Ambush

Zara closed the book abruptly when she couldn't take it anymore. She struggled to keep her emotions in check but her frail heart betrayed her. She kept the book back in place, knowing it was fate that had made her come across the book.

She stormed back into the chamber beneath the Moonstone Pack’s temple, her mind reeling. The icy morning air did little to cool the fire burning inside her.  

She couldn't get rid of the feeling that Draven had known something—something aside from her curse and that was why he had refused to mark her, and it wasn't because neither of them would die if he marked or rejected her.  Had he been trying to protect her or himself?  

There was an uproar coming from outside of the chamber that those in the temple couldn't ignore.

"Where is that noise coming from?!" Zara said to herself. Every thought concerning the prophecy evacuated into thin air, her attention drawn to what was going on outside of the temple.

She rushed out to investigate the source of the noise and was dumbstruck to realize that a war had broken out.

A shout rang through the pack grounds, breaking through her thoughts.  

“Attack!”  

The ground trembled beneath Zara’s feet as wolves rushed through the village, their howls of alarm cutting through the air. Zara sprinted toward the pack house, her instincts screaming that something was wrong; and no, it wasn't because a war had broken out between neighboring packs, or rather, men from the same pack who were at war with themselves.

She smelled something in the air, something that made her throat run dry. There was the smell of blood in the air—royal Lycan blood.

It didn't take a moment for her to discern that it was Alpha Draven's blood.

She rounded the corner and skidded to a halt. She found The Lycan King lying crumpled on the stone steps, his powerful body broken and still.

“No—”  

Zara mouthed in shock and dropped to her knees beside him, pressing her hands against the gaping wound in his side. His breaths were ragged, his obsidian eyes flickering open just enough to meet hers.  

“Ambush,” he rasped, blood trickling from his lips.  

Her stomach twisted as she took in the scene—Draven had been attacked from behind, by someone he had trusted the most.

And then she saw him, the one who had attacked Alpha Draven. It was Dorian, his trusted beta.

Zara's blood immediately began to boil.

Kael’s own Beta stood a few feet away, his silver eyes were cold and unrepentant, his sword still dripping with the king’s blood.  

“You did this?” Zara whispered, rage boiling under her skin.  

Dorian smirked. “You should be thanking me. I saved you the trouble of choosing.”  

Her hands clenched into fists. “You betrayed your king.” she went on to say.

Dorian’s smirk only widened. "Everyone in the pack is aware of the prophecy, Zara, we just chose to keep silent over it we knew you were the king's mate all along."

“but you know one thing, he was never meant to rule. Neither were you.”  

A chorus of growls echoed around them as warriors began to gather, torn between loyalty and the shocking betrayal unfolding before them.  

Zara stood, her chest heaving with fury. “Stand down, or I will rip your throat out myself.”  

Dorian chuckled. “You think they’ll follow you? A Beta with a cursed bond?”  

Zara’s wolf surged inside her. Enough.

She lunged forward.

Their bodies collided in a blur of claws and fangs. Dorian was fast, but Zara was faster. She dodged his blade, twisted behind him, and sank her claws into his chest, the fight ended before it even started.

Dorian gasped, his eyes wide with shock as Zara whispered in his ear, “Long live the king.”  

With one final twist, she ripped the life from him, letting his body collapse at her feet.  

Silence fell over the pack.  

Zara turned to the warriors still watching, her gaze blazing. “Your Alpha is down. That means I’m in charge.”  

A murmur rippled through the wolves. Then, slowly, they lowered their heads in submission. She was their leader now and it would stay like that until Lycan King had recovered.

She lashed out commands Immediately to lead him back into his chambers and they did so without any further questions. It was a rare incidence to see a wolf, especially a female, giving orders to lycans. She was lower than them in rank but with how the lycans had witnessed Dorian's death by her hands, they thought it wise to obey her commands.

******

Draven lay unconscious in his quarters as the healer made his way through the door, Draven's breathing was shallow, he was barely breathing by the time the healer arrived.

Zara sat beside him, gripping his hand as the weight of what she had learned pressed down on her.  

The curse. The prophecy. The choice she had to make.  

“By her blood, the curse shall be undone.”  

Her blood though not his. All the events were unraveling too fast for her to take in.

Just a few days ago, she would have given up anything just to be with Alpha Kieran but his rejection hit, shattering everything inside her, but a few hours later, she sensed the mating bond on another mate, not just any wolf but the Lycan King who was also as cursed as herself, not only was he cursed, but his entire pack.

A rustle at the door made her lift her head. The Elder of the pack, a frail woman with piercing silver eyes, stepped inside.  

“You’ve read the prophecy, Zara Grey.” It wasn’t a question.  

Zara swallowed before nodding. “Tell me everything I need to know.”