Chapter 174: It Was Waking Up

Aethryx POV

The heavy oak doors closed behind me, shutting out the quiet room where my princess stayed, and I strode down the long stone corridor.

My heavy boots hit the floor with a steady, echoing rhythm that bounced off the high walls.

On either side of the hallway, the iron torches flickered wildly, casting long, dancing shadows against the rough stone as I hurried past them.

Walking right beside me was my head guard.

He kept his pace perfectly even with mine, his steps careful and measured.

He kept his eyes locked straight ahead, his jaw tight, completely aware that speaking before I spoke would be a grave mistake.

He could feel the dangerous tension rolling off my body, the lingering heat of my frustration radiating through the narrow space.

"What was that noise?" I asked, my voice cutting through the damp air like a block of ice.

The head guard hesitated for a fraction of a second, his boots catching slightly on the stone floor before he found his rhythm again.

"Intruders, Your Highness. They are right outside the main gates, and they flat out refuse to leave the premises."

"They claim they will not take a single step back until they get exactly what they came here for."

A deep frown pulled at my brow, my white hair shifting across my forehead as my eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"What exactly do they want?"

The head guard swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his throat as he struggled to keep his voice steady and calm.

"The girls, your Majesty."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

The abrupt halt made the guard stumble forward half a step before he caught himself, his breath hitching in his chest.

My hands slowly curled into tight fists at my sides, the skin over my knuckles stretching until it was completely white.

Deep within my chest, the dragon stirred from its shallow rest, waking up with a dark, territorial rumble that sent a wave of liquid fire rushing straight through my veins.

They were here for my princess.

They wanted to take away the woman who belonged at my side.

I did not waste another breath on words.

Turning on my heel, I picked up my pace, my strides growing longer and faster as I headed toward the front of the fortress.

The massive main doors of the castle loomed ahead of me at the end of the grand hall.

Constructed from ancient, reinforced wood and thick bars of forged iron, they were solid enough to stop an entire invading army in its tracks.

Before my hand could even reach the iron handles, the heavy structures swung open with a deep, groaning sound, parting to let me through.

I stepped outside into the cool, open air.

Three people stood waiting in the courtyard directly in front of the stone steps.

At the very front, acting as the clear leader of the group, was a woman.

Her brown hair was mixed with streaks of grey, gathered back in a messy style.

Deep lines of exhaustion were etched around her mouth and forehead, showing an incredibly tired face, but her eyes remained sharp and alert.

She stood tall, her shoulders squared, completely refusing to back down as my shadow fell over her.

Right behind her shoulder stood a tall, broad man who looked like he had not closed his eyes to sleep in several days.

Dark, hollow circles ringed his eyes, making them look sunken and ghostly.

Yet, beneath that profound exhaustion, there was a lethal spark in his gaze, a dangerous light that showed he was entirely ready to kill anyone who got in his way.

I recognized his face immediately.

He was the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, the very same werewolf I had clashed with the last time I crossed over into their northern territory.

Beside the Alpha stood the third member of their strange party, a man with brown hair that fell loosely to his shoulders.

He had brown eyes and several pieces of dark metal piercing the skin of his face.

I had never seen him before in my life, and I did not know his name, but a bizarre sensation was radiating off his body.

It was a strange, different kind of energy, a humming power that felt completely identical to the odd presence coming off the brown-haired woman in the front.

I looked down at the three of them from the top of the steps, my grey eyes completely cold and devoid of any human warmth.

"Why do you dare to disturb my peace?" I asked, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous rumble that vibrated through the stone courtyard.

The woman with the grey-streaked brown hair took a solid step forward.

She did not bow her head, she did not bend her knee, and she did not lower her sharp gaze from mine for even a second.

"We are not here to cause any problems for you or your kingdom," she said, her voice remarkably steady and firm given the circumstances.

"We are only here to get the girls."

"And did the girls actually tell you that they want to leave this place?" I replied, my tone flat, dry, and completely mocking.

The woman’s jaw tightened, her posture becoming even more rigid.

"Those girls belong to a pack. Taking them away from their people against their will is something that we simply cannot tolerate under any circumstances."

"Hand them over to us now, and let peace reign between our lands."

I stared down at her, letting my eyes linger on the grey strands in her hair and the deep lines of fatigue on her face.

"And what exactly happens if I decide that I do not want to hand them over?"

The Alpha did not hesitate.

He aggressively stepped forward, pushing past the woman’s side.

His large hands blurred as they moved behind his back, and when he brought them forward again, the metallic ring of weapons filled the air.

He was holding two heavy, wicked-looking axes.

With practiced ease, he spun the weapons in his thick fingers, turning them once, then twice, the sharp edges of the metal catching the afternoon light and flashing brightly.

"Then your royal head will roll right off your neck," the Alpha said, his voice completely cold and dripping with a dark promise of violence.

He stopped spinning the axes, gripping the handles tightly as he glared up at me, his chest heaving with a sudden surge of adrenaline.

"If you do not hand over my mate right now," he added, raising his voice so it echoed against the castle walls.

I looked at him, taking in the raw, unbridled rage burning in his amber eyes and the white-knuckled grip he had on his weapons.

The pieces of the puzzle instantly clicked into place inside my mind.

So, the girl lying unconscious in the bed upstairs was the Luna of the Crescent Moon Pack.

It made perfect sense now why the Alpha himself had traveled all this way and risked his life by standing at my gates.

I opened my mouth to speak, ready to deliver a rejection that would shatter his hopes, but the words died in my throat.

The ground beneath my boots suddenly shook violently.

The entire castle structure vibrated with a massive, rumbling tremor.

The stone steps groaned under my feet, and small pebbles rattled against each other in the courtyard.

Inside the open entryway, dust fell from the high walls like a powdery curtain, and the iron torches flickered wildly, their flames nearly dying out completely.

I twisted my head around, my eyes scanning the high towers and the surrounding walls, searching frantically for the source of the sudden earthquake, searching for the hidden threat.

The woman with the grey-streaked hair was doing the exact same thing, her head snapping around as the ground rolled beneath us.

But the expression on her face changed completely in an instant.

Her sharp eyes went incredibly wide, and all the color drained from her cheeks, leaving her looking utterly terrified.

"It cannot be," she whispered, her voice barely a breath of air as she stared up toward the high windows of the fortress.

I did not waste a single second waiting around to find out what she meant by those words.

Gathering the magic in my core, I teleported.

The outdoor courtyard vanished in a flash of light, and the familiar walls of the bedchamber instantly appeared around me.

The massive stone room was in absolute chaos.

The grand bed stood in the center, but the air around it was thick with an unnatural, swirling energy.

Objects were floating everywhere, defying gravity as they hovered in the middle of the room.

My princess was standing all the way against the far stone wall, her body looking small and fragile against the massive blocks of rock.

Her back was pressed flat against the wall, her hands gripping the stone behind her as if she were trying to push herself right through it.

Her face was completely pale, stripped of all color, and her hazel eyes were wide with a deep, paralyzing fear.

She was not looking at the doors, and she did not look at me when I materialized.

She was staring straight at the bed, her gaze locked onto the girl.

I rushed across the vibrating floor to her side, my heart racing against my ribs.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice urgent and laced with panic as I reached out to make sure she was unhurt.

She did not answer my question.

She did not even blink or turn her head to acknowledge that I was standing right next to her.

She just kept staring forward, her entire body trembling as she watched the bed.

I turned my head to see what had terrified her so badly.

The unconscious girl on the mattress was shaking.

Her entire body was trembling violently, her limbs jerking desperately against the sheets as if something incredibly powerful was trapped inside her chest, clawing and screaming to get out.

Her eyes remained tightly closed, but her facial features were twisted into a mask of pure agony and distress.

Thick, heavy tears were actively streaming down her pale cheeks, wetting her midnight-black hair and soaking into the pillows.

She was crying bitterly, caught in the grip of a nightmare, yet she was still completely asleep, unable to wake up.

And absolutely everything around her body was floating in the air.

The metal cup that had been resting on the bedside table rose high into the air, spinning slowly on an invisible axis.

The thick candle followed right behind it, its flame dancing wildly as it drifted toward the ceiling.

The heavy woolen blankets lifted entirely off the mattress, hovering like a cloud above her shaking form.

Small objects, large books, heavy chairs, everything in the room that was not bolted directly to the stone floor was floating, spinning, and shaking in the charged air.

The entire room was vibrating with a low, bass-heavy hum that made my teeth chatter.

I looked back at the girl on the bed, taking in the sight of her dark hair with that little white streak in the front.

I watched the tears falling from her closed eyes, and I felt the raw, terrifying power pouring out of her skin like a physical storm.

It was a massive wave of energy, an ancient force that had been locked away inside her soul for far too long, and now it was breaking through the cracks.

I did not know what kind of magic this was and did not know what kind of creature she truly was.

But as the walls groaned and the floating objects spun faster, I knew one thing for certain.

It was waking up.