CHAPTER 1
The first assassin entered through the window.
The second came through the balcony.
The third was already standing behind her.
And the woman they had come to kill had no idea why the most feared Alpha King in the Northern Realms was suddenly holding her against his chest in the darkness.
“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered.
His hand covered her mouth.
His other arm wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her backward into the narrow space between two ancient stone pillars.
Serena Vale stopped breathing.
Not because she was afraid of the assassins.
Because of him.
King Kael Draven.
The Alpha King.
The man whose name made entire packs lower their voices.
The ruler who had conquered six territories before his twenty-eighth birthday.
The wolf who had never taken a mate.
And now he was pressed against her, his breath warm against her ear, his heartbeat steady beneath the black ceremonial armor covering his chest.
Serena could feel his wolf.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Angry.
But there was something else in his scent.
Something that made the wolf inside her stir.
Mine.
The word appeared in her mind so clearly that she almost gasped.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
He had heard her wolf.
Or perhaps he had heard his own.
His silver gaze locked onto hers.
“Whatever happens,” he mouthed silently, “do not move.”
Footsteps approached.
Serena’s heart hammered.
The assassins were inside the palace.
Only an hour earlier, she had been dancing at the Moon Festival, surrounded by nobles and musicians.
She had been invited because her father served as an advisor to the late king.
She had expected politics.
She had expected gossip.
She had not expected murder.
The palace lights suddenly went out.
Screams erupted in the ballroom.
Then the windows shattered.
Black-clad figures flooded the hall.
Serena had run.
Straight into Kael.
He had grabbed her without explanation.
Now they were hidden in the shadows while assassins moved only a few feet away.
One stopped.
Serena could hear him breathing.
“Search the east corridor.”
“She can’t have gone far.”
Another voice answered.
“Forget the corridor. Find the girl.”
Serena’s blood turned cold.
The girl?
They weren’t searching for the king.
They were searching for her.
Kael’s arm tightened around her waist.
His eyes hardened.
The assassin passed.
Then another.
A sword scraped against the stone floor.
Serena almost trembled.
Kael leaned closer.
“Stay with me.”
His voice was barely audible.
She nodded.
The moment the assassins disappeared around the corner, Kael released her.
Serena turned toward him.
“What is happening?”
He didn’t answer.
“Why are they after me?”
Still nothing.
“King Kael—”
“Not here.”
He grabbed her hand.
They moved through a hidden doorway behind the pillars.
Serena stumbled after him.
The passage was narrow and cold.
Behind them, footsteps echoed.
Kael pushed open another door.
They entered an abandoned chapel.
Moonlight spilled through broken windows.
Serena turned on him.
“You owe me an explanation.”
Kael looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said something that made her blood run cold.
“They aren’t trying to kill you.”
“Then what are they doing?”
“They’re trying to capture you.”
“Why?”
His expression changed.
For the first time that night, the Alpha King looked afraid.
“Because they believe you are the last living heir of the Moonblood line.”
Serena stared at him.
“That bloodline died twenty years ago.”
“No.”
Kael stepped closer.
“It didn’t.”
She shook her head.
“My mother was the last one.”
“Your mother lied to you.”
Serena’s heart stopped.
“You knew my mother?”
Kael didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
“You knew her.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
His jaw tightened.
“She saved my life.”
Serena stared at him.
Her mother had always been a mystery.
She had died when Serena was eight.
Or so Serena had been told.
Her father never spoke about her.
Whenever Serena asked questions, he changed the subject.
Now the Alpha King was telling her that her mother had saved his life.
Before she could ask another question, the chapel doors burst open.
Kael pulled Serena behind him.
Three assassins entered.
Their swords were covered in black poison.
Kael’s wolf emerged.
His eyes turned silver.
“Stay behind me.”
The first assassin attacked.
Kael moved faster than Serena could see.
Steel collided with steel.
The assassin flew backward.
Another lunged.
Kael caught the blade with his bare hand.
Blood ran down his palm.
He didn’t even blink.
Then he twisted.
The assassin fell.
The third reached into his cloak.
Serena saw the weapon first.
“Kael!”
She pushed him aside.
A poisoned arrow struck the stone wall where his heart had been.
Kael looked at her.
His expression was unreadable.
“You just saved me.”
Serena swallowed.
“I suppose we’re even.”
For the first time, something almost like a smile touched his mouth.
Then his gaze dropped to her wrist.
The smile vanished.
A silver crescent had appeared beneath her skin.
It was glowing.
Kael stepped closer.
“Where did you get that mark?”
“I’ve always had it.”
“No.”
He reached toward her wrist.
Serena pulled back.
“Don’t.”
His eyes met hers.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Kael’s voice dropped.
“That mark belongs to the Moon Queen.”
Serena stared at him.
“The Moon Queen is dead.”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the shattered chapel doors.
“She isn’t.”
A distant horn sounded.
More assassins.
Kael turned back to Serena.
“We have to leave.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere they can’t find you.”
She hesitated.
“Why are you helping me?”
His expression hardened.
“Because if they capture you, they will use you to destroy every Alpha bloodline in the realm.”
Serena’s stomach tightened.
“And you?”
He stepped closer.
“They will come for me next.”
She looked into his silver eyes.
“Why?”
Kael hesitated.
Then he whispered:
“Because you’re not just the Moon Queen’s heir.”
Serena waited.
His next words shattered everything she believed about her life.
“You’re my fated mate.”
Serena’s breath caught.
“No.”
Kael’s wolf growled.
“Yes.”
Before she could respond, the chapel windows exploded.
A dozen arrows flew through the darkness.
Kael grabbed Serena and threw himself over her.
The room filled with smoke.
When Serena opened her eyes, she was lying beneath him.
His face was inches from hers.
And somewhere beyond the smoke, a woman’s voice called out:
“Take the girl alive.”
Then another voice answered.
“Kill the Alpha King.”
Kael slowly rose.
His eyes turned completely silver.
“Stay behind me.”
But Serena wasn’t listening.
She was staring at the doorway.
Because the woman giving the orders had stepped into the moonlight.
And Serena knew that face.
She had seen it in the only photograph she possessed of her dead mother.
The woman lifted her hood.
Serena whispered the name she had spent twenty years believing belonged to a ghost.
“Mother?”
Kael went completely still.
The woman smiled.
“I told you, little wolf.”
Her eyes glowed gold.
“I was never dead.”
And then she pointed directly at Serena and said, “Run from the king before he remembers what he did to me.”
Check the comments for Chapter 2—because the woman Serena believed was dead has returned, and she claims the Alpha King once betrayed her family. 👀
