Chapter 2 - chapter 2

The first guard moves before I can breathe. His armor flashes silver in the bleeding light, sigils blazing across his chest as he lunges. "By order of the High Seer, restrain the Alpha!" Restrain me. The word detonates in my head. I raise a hand, trembling, pleading. "Don't—" But the chain already flies. Runes ignite along its length, sizzling with holy light. It snaps around my wrist—and burns. My skin sears, smoke curling where metal meets flesh. I scream, my Essence slamming outward in pure instinct. The chain shatters like glass. A pulse of scarlet power rolls through the hall, rattling the chandeliers, splintering the marble floor. The guards stagger back, blinded by the flare. My heartbeat syncs with the rhythm of the moon above—furious, wild, unstoppable. I can feel the wolf clawing inside me, desperate to break free. "Don't touch me!" I cry, but my voice isn't human anymore. It's deeper, layered, threaded with something ancient. The second wave of guards doesn't hesitate. They rush forward, blades drawn, their eyes hard with conviction. To them, I'm not their Alpha anymore. I'm a monster. One of them—young, terrified—shouts over the chaos. "She's possessed!" I almost laugh. If only it were that simple. Magic surges through me again, hotter this time. The crimson aura deepens, laced with threads of black shadow. I can feel it crawling up my arms, weaving through my hair, sparking at my fingertips. The air tastes like metal and lightning. "Contain her!" the High Seer shrieks. "Before she consumes us all!" Consume. What a strange word. Because right now, the only thing I want is for the pain to stop. I try to pull it back, to cage my Essence the way Corvin taught me—to steady my breathing, focus the power, anchor it. But every time I reach inward, I find his face. His hands on me. His voice whispering my name before everything went wrong. He tried to take it from you, my wolf snarls. He tried to drain you dry. "I know," I whisper aloud, trembling. "I know, but—" The floor erupts. Runes crumble beneath my feet, molten energy spilling from the cracks like lava. The chandeliers crash down, scattering fire and light across the marble. People scream. The banners of the Moon Court ignite. Through it all, I can still feel him—Corvin's energy, lingering, fading, a ghost under my skin. It makes me furious. It makes me ache. A guard grabs my arm. I twist, my Essence flaring in reflex. The air detonates between us, hurling him backward into a column. He hits hard—too hard—and goes limp. More shouting. More fear. The scent of it fills the air. "Lyric!" someone calls from the dais—Elaris, my childhood friend, the only one still standing near me. Her eyes are wide, wet, frantic. "You have to stop—please! They'll kill you!" "I can't," I choke out, voice raw. "It won't stop!" Because it won't. The power is a storm, tearing through me, devouring everything it touches. The harder I fight it, the stronger it becomes. It wants out. It wants to be seen. The High Seer raises her staff, her face a mask of divine fury. "Then the gods will do what you cannot." She slams the staff into the ground. Silver light bursts through the hall, colliding with my crimson energy. The impact is cataclysmic—sound and light fusing into a scream that shakes the palace. And then—silence. Everything slows. I see the dust hanging midair. The floating shards of marble glint like stars. The blood running down my arm moves sluggishly, almost lazy, in the impossible stillness. And through that frozen moment, I see him. Corvin. Or what's left of him—his spirit, his Essence, standing across the dais like smoke shaped into memory. His expression is calm, almost tender. The same tenderness that once made me trust him. Love him. Die for him. "Corvin," I whisper, voice breaking. But his image doesn't move. Doesn't speak. It just looks at me—with disappointment so deep it splits my heart open. "Don't," I beg. "Don't look at me like that. You know why I—" The illusion shatters. And the world snaps back into motion. A blast of energy explodes from my core, rippling outward in waves. Crimson lightning shoots through the hall, splintering the walls, blowing out the glass dome above. The moon stares down, vast and red and merciless. The guards are thrown back. The Seer's staff splinters. People run for their lives. The air itself screams as magic consumes the throne room. I can't tell where my power ends and the destruction begins. Every nerve in my body is alive, every inch of me burning with Essence. It's too much—too bright, too loud, too alive. My hair lifts, weightless, flames of energy licking the air. My eyes sting with light. My body trembles with both agony and release. For a moment, it's almost euphoric—the unbearable ache of grief twisting into something hot and raw and beautiful. A whisper grazes my ear, softer than breath. Let it go, Lyric. I spin, but there's no one there. Only the wind swirling through the shattered dome. "I can't," I whisper to no one. "If I let it go, it'll kill them." But even as I say it, I know I'm lying. Because it's already too late. The marble throne cracks in two. The moonlight pours in like liquid fire. Somewhere behind me, the High Seer screams a curse—words that I'll remember for the rest of my life: > "The Blood Alpha is born! And her reign will drown in red!" And with that prophecy, the last of my control breaks. My Essence bursts free in one final pulse—a wave of scarlet fury that sweeps through the hall, toppling pillars, extinguishing torches, silencing every sound. The Moon Court collapses into ruin. When the light finally fades, I'm alone. Standing amid rubble and ash, the scent of burning silk thick in the air. My gown clings to me, torn and smoking. My crown lies cracked at my feet. The guards are gone—or dead. The Seer, vanished. And in the center of the destruction, Corvin's body lies untouched, as if the storm itself refused to harm him. I sink to my knees beside him, fingers trembling as I brush the blood from his cheek. It's still warm. "Why did you make me do it?" I whisper, my voice breaking, my tears falling onto his lifeless skin. Outside, thunder rolls—a deep, aching sound that echoes the pulse in my veins. Somewhere in the distance, a horn sounds. The alarm for fugitives. For traitor s. They're coming for me. And as the moon burns overhead, I realize there's no going back. Not from this. Not ever. ---