The Blood Vault

The courtyard was a bloodbath of heavy smoke,fires, and rain slicked granite.

Gideon in his massive silver grey wolf form was an unstoppable force, slamming a giant Silverfang enforcer through the wooden railing of the balcony before spinning to snap another attacker's jaws. I moved right beneath his massive shadow, my silver daggers flashing in the dark. I ducked a wild swing from a heavy broadsword, drove my blade straight up through a guard's leather collar, and kicked his body into the advancing line.

“Lyra.The ballroom.” Gideon’s voice slammed directly into my mind through the link, heavy and frantic. “Silas is retreating into the lower levels.He’s taking Elder Vane.”

I snapped my head toward the shattered stone archway of the lodge. Through the billowing smoke, I caught sight of Silas dragging the bloodied, bound form of Elder Vane down a flight of spiral stone stairs descending beneath the floorboards.

"I've got him." I yelled, dropping my shoulder and charging straight through the haze.

A massive black wolf lunged at my throat from the smoke, but Gideon intercepted him mid-air, his heavy jaws locking onto the wolf's spine with a sickening crunch.

“Go!” Gideon roared in my head, stepping over the carcass to hold the stairwell entrance against three more advancing Silverfangs. “I'll hold the floor.”

I didn't hesitate. I threw open the iron grate and sprinted down the damp spiral staircase, my boots slapping against slick, ancient granite.

The air changed instantly as I descended. The sharp smell of rain and ozone faded, replaced by the suffocating scent of stale earth, old blood, and a terrifyingly high voltage of raw, unrefined magic that made the fine hairs on my arms stand up.

At the bottom of the stairs lay a subterranean cavern of colossal. Massive stone pillars stretched into the shadows above, carved with the forgotten runes of the First Royal Lineage. In the center of the chamber sat an ancient, circular stone door embedded directly into the cavern floor, glowing with faint, pulsing veins of luminescent gold.

The Blood Vault.

Elder Vane was slumping against the base of a stone pillar, gasping for breath. Silas stood directly over the golden seal, his heavy war-axe dripping with rain, a terrifying, manic gleam in his red eyes.

"You're too late, little princess," Silas laughed, his voice echoing off the cavern walls. He hauled Elder Vane up by his white hair, pressing the cold edge of a silver dagger against the old man's throat.

"One drop of royal blood opens the vault. I was going to use yours... but any elder's blood bound to the old oath will weaken the seal enough for me to force it"

"Don't do it, Lyra" Elder Vane choked out, coughing up blood. "The power inside isn't a weapon,it's the core essence of the valley's life! If he unseals it by force, it will tear the mountain apart."

"Shut up, old fool." Silas roared, slicing the dagger across Vane's arm.

Vane cried out in agony as dark blood spilled onto the glowing golden runes of the stone door. The ancient floor let out a violent, mechanical groan, the gold veins flashing a bright, blinding crimson as the vault mechanism began to grind open.

"No" I screamed.

My vision shifted to hyper detailed infrared. My breath hitched as the ancient, royal lineage inside me answered the call of the dying seal. I didn't shift into my wolf,I didn't have time. Instead, I channeled pure royal magic into my veins, moving with supernatural, blinding speed.

I closed the thirty foot gap in a heartbeat.

Silas barely had time to raise his war axe before I slammed into his chest, the impact cracking his iron breastplate and sending us both crashing onto the hard stone floor.

The silver dagger flew from his grip, clattering across the glowing vault door.

"You arrogant little brat." Silas snarled, using his massive weight to throw me off. He scrambled to his feet, swinging his war-axe in a deadly horizontal arc aimed clean at my waist.

I dropped flat onto my back, the heavy iron blade whistling an inch above my nose and biting deep into the stone pillar behind me. Before he could yank the axe free, I kicked out with both boots, slamming my heels into his kneecap with enough force to shatter the joint.

Silas let out a wet howl of pain, dropping to one knee.

I scrambled up, drawing my right forearm dagger. But Silas was a veteran Alpha.

Even crippled, his left fist shot out like a cannonball, catching me square in the ribs.

The impact lifted me off my feet and slammed me hard against the central altar.

Pain exploded through my side, knocking the air clean out of my lungs. My dagger slipped from my fingers, clattering into the dark.

Silas hauled himself up, dragging his broken leg, his red eyes blazing with psychotic fury. He pulled a heavy silver hunting knife from his belt and stomped toward me.

"Your father died screaming, Lyra," Silas rasped, raising the blade above my chest. "And you're going to join him."

A deafening, terrifying roar echoed down the stone staircase.

A streak of charcoal and silver slammed into Silas from the side like a freight train. Gideon now back in his human form, his upper body bare, bloody, and covered in lethal claw marks tackled Silas onto the glowing vault floor.

Gideon didn't use a weapon. He fought with pure, primal, merciless dominance. He pinned Silas's arms to the stone, his amber eyes glowing like twin suns as his fingers locked around Silas's throat.

"You touched my mate," Gideon growled, his voice so deep and resonant the stone pillars trembled. "You threatened my pack. And you murdered her family."

"Gideon, wait." I gasped, clutching my cracked ribs as I pushed myself off the altar. "The vault,his blood is corrupting the seal."

The crimson light beneath the stone door was flashing violently now, deep cracks spreading across the ancient floor as a terrifying, unstable surge of raw magic began to leak into the air. The subterranean cavern began to shake, dust and heavy rocks raining down from the ceiling.

Silas let out a bloody, choking laugh beneath Gideon's grip. "It's over, Sterling... the vault is collapsing. We all die down here."

Gideon didn't flinch. He looked over his shoulder at me, his amber eyes locking onto mine with absolute, unwavering trust.

"Lyra," Gideon said, his voice remarkably steady despite the crumbling mountain around us. "Claim your bloodline. Take the seal."

"I don't know how." I cried out over the deafening roar of the fracturing stone.

"Yes, you do," Gideon commanded softly, the Alpha bond surging between us, wrapping around my trembling heart like an iron shield, flooding my body with his strength. "Listen to the bond, little wolf. You are the rightful queen of this mountain. Command it."

I took a deep breath, blocking out the falling debris, the roaring cavern, and the terror in my chest. I walked straight to the center of the glowing, cracking vault door.

I drew my remaining silver dagger, sliced the palm of my left hand, and pressed my bleeding palm directly onto the central rune of the Royal Lineage.

"By the blood of the First Alpha," I whispered, my voice suddenly amplifying until it resonated with the deep, booming frequency of an ancient storm. "I command you. Seal."

A blinding pillar of pure, brilliant white light erupted from my palm, shooting straight up into the ceiling.

The violent shaking stopped instantly. The dark, corrupted red light vanished, replaced by a soothing, brilliant gold that swept across the entire cavern floor, repairing the stone cracks and sealing the Blood Vault tight.

Silas let out a final, strangled gasp as the royal light washed over him, stripping the unstable, dark magic clean from his body before he went completely limp beneath Gideon's hands.

Silence fell over the subterranean chamber, heavy and absolute.

I collapsed forward, my breath coming in ragged gasps, my strength completely spent.

Before my knees could hit the cold stone, two strong, warm arms caught me. Gideon pulled my back flush against his broad, bare chest, his heavy arms wrapping securely around my waist. He buried his face into the crook of my neck, drawing a deep, shuddering breath of my scent into his lungs.

Through the bond, a wave of overwhelming relief, fierce possessiveness, and profound warmth crashed into my soul.

"I've got you," Gideon gritted out against my skin, his chest heaving against mine, his pulse hammering a steady, victorious rhythm. "I've got you, Lyra."

I leaned back against him, letting my head rest against his shoulder, my hand coming up to wrap around his bloody forearm.

"The treaty is broken," I murmured softly, looking at the silent, golden vault beneath our feet, then up at the stairwell where the surviving Ironclaw and neutral peacekeepers were beginning to pour in to secure the chamber. "What happens now, Alpha?"

Gideon turned his head slightly, his lips brushing the sensitive skin beneath my ear, making a delicious shiver run down my spine.

"Now," Gideon whispered, a dark, proud smile against my neck, "we rebuild this valley together."