Chapter 5 Bite the Crown

Chaos descended like wolves on blood.

Raven barely had time to process the warning before sirens blared through the compound. Somewhere beyond the stone walls, the sharp cracks of gunfire echoed, followed by something worse-howls that didn't sound human.

Lucien didn't hesitate. "Seal the chambers. No one leaves unless I say so."

The elders scattered. Helena muttered under her breath, symbols on the walls glowing brighter. Raven was still panting from the blood rite, her palm burning as if the bond had been etched into her nerves. Her skin felt like it was vibrating with invisible power, raw and wild.

She grabbed Lucien's arm. "Tell me what the hell is happening."

He turned to her, eyes darker than she'd ever seen. "The Nightfangs don't just want you. They want to turn you."

"Turn me?"

"Into one of theirs. If they succeed-if they complete their own claiming rite with your blood-they'll destroy everything I've built."

His voice was barely above a growl.

Raven swallowed. "So I'm the battlefield now."

"You've always been," he said grimly. "You just didn't know."

A deafening boom shook the walls. Dust rained from the ceiling.

Helena cursed in ancient tongues, locking the chamber with a heavy chain of silver. "We're running out of time. If they breach this room-"

"They won't," Lucien snapped.

"You don't know that."

"I do." His voice cracked like a whip. "I'm calling the beast."

Helena's eyes widened. "No. You can't control it, not after the bond-"

But he was already walking toward the center of the circle, where the blood from their palms had dried in runes across the floor.

Raven reached for him. "Lucien-what beast?"

He looked at her one last time, and in that moment, something ancient lived in his eyes. Not a man. Not even a wolf. A monster born of both.

"The one that wears the real crown," he said. "And it wants you too."

Before she could respond, he dropped to his knees and howled.

The shift was not clean.

It tore through his body like fire. Bones snapped. Muscles twisted. His scream turned into a roar so deep it made the walls vibrate. Black fur exploded from his skin, rippling with silver streaks like lightning.

What stood in Lucien's place was no ordinary werewolf.

It was massive-easily eight feet tall, fangs like daggers, claws that scraped the stone floor. Its eyes were molten gold, locked on Raven with a hunger she didn't understand.

Helena pulled Raven back. "He's still in control, but barely. If you move wrong-"

"I don't care," Raven whispered. Her heartbeat was chaos, but she didn't run. Couldn't.

Because beneath the terror, something inside her recognized him.

The wolf stepped forward. One paw. Then another.

A low growl rumbled from its throat, but Raven didn't flinch.

Instead, she stepped forward too.

Their eyes locked.

"Lucien," she whispered.

The beast exhaled, sharp and ragged.

Then the wall behind them exploded.

The blast knocked them all off their feet. The chamber filled with smoke and screams. Raven's ears rang, vision swimming. She scrambled up, coughing, just in time to see the first Nightfang step through the smoke.

He was tall. Pale as death. Black veins threaded through his bare chest like poison.

And his eyes-

They glowed red.

Lucien's beast roared and lunged.

The two collided mid-air, claws and teeth tearing. Blood sprayed the walls.

Another Nightfang followed. Then two more.

Helena pushed Raven toward the rear corridor. "Go!"

"I'm not leaving him!"

"You're no good to him dead!"

Raven looked back-Lucien was fighting off three Nightfangs, claws soaked in black blood. But he was bleeding too. And even in beast form, he was losing ground.

"I can help," Raven said. "There has to be something-"

"Use the bond," Helena said quickly. "Call him back. Anchor him."

"What does that mean?"

"Your blood is tied now. You're the only one who can bring him back if the beast starts to consume him."

Raven turned, heart racing.

The wolf was on his knees, pinned by two of the creatures. One was raising a silver dagger, aiming for his chest.

"Lucien!" Raven screamed. "Come back to me!"

The wolf's head jerked.

Raven ran toward him, ducking a claw swipe, leaping over a fallen Nightfang.

"Lucien, please. If I'm yours, then fight for me!"

The bond flared like fire.

Lucien's body arched. A howl split the air so loud it cracked the floor.

The wolf exploded upward in a cyclone of fury, tossing the attackers like broken dolls.

The Nightfangs shrieked. One tried to flee.

Lucien didn't let him.

Raven stood frozen as the beast turned back to her. Eyes still wild, but clearer.

"Come back," she whispered. "I need you."

The wolf stepped toward her.

And began to shift.

It wasn't clean, but it wasn't violent this time.

Muscles twisted, fur retreated, bones cracked back into place. When it was done, Lucien stood naked, bleeding, shaking.

But alive.

He collapsed into her arms.

"I'm still here," he murmured. "Because of you."

She caught him. "You're an idiot."

"I know."

She touched his face. "You called that monster out to protect me."

"No," he said, barely conscious. "I am that monster."

Behind them, Helena was already reinforcing wards as the other guards stormed in, taking out the few Nightfangs still crawling through the ruins.

Raven didn't let go of him.

"Tell me what happens now," she said quietly.

Lucien's lips curled faintly. "Now the world knows you're mine."

She shook her head. "I didn't agree yet."

"You bonded. You called me back. That's more than agreement."

"I didn't do it for the bond," she whispered. "I did it for you."

Lucien opened his eyes. "Then wear the mark."

"No."

"Yes," he said. "Because now the Nightfangs will come harder. They'll send their Prince next. And he won't stop until you're his."

She felt a chill ripple through her.

"There's a prince?"

Lucien nodded slowly. "Malrick. He's older than me. Stronger."

"And you think he wants me too?"

Lucien sat up, pain flashing in his face. "He doesn't want you. He wants your lineage. You're not just some accident of fate. Your mother was from the lost bloodline of the White Moon."

"I've never even heard of that."

"You wouldn't have. The White Moon pack was wiped out twenty years ago. Betrayed. Burned to ash."

"And my mother survived?"

"Barely. She ran. Disguised herself. Married a human. Hid you."

Raven staggered back, like the truth had just punched her in the ribs.

"My entire life has been a lie."

Lucien nodded. "That's how it always starts."

She looked at her palm, where the blood had dried into something that still pulsed faintly under her skin.

"I'm not ready to wear your mark."

Lucien didn't argue. "Then you'll fight beside me."

"For now," she whispered. "But if I go down, I'm taking a few of those Nightfang bastards with me."

He smiled, bloody and raw. "That's my girl."

She helped him to his feet.

The smoke had cleared.

But the war had only begun.