6: The Black Alpha Rising from Ashes

Luna Valerius

“Make your choice, Silas,” my father roared, slamming his silver-engraved cane against the cracking stone floor. “Either you hand that cursed girl over to me, or tonight you watch your pack burn.”

Silas stepped in front of me like a wall, that dark growl rumbling from his chest and shaking the whole hall. His claws had already ripped free, tearing at the tiles.

“The moment you set foot on my lands, you signed your death warrant, Valerius,” Silas said, his voice a thunderous snarl. “Not a single wolf in my pack will kneel to your mongrel army. Especially not when you’ve come to take what’s mine.”

“I’m not yours,” I shouted, hands trembling as I raised the dagger at both of them. “Both of you, stop treating me like a piece of meat.”

That was when the huge stained-glass windows exploded with a deafening crash. The moment the crazed wolves of the Eastern Pack poured in, the hall turned to hell.

“Luna, I told you to get behind me,” Silas yelled, ripping through the throat of the first wolf that lunged at us.

“I told you I wouldn’t bow to you, Alpha,” I screamed as I stumbled back. But before I could understand what was happening, I felt an ice-cold hand on my back. I turned my head and came face-to-face with Hestia’s hate-filled eyes.

“If you belong to no one, then die, little disaster,” Hestia whispered, and shoved me hard through all the chaos, into the corridor.

I went down hard. The stone floor tore up my knees, and then my breath stopped. At the far end of the hallway, that enormous mongrel wolf had appeared. He was holding a dagger of pure silver.

“Our king wanted you alive,” the mongrel said, grinning as he walked toward me. “But I can’t wait to see how silver melts your skin.”

“Stay away from me,” I screamed, my back against the wall.

He lunged at me with a savage roar. The silver dagger came down straight at my heart. I closed my eyes, waiting for the silver to turn me to ash. The metal struck my flesh.

But the pain never came.

A deafening crack. The silver dagger hit my chest and shattered instead of sinking in. I opened my eyes in shock. A wave of pure, searing energy radiated up from my chest. The dark blood running through my veins woke with a merciless fury. The beast that had been chained inside me for years was finally free.

“That’s . . . that’s impossible,” the mongrel stammered, trying to scramble back in horror. “How can pure silver not kill a wolf?”

I rose slowly to my feet. I could feel my bones cracking, my muscles stretching with impossible strength. My vision had turned completely red.

“You want to know what my problem is?” I said, my voice no longer that of a woman but of a wild animal. “You took everything from me. But you forgot to teach me how to be afraid. You only taught me how to hate you.”

The wolf screamed in terror, but I was in front of him in a second. I grabbed his throat with my bare hand and hurled him into the stone wall in a single motion. The crunch of his bones echoed down the corridor.

I turned back, gasping for air, and saw Silas standing in the doorway, watching me. Blood dripped from his claws. The arrogance in his eyes was gone, replaced by pure shock and a wild, mad admiration.

“Luna,” Silas whispered, his voice trembling for the first time. “Your eyes . . .”

“What’s wrong with my eyes,” I screamed, trying to suppress that burning power inside me.

Silas walked slowly toward me, stopped in front of me, and raised his hand to my face.

“They called you cursed because they didn’t know the power inside you,” Silas said, a savage smile forming on his lips. “You’re no ordinary wolf, Luna. You’re the Black Alpha. The only female wolf born in centuries that even silver kneels to.”

I stared back at him in shock, and from the hall came Dante’s agonized roar.

“Silas,” Dante shouted, bursting through the doorway covered in blood. “The border gate has fallen. The Eastern Pack didn’t just come to destroy us. Silas, they’ve dug up your sister’s grave. They’re burning Aria’s bones at the border.”

The admiration drained from Silas’s face instantly. His pupils vanished, replaced by raw, undiluted madness.

“Her grave?” Silas whispered. His voice was so low, so dangerous, that every wolf in the castle stopped howling for one frozen moment. He turned his head slowly toward the direction of the Eastern Alpha’s voice. He was no longer a rational leader. He was just a wounded beast that wanted blood.

I stepped in front of him and placed my bare hands on his chest.

“Silas, stop,” I screamed, looking straight into his eyes. “This is a trap. They want to drive you mad and lure you to your death alone.”

Silas turned his eyes to me. Those amber eyes held nothing but death now. He pushed my hands hard off his chest.

“Get out of my way, Luna,” he said in a deadly whisper. “I don’t care if you’re my mate. I will crush you and walk right over you.”

I lifted my chin. The Black Alpha inside me roared. “Go ahead and try, Alpha. Let’s see who crushes who.”