I didn’t see it coming.

A minute ago, she was just a trembling little thing, fear coating her like a second skin, trapped between wolves far above her rank. Her breaths had come shallow and quick, her hands curled into fists, ready to defend herself, but there had been no power I could detect, no edge, no hint that she was anything more than fragile. And yet…

The next moment, the world itself seemed to rotate toward her. The air split around her as if it were alive, parting and warping to give her space. Time slowed, just enough for the guards’ jaws to drop and my own heart to stall.

It wasn’t just power. Not in the sense of brute strength. This was instinct, raw, undefined. Power so ancient, reckless and dangerous, the kind that needs no training, no guidance, no rules.

Power that only can be inherited from the ancient Lords, whispered about in old, fearful tales. The kind given by the pantheon of gods themselves.

Even the guards, trained for horrors beyond reckoning, froze. Their bodies stiffened, breaths caught in throats.

Then she screamed.

Not a scream of fear, not scream in pain, Angelic, shattering, and piercing, it carved through the hall like fire through silk. The sound itself seemed to awaken something deep within the walls, in the shadows, in the very stones beneath our feet.

She did not shift. She remained human, almost, even though she doesn't smell like it, but with an inch gained in height, trembling violently. The air around her thickened as if responding to a predator’s presence.

Her heartbeats quickened, breaths pressed against lungs. Shadows along the walls bent unnaturally toward her, even the moonlight itself tilted, bending to her glow. Flames flickered, twisting in midair as if drawn to her. Her eyes shone like molten gold, and gold dust shimmered along her skin, catching the dim light of the torches like sparks of divinity.

A low hum vibrated from her chest, like the growl of a distant wolf, though no sound escaped her lips.

This was not a display of brute strength. This presence seemed to seek command.A force so undeniable that it demanded attention, submission, reverence. Everyone in the mansion could feel it, and I, oh, I felt it in my blood, in the fine line of my nerves, down to the very marrow of my bones.

I know Thorne might feel this and I fear he would discover her.

The guards reacted. Quick, sharp movements, calculated, precise. But an invisible force slammed them against the stone, pressing them into the cold, unyielding floor and walls even as she didn’t move a finger. The force was bold and pressing. Even the Alpha’s mouthpiece would not have dared resist it.

This wasn’t a transformation. This was an awakening.

The ground trembled beneath my boots. Fear rose from the others, thick and pungent. But my blood… my blood sang.

I was not shaken.

I was intrigued.

And oh, goddess… I wanted her.

Not for her delicate, overly alluring body, not this time. This was different. This was strength. The kind of strength I could wield, a weapon I could use. Something capable of turning against the undefeatable. Something capable of taking down Thorne, even if he rose in fury to challenge her. I had underestimated her. A mistake I would never make twice.

The fear I had carried for years, the fear that Thorne could one day surpass me, dissolved entirely. He could be a force even in weakness, but compared to this… she was untouchable. Every night I had cursed the fates, bitter at their injustice, lamenting that I had not been given such power. And now, the moon goddess herself had answered. She had brought Elysian to me. From the moment I met her by the lake, I had known she carried something I could not name, something that glowed beneath her skin like a secret sun. I finally understood the reason I’m so attracted to her.

If Thorne ever sensed this, if he even caught a whiff of it, he would claim her immediately.

I would not allow it.

I would rather tear down every law, shatter every rule, burn every bridge than allow him, or anyone, to touch her.

Tonight, I had witnessed something priceless. The Alpha would not know what was awakening on Bloodmoon, not yet.

She was no longer a pawn.

My Elysian was a threat, a key, a weapon.

Mine, if I moved fast enough.

A soft thud echoed from the marble floor. My eyes snapped toward her.

“Elysian,” I breathed, heart hammering in my chest.

Harry was already at her side, checking her pulse. “She’s fine, Sire. I think she just collapsed from exhaustion.” His voice was calm, soothing, yet carried a weight that settled everyone’s nerves. “I’ll get her somewhere safe.”

He cradled her in his arms as though she were the most fragile thing on earth. No one, not even the head guard, moved to stop him. We watched in tense silence as he carried her down the hallway, the soft shuffle of his steps the only sound.

I turned to the head guard, jaw tight, teeth gritted. “You came into my turf to take Thorne but he resisted and fought you and your guards. That is the story you will give the Alpha.”

He stared at me, lips curling into a faint sneer. “Do you take the Alpha for a fool? Do you truly believe he would accept that? He knows you’re trying to keep Thorne under your control so that you can strike when the time is right. And now… we see you are losing control. You cannot manage him, Sire.”

Disrespect. Like venom, it spread through me.

“You will tell the Alpha nothing of what happened here. And Thorne remained under my roof ,” I spat, voice cold, sharp, and dangerous.

The guard tilted his head, eyes gleaming with challenge. “If you want him to believe, you’ll have to do more than just commanding.”

Baiting me. Testing me. Trying to make me falter.

I smiled, a predator’s smile.

Then I moved, I decided to make action speak louder than command.

Claws flashed in the dim light. Stone and metal sang beneath my strikes. The guards lunged, and I met them mid-step, precise, lethal, a force they could neither anticipate nor resist. Every strike was deliberate, calculated, a warning etched in muscle and bone. Blades shattered, screams filled the hall. Leather tore, the sick thud of bodies against stone rang like drumbeats in my ears.

One tried to flank me. I caught him by the shoulder, slamming him against the wall with a satisfying crack. Another leapt forward, and I pivoted, claws scoring his chest, leaving a shallow, deliberate mark. Pain exploded from him, and his whine was a warning to the rest.

“Now,” I whispered, leaning closer to the head guard, eyes burning, claws at his chest, “the Alpha will believe.” I mumbled as I slash my claws across his chest.

I left him writhing, turning on my heel. The hall fell silent except for the faint echo of bodies moaning in pain. My chambers waited. Plans were forming like fire in my veins. Someone new would join my pack. Someone to stand beside me when war came.

I was preparing for my Luna, the one my soul clung to. But little did I know… I was not the only one who had noticed her.

She is a weapon.

And everyone wants to claim her.

I closed the door behind me as I entered my chambers, but her presence didn’t leave. Every shadow in the room seemed to whisper her name. Every heartbeat of mine throbbed with a dangerous certainty.

She wasn’t just strong. She was untouchable. And I would be the first, and only, to claim her.

The moon outside dipped behind a cloud, and in that brief darkness, I made a silent vow:

No one, no Alpha, no rival, no prophecy, would take her from me.

And in that moment, I knew the war had already begun.