Chapter 3 The Golden Awakening

• The pain was unlike anything Anna had ever imagined.
• ​It wasn't the sharp, tearing agony of a standard wolf shift she had heard the other pack members describe. It didn't feel like bones breaking; it felt like her very soul was being unmade.
• ​Every cell in her body was being dismantled and reconstructed in a fire so hot it should have turned her to ash.
• ​"No... please..." Anna gasped, her fingers digging into the rot-softened earth.
• ​She could hear the distant howling of the Silver Moon pack. They were celebrating her exile. They were laughing at her broken heart.
• ​The rejection bond was supposed to kill her. A wolfless Omega shouldn't survive the severance of a fated mate bond, especially not one with a high-ranking Alpha like Caine.
• ​But instead of the cold embrace of death, Anna felt a surge of ancient, primal heat. It started in the small of her back and raced toward her heart like a wildfire.
• ​"Do not beg them, little star," a voice whispered.
• ​It wasn't her own. It was deep, resonant, and vibrated in the marrow of her bones. It sounded like the tectonic plates of the earth grinding together.
• ​"They did not reject you. They simply broke the cage."
• ​The golden light erupted from her skin, blinding and absolute. It illuminated the twisted, black trees of the Forbidden Woods, turning the shadows into noon-day sun.
• ​Anna screamed, but the sound that tore from her throat was no longer human. It was a roar that shook the canopy, sending birds into flight for miles.
• ​Her vision shattered into a thousand golden shards. She could see the microscopic spores on the ferns, the heat signatures of the rogues hiding in the brush, and the pulsing, crimson energy of the Blood Moon above.
• ​Her spine snapped and elongated. Her skin didn't tear; it shimmered like liquid gold, knitting itself into a coat of fur that flickered with its own inner light.
• ​When the light finally subsided, Anna stood on four massive, clawed paws. She was no longer a small girl. She was a Lycan—a creature of myth, standing seven feet tall at the shoulder, her coat a brilliant, Spun Gold that made the moon look pale.
• ​The suppression of her bloodline was over. For eighteen years, the Silver Moon’s "Alpha" blood had acted as a poison, keeping her true nature dormant. Caine’s rejection had been the final key to her awakening.
• ​A twig snapped.
• ​Anna spun around, a low, tectonic growl vibrating in her massive chest. Her golden eyes, slit like a predator’s, locked onto a figure stepping out of the deepest shadows.
• ​He was massive.
• ​The man was dressed in obsidian-black leather that seemed to drink the moonlight. His hair was as dark as a raven’s wing, and his eyes... they were a piercing, iridescent violet.
• ​Even in her new, powerful form, Anna felt the weight of his presence. It was absolute. It was sovereignty.
• ​"So," the man said, his voice a smooth, dangerous velvet. "The prophecy wasn't a lie. The Sun has finally returned to the woods."
• ​Anna lunged, her instincts screaming invader, but the man didn't flinch. He didn't even raise a hand in defense. He simply released a wave of power so heavy it pinned Anna to the ground.
• ​"Easy, little star," he murmured, walking closer. "I am not the one who broke your heart. I am the one who has been waiting a thousand years to heal it."
• ​The power he radiated was grounding. It felt like the earth beneath her feet—unchanging, solid, and protective.
• ​Anna shifted back. It happened in an instant, her body folding back into its human form. She stood naked and shivering in the damp clearing, the golden glow still humming beneath her skin like a second heartbeat.
• ​The man didn't look away, but his violet eyes weren't filled with the lust or the disgust she had seen in Caine. They were filled with an ancient, terrifying reverence.
• ​He took off his heavy black cloak, the fabric smelling of obsidian, winter frost, and something primal. He stepped forward and draped it around her shoulders.
• ​The moment his fingers brushed her skin, a shockwave of electricity surged through her. It wasn't the painful, desperate pull of Caine’s bond. This was deeper. It was a recognition of souls.
• ​"Who are you?" Anna whispered, clutching the heavy fabric to her chest.
• ​The man leaned down, his face inches from hers. The scent of him invaded her senses, instantly calming the storm in her blood.
• ​"My name is Silas," he said, his voice a promise. "King of the Lycan Throne. And you, Anna of the Silver Moon, are the Fated Queen my bloodline has died for."
• ​Anna’s breath hitched. Tears, hot and fresh, spilled down her cheeks. "No. You don't understand. Caine... he rejected me. He called me a mistake. He told me to die."
• ​Silas’s violet eyes flashed with a murderous rage that made the temperature in the clearing drop by ten degrees. The air itself seemed to crackle around him.
• ​"Caine is a blind pup playing in a lion’s den," Silas hissed. "He didn't reject a mate. He rejected the very sun that kept his pack alive. He saw only your skin, not the royalty in your blood."
• ​Silas dropped to one knee before her.
• ​In the history of the supernatural world, a Lycan King knelt to no one. They were the apex predators, the gods who walked the earth. Yet here, under the crimson glow of the Blood Moon, the most powerful man in existence was bowing his head to an exiled "Omega."
• ​"The Silver Moon Pack believes you are prey," Silas said, looking up at her with a smile that was both beautiful and terrifying. "They believe you are wandering these woods waiting for the rogues to find you."
• ​He reached out, his hand open and waiting.
• ​"Shall we show them what happens when a Queen returns to claim her crown? Shall we show Caine the mistake he made when he threw away the soul of the world?"
• ​Anna looked back toward the distant, flickering lights of her old home. She thought of the years she spent scrubbing their floors. She thought of the heavy heel of her sister on her fingers. She thought of the cold, dead look in Caine’s eyes as he exiled her.
• ​The sadness didn't vanish, but it was forged into something else. A cold, golden fire of resolve.
• ​"I want them to see," Anna said, her voice finally steady. "I want them to see what they lost."
• ​Silas stood, his violet eyes glowing with triumph. "Then come, my Queen. Your army has been waiting for a thousand years. Let us go home."
• ​As they walked deeper into the Forbidden Woods, the rogues and the shadows didn't chase them. They bowed. The very trees seemed to part to create a path for the Sun and the Moon.
• ​Anna didn't look back. She didn't have to. She knew that the next time the Silver Moon pack saw her, they wouldn't be laughing.
• ​They would be begging.