The silver-tipped cane crashed against the dressing room door, the wood splintering like bone. Elara shrank back into the shadows, but there was nowhere left to run. The scent of silver-sharp, metallic, and burning-filled her nose, making her inner wolf howl in agony.
"Step out, little queen," Inspector Kael sneered, his hand reaching through the broken panel. "Or I'll have my men burn this wing to the ground with you inside it."
Before the Inspector could pull the door open, a blur of black and grey slammed into him. Silas had shifted mid-air, a massive, midnight-black wolf pinned the Inspector to the marble floor. A low, vibrating snarl shook the very foundation of the room.
"Silas, no!" Elara cried, pushing open the broken door.
The two other Collectors immediately raised their canes. "Treason!" one shouted. "The Alpha has turned! Kill them both!"
One of the men lunged toward Elara, his silver cane glowing with an ethereal, blue light. It wasn't just metal; it was enchanted. As the silver tip swung toward her face, Elara didn't cower. She felt a surge of cold, white light erupt from her chest.
She caught the cane with her bare hand.
The silver sizzled against her palm, but she didn't feel the burn. Instead, the white light from her skin seemed to swallow the silver's glow. The Collector's eyes widened in horror. "A Lunar... but the moon isn't even-"
With a strength she didn't possess seconds ago, Elara twisted the cane, snapping the enchanted wood like a dry twig. The shockwave knocked the man backward.
Silas, still in his wolf form, stood over the gasping Inspector, his golden eyes fixed on Elara. He looked startled-even a King wasn't prepared for the raw power of a Lunar Queen who had finally stopped fighting her nature.
"Enough!" Elara's voice echoed, layered with a resonant power that made the air shimmer.
The third Collector dropped his weapon, his knees hitting the floor involuntarily. It wasn't a choice; it was a biological command. The Lunar bloodline didn't just lead; it commanded the very essence of the wolf.
Kael, pinned under Silas's paws, wheezed out a laugh. "You think... this is a victory? You've just declared war on the High Council. They will send an army, Silas. They will tear this estate apart to get to her."
Silas shifted back to his human form, his naked chest heaving, his skin etched with fresh silver burns from the struggle. He didn't look at the Inspector. He looked only at Elara, specifically at her glowing palm that was already healing.
"Let them come," Silas said, his voice cold as the grave. He walked to Elara, wrapping his burned hand in hers. "I've spent five years waiting for her to come back to me. I'm not losing her to a bunch of old men in grey coats."
He turned his gaze to Kael. "Go back to the Council. Tell them the debt is canceled. Tell them the Queen has returned. And tell them if they set foot on Blackwood land again, I won't just pin you down. I'll feed you to the forest."
The Collectors scrambled to their feet, dragging their broken comrade with them. They fled the room, but the look in Kael's eyes promised that this was only the beginning.
As the door slammed shut, the glow around Elara faded. The adrenaline vanished, replaced by a bone-deep exhaustion. She stumbled, and Silas caught her, pulling her small frame against his massive, scarred chest.
"You fought for me," he whispered into her hair.
"I didn't have a choice," Elara muttered, her eyes closing. "I think... I think I remember why I ran, Silas."
He pulled back, his expression guarded. "Why?"
"Because I knew that if I stayed, I would love you," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "And I knew that loving an Alpha meant a lifetime of war."
Silas didn't answer with words. He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers, a silent vow between mates. The war was here, but for the first time in her life, Elara wasn't the prey.
