Chapter 6 The Voice of the Queen
The courtyard of the Blood Moon fortress had become a slaughterhouse.
Thick, black smoke stung my eyes. Through the haze, I saw bodies colliding. The dark tactical gear of Ryker’s warriors mixed with the silver and blue uniforms of my old pack.
But it wasn't just wolves. Men in long leather coats wielded weapons that glowed with a purple runic light.
Witch Hunters.
Kade had broken the most sacred law of our kind. He had allied with humans who hunted us for sport just to get me back.
"Stay close!" Ryker shouted above the sound of gunfire.
He didn’t wait. He jumped into the fight. I watched in awe and fear as my husband—my mate—transformed into the monster the stories whispered about.
Ryker fought like a force of nature. He moved so quickly that he blurred, his sword cutting through the air. He decapitated a Witch Hunter with one swing, then spun and kicked a Silver River wolf into a stone pillar, shattering bones.
He was brutal and efficient, and he was protecting me.
I gripped the heavy sword he had given me, my knuckles turning white. I wasn't a warrior. I had never held a weapon before. But I wasn’t going to let them take me.
A Silver River wolf jumped at me from the smoke, shifting mid-air into a massive grey beast.
I shrieked and swung the sword blindly. The flat of the blade hit the wolf’s snout, startling him and causing him to stumble.
Before he could regain his balance, Jia appeared out of nowhere. She landed on the wolf's back, driving two daggers into his neck. The wolf fell with a wet gurgle.
"Keep moving, Luna!" Jia yelled, wiping blood from her face. "Don't stop!"
We pushed forward, trying to reach the western wall where the breach was. Ryker was cutting a path ahead, a whirlwind of death.
But the battlefield was chaotic. An explosion shook the ground to my left, throwing me off balance. I stumbled and fell hard onto the cobblestones. The sword slipped from my hand.
"Elara!" Ryker shouted, looking back.
"Look out!" I screamed.
Three Witch Hunters stepped out of the shadows behind Ryker, raising their runic crossbows. They fired.
Ryker growled and spun to deflect the bolts with his blade, but there were too many. One bolt struck him in the shoulder. He roared in pain as the purple magic sizzled against his skin, burning him.
"Ryker!" I scrambled to my feet, desperate to reach him.
A hand grabbed my arm. A hand I knew well.
"Got you," a voice hissed.
I turned around.
Alpha Kade stood there. He looked frantic. His perfect golden hair was a mess, and his blue eyes were wide and wild. He wasn’t looking at the battle. He was only focused on me.
"Kade," I breathed, disgust churning in my stomach.
"I warned you," Kade panted, tightening his grip on my arm until it bruised. "I said I would come for you. Look at this place, Elara. It's a death trap. Ryker will get you killed."
"You attacked us!" I shouted, struggling against his grip. "You brought Witch Hunters to our door! You're the one killing people!"
"I did it for you!" Kade yelled back, shaking me. "To save you from him! You don’t belong with these monsters. You belong with me. You are my mate."
"I am Ryker’s wife!" I snapped.
I raised my hand and slapped him hard.
The sound cut through the chaos of battle. Kade froze, stunned. The girl he knew—the quiet, obedient Elara—would never have dared to touch an Alpha.
His shock shifted to rage. His eyes turned blue.
"You ungrateful little..." he growled. "I am trying to save your life!"
He yanked my other arm, dragging me toward the breached gate. "We are leaving. Now."
"No!" I dug my heels into the ground, but he was an Alpha. He was too strong. I was being pulled away, inch by inch.
I looked for Ryker. He was surrounded by six Hunters, fighting for his life. He couldn't reach me. Jia was engaged with two wolves.
I was alone.
"Let me go!" I screamed, panic rising in my throat.
"Never," Kade growled. "I made a mistake letting you go once. I won't do it again. You will come back, bear my pups, and learn your place."
Learn your place.
Something inside me snapped.
It wasn't a wolf or a physical change. It was something older, something deeper. An unseen power erupted in my chest like a volcano waking up.
My vision turned white. The sounds of battle faded to a dull roar. The only thing I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears and a voice—my voice—echoing in my mind.
KNEEL.
I didn’t mean to shout it. It just burst from my throat.
"I SAID LET GO!" I screamed.
My voice didn't sound like Elara. It resonated like a thousand bells ringing, vibrating the very air around us.
A shockwave of violet energy exploded from my body.
It hit Kade like a freight train.
He didn’t just let go. He was blasted backward, flying ten feet through the air before crashing into a stone wall. He crumpled to the ground, gasping, blood leaking from his nose.
But it didn’t stop there.
The Witch Hunters around Ryker froze. They dropped their weapons, clutching their heads in agony. The nearby wolves whined and fell to their bellies, pressing their snouts into the dirt in forced submission.
Even Ryker stumbled, dropping to one knee. He used his sword to support himself and looked at me, shock wide in his golden eyes.
The courtyard went silent.
The smoke cleared. I stood there, panting, my skin tingling.
I looked at my hands. They glowed, faint violet veins tracing patterns under my skin, pulsing with a rhythm that wasn't my heartbeat.
Kade groaned, trying to push himself up. He looked at me with pure terror.
"What..." Kade choked out, spitting blood. "What are you?"
I didn’t know. I felt dizzy. The power drained away as quickly as it had come, leaving me hollow and weak.
Ryker was the first to recover. He fought through the lingering pressure of my command and stood up. He ignored the Hunters and Kade.
He walked toward me with an unreadable expression.
"Elara," he said softly.
My knees buckled.
I fell forward. Ryker caught me before I hit the ground. He lifted me into his arms, holding me tightly.
"Retreat!" Kade screamed from the wall, his voice breaking. "Fall back! Everyone fall back!"
The Silver River wolves didn't need to be told twice. They took their injured and ran, terrified of the girl who had just overpowered an Alpha with her voice.
Ryker didn’t chase them. He looked down at me, brushing damp hair from my forehead.
"Violet," he whispered, gazing into my eyes. "Your eyes are violet."
"What does that mean?" I murmured, my vision blurring.
Ryker glanced at the retreating enemy, then back at me. A fierce, possessive look crossed his face.
"It means," he said grimly, "that Kade was right about one thing. You aren't a normal wolf."
He turned and carried me toward the blackened, shattered entrance of our home.
"You are a Queen."