady. "It's want. That fire you're feeling… it's not just defiance. It's between us. Yours and mine."

I tried to pull away, but his grip held me fast. "I'll never be yours," I forced out.

He bent closer, his body pressed against mine, his scent filling my lungs. "We'll see about that," he breathed. "The world kneels to power. And you're powerful… too powerful to pretend this isn’t real."

I struggled against him with all my strength, but he pinned my arms down without effort. His strength was unyielding. There was no pain, only the suffocating pressure of his dominance.

"Get off me!" I spat.

His gaze never left mine. "No. You need to see how easily I take what I want."

A tear trickled down my cheek. "I hate you."

He didn't move. He leaned in, his lips grazing my temple. "Hate and lust are neighbors," he whispered. "Can't you feel it under your skin?"

He let go of my arms, then grabbed my wrist. His hold was tight and unbreakable. He turned and started to pull me away from my father.

I screamed, wild and animalistic. I fought, kicked, and writhed. "Let me go! I won't leave him!"

He did not wait. He pulled me closer, his arm wrapping around my waist. My thrashing bumped me into him, every movement sharp and tense.

"Not until you understand," he breathed, his lips just above my hair. "I see all of you. And you are mine, even if your heart fights it."

My thrashing stopped, shaking all over. "You'll… never have me!"

He held me tight to his side, his hand hard on my hip. He leaned in; his breath was hot in my ear.

He whispered, his voice low and mesmerizing. "The question isn't whether I will… but whether you'll ever tire of me. Will this flame ever die out?"

He pulled me through the wreckage. I fought, planting my heels in the ground. I hated him and held on to the hate.

But when he faced me again, our eyes locking, I felt it… that pull low in my stomach. I glared, but I was not able to look away entirely.

"This is wrong," I breathed. "Everything about you is wrong!"

He smiled languidly, a predator. "And yet you feel it too, don't you? It's begun already. You can't take it back.”

We reached the courtyard's border and I glanced back at the smoldering ruins of my home, grief and fury fueling my resolve.

"I will never forgive you," I vowed. "Never."

Kael stopped and turned. His eyes drilled into mine as his thumb lightly brushed my tear-dampened cheek, jolting a shiver through me.

He still watched me, his eyes burning with a dark, intimate promise.

"Perhaps not," he breathed, to me only. "But that doesn't grant you permission to resist me."

As they made ready to leave, he stayed close to me. I said nothing, but I could feel the storm in his eyes. When we reached the edge of my devastated lands, he finally spoke.

"You're quiet, little wolf. Thinking, maybe?" He spoke softly, but his voice was audible. "Good. Thinking will keep you alive… and make you dangerously interesting."

I lifted my chin and whispered in defiance, "I'll find a way to undo this. Everything that you've done. Everything that you think you've claimed."

He pressed his mount closer, leaning forward. His face was amused, but his eyes were sharp and possessive, impossible for me to ignore.

"Undo?" He let the word hang in the space between us. "Little wolf, I think not. You will remember this… every moment, every look, every breath near me. The ash on your skin. Your people's cries. The feel of my hand on your cheek. That is mine now. All of it. And it will stay with you forever."

He sat upright in his saddle, his voice carrying so that all could hear. "Bring her along and treat her gently. We're returning to Shadowfen." He held my gaze a last moment, a promise and a threat all wrapped up in one.

"She is not to be harmed," he ordered, his voice unyielding. "She is only to be contained."