Outside, the roar of the Silver-Blight explosion still echoed through the obsidian

mor of the First Queen" sounded like a myth, a bedtime story told to fr

ing women, their stone eyes seemingly following my every move. The door was a slab of

n. It melted into the door, the metal ripples

nward with a hea

armor that looked less like metal and more like frozen smoke. It was dark, iridescent, and

ped our bond away-began to throb. It wasn't the dull ache of rejection anymore

touch i

, his chest heaving as if he had just run miles. Behind him, the corridor was beginn

me. "It doesn't just protect the body. It binds to the bloo

a. My mother was a rogue from the southern wastes, and my father was a l

eep you weak. But Alaric's rejection should have killed you, Lyra. A wolf of your rank wouldn't have survived th

ring near my shoulder. "I nee

w wh

real, or if I'm finally losi

alm landing flat against th

rld ex

touched mine, a "Soul-Resonance" ignited that made the fated mate

skulls. A woman with hair like wildfire leading a legion of Lycans into the s

t me, his other arm wrapping around my wa

tion that shook the very walls of the vault. It was as if our sou

his eyes turning a brilliant, blinding

been was filled with a torrent of liquid fire. I felt my height shift, my muscles d

d. She hadn't been a rogue. She had been a fugitive. "She was the Last Primor

, we weren't two separate beings. We were a single force of nature. "The fated bond didn't break you because it coul

t and blasting the silver-blight mist out of the room. The armor on the ped

rst time. He wasn't just a King. He was my coun

ce sounding deeper, layered with a metallic

reverent pride. "Then put it on. Let the world

metal flowed like liquid, wrapping around my limbs, fusing with my skin. It

ed atop my head, and a cape of wove

ms of the Silver Moon warriors as they breached the lower gate

aws extending. "He's demanding to 'save' you

I didn't feel the fear anymore. I didn't feel the bet

m in,"

s touched the floor as I passed. They didn't even look at Fenris; their ins

ric stood at the head of a thousand wolves. He looked haggard, his eyes

surrender your crown! The Council has decreed your kind an abom

ht, the obsidian armor shimmer

te. Alaric's jaw dropped. The warriors behind him s

rching my face. "What have they done t

d the weight of the mountain. "I never was. You were just

den Soul-Resonance flared, il

nough for every wolf to hear. "But you've only suc

re of terror and greed. He looked

ric screamed, pointing his sword at Fenris. "If t

rs lunged, the ground between u

crawled out. It was a wolf the size of a house, covered in the sam

id. "He's been waiting for someone with