The Royal Lycan Kingdom

Elara's POV

A loud crash broke my thoughts.

I bolted upright in the huge bed, my heart racing. Something heavy had fallen in the hallway outside my room. Footsteps pounded past my door, followed by angry voices.

"Find her! She can't have gone far!"

"Check every room in this wing!"

"The King will have our heads if anything happens to her!"

My blood turned to ice. They were looking for someone. But who?

I crept out of bed and pressed my ear to the door. More footsteps thundered past, moving fast. Whatever was going, it was serious.

The black rose on the ledge caught my eye again, and fear crawled up my spine like a cold spider. What if whoever left it had come back? What if they were here now?

Before I could lose my nerve, I cracked the door open and peeked out.

The passageway was chaos. Guards in silver armor ran back and forth, screaming orders. One of them spotted me and rushed over.

"Miss Stone! Thank the Moon Goddess you're safe." He was breathing hard, sweat dripping down his face. "Please, go back inside and lock the door."

"What's happening?" I asked, holding the doorframe.

"Someone broke into the palace," he said grimly. "They were spotted near your room."

My knees went weak. The black rose. Someone really had been watching me.

"Did they... did they want to hurt me?"

The guard's face was grim. "We don't know yet. But the King has ordered extra safety for you. No one gets near you without his approval."

Before I could ask more questions, he was gone, running down the hall with the others.

I slammed the door shut and turned the lock, my hands shaking. Someone had broken into a palace full of the strongest werewolves in the world. Just to get near me.

A gentle knock made me jump.

"Miss? It's Lyra. The King sent me to check on you."

I opened the door carefully. A woman about my mother's age stood there, with kind brown eyes and graying hair. She wore simple clothes and had a warm smile that reminded me of fresh-baked cookies.

"Oh, you poor dear," she said, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. "You look terrified. Come, sit down."

She led me to a chair by the window and sat across from me. There was something calming about her presence that made my racing heart slow down.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Lyra Moonwhisper," she said with a smile. "I'm the house caretaker. I've been working here for twenty years, taking care of everyone from kings to kitchen maids."

"The King sent you?"

"He did indeed. He thought you might need a friend right about now." Her eyes were gentle but sharp, like she could see right through me. "He also thought you might have some questions."

She was right. I had about a million questions.

"Why is everyone being so nice to me?" I blurted out. "Back at Silver Creek Pack, I was treated like dirt. Here, guards are guarding me and you're calling me 'Miss.' I don't understand."

Lyra's face softened. "Oh, sweet child. You've never been treated with respect before, have you?"

I shook my head, feeling tears prick my eyes. "Never. I was just the omega who cleaned and cooked. Nobody cared if I lived or died."

"Well, things are different here," Lyra said firmly. "King Alaric has given strict orders that you're to be treated as an honored guest. Anyone who shows you disrespect will answer to him personally."

The thought of the powerful King defending me made my stomach flutter in a strange way.

"But why?" I whispered. "Why does he care about a nobody like me?"

Lyra was quiet for a moment, studying my face. "Maybe you should ask him that yourself," she said finally. "But first, let's get you cleaned up and fed. You look like you haven't had a good meal in weeks."

She was right. At Silver Creek Pack, I usually only got leftover pieces after everyone else had eaten.

"Come on," Lyra said, standing up. "Let me show you around your new home."

"This isn't my home," I argued. "I'm just... visiting."

Lyra gave me a strange smile. "We'll see about that."

She led me out of the room and down a long hallway. Unlike the chaos from earlier, everything was quiet now. Guards nodded politely as we passed, saying "Good morning, Miss Stone" like I was someone important.

I still couldn't get used to it.

"This is the dining hall," Lyra said, opening a door to show a room with a table that could seat fifty people. "And this is the library." Another door showed shelves full of more books than I'd ever seen in my life.

"I can't read very well," I admitted, ashamed.

"Then we'll work on that," Lyra said like it was no big deal. "The King believes everyone should be educated."

We continued the tour, and with each room, I felt more overwhelmed. This place was like a fairy tale house. How could someone like me fit here?

"And this," Lyra said, opening the final door, "is where you'll be working."

I stepped inside and gasped. The room was full of plants and herbs, with sunlight streaming through big windows. It smelled like healing magic and fresh earth.

"Working?" I asked.

"As my assistant," said a new voice.

I turned to see an old man with a white beard and twinkling eyes. He wore clothes covered in stains from different potions.

"This is Master Aldric, our head healer," Lyra explained. "He's been asking for help with his herb garden."

"I don't know anything about healing," I said quickly.

Master Aldric laughed. "Maybe not with your mind, child. But your hands..." He pointed to a wilted plant on the windowsill. "Touch it."

"I don't think I should—"

"Trust me," he said softly.

I reached out nervously and touched one of the dying leaves. The moment my skin made touch, warmth flowed through my fingers. The plant straightened up, its leaves going green and healthy again.

I jerked my hand back in shock. "What just happened?"

"You have the gift," Master Aldric said, his eyes wide with surprise. "I've only seen healing magic that strong once before, and that was..."

He stopped talking, his face going pale.

"That was what?" I pressed.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Just... nothing. We should get you some breakfast."

But I could tell he was lying. The way he looked at me now was different—like he was seeing a ghost.

Lyra quickly led me away, talking about the kitchen and meal times. But I barely heard her. My mind was spinning with thoughts.

First the silver glow when King Alaric touched me. Now plants reacting to my touch. What was happening to me?

We entered the kitchen, and instantly several people stopped what they were doing to bow to me.

"Miss Stone," said the head cook, a plump woman with flour in her hair. "What would you like for breakfast? Anything at all."

Back at Silver Creek Pack, I would have been the one making breakfast for everyone else. Now they were offering to cook for me.

"Just... whatever you have is fine," I said, still not used to this treatment.

As I sat down to eat the most delicious meal I'd ever eaten, Lyra chatted about palace life. But I was only half listening. My mind kept going back to Master Aldric's response.

"Lyra," I said suddenly. "Has King Alaric ever saved anyone else like he saved me?"

She paused, her fork halfway to her mouth. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, does he make a habit of rescuing random omegas from rogues?"

Lyra set down her fork and looked at me seriously. "Elara, in all my twenty years here, I've never seen the King show interest in anyone the way he's interested in you."

"But why?"

"That's what everyone's wondering," she admitted. "The King isn't known for his kindness to strangers. He's feared throughout all the countries for his ruthlessness. Yet with you..."

"With me, what?"

"With you, he's gentle. Protective. Like you're something precious he's been looking for his whole life."

My heart started beating faster. "That's impossible."

"Is it?" Lyra asked. "Tell me, child, do you know anything about your real parents?"

The question hit me like a punch to the gut. "They died when I was a baby. That's all I know."

"And you were raised by Silver Creek Pack?"

"Yes, but they never told me much about my parents. Said it didn't matter since they were dead."

Lyra's expression grew worried. "Maybe it matters more than you think."

Before I could ask what she meant, a commotion broke outside. Guards were yelling again, and someone was screaming.

The kitchen door burst open, and a guard rushed in, his face white with fear.

"Miss Stone!" he gasped. "You need to come quickly. We found something."

"What kind of something?" Lyra wanted.

The guard's eyes were wide with fear. "A message. Carved into the wall of your old room."

My blood turned to ice. "What did it say?"

The guard swallowed hard before answering.

"It said: 'The Moon Goddess's daughter cannot hide forever. We're coming for what's ours.'"

The room went dead silent. Lyra's face had gone totally white.

"The Moon Goddess's daughter?" I whispered. "What does that mean?"

But Lyra was already standing, her hands shaking. "We need to find the King. Now."

"Why? What's wrong?"

She grabbed my arm, her grip tight with fear. "Because if that message is true, then you're not just any omega, Elara. You're the most powerful werewolf living."

"That's impossible—" "And," she continued, her voice dropping to a frightened whisper, "there are people who have been hunting you your entire life."