Chapter 1 - chapter 1

POV: Lyric Varyn > "The night they crowned me Alpha, I became a murderer." The words will haunt me forever. Even now, they hang in the cold air, heavy as the blood dripping from my hands. The Moon Court is silent—eerily, impossibly silent. Every noble, every priest, every wolf-blooded courtier stands frozen beneath the bleeding moon. And at my feet lies Prince Corvin, my mate. My first. My ruin. The light from the crystal torches flickers across his lifeless form. His eyes—once molten silver—are now dull, staring at nothing. The ceremonial dagger glints beside him, still humming with my Essence, its blade slick with a scarlet sheen that should never have been his. My chest rises and falls too fast. I can't seem to breathe past the metallic scent of him. The silk of my gown—white and gold, chosen for purity—clings to me, stained red in patterns too cruelly beautiful to bear. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The coronation was meant to be our union. The merging of two bloodlines—the Varyn pack and the Moon Court—bound by matehood and destiny. The gods themselves were said to have blessed our bond. And yet, here I stand, trembling, the crown of Alpha half-slipped from my hair, my hands slick with the life of the man I was born to love. "Lyric." A whisper, sharp as broken glass. It comes from somewhere beyond the dais, where the courtiers press against marble pillars, their jeweled eyes wide with fear. Someone calls my name again, but it's lost beneath the roar of the wind outside, the restless growl of the storm that mirrors my heart. I can hear her inside me—my wolf. What have we done? My wolf's voice is a low, keening thing, wild and mournful. I want to answer her, to explain, but how do you justify murder? How do you tell your own soul that survival was worth the cost? Corvin had attacked first. That's what I tell myself, again and again, even as my pulse trembles with disbelief. I can still feel the echo of his power—the way it wrapped around my Essence, crushing, suffocating, trying to strip me bare. He hadn't looked like my mate in that moment. He'd looked like a god possessed. And I… I had fought back. The air still crackles with remnants of magic. Crimson lightning dances along the veins of the marble floor where my energy flared wild and unrestrained. The scent of ozone mingles with blood, sharp and intoxicating. My power hums just beneath my skin, alive, restless, dangerous. I want to collapse. To scream. To tear the crown from my head and beg for someone to undo what's been done. But every instinct in me demands I stand tall. The Alpha's daughter. The heir of the Varyn bloodline. The last surviving light of a dying legacy. So I stand. Even as my knees shake. Even as my heart begs for this to be a nightmare. "Prince Corvin is dead!" a voice cries from the crowd. "The Alpha—she killed him!" The words ripple through the hall like wildfire. I see faces twist in horror, disbelief, glee. My mother's hand flies to her mouth. The High Seer gasps, her silver robes sweeping across the floor as she takes a step back. "No," I whisper, shaking my head. "No, I—he—" But my voice breaks, and the truth with it. Because the evidence lies right here, bleeding at my feet. The moon shifts above the glass dome ceiling, staining everything in crimson. It feels like it's watching me—judging me. The moon never lies, the elders used to say. Then why does it look like it's bleeding for me? A low murmur stirs at the edge of the hall. I feel the eyes of the guards, the nobles, the sycophants who once bowed before me. Their loyalty evaporates like mist. I can taste their fear—it's thick, cloying, a metallic tang in the back of my throat. Someone kneels beside Corvin's body, fingers trembling as they check his pulse. The healer's eyes meet mine, wide and haunted. She shakes her head once. And that's when I break. A sound tears out of me—half scream, half howl—and the windows shatter. The court erupts in chaos. My Essence lashes out, wild and scarlet, cracking the marble, bending the air itself. Power rolls off me in waves, fierce and uncontrollable. "Contain her!" someone shouts. "Get the suppressor sigils!" They move toward me, but I barely see them. My gaze is locked on Corvin's body. His lips are slightly parted, as if he's about to laugh the way he used to—low, dark, full of secret promises. My chest aches with the memory. He tried to kill you, my wolf whispers again, desperate, trembling. He would have drained your Essence. I know. I know. But knowing doesn't stop the guilt from sinking its claws into me. A guard lunges toward me with a binding chain, but before the metal can touch my skin, it burns away to ash. My magic surges outward again, slamming the guards back. Their armor clatters against the marble, sparks flying. "Lyric Varyn!" the High Seer's voice booms, amplified by power. "By the decree of the Moon Court, you have broken sacred law! You have slain your mate beneath the holy light!" "I had to!" I shout, my voice hoarse. "He—he tried to drain me!" Laughter breaks from somewhere in the crowd, sharp and cruel. "Convenient," someone sneers. "The new Alpha kills her prince on coronation night and calls it self-defense." I turn toward the voice, rage burning through my tears—but then I see her. My mother. Alpha Regent Seraphine Varyn. My mother, the one who taught me to fight, to rule, to never show weakness. She stands among the council members, her golden gown unruffled, her expression carved from marble. Our eyes meet—and she looks away. No words. No defense. No faith. Just silence. Something inside me fractures beyond repair. The High Seer lifts her staff, its crystal tip blazing with silver light. "By the gods' witness, you are stripped of your title, your claim, and your pack. You are unworthy of the crown you wear." "No…" I whisper, but the word is lost beneath the rising hum of the Seer's magic. The floor glows beneath me, runes of containment snaking outward like veins of ice. I feel them trying to bind me, to cage me—but my Essence refuses. It howls in rebellion, rising like a storm. The moon's red glow intensifies until the air itself trembles. And then everything explodes. Light, wind, screams—chaos. The runes shatter, shards of crimson power flying through the hall like lightning. The torches snuff out. I hear the glass ceiling crack. And through the storm of my own making, I see one last glimpse of Corvin's body. His lips move—just barely. A whisper. A curse. A promise. > "They 'll never believe you." The world goes white. And when I wake, the Moon Court is behind me, burning.