The Sun Marked Luna

The forest passed by in a blur of obsidian leaves and silver moonlight.

Alpha Malakar carried me in his arms effortlessly as he sprinted through the dense treeline, his Enforcers forming a deadly, silent perimeter around us. Every leap he made over fallen logs and jagged rocks was smooth, his immense physical strength keeping me completely steady against his chest.

I kept my cheek pressed into the heavy leather of his jacket. The scent of rain, pine, and hot lightning wrapped around my senses like a velvet shield.

"You're quiet, little fire," Malakar's voice rumbled, vibrating directly through my ribs.

"I'm waiting to wake up," I admitted, my voice barely audible above the howling wind. "Or waiting for you to realize you took the wrong girl."

Malakar paused mid-stride, landing silently on a high cliff overlook. Below us, the torchlights of the Silver Shadow Pack burned like tiny embers in the valley.

He didn't put me down. Instead, he adjusted his grip, bringing my eyes level with his glowing amber gaze. The intensity in his face made my pulse race.

"There is no mistake, Nora," he said, his thumb tracing the bruised line of my jaw where Lady Caelia's wine glass had clipped me earlier. His touch was warm, sending tiny, electrifying currents across my skin. "I knew your scent before I even stepped foot into that pathetic hall."

"I don't have a wolf, Malakar," I whispered, the painful truth tasting like ash on my tongue. "I am rankless. I can't protect your pack, I can't give you strong heirs, and I-"

"Do not speak of yourself that way," he cut in sharply, his voice carrying an Alpha command so potent it made my chest ache. But his eyes were fiercely protective. "You felt it back there, didn't you? When our hands touched."

My heart skipped a beat.

The roar. The ancient, dark howl that had vibrated deep inside my soul the second his skin met mine.

Before I could answer, a blood-curdling screech echoed through the trees behind us.

The Enforcers immediately unsheathed their silver blades, forming a circle around us. From the shadows of the canopy, massive, twisted shapes began to descend-wolves, but wrong. Their fur was matted with black sap, their eyes glowing an unnatural, feverish purple.

*Shifted silver shadows,* warped by black magic. Vance had sent his tracking hounds, but they weren't trying to capture me.

They were hunting to kill.

"Protect the Luna!" the lead Enforcer barked, his claws extending.

Malakar set me down behind him on the edge of the cliff, drawing a massive, runic broadsword from his back in a single fluid motion. The black steel hummed with raw energy.

"Vance is desperate," Malakar growled, his eyes flashing dangerous gold as he stepped in front of me. "He'd rather destroy the bloodline than let Bloodfang hold the key to the ancient gates."

One of the shadow wolves lunged straight for my throat, bypassing Malakar entirely.

I threw my hands up in sheer panic.

Instead of teeth sinking into my neck, a violent wave of golden energy exploded from my palms. The blast shattered the night air, hurling the shadow wolf fifty feet into the stone cliff face, crushing it instantly.

Silence fell over the ridge. The remaining beasts recoiled in terror.

I stared at my trembling hands, which were now glowing with soft, ancient runes traced in gold under my skin.

Malakar turned his head, looking back at me with a slow, dark smile that sent a shiver straight down my spine.

"A wolfless pest?" he murmured, turning to face the remaining beasts with lethal calm. "No, little fire. You are an Empress."