19: The Temple Awakens
768 Words
The Temple of the Three Moons was alive.
It wasn’t made of stone, not truly — the walls pulsed like veins of silver and black marble, glowing softly with every breath of wind. Symbols of the Goddess spiraled across the floors, moving when you weren’t looking. The air tasted of salt and lightning, as if the storm that birthed the world still lingered there.
Damon stepped ahead of me, his claws half-extended, his wolf pushing just beneath his skin.
Every instinct in him screamed danger.
Every instinct in me whispered fate.
The figure at the center of the temple stood motionless beneath the largest arch.
Darius — but wrong.
The light didn’t touch him the same way anymore; it bent around him, afraid. His once-golden eyes glowed crimson, fractured through with traces of gold fighting to survive.
He smiled when he saw us, slow and weary. “You shouldn’t have come.”
Damon’s snarl echoed through the hall. “You’re not him.”
“I am him,” Darius said — and his voice wavered, one tone human, one something far older. “And I’m not. We share the same heart, the same blood. I tried to stop him, Damon, I did.”
The shadows behind him shifted — moving like smoke given thought. They whispered in a tongue that made the symbols on the floor tremble.
I stepped forward. “Darius, it’s me.”
His gaze flicked to me, and for a heartbeat, the darkness faltered. “Selene.”
Just my name — and it was enough to bring tears to my eyes.
“You can fight this,” I said softly. “The Goddess told me how. We can still break the bond.”
He flinched. “You don’t understand. Breaking it means breaking me.”
“She said there’s a way,” I insisted. “The Temple—”
“The Temple doesn’t free,” said another voice — deep, ancient, resonant. The air rippled, and a shape rose from Darius’s shadow, forming into a man of pure darkness, his eyes silver and cold.
Kael.
The First Alpha.
He looked at me with quiet disdain. “The Moon gave you power you were never meant to wield, child. You are the balance she fears — light bound to love. I will unmake it.”
Damon moved instantly, shifting mid-stride, his wolf charging with a roar. Kael barely raised his hand. The air rippled, and Damon was thrown across the temple, slamming into the wall.
“Damon!” I screamed, but Kael turned to me, his voice suddenly softer.
“You could end this, Selene. Accept the bond. Merge with me. Be the Luna the Moon promised — the queen of shadow and light.”
The mark on my wrist pulsed violently, answering his power. My body trembled as warmth and cold warred inside me. I saw visions — a world under crimson skies, wolves bowing before me, Darius by my side but his eyes forever black.
And through it all, I heard his real voice — faint, breaking.
“Don’t… let him win.”
I dropped to my knees, gripping the mark. “No.”
Kael’s expression darkened. “Then you choose death.”
Before he could strike, Damon lunged again — bleeding, furious, unstoppable. His claws raked across Kael’s form, tearing through the darkness like fire through silk. The temple screamed, the arches trembling.
“Selene!” Damon shouted. “The runes! Now!”
I turned to the circle of moving symbols. They burned brighter with each heartbeat, waiting for me. My blood — the balance — was the key.
I drew a blade from Damon’s belt and slashed my palm. The blood hit the center sigil, and the world exploded in light.
Kael roared, his voice shaking the earth. “You fool! You cannot destroy what you are bound to!”
“Maybe not,” I whispered, “but I can choose who I’m bound to.”
I reached for Darius — and for the first time, his hand met mine. The shadows screamed, the mark on both our wrists blazed white, and the temple cracked open with the sound of breaking heavens.
Light and dark collided, folding in on themselves until nothing remained but silence.
When I opened my eyes, the temple was gone.
The valley was quiet.
And Darius lay beside me — human, unconscious… breathing.
But his shadow…
It was gone.
Or so I thought.
Because in the distance, at the edge of the forest, a pair of silver eyes still watched us — patient, ancient, and very much alive.
- Writer
