Chapter 5 The Declaration of War
I stared at the glowing screen of my phone.
Kade: ...Come meet me at the border tonight. I will take you back...
My thumb hovered over the keyboard. A part of me—the weak, foolish part that had loved him for two years—wanted to cry. He finally wanted me. He realized his mistake. I could go back to my family, to my friends, to the life I knew.
But then I looked up.
I saw Ryker. He was standing in the shadows of his wrecked office, his chest heaving, sweat shining on his scars. He was a monster to the world, but moments ago, he had let me touch him. He had looked at me not with pity, but with wonder.
Kade had rejected me when I was weak. Ryker had taken me in when I had nothing.
Kade wanted a Luna for show. Ryker needed a partner to survive his own mind.
The choice wasn't hard at all.
I stopped shaking. I typed three words.
Me: Go to hell.
I hit send. Then, I blocked the number.
I tossed the phone back onto the desk. It slid across the wood and stopped at Ryker’s hand.
He looked down at the screen. He read the message. Then, slowly, he looked up at me. The gold in his eyes was swirling, molten and dangerous.
"You didn’t go," he said roughly. His voice was still raspy from earlier.
"No," I whispered.
"He offered you a way out," Ryker said, taking a step toward me. "He offered you your old life back. Safety. Comfort. Why did you stay?"
"Because," I said, meeting his intense gaze. "He threw me away. You picked me up."
Ryker closed the distance between us in a single stride. He didn't touch me gently this time. He grabbed my waist, his large hands burning through the thin silk of my nightgown, and pulled me tight against his body.
I gasped, my hands landing on his bare, sweaty chest. The contact sent a jolt of electricity straight to my core.
"You are playing a dangerous game, little mouse," Ryker growled, leaning down so his nose brushed against mine. "By sending that text, you didn’t just reject him. You humiliated him. An Alpha like Kade won’t take that lightly. You just declared war."
"I know," I breathed. My heart was pounding so hard I thought he could feel it. "Are you scared of a war, Alpha?"
Ryker’s eyes darkened. His gaze dropped to my lips, then back up to my eyes. The sexual tension in the room was thick.
"I was born in war," he murmured. "But you... you are soft. You might break."
"Then don't let me break," I challenged him.
Ryker stared at me for a long moment. Then, he released me abruptly, stepping back as if I had burned him. The wall was back up. He was the cold General again.
"Go to bed, Elara," he ordered, running a hand through his damp hair. "Get some sleep. You’re going to need it."
"Why?" I asked, confused by the sudden change in mood.
Ryker walked to the window, looking out at the dark, rainy mountains.
"Because Kade will come for you," he said grimly. "So we need to make this permanent. The mating ceremony happens tomorrow night."
The next morning, the Blood Moon fortress buzzed with activity.
I woke up alone in the massive bed again, but this time, there was a dress waiting for me. It wasn't white.
It was black.
A floor-length gown made of black lace and velvet, with a neckline that plunged dangerously low. It was beautiful, gothic, and looked like something a Queen of the Underworld would wear.
Jia barged into the room without knocking.
"Up!" she barked, tossing a makeup bag onto the vanity. "We have four hours to turn you into something scary enough to stand next to Ryker."
"Is the ceremony really tonight?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Ryker moved it up," Jia said, pulling me out of bed. "Kade has his troops moving toward the southern border. Ryker wants the Blood Mark on you before sunset. Once you are Marked, Kade can't touch you without breaking the Ancient Laws."
My stomach twisted. Marked.
That meant the bite.
"Is he going to... bite me?" I asked, my hand instinctively going to my neck.
Jia paused. She looked at me with a strange expression. "That depends on him. Usually, a Mating Mark is given during the act. But since this is a... contract..." She shrugged. "He might just scent-mark you. It’s less permanent. Less intimate."
Less intimate. Why did that make me feel disappointed?
Four hours later, I didn't recognize myself in the mirror.
Jia had lined my eyes with dark kohl, making the violet flecks in my irises pop. The black dress hugged every curve of my body, making me look taller and more dangerous. My hair was left loose, cascading down my back in dark waves.
I didn’t look like Elara the reject. I looked like the Luna of the Blood Moon.
"Not bad," Jia grunted, which I took as high praise.
A knock came at the door.
"It is time."
It was Silas. Ryker’s uncle.
I took a deep breath, smoothed my dress, and opened the door. Silas was wearing a formal suit, but his face was twisted in a sneer.
"Enjoy your little dress-up game while it lasts, girl," Silas whispered as I walked past him into the hallway. "My nephew will tire of you. And when he does, I’ll be waiting."
I ignored him, keeping my head high. I am the Luna, I repeated to myself. I am the Luna.
I walked down the grand staircase.
The main hall had been transformed. Hundreds of black candles flickered along the walls. The pack was gathered—hundreds of warriors, men and women, standing in silence. They watched me descend. There were no smiles. Just intense, predatory curiosity.
At the end of the aisle, standing on a raised dais, was Ryker.
My breath caught in my throat.
He was wearing a black ceremonial tunic with silver embroidery, open at the collar to reveal the tattoos on his throat. He looked lethal. Powerful. And when his gold eyes locked onto mine, everything else in the room faded away.
The silence in his head... I could see it in his face. He looked calm for the first time. Because I was near.
I reached the dais. Ryker held out his hand. I placed mine in his. His skin was hot, calloused, and firm.
"You look..." Ryker started, his voice rough. He stopped, his eyes sweeping over the dress. "Adequate."
I suppressed a smile. "You look decent yourself, Alpha."
An elder stepped forward, holding a ceremonial dagger and a chalice.
"We gather under the gaze of the Moon Goddess," the Elder intoned, his voice rough. "To bind Alpha Ryker of the Blood Moon and Elara Vance in union."
The ceremony was short and brutal. No vows of love. Just vows of blood and loyalty.
"Elara Vance," the Elder said. "Do you pledge your life to this pack? To bleed for it? To kill for it?"
I looked at Ryker. I thought about Kade, who had cast me aside. I thought about the people in this room who looked at me like I was weak.
"I pledge," I said clearly.
"Alpha Ryker," the Elder turned to him. "Do you pledge to protect her? To claim her?"
Ryker didn't look at the Elder. He was staring at my neck, where my pulse was fluttering wildly.
"I pledge," Ryker growled.
"Then mark her," the Elder commanded.
The room went deadly still.
Ryker stepped closer. He placed one hand on the back of my neck, tilting my head to the side to expose the sensitive skin of my throat.
He leaned down. I closed my eyes, trembling, waiting for the pain of teeth.
But he didn't bite.
Instead, he buried his face in the crook of my neck. He inhaled deeply, taking in my scent. His lips brushed against my pulse point—soft, wet, and incredibly hot.
A shiver raked through my entire body. My knees went weak. I grabbed his tunic to stay standing.
"Mine," Ryker whispered against my skin.
He didn't bite, but he rubbed his scent against mine, coating me in his smell. It was a claim. Powerful and undeniable. I belong to the Blood Moon.
"I present to you," the Elder shouted, "Alpha Ryker and Luna Elara!"
The pack erupted. Not in cheers, but in howls. A deafening, primal sound that shook the stained glass windows.
Ryker pulled back, looking down at me. For a second, his eyes softened. He looked like he was about to say something real.
BOOM.
A massive explosion shook the foundation of the house.
The stained glass windows above us shattered, raining shards down onto the dais. Ryker tackled me instantly, throwing his body over mine to shield me from the glass.
Screams erupted in the hall.
"We are under attack!" Jia shouted, drawing her sword.
Ryker stood up, pulling me with him. His face was no longer soft; it was a mask of pure rage. His eyes shone so bright they illuminated the dark hall.
"Report!" he roared.
A bloodied warrior stumbled through the front doors. "Alpha! The perimeter is breached! They blew the gates!"
"Who?" Ryker snarled, though we all knew the answer.
The warrior coughed up blood. "Silver River. Alpha Kade is here. And he brought the Witch Hunters."
Ryker turned to me. His hand gripped my arm hard.
"Go to the safe room," he ordered. "Now."
"No," I said, my voice trembling but firm. "I just pledged to fight for this pack."
"Elara!"
"He’s here for me," I said, pulling away from his grip. "If I hide, he burns your pack down. If I face him... maybe I can stop it."
Ryker looked at me. He looked at the fire in my eyes.
"Fine," he growled, grabbing a sword from a nearby rack and shoving it into my hand. It was heavy, but I gripped it tight.
"Stay behind me," Ryker said, turning toward the shattered doors where smoke was billowing in. "Let's go say hello to your ex-husband."