From the moment it became my time to rule Juno, I knew I was different from the kings before me.
They paraded bride candidates in front of me constantly—strong warriors, gentle healers, graceful elites—but not one of them stirred anything inside me. My instincts kept telling me to wait. The right one will come.
Most Juno kings were never satisfied with one mate. They changed partners as easily as they changed seasons. Not me. I never wanted to indulge in my admirers or take advantage of them. I needed only one. Mine.
The day I agreed to join a routine raid on the forbidden grounds, everything changed.
As we ranged along the border, I heard a scream—sharp, terrified, raw. My heart slammed against my ribs, and a scent I'd never known before flooded my senses. Sweet. Delicate. Wild.
I followed it. I couldn't stop myself.
I found hyenas circling a strange girl, ready to tear into her. Rage flared inside me. It infuriated me that these corrupt beasts had found her first, that their foul scent touched the same ground as hers.
I killed them all in a single breath. Claws. Teeth. Silence.
Then I saw her.
She stood there shaking, eyes wide, wearing strange, small clothes that revealed too much skin and yet somehow made her look fragile and powerful all at once. The moment I truly looked at her… I wanted her.
Something about her scent, her presence, tugged at a place inside me I hadn't even known existed.
When I leaned down and sniffed her, I lost control. Instinct took over. I had to taste her, claim her, mark her. I licked her—no hesitation, no doubt, no second thoughts. I just knew:
I want this one.
Sienna. That was her name. She wasn't from our kingdom—or any nearby tribe I knew. It didn't matter. I wanted her with me. I wanted her so fiercely I decided in a single heartbeat that I would do anything to keep her.
I brought her home, and my intentions were clear to myself: she would be my mate.
She was unlike any girl in my clan. Smaller than them, yet never once did she seem truly cowed. The way she moved, the way she spoke, the way her eyes lit up when she had an idea—everything about her fascinated me. She was clever, quick, and strangely wise.
The Oracle, however, branded her a bad omen the moment she saw her. Cursed. Dangerous.
Her words torn at me. I was devastated, torn between my responsibility to my people and the pull I felt toward Sienna. Not only the clan, but even Sienna herself doubted us. She spoke of "mutual love" and "connection"—concepts I struggled to understand. Why was it so hard for her to accept that I wanted her? That should have been enough.
She was weak, too—her body not yet matching the strength of her spirit. I hadn't even gone halfway in trying to mate with her, and she fainted in my arms. But still… of all the women in all the kingdoms, she was the only one I wanted.
I would do anything to make her mine.
I left her for a day. Only a day. We were supposed to raid an area where corrupt beasts had been sighted in greater numbers. Duty demanded I go.
Then urgent calls reached me through the trees—howls and alarm notes from my clan. Something had happened.
I rushed back to Juno, racing across branches and through the canopy. The moment I stepped into my kingdom, I knew something was terribly wrong. The air was thick with smoke and fear. Parts of the land were marked with strange, blackened scars as if something so catastrophic had eaten into the earth.
Sienna and Theo were nowhere to be seen. One of my bride candidates lay badly burned and injured.
"What happened here?" I demanded, barely holding back a snarl. "Where is Sienna?"
Morro stepped forward, holding strands of familiar hair in his hand. Theo's.
"Sire," he said gravely, "the girl is gone—she took Theo with her. We fear she killed him. We warned you she brings chaos and trouble to our lands. She wielded some kind of power never seen in this world."
I stared at him, my chest tight.
Sienna… kill Theo?
I had left her happy. Smiling at my dwelling. Full of life. She looked harmless—radiant, even. Was I truly so blind? Had I fallen for a deception?
I looked at the destruction around us. I'd never seen anything like it, aside from the aftermath of a lightning strike from the heavens. Blackened earth. The smell of destruction and something else… raw power.
And yet, beneath the ashes, my instincts screamed something different.
She needs me.
She's in danger.
Find her.
"Take me to where they were last seen," I ordered.
Morro and some elders led me to the ravine at the edge of our lands, where the land broke into a sheer drop and the ocean roared below. The area around it was wrecked—trees twisted, ground covered in dark matter and cracked.
The destruction was unlike anything I'd seen.
I stood at the edge, staring down at the churning water. A strange wetness dripped from my chin. I raised my hand, surprised to find tears on my face.
I hadn't cried in a long time.
My heart felt as if something had reached into my chest and torn it out. A sound clawed its way up my throat, and I tilted my head back and let out a long, mournful howl—for Theo. For Sienna. For what I thought I'd lost.
I gathered some of the blackened ash in my hand and went straight to the Oracle's enclave.
She was seated as usual, surrounded by candles and incense, looking serene. But something in her aura felt… off.
"Oh, our dear King," she cooed. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?"
I threw the black decay at her feet. "What is this? Morro says the girl caused it. The one who came to you for guidance. The one you called a bad omen."
The Oracle's demeanor shifted. Her eyes widened, her movements becoming jerky, frantic—almost feral. The purity I remembered from her presence was gone.
"Oh my, my, my," she crooned, touching the blackened dust with reverent fingers. She lifted it to her nose and inhaled deeply. "The scent of destruction. Burnt. Charred. Curses… Locking her away only made her stronger. How could that weak vessel gain such power? I must destroy her before she fully awakens and seizes it."
She smiled then—cruel, twisted, almost delighted. Her voice dropped into a whisper, as if she were speaking to herself… or someone else we couldn't see.
A cold shiver ran through me.
"What happened to the Oracle?" I growled, my fur and fangs starting to emerge. "You are not her. She has been compromised. Show your true form, corrupt soul."
She laughed—a harsh, cold, mocking sound.
"Haha… it took you long enough to notice," she sneered. "Oh, Juno. A land of fools, worshipping a pagan god like me—one who represents filth, lust, and corruption."
"Morro. Come forward," she commanded sweetly.
Morro stepped toward her like a man in a trance. The Oracle grabbed his face and kissed him, and he licked her back, their exchange sickening. A foul aura spread from them.
"You see?" she purred. "You didn't even know you were surrounded by toxic, indecent souls."
Morro's eyes glazed over. Then he transformed and lunged at me.
I could have killed him immediately. He was strong—but nowhere near my level. Even so, I hesitated. He was still an elder of my clan. Someone I had trusted. I fought defensively, trying to disable rather than destroy.
"Oh, this is your problem, Sire," the false Oracle taunted. "You're too kind. Your indecision and your soft heart will be your downfall."
"Morro!" I shouted between blows. "Stop this. You are a respected elder of our clan. Fight it—fight her!"
"He can't hear you," she hissed. "I own his soul now. He's nothing but a shell."
My chest ached. I didn't want to do it. But I knew I had no choice.
As they lunged at me together, I finally let go. I roared, meeting Morro head-on. My claws pierced his chest, my hand closing around his heart. I tore it out and crushed it in my grip. His body crumpled to the ground.
I turned on the Oracle, rage tearing through me. In one brutal strike, I split her body open. Blood and viscera sprayed across the temple floor.
The women in burqas screamed and scattered. The remaining elders backed away in horror.
From the Oracle's ruined body, a dark aura rose—a shadow stretching and twisting until it took the form of a woman with long black hair, wicked dark eyes, and a sultry smile.
"Impressive, King of Juno," she purred. "I suppose I'm done with this place. I have what I needed."
"Who are you?" I snarled. "How dare you infiltrate my land? I'll destroy you."
She laughed, the sound dripping with contempt. "Destroy me? You can't. I am one of the gods of this world. Your kind bowed to us. I'm insulted you do not even know my name when your clan once worshipped me as the most beautiful, seductive, and powerful goddess."
She spread her arms.
"Vera."
My blood ran cold.
She stepped closer, as if expecting me to cower. I lunged—but suddenly my body froze. My muscles refused to move, bound by an invisible force.
"You will die here," Vera said lazily, circling me. "Along with the rest of your clan. A pity you let them get rid of your only hope."
"Are you the one who sent Sienna here?" I managed to grind out, pushing against her hold. Every second I delayed her was a second more to figure out how to end this.
"I didn't want her back," Vera hissed. "That goddess planned this. Cunning little witch. She led her vessel back here. I will destroy her completely this time—and take the flame for myself."
Goddess. Vessel. Flame.
In that moment of her gloating, her hold slipped. I broke free, launching myself forward. My claws ripped into her shadow-flesh. She recoiled, but I had already landed a blow.
"How dare you!" she screamed. "You will pay for this."
She retreated, her form dissolving into smoke, then vanished altogether.
The temple brightened immediately. The oppressive darkness, the suffocating weight—it all lifted, leaving the space eerily calm.
Her words echoed in my mind.
That goddess planned this.
Took her vessel back.
Destroy her.
Take the flame.
Sienna.
Was she… the Goddess of Abundance? The one legend said would return? The one we had waited for… then forgotten?
My instincts had never failed me. They told me from the start that Sienna was important. That she was mine. That she belonged here in ways no one understood yet.
Now I knew one thing with absolute certainty:
Vera was hunting her.
And I needed to find Sienna before she did.
I stepped outside, lifted my head to the sky, and let out a howl—not of sorrow this time, but of promise.
A call stretching across land and sea.
A message meant for her alone.
I will find you.