I Was Saved By the Lycan King Who Claimed Me

They dragged me down three flights of stairs. My wrists burned where the silver cuffs bit into skin. The Beta had one arm, the Gamma the other, and behind us came six more enforcers like I was some kind of monster.

Maybe I was.

We hit the main hallway, and that's when I saw them. Pack members lined the walls, watching. Whispering. Some looked scared. Others looked satisfied, like they'd been waiting for this moment since I came back.

"Keep moving," the Beta growled.

Kira stirred beneath my skin. *Let me out. Let me tear them apart.*

*Not yet,* I told her. But the rage was building, hot and vicious, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold her back.

The Gamma's grip tightened. "Don't even think about it."

I stopped walking.

They tried to pull me forward. I didn't budge. The silver burned, but I'd survived worse. Three years in the Rogue Lands had taught me that pain was just another language.

"I said move," the Beta snarled.

I looked at him. Really looked at him. Saw the fear beneath the bravado. "Make me."

His eyes widened. Then Kira exploded.

The shift tore through me like lightning. Bones cracked and reformed. My skin split and fur erupted, ash-grey and battle-scarred. The silver cuffs shattered as my wrists expanded, and suddenly I wasn't Arielle anymore.

I was Kira. Massive. Lethal. Free.

The Beta stumbled back, but not fast enough. I caught his arm in my jaws and bit down. Bone crunched. He screamed. I released him and he dropped, clutching the ruin of his arm.

The Gamma shifted mid-lunge, but he was too slow. I caught him by the throat and threw him. He crashed through the hallway window in an explosion of glass and wood. His wolf form hit the ground outside with a sickening thud.

Silence.

I stood in the center of the hallway, blood on my muzzle, surrounded by shattered silver and broken glass. The pack members pressed against the walls, eyes wide. Some of the omegas dropped to their knees, baring their necks in submission.

They felt it. The power radiating off me. Not Alpha power—something older. Wilder.

Then the tranquilizer dart hit my shoulder.

I snarled, spun toward the enforcers. They had guns raised, more darts loaded. Another one hit my flank. Then another.

The world tilted. My legs buckled. I tried to fight it, but the drugs were fast and strong. Kira howled in my head as I collapsed, my wolf form melting back into human skin.

I lay on the cold floor, naked and shaking, as boots surrounded me.

Kyler's face appeared above me. His expression was ice. "You just made a very big mistake."

I tried to speak, but my tongue was too heavy. The drugs pulled me under, and the last thing I heard was his voice, cold and final: "Break her legs. Make sure she can't shift again."

Pain woke me.

Not the dull ache of the tranquilizers. Sharp, white-hot agony that screamed through both legs. I tried to move and nearly blacked out again.

I was in a cell. Stone walls. No windows. A single bulb overhead cast sickly yellow light. The floor was lined with silver—thin strips embedded in the concrete that made my skin crawl just being near them.

My legs were twisted at wrong angles. Broken. Deliberately.

I bit down on a scream and forced myself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. The pain was a living thing, but I'd survived worse. I had to believe that.

The Luna's Amulet was still around my neck. They'd missed it in the chaos. I clutched it with shaking fingers, and the metal warmed against my palm.

*Record everything,* Elder Jackson had said.

I didn't know how it worked, but I had to trust her. Had to believe there was a reason she'd given it to me.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. I tensed, every muscle screaming in protest.

The cell door opened.

Reyna stepped inside, and she was smiling.

She looked perfect. Hair glossy, skin glowing, wearing a pale blue dress that made her look innocent. Angelic. But her eyes were cold.

"Hello, Arielle," she said softly. "Kyler's gone to meet with the Council. He'll be back in a few hours. I thought we should have a little chat."

I said nothing. Just watched her.

She moved closer, careful to avoid the silver strips. "You know, I almost admire you. Coming back here, thinking you could expose me. It was brave. Stupid, but brave."

"I didn't poison you," I managed. My voice was rough.

"Of course you didn't." She laughed. "I poisoned myself. Just a little. Enough to make it look convincing. Enough to frame you."

My blood went cold.

"Elder Jackson was the same," Reyna continued, circling me like a predator. "Wolfsbane derivatives, administered slowly over months. She never suspected a thing. Too trusting, that one. She actually thought I cared about this pack."

I clutched the amulet tighter. *Keep talking,* I thought. *Tell me everything.*

"Why?" I whispered.

"Because she was in the way." Reyna crouched down, just out of reach. "As long as she was alive, I'd never truly be Luna. The pack still looked to her for guidance. Still loved her. I needed her gone."

"Kyler—"

"Kyler is a fool," she said flatly. "He thinks he's in control, but he's not. He never was. I've been pulling his strings since the day we met. And once Elder Jackson dies, once you're executed for her murder, I'll have everything I ever wanted."

She stood, smoothing her dress. "You'll die down here, Arielle. Slowly. The silver will poison your blood, and your broken legs will make sure you can't heal. No one's coming to save you. No one even knows you're innocent."

She walked to the door, then paused. Looked back. "I win. You lose. Just like always."

The door slammed shut. The lock clicked.

I sat in the darkness, pain radiating through my body, and pressed the amulet against my chest. It pulsed once, warm and steady, and I knew—somehow—that it had recorded every word.

Reyna had just confessed to everything.

Now I just had to survive long enough to make sure someone heard it.