The Silver-Eyed Savior

Elara's POV

Pain exploded through my brain as I crashed into a tree trunk. Dagger's claws had barely missed my face, leaving hot scratches across my cheek instead.

"You can't run forever, little omega!" he snarled, moving toward me with yellow eyes gleaming.

I scrambled backward on my hands and knees, my heart pounding so loud I was sure he could hear it. The other rogues circled closer, closing every escape route. My legs shook from tiredness, and my wolf was too weak to help.

This was it. This was how I would die.

"Please," I whispered, hating how my voice cracked. "I told you, I have nothing—"

Dagger lunged.

A thunderous roar shook the entire forest.

Something huge crashed through the trees like thunder, sending branches flying everywhere. The rogues froze, their faces turning white with fear.

"The Shadow King," one of them whispered.

I looked up and my breath caught in my throat.

A wolf stood before us—but not just any wolf. He was huge, bigger than any creature I'd ever seen. His fur was pitch black, so dark it seemed to swallow the moonlight. But his eyes... his eyes glowed silver like falling stars.

Beautiful and frightening at the same time.

Dagger took a step back. "We were here first! She's ours!"

The black wolf's lips pulled back, showing teeth like white blades. When he growled, the sound made my bones tremble.

Then he moved.

I'd never seen anything so fast. One second he was ten feet away, the next he had Dagger pinned to the ground. The rogue boss screamed as massive jaws closed around his throat.

The other rogues scattered like scared mice, crashing through the underbrush. Even Sera, who had shown me kindness, vanished into the darkness with a terrified howl.

In seconds, it was over.

The black wolf stood over Dagger's still body, blood dripping from his nose. Those silver eyes found mine across the clearing, and I couldn't breathe.

He was death itself. Beautiful, powerful death.

Slowly, he walked toward me. Each step was silent despite his huge size. I should have run. Should have screamed. Instead, I sat frozen as he dropped his great head until we were eye to eye.

Up close, those silver eyes were even more beautiful. They seemed to look right through me, seeing everything I tried to hide.

"Go ahead," I whispered, too tired to fight anymore. "I'm ready."

The wolf made a sound that almost seemed like... laughter?

Then the air around him began to shimmer.

I watched in wonder as his form stretched and changed. Black fur melted away, replaced by smooth skin. The huge wolf body shifted until a man knelt before me instead.

The most beautiful man I'd ever seen.

He was tall and strong looking, with dark hair and sharp features. But those eyes—those impossible silver eyes—stayed exactly the same.

"What are you?" he asked, his voice deep but strangely gentle.

"Nobody," I answered honestly. My whole body ached, and I could barely keep my eyes open. "Just a rejected omega with nowhere to go."

His mouth bent into a small smile that made my stomach flutter in a strange way.

"No," he said, reaching out to touch my face with surprisingly soft fingers. "You're much more than that. I can feel it."

The moment his skin touched mine, something incredible happened.

Heat burst through my body—not painful, but warm and tingly. It was like drinking hot chocolate on a freezing day, or coming into sunshine after being in a dark room for hours.

My view blurred. The trees started spinning around me. But weirdest of all, I could swear my skin was glowing with soft silver light.

"Impossible," I heard the guy whisper, his voice full of shock.

Then everything went black.

I woke up floating.

At least, that's what it felt like. I was lying on something so soft I might have been on a cloud. Silk sheets—actual silk sheets—covered my body. The bed was huge, bigger than my entire room back at the pack house.

"You're awake."

I sat up quickly, my heart jumping. The same silver-eyed man sat in a chair beside the bed, watching me with that intense stare.

In the sunshine streaming through tall windows, he was even more handsome. And somehow more dangerous looking too.

"Where am I?" I asked, pulling the sheets up to my chin.

"My home," he said simply. "You're safe."

"Who are you?" He stood up, and I realized just how tall he really was. "I am King Alaric Blackthorn, ruler of the Royal Lycan Kingdom." His voice was calm, but there was power in every word. "And you're safe now."

My mouth fell open. King Alaric? The Shadow King himself? Stories about him had scared pack children for years. He was supposed to be a monster who ate other werewolves for breakfast.

But he'd saved me. And those gentle fingers on my face...

"Why?" I whispered. "Why did you help me?"

He moved closer to the bed, and I caught his scent—pine trees and something wild and masculine that made my wolf purr inside me.

"Because," he said, studying my face like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve, "you're not what you seem to be, little omega."

"I don't understand."

"That light," he continued, sitting on the edge of the bed. "When I touched you, your skin glowed silver. Do you know what that means?"

I shook my head, confused and scared.

King Alaric's silver eyes grew fierce. "It means you're not an omega at all, Elara Stone."

My breath caught. "How do you know my name?"

"I know many things," he said strangely. "Including the fact that Alpha Kaiden made the biggest mistake of his life when he rejected you."

Hearing Kaiden's name felt like a punch to the gut. "He was right to reject me. I'm nothing special."

"Is that what you really believe?" King Alaric leaned closer, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. "Because what I saw last night tells a very different story."

"What did you see?"

He was quiet for a long moment, just looking at me. Finally, he spoke.

"I saw power, Elara. Real power. The kind that's been sleeping inside you your whole life."

My heart started beating faster. "That's impossible. I'm just—"

"You're not just anything," he interrupted strongly. "And I'm going to prove it to you."

He stood up and walked toward the door, then stopped and looked back at me.

"Rest today. Tomorrow, your real training starts."

"Training for what?"

King Alaric's smile sent shivers down my spine—not from fear, but from something else entirely.

"To become who you were always meant to be." He paused, his silver eyes burning into mine. "Before someone else tries to stop us."

"What do you mean, someone else?"

But he was already walking away, leaving me with more questions than solutions.

As the door closed behind him, I noticed something that made my blood turn to ice.

There, on the windowsill, sat a single black rose.

The same type of flower that had been left on my pillow the night before Kaiden refused me.

Someone had been watching me. Following me.

And now they knew exactly where to find me.