Chapter Two

Chapter 2: Claimed Before the Kingdom

The throne hall fell into a suffocating silence.

No one dared to breathe.

No one dared to move.

Prince Rowan’s fingers tightened around my wrist as if he feared I would disappear.

Across the room, Alpha King Kael stood perfectly still. His face revealed nothing, but the temperature in the hall seemed to plummet beneath the force of his aura.

Every wolf present instinctively lowered their eyes.

An Alpha’s command was absolute.

Yet Rowan didn’t let go.

Instead, he smiled.

“A father giving orders to his son?” he asked, his voice calm enough to fool everyone except me. “Or an Alpha trying to take what belongs to another?”

A murmur swept through the nobles.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

I didn’t belong to anyone.

The bond between Kael and me pulsed painfully, begging me to cross the room. My wolf whimpered, desperate to reach him.

Mate…

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood.

Not here.

Not in front of the entire kingdom.

Kael’s icy gaze never left Rowan.

“She belongs to no one.”

His voice was low.

Controlled.

“But she has the right to choose.”

For the briefest moment, relief washed over me.

Then Rowan laughed.

“Choose?” he repeated. “She’s an orphan from a minor pack. Do you really believe she’ll refuse becoming the future Luna?”

The nobles chuckled.

Their laughter stung more than it should have.

To them, I was nobody.

A girl with patched dresses and rough hands, standing in a palace built for wolves far above my station.

Rowan turned to me, wearing the charming smile that had won countless hearts.

“Tell them your name.”

“L-Lyra Blackwood.”

“And tell them your dream.”

I frowned.

“My dream?”

“Surely every little girl dreams of becoming Luna.”

His words weren’t a question.

They were a trap.

“I…”

My throat tightened.

“I only came to deliver medicine.”

A few nobles snickered.

Someone whispered, “She doesn’t even know court etiquette.”

Heat flooded my cheeks.

“I asked about your dream,” Rowan said, his smile never wavering.

Before I could answer, another voice echoed through the chamber.

“It doesn’t matter.”

The High Elder stepped forward, leaning heavily on his carved silver staff.

His cloudy eyes settled on me.

Then they widened.

“No…”

His staff slipped from his hands and clattered against the marble floor.

The old wolf stumbled backward.

“It cannot be…”

Kael frowned.

“Elder?”

The High Elder stared at me as though he’d seen a ghost.

“The mark…”

My pulse quickened.

“What mark?”

He pointed toward my left shoulder.

“The Moon Mark.”

Confused, I glanced down.

The neckline of my dress had shifted slightly during Rowan’s grip.

Just above my collarbone, silver light shimmered beneath my skin.

A crescent moon.

It hadn’t been there this morning.

Gasps erupted throughout the hall.

“The Moon Goddess herself…”

“I’ve never seen a mark like that.”

“Only the legends speak of it.”

Without warning, a sharp pain exploded through my body.

I cried out as silver light burst from the mark, flooding the throne hall.

The chandeliers flickered.

The palace trembled.

Outside, wolves all across the capital lifted their heads and howled into the night.

Every candle extinguished at once.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Then a woman’s voice echoed inside my mind.

Ancient.

Gentle.

Filled with sorrow.

“Run, child.”

My eyes flew open.

Who was that?

“They cannot know what you are.”

Before I could ask another question, the palace doors burst open.

A warrior stumbled inside, his armor drenched in blood.

He collapsed at the King’s feet.

“Your Majesty…”

He struggled to breathe.

“The northern border…”

His eyes found me.

Pure terror filled them.

“They’ve come…”

“Who?” Kael demanded.

The warrior whispered two words before losing consciousness.

“The Moon Hunters.”

A deafening crash echoed outside.

The palace walls shook violently.

Then, from beyond the gates, came the unmistakable sound of hundreds of wolves roaring in unison.

They weren’t attacking the kingdom.

They were hunting…

…me.