The Hollow's Mark
1634 Words
Moonblood: The Last Alpha
Chapter Thirteen — The Hollow's Mark (Part I)
The great hall had never been this quiet.
Not even during war.
The Alphas stood frozen, staring at the message carved into the stone.
THE HOLLOW COMES.
A warning.
A threat.
A promise.
Ariana stood beside Kael, feeling the mark beneath her skin burn again.
The Hollow was close.
She knew it.
She could feel it.
---
"Who was attacked?"
Kael's voice cut through the silence.
The warriors immediately moved.
"The representative from the Frostfang Clan."
Lucian knelt beside the injured Alpha.
"He's alive."
Ariana looked at the wall.
"But this wasn't meant to kill him."
Everyone turned toward her.
Kael studied her.
"How do you know?"
"Because if the Hollow wanted him dead..."
She looked at the message.
"...he would be dead."
The room became colder.
Because she was right.
The attack had a purpose.
Fear.
---
Darian stepped closer to the wall.
"Interesting."
Kael looked at him.
"You find this interesting?"
"I find it familiar."
Ariana looked at him.
"You've seen this before?"
Darian's expression changed slightly.
"Not this exact message."
He touched the burned stone.
"But this method."
A pause.
"Years ago, before I became Alpha, my clan found similar markings."
"What happened?"
Darian looked toward the darkness outside.
"Everyone who saw them disappeared."
---
The Alphas began arguing.
Some wanted to leave.
Some wanted to attack the Hollow immediately.
Some wanted to hide.
Ariana listened.
And she understood something.
They were all afraid.
Even the strongest creatures in the world.
They were afraid.
"You can't fight it separately."
Everyone looked at her.
An older Alpha frowned.
"And you know this because?"
Ariana held his gaze.
"Because that's what it wants."
The room quieted.
"It wants everyone divided."
She looked around.
"Fear makes people easier to control."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Seraphine nodded.
"She understands."
---
Later that night, Kael found Ariana in the archive.
Again.
It was becoming a habit.
"You should sleep."
She didn't look up from the old records.
"You should take your own advice."
A small silence.
"I am serious."
"So am I."
Kael almost smiled.
Almost.
"What are you searching for?"
"The previous Moonbloods."
His expression changed.
"Ariana."
"No."
She closed the book.
"I need to know."
He understood.
Because he would do the same.
---
They searched through forgotten records together.
For hours.
Until Ariana found something.
A page hidden between two older texts.
No title.
No name.
Only a symbol.
The Moonblood mark.
She read the first line.
And froze.
"What?"
Kael noticed immediately.
She handed him the page.
His eyes moved across the words.
Then his expression changed.
"What does it say?"
Kael didn't answer.
"Kael."
Slowly, he spoke.
"It says the Moonblood does not choose the Alpha."
Ariana frowned.
"Then what does she choose?"
Kael looked at her.
"The Alpha's fate."
---
Ariana felt cold.
"What does that mean?"
Before Kael could answer...
the candles went out.
The archive became completely dark.
Ariana immediately felt it.
Not a person.
Not a wolf.
Something else.
The air changed.
The shadows moved.
Kael stepped in front of her.
"No."
Ariana looked at him.
"You're doing it again."
"What?"
"Protecting me."
His voice was low.
"Yes."
She almost argued.
But then a voice echoed through the archive.
"How touching."
Both of them froze.
The Hollow.
---
The darkness gathered at the end of the room.
A figure formed from shadows.
Not fully physical.
Not fully a spirit.
The Hollow smiled.
"You two are exactly like the legends described."
Kael's eyes turned gold.
"You came here for me."
"No."
The Hollow looked at Ariana.
"I came here for her."
Ariana stood her ground.
"Why?"
The creature tilted its head.
"Because you are the first one who can actually end me."
Silence.
Kael's expression hardened.
"Then why reveal yourself?"
The Hollow smiled.
"Because I wanted to see something."
"What?"
Its eyes moved between them.
"If the Moonblood truly has a choice..."
A pause.
"...or if she is already trapped by the Alpha."
---
Ariana felt anger rise.
Not fear.
Anger.
"You don't know me."
The Hollow smiled.
"Don't I?"
The shadows moved closer.
"I know every Moonblood."
Ariana's heart tightened.
"I know their hopes."
A pause.
"Their fears."
Another.
"Their sacrifices."
The creature looked at Kael.
"And I know exactly what Alphas do when they love something."
---
Kael's expression changed.
The Hollow whispered:
"They destroy it."
The archive shook.
The shadows disappeared.
But before leaving, the Hollow spoke one final sentence.
"Ask him about the first Moonblood."
Ariana looked at Kael.
The creature vanished.
And suddenly...
she was more afraid of the question than the monster.
The archive remained silent after the Hollow disappeared.
But the fear it left behind stayed.
Ariana looked at Kael.
Not as an Alpha.
Not as the leader of Black Moon.
As someone who had just heard a truth he didn't want to explain.
"Ask him about the first Moonblood."
The words echoed in her mind.
She hated that they sounded like a warning.
Because warnings usually existed for a reason.
---
"Kael."
He didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Ariana stepped closer.
"What did it mean?"
His eyes remained on the empty space where the Hollow had stood.
"I don't know."
She stared at him.
"That's not true."
A long silence followed.
Then Kael finally looked at her.
"You deserve the truth."
The words surprised her.
Because she had heard them before.
But this time, he meant them.
---
They left the archive and walked toward the old council chamber.
No one else was there.
Only them.
Kael stood beside the ancient fireplace, his expression unreadable.
"The first Moonblood was not killed."
Ariana waited.
"Then what happened?"
Kael looked at the flames.
"She disappeared because she chose to."
Ariana frowned.
"Why?"
"Because the clans turned against her."
The answer was simple.
Painfully simple.
"The Alphas wanted her power. They wanted the ability to control the bond between humans and wolves."
Ariana crossed her arms.
"And she refused."
"Yes."
"What did they do?"
Kael's voice lowered.
"They hunted her."
---
Ariana felt anger rise.
"But Seraphine said she survived."
"She did."
"Then why does everyone say the Moonbloods disappeared?"
Kael looked at her.
"Because after Seraphine vanished, the clans rewrote history."
Ariana became still.
"Why?"
"Because admitting they failed would mean admitting they were wrong."
She laughed quietly.
"So the story was easier to change."
"Yes."
"That's what powerful people do."
Kael met her eyes.
"Sometimes."
The answer was honest.
And that mattered.
---
"But what does this have to do with you?"
The question changed everything.
Kael looked away.
Ariana noticed.
"Kael."
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then:
"My family was there."
The room went quiet.
"Your family?"
"My ancestors."
His voice became heavier.
"They were among the Alphas who hunted her."
Ariana stared.
The pieces started connecting.
The prophecy.
The warning.
The Hollow's words.
"That's why."
Kael looked at her.
"What?"
"The vision."
His expression changed.
"The one where I saw you destroy everything."
She swallowed.
"Maybe it wasn't about you becoming like the Hollow."
A pause.
"Maybe it was about you repeating the past."
---
Kael had no answer.
Because she had found the fear he never admitted.
Not that he would lose.
Not that he would die.
That he would become exactly what he hated.
Ariana stepped closer.
"Do you believe you are like them?"
"No."
The answer was immediate.
Then quieter:
"But I know I carry their blood."
---
Before Ariana could respond, the doors opened.
Seraphine entered.
She looked between them.
She already knew.
"You told her."
Kael nodded.
Seraphine closed her eyes.
"Good."
Ariana looked at her.
"Good?"
"The truth should not arrive only when it is convenient."
For once, Ariana agreed.
---
Seraphine approached the table and placed an ancient object on it.
A small silver pendant.
Ariana immediately felt the mark on her skin react.
"What is that?"
"The first Moonblood's."
Ariana stared.
"You had it?"
"I protected it."
"Why?"
Seraphine looked at the pendant.
"Because one day, the next Moonblood would need to choose."
Ariana picked it up carefully.
The moment her fingers touched the silver...
a vision appeared.
---
She saw a young Seraphine.
Not the woman standing before her now.
A girl.
A human girl.
Standing beside a wolf.
A golden-eyed Alpha.
Not Kael.
Someone from centuries ago.
They were smiling.
They trusted each other.
Then the vision changed.
The same Alpha stood with an army behind him.
Facing Seraphine.
Betrayal.
Pain.
Blood.
Ariana heard a voice.
"Love was never the weakness."
The vision shifted.
"Fear was."
---
Ariana returned to reality.
Her breathing was uneven.
Kael immediately reached for her.
But stopped.
He waited.
Ariana noticed.
A small thing.
A choice.
She took his hand herself.
The gesture surprised both of them.
"You asked me what I saw."
Kael looked at her.
"What?"
She looked at the pendant.
"The first Alpha and the first Moonblood."
Seraphine went silent.
"What did you see?"
Ariana looked between them.
"They loved each other."
The room froze.
"Then why did they destroy each other?"
Her voice became quieter.
"Because they stopped trusting each other."
---
Outside the manor, a howl echoed.
Not one.
Hundreds.
The clans had arrived.
The gathering was beginning.
But now Ariana knew the truth.
The greatest danger was not the Hollow.
Not the enemy clans.
Not even the prophecy.
It was repeating the same mistakes that created the darkness in the first place.
---
Kael looked toward the window.
"They are here."
Ariana stood beside him.
"Then let them come."
He looked at her.
Not as something to protect.
As an equal.
And for the first time...
the Alpha and the Moonblood stood together.
Not because destiny demanded it.
Because they chose it.
- Writer
