Chapter 5 The Sun Wolf Awakens

Elena

It had been three days already, and here I was, standing in the middle of the Great Hall like a woman waiting to hear her own sentence read out loud.

The hall was big, large enough to hold all two thousand pack members. The council of elders sat behind their long curved table at the front of the room. The rest of the bench in the hall has warriors, elders, all the pack, all of them here to watch what happened to my life.

Dad sat to my right in his wheelchair, spine straight the way it always went when he refused to let his body's limits show. Kai stood on my left, dressed in full formal armor, ready for whatever Lucian say. Across the hall, Lucian stood with two of his high guards, calm in a way that made the whole room feel tighter.

The air was thick with many wolves scent and the dread because Everyone in this room knows what’s at stake. Whether Silver Moon and Bloodfang walked out of here allies, or walked out of here at war.

Elder Silas rose, leaning hard on his staff. "We gather tonight under the full moon to settle the claim made by Alpha Lucian of Bloodfang for Elena Vance, daughter of Guardians."

His eyes turned toward Lucian. "Present your argument."

Lucian stepped forward, easy, like this hall belonged to him too. "Members of the Council. My request is simple and lawful. Under the Treaty of the Four Moons, an Alpha may request a woman of Guardian bloodline to secure an alliance. In exchange, Bloodfang offers Silver Moon full access to our eastern trade routes, and our military support against the rogue factions."

There were murmurs from the older council members. Trade routes. Military support. I could see them doing the math, and none of it involved asking me a single question.

"And what of her choice?" Dad's voice cut through the murmuring, louder than I expected. "The law also says a Guardian cannot be forced into a union if she's already sworn to her home Alpha."

"She hasn't sworn anything." Lucian said. "Nineteen years old and unbound. Until she takes the Guardian's Vow to Kai, she's free to choose."

Alpha Thomas raised a hand, and the hall went quiet on command. "That's correct. Elena hasn't taken the formal vow. The choice rests with her…” he paused “Or with a trial of strength, if the claim is contested."

Kai stepped forward immediately, "I contest it."

Lucian's eyebrow went up, amused "On what grounds, young prince?"

"On the grounds that she's bound to my heart."

The hall went dead silent for exactly one heartbeat before the gasps started. I turned to stare at him, my own heart slamming against my ribs. Bound to his heart? He'd never said anything like that to me. Not once. Not until an entire council hall was watching. I bet he forgotten what Tracy was here for.

Kai looked down at me, his eyes held something I hadn't seen from him before. "I claim First Blood. My family raised her. Protected her. She belongs to Silver Moon." His gaze snapped back to Lucian. "If you want her, you go through me. In the Sacred Ring."

"Kai, no." I grabbed his arm, my voice shaking despite myself. "You don't have to do this." But he wasn't listening to me.

Doesn't heI understand how bad this idea was? Lucian fought real wars, real battles, for years. Kai was strong, skilled, but he hadn't gone through his ascension yet. He didn't have his father's full Alpha strength. This wasn't a fair fight. This was practically a death sentence.

Lucian let out a low laugh, amused. "A trial by combat. Brave, young prince. Foolish, but brave. I'll break you in that ring in minutes."

"Then break me." Kai's voice cracked with the force of it, his Alpha pressure surging out hard enough that dust actually shook loose from the rafters above us.

"STOP!"

The roar that tore through the hall wasn't Kai's. Wasn't Lucian's. Wasn't Alpha Thomas's either.

The heavy doors at the back of the hall were broken into pieces. The guards were thrown in, lying dead. 

And a figure walked in through the door. He was tall. Wearing a black armor suit. And wearing a white skull mask on his face. Behind him were dozens of wolves, not normal wolves. Rogues. Their fur was black, their eyes red. His aura was double of that of any Alpha in the room. And there was something beneath it. Dark magic.

"Alpha Malakor." Silas's voice came out as barely more than a breath, and he stumbled back against the council table, his legs given out.

The warlord of the Shadow-Fangs. The most dangerous name in the Northern Continent, standing in our Great Hall like he'd been invited.

"How sweet." Malakor said with an evil smile. "Two Alphas, squabbling over a bone. Neither of you has the faintest idea what she actually is."

He raised a clawed hand and pointed his blade straight at my chest.

"She isn't just a Guardian's daughter." He laughed under the mask. "She's the Vessel of the Sun Wolf. The bloodline that breaks any curse. Mine included."

Lucian's sword was out before I finished processing the words, and he stepped in front of the council table, already halfway into his wolf form. Kai moved beside him without a second's hesitation, blade drawn, and for the first time since I'd met either of them, the two of them stood shoulder to shoulder instead of squared off against each other.

"Touch her," Lucian snarled, voice dropping, barely human, "and I'll rip your head from your shoulders."

"You'll go through both of us first," Kai said, his amber eyes changing to gold.

Malakor laughed while walking close to them. "Then the two of you die TONIGHT." He howled, commanding his shadow-wolves forward, and the hall was in chaos. Screaming. Everyone was terrified.

The wolves leaping over benches, snapping anyone and everyone. Kai didn't hesitate as he took the head off the nearest wolf in one clean stroke. Lucian moved fast , his broadsword cutting through two beasts at once.

I pulled both daggers, heart hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat, I felt heat from by chest going everywhere in my body. Not the warmth I’d felt when Lucian touched me. This was different.

It was everywhere. My veins burned. My bones felt like they were splitting apart, and Solara suddenly roared inside my head so loudly that I couldn’t hear the screams around me. Then Golden light poured through my skin.

Malakor's eyes found me through his mask, and I could hear the smile in his voice even though I couldn't see it.

"Yes," he said. “Show me your light, little Guardian.”

My hands began to glow.

Malakor voice dropped low. “I’ve been hunting your bloodline for decades.” He raised his blade. “And tonight, I finally found you.”