Revenge With The Alpha King

CHAPTER 1

Vivienne's pov

The scent of burning wood filled the air. It was warm, familiar and comforting. It clung to my skin like memory. Tonight was our Sacred Full Moon Ceremony, and the Silvercrown Pack was alive with celebration. Laughter mingled with the flicker of bonfires, casting gold-lit shadows across the courtyard stones. Music wove through the breeze, playful and wild and above us, the Moon watched like a silent queen.

I spun beneath its gaze, the hem of my white ceremonial gown catching on the wind. For the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to forget the whispers, the expectations and the wolf I still couldn't summon. Tonight, I just wanted to dance, just for a while.

My bare feet skimmed the stone as I moved among the younger wolves, letting their joy infect me. Silvercrown wasn't just my home it was my family, my duty, my blood.

From across the clearing, I felt the weight of my parents' stares. My mother, Luna Liora, watched me with sharp, moon-pierced eyes. My father, Alpha Aldric, stood beside her, his jaw tight, arms crossed. They were worried. I could feel it in the way the wind shifted, the way the shadows curled just a little too long.

I ignored them.

Tonight was mine.

I stepped toward the central platform where our elders whispered ancient prayers. I bowed low, then tilted my face up to the moon.

Please, Selmara, I prayed silently. Peace. Just this once. Peace.

The wind answered, cool and soft.

Then the howls shattered the sky.

A brutal chorus-close. Too close.

Silence snapped through the courtyard, the drums stopped, the music died.

Then came the screams.

From the treeline, they charged-rogue wolves, feral and blood-thirsty. They tore through our gathering like shadows given teeth. I saw bodies fall, heard bones snap. The scent of joy was smothered in the stink of blood and fear.

My heart seized.

"Vivienne!"

My mother's voice.

She grabbed my wrist, dragging me back. My father moved in front of us, his form already trembling with the shift.

"They've come for you," he said.

"What?" I gasped, stumbling.

"This isn't a raid," my mother whispered. "It's a hunt."

My blood turned to ice.

"No-no, I-"

"There's no time," my father snapped. He pulled us toward a hidden door behind the main hall. The walls trembled from battle. The courtyard echoed with sickening sounds of cries and slashed flesh.

"You are more precious than you know, my moondrop," my mother said, voice cracking. She cupped my cheeks, her eyes filled with sorrow. Then, with trembling fingers, she traced a glowing rune on my forehead. Blue light bloomed against my skin, warm and sharp.

Her final gift.

"I won't leave you," I choked.

"You will," my father said.

He shoved me through the passage, into the dark woods. Behind me, I heard their final growls. Their last stand and then-nothing.

I ran.

Branches clawed at my arms as I stumbled through the trees. My dress snagged on thorns, tore at the seams, blood oozed from my palms where bark had splintered my skin. The world around me blurred, moonlight slicing through black trees, firelight flickering behind me like the memory of everything I'd lost.

When I reached the top of the hill, I turned back.

Silvercrown burned.

Our home-its shining white walls and high towers was nothing but black bones now. Smoke curled into the sky like mourning veils and there, on the courtyard steps, lay two still forms.

I knew them by shape, not sight. My mother's dark braid. My father's wide shoulders.

I dropped to my knees, the air leaving my lungs in one violent sob.

Gone.

All of them.

Everyone I had ever known.

I was the last Silvercrown.

But I wasn't alone. Not yet.

Silas, I thought, clutching my arms around myself. He'll help me. He always said he would. He was the first to care.

The thought was all I had left.

So I got up and I ran toward Vale Manor.

The manor rose like a ghost from the mist. Its old stone walls had once felt warm, familiar. Now they felt cold and distant. The golden light from the upper windows shimmered through the fog, but it didn't feel like hope. It felt like illusion.

I pushed open the iron gate with scraped hands and stumbled across the gravel walk. I nearly collapsed at the steps, but somehow, I kept going. My fist struck the door-once, twice, three times.

"Silas!" I gasped. "Please-it's me. Vivienne!"

Footsteps.

The latch clicked.

The door creaked open.

Silas Vale stood there, shirt wrinkled, hair tousled. His eyes widened slightly but only for a second. His gaze swept over me slowly, mechanically. Torn dress, bloodied hands, ash-covered face.

His expression didn't change.

He didn't move to touch me. He didn't even blink.

"I-I ran," I stammered. "The rogues... they attacked. My parents-they're dead. I didn't know where else to go-"

He stepped outside and shut the door behind him.

"Okay," he said. "So, why are you here?"

I blinked. "What... what do you mean? You told me if I ever needed you, you'd be there. That we were bonded. That we were fated-"

He gave a short, cruel laugh. "I told you that," he said, "because you were desperate to hear it."

I stared at him. "You... lied?"

"You never shifted. You don't know what a bond feels like. You loved me like a girl clings to her first storybook romance." He leaned against the doorframe like we were discussing the weather. "I played along."

My stomach twisted. "I loved you."

"And I used you," he said flatly. "Until you stopped being useful."

The door creaked behind him.

"Silas?" a voice called. "What's taking so long?"

A woman stepped into the light golden hair, emerald green eyes and a silk robe barely tied over a visibly pregnant belly.

Genevieve Ravenfold.

She glowed like a crown jewel and looked at me like I was dirt beneath her heel.

"Oh," she said sweetly. "You didn't tell me you had a stray."

"Genevieve-" I started, but my voice cracked.

She slid her arms around Silas's, resting her hand possessively on his chest. "You didn't say she'd show up looking like a corpse."

I stepped back.

"You said I was yours," I whispered.

"You were a story I told myself," he replied. "One I stopped believing in a long time ago."

"Say it, then," I said, trembling. "Say I was never yours."

He looked me dead in the eyes.

"You were never mine."

I froze.

Then he moved.

His hand shot out, gripping my chin and from his pocket, he pulled a small vial. The purple liquid inside shimmered darkly.

Wolfsbane.

"No-Silas, please-"

He forced the vial between my lips.

The liquid burned my throat with pain in every nerve. I collapsed to the ground, convulsing and my vision fractured into black and blue.

You're nothing, Vivienne," he whispered, crouching beside me. "Not even worth a real bond."

The world spun.

And then-

I let the darkness take me.

CHAPTER TWO

Vivienne's POV

By Selmara's bloody fangs! What is this horrible smell?

It smelled like a mixture of damp earth, sweat, and something rotten I couldn't name. The stench clung to my senses until I could nearly taste it.

The sharp, foul odour jolted me awake.

I tried to move and pain bloomed across every inch of my body. A deep, bruising ache settled into my limbs, like I'd been trampled by a herd of wild beasts. When I tried to lift my arms, something bit into my wrists.

Hot, tight and heavy.

Silver chains.

I sucked in a breath, my eyes blinking open to weak light. Dull flames flickered from oil lamps dangling from the beams above, casting jagged shadows across cracked stone walls.

Whispers echoed and chains rattled. Someone sobbed quietly in the distance.

I wasn't alone.

Then came a voice, low and gruff.

"This one's dead, dispose of it. How many did they bring in this time?"

Dead?! My heart stuttered.

"Three last night," another replied. "But one of them seems... different."

Different? My pulse jumped.

I turned my head slowly, groggy and confused, and realized what I was in-

A cage.

Iron bars rusted but firm. One of dozens stacked and packed into this filthy place like we were livestock. Inside them, figures huddled or lay still-eyes hollow, spirits broken.

I pulled at the chains and pain flared again as the silver burned deeper into my skin.

"Don't bother," a voice rasped nearby. A woman, older maybe. "They don't break."

She flinched as I shifted to look at her.

I forced myself to speak. My throat was cracked, barely a whisper. "Where... where are we?"

She hesitated. Her eyes were glassy and empty. "The pits," she murmured. "An underground market. For she-wolves."

A cold chill swept through me.

I had heard the stories of wolves who vanished without a trace. Survivors who returned damaged, or never at all. I never believed I'd be one of them.

I yanked again at the chains. "How long-how long have I been here?"

The woman shook her head. "A day? Maybe two. Hard to tell in the dark."

Two days?

Panic clawed up my throat.

But then the memories hit.

Silas.

His cruel smile.

The vial of wolfsbane.

"You were a gamble," he'd said. "A bet that never paid off."

I had trusted him and believed him when he whispered, We're fated.

Lies.

Every touch. Every kiss. Every whispered promise. It was all manipulation. All designed to break me down. Now, the so-called bond between us felt like an anchor I needed to cut free of.

And worse?

I could still feel it. That lingering tether like some phantom limb.

His presence pressed against my chest like a fog but it wasn't warmth anymore.

It was poison.

He sold me.

The thought burrowed deep. Hot and vicious.

I clenched my jaw, pushing through the pain.

He sold me.

I won't let this bond tie me to him any longer.

I didn't know if I was strong enough but what was left if I didn't try?

I closed my eyes, ignoring the reek, the noise, the chains. I reached for the thread that tied me to him. That fake mate-bond. The thing I never truly felt but was made to believe existed and I began to speak-no, chant-the words my mother once taught me. Ancient, forbidden. A ritual of severance. My voice trembled but didn't break.

"By silver flame and blood shed, let this bond lie cold and dead. Flesh once sworn now torn apart, Rot the vow, erase the mark.

Selmara's moon, heed my call, strike this bond, let it fall. No more name, no more claim, burn it down with moonlit flame.

May the hunt forget your face, may the night erase your trace. By my will, by blood, by pain, you are nothing and so shall you remain."

Each word came with a tear, with grief and fire.

At first-nothing.

Then pain. White-hot and ripping. A storm through my bones.

I screamed, arching as my body convulsed.

Then-

SNAP.

The silver chains fell from my wrists and clattered to the floor.

Gasps rippled across the dark.

I dropped to my knees, trembling. My hands-no, claws-were covered in soft, shimmering silver fur. My body ached. I stared, breathless and shocked, as the markings along my arms and legs pulsed glowing blue runes, flowing like molten lava.

I had turned.

For the first time ever.

Gasps and murmurs filled the air.

"A rune-marked wolf."

"She'll fetch a high price."

A scarred trader approached, his face familiar. He was the one who had spoken earlier. His eyes glinted with a mix of fear and greed.

"What do we have here?" he said. "A rare sight indeed."

I growled.

He reached for me. I lunged, snapping my jaws at his fingers. He hissed and jerked back.

"Feisty," he said, laughing. "That'll cost extra."

The others laughed.

Then the laughter stopped.

Silence fell like a blade.

Everyone turned toward the entrance of the market.

Someone was coming.

A tall man entered dressed in tailored black. His walk slow, calculated. His presence demanding attention.

His gaze fell on me cold and intimidating.

I bared my fangs. He didn't flinch only smiled. A cold and knowing smile.

"Let's see what makes you so special," he murmured.

He gestured and guards approached my cage.

I braced myself.

The door opened.

I lunged again ripping through the first guard. The second stumbled. I was almost out. The second guard tried to grab me from behind, but I twisted, snapping my jaws at his arm. He yelped and ran away.

Shouts erupted."

"Restrain her!"

"Be careful, she's dangerous and expensive!"

I ran toward the exit, heart pounding. I could make it. If I could just-

A sharp crack echoed through the air.

A dart pierced my shoulder.

Pain exploded.

Moon'sbane.

My legs collapsed beneath me.

"Don't kill her!" someone shouted. "She's worth more alive!"

I heard laughter.

The man in black knelt beside me, his hand brushing the runes on my arm.

"So rare," he murmured. "So valuable."

He turned to the slavers. "Prepare her for transport."

"No-" I tried to speak.

But the drug pulled me under.

This time, I didn't wake in a cage.

I woke in a chamber lined with silk and gold.

But I'd never felt more imprisoned than now.

CHAPTER THREE

Cassius's POV

"You want me to stop searching for Celene?"

My voice was quiet, but it carried enough weight to suck the air from the room. The torches lining the chamber flickered against stone walls, casting long, shifting shadows like ghosts.

The council members looked at one another, avoiding my eyes like prey sensing a predator. Elder Varren, always the first to speak, cleared his throat.

"Your Majesty," he said carefully, "it's been two weeks. We've sent scouts, paid informants, questioned every slaver and trader across five towns. Even the black markets have turned up empty." He exhaled. "We must assume-"

"Assume nothing."

The steel in my voice sliced through the room.

Varren hesitated, then pressed on. "Every day you delay choosing a mate, the packs grow restless, whispers spread. They need stability, they need a queen."

I leaned forward, bracing both hands on the long oak table. "My sister is missing, and you're worried about matters of the bed?"

Elder Rivas-sharp-eyed and always the boldest among them met my gaze. "It's not about comfort, Your Majesty. It's about the future of the bloodline. The kingdom needs an heir."

A bitter laugh nearly escaped me.

Of course. That's all Celene and I ever were to them-symbols. Not people.

I straightened slowly. "My bloodline is intact and I'll keep it that way by finding my sister first. No mate banquets and no distractions."

"You are king," Varren said tightly. "But even kings answer to reason. Celene was taken by professionals-who left no trail. If she were alive, we'd have found something by now."

My fists clenched at my sides. They didn't understand. They never had.

"You want me to abandon her." The words tasted like poison.

"We want you to lead," Varren snapped. "You are the last of your line. Without a queen, you appear weak-and other wolfs are watching for weaknesses to exploit."

A growl rumbled low in my chest, my wolf bristling at the suggestion that my leadership was fragile.

But before I could respond, another voice cut through the tension.

"And the southern borders," added Marcellus. "Rogue activity increases by the day. Two towns were raided last week. Our warriors are spread too thin chasing shadows."

Elder Baelric chimed in. "Trade routes are in disarray and without alliances, the merchant guild threatens to raise the tariffs if we do not secure trade agreements soon. The economy slips while the people wait."

Varren leaned forward. "The Vileclaw Pack grows bolder with each passing moon. Alpha Balthazar has not sworn his loyalty to you. He's Watching for any sign of weakness." His voice lowered. "If he challenges your rule, we could be facing a war before winter."

I ground my teeth.

A kingdom unraveling, a sister missing and all they cared about was their titles, and their treaties.

"You expect me to sit on a throne and make promises while my sister's out there-alone? In chains?"

"The kingdom suffers, too," Marcellus said. "The people lose faith."

I dug my fingers into the table, splintering the wood beneath my grip. My wolf bristled just under my skin, itching for blood.

Silence fell.

Then Rivas, calm and deliberate, spoke: "We expect you to be king."

Her words rang through the room, heavy as judgment.

I stepped back from the table. My chair scraped across the stone.

"I'll find her."

"And if you don't?" Varren asked.

I turned, voice like cold iron. "Then I'll turn Noctshire upside down until I find her body."

No one spoke after that.

"Dismissed," I said.

They filed out quietly only Rivas lingered.

"Your Majesty," she said softly. "Has your wolf ever longed for someone?"

I stiffened. "That's irrelevant."

"Not to fate," she replied. "If he has... perhaps your future isn't tied to the past but to what's coming."

Before I could answer, she turned and left, her robes whispering behind her.

I stood there for a moment, my wolf pacing, restless.

They wanted me to forget my sister, to claim a mate but I wasn't done hoping.

Not yet.

The night air bit at my skin as I stepped onto the balcony. The forest below stretched into endless darkness, the scent of pine and night wind sharp in my lungs.

Footsteps behind me.

"The council still breathing down your neck?" Magnus asked with a chuckle.

I glanced at my Beta and best friend. He leaned against the rail, arms crossed, casual as always.

"They want me to find a mate," I muttered.

Magnus snorted. "You? Mated? Poor girl. She wouldn't survive a week."

I shot him a look.

He grinned. "So, you still planning to chase clues until they chain you to a marriage contract?"

"There's one last lead," I said.

Magnus straightened. "The warehouse?"

I nodded. "Old tunnels, off the eastern edge. A few traders went missing. Someone's covering tracks and it smells like money and power."

Magnus hesitated. "It's dangerous."

"Exactly why I'm going."

He sighed. "You really are a stubborn bastard. You know that?"

"So I've been told."

He pushed off the railing. "I'll gather a small unit, if this goes sideways, I'm blaming you."

"Deal."

As he left, I stared out across the dark treetops.

She was out there and I was running out of time.

Midnight.

We crept through alleys near the border, shadows curling along the city's forgotten edges. The scent of rust and old coin clung to everything.

"This is it," Magnus whispered. "Last reported movement came through here."

The warehouse ahead slouched like a corpse, its wooden slats peeling. The air felt too still.

"You feel that?" he asked.

I nodded. My wolf growled low. The silence was wrong. This place reeked of secrets.

A whisper of doubt slid through my thoughts. Was this another dead end?

Then I caught it.

A scent. Barely there but familiar.

Celene.

My chest tightened.

Magnus noticed. "Cassius-?"

A noise cut through the dark. Low. Fragile. A whimper.

I moved.

My wolf surged forward. Claws itched beneath skin.

"Wait-" Magnus hissed.

"No time."

"Move," I ordered Magnus, already stepping into the darkness.

Magnus cursed under his breath but followed.

The hunt had begun.