Veins Of Nightfall

The Moon Queen’s Blood

Nobody slept after the attack.

The Blackwood estate remained fully awake long past midnight while guards patrolled every hallway and wolves secured every entrance with silver chains and protection marks burned directly into the doors. Storm clouds swallowed the moon outside while distant growls echoed somewhere deep within the Hollow.

No one wanted to say it aloud.

The forest was awake now.

And somehow, everyone knew Nyx had something to do with it.

Nyx sat alone near the massive dining hall windows wrapped in a dark blanket she did not remember grabbing. Her hands still shook slightly from what happened in the courtyard.

The dead wolf's eyes.

The symbol carved into its chest.

The words it spoke.

The Hollow remembers you.

She hated that sentence.

Mostly because some part of her feared it might be true.

Footsteps approached quietly behind her.

Nyx already knew who it was.

Kael.

"You should eat something," he said.

Nyx kept staring out the window. "Not hungry."

"You haven't eaten since this morning."

"I said I'm not hungry."

Silence settled heavily between them.

Kael moved beside the window eventually, arms folded tightly across his chest. Even without looking at him, Nyx could feel his wolf pacing beneath the surface.

Agitated.

Protective.

Angry.

Probably all three.

"You scared everyone tonight," Kael muttered.

Nyx laughed softly without humor.

"Good to know the monsters weren't the problem."

Kael's jaw tightened immediately.

"That's not what I meant."

"It's what you said."

Another silence.

Rain tapped softly against the windows while thunder rolled somewhere far beyond the mountains.

Nyx finally looked at him.

Kael looked exhausted.

Dark curls messy from shifting. Scratches still healing slowly across his throat from the courtyard fight. Amber eyes darker than usual.

He looked scared too.

That bothered her more than she expected.

Kael noticed her staring.

"What?"

Nyx hesitated before asking quietly, "Do you think I'm dangerous?"

His answer came too fast.

"Yes."

The word hit harder than she expected.

Kael immediately cursed under his breath.

"That came out wrong."

"No," Nyx whispered. "It didn't."

She stood abruptly and started toward the hallway.

Kael grabbed her wrist before she got far.

Nyx froze instantly.

Not because he hurt her.

Because the second he touched her skin, something strange flickered through her chest.

Warm.

Sharp.

Gone before she could understand it.

Kael felt it too.

His expression shifted immediately.

Confusion.

Then irritation.

He released her quickly.

Neither of them spoke about it.

Lucas appeared in the doorway seconds later carrying two cups of coffee.

"Well this feels aggressively tense."

Kael glared at him.

Lucas ignored it completely and handed one cup toward Nyx.

She accepted it quietly.

"Thanks."

Lucas leaned against the doorway casually. "You know, for future reference, when undead wolves wake up and start talking, maybe stay inside."

Nyx snorted softly despite herself.

"There it is."

"What?"

"The sarcasm. I was worried you got replaced by a pod person."

Kael rubbed a hand over his face tiredly.

Lucas looked between them carefully before speaking again.

"The elders are panicking."

Nyx's expression hardened instantly.

"Why?"

Lucas hesitated.

"That thing called you Moonborn."

The dining hall fell silent again.

Kael's posture immediately stiffened.

Nyx looked between both of them slowly.

"What does that mean?"

Neither answered immediately.

That alone was enough to make her stomach twist.

Lucas sighed quietly.

"There are stories."

Kael snapped instantly. "Lucas."

"What? She deserves something besides vague warnings and dramatic staring."

Kael looked ready to argue before Hector's voice cut through the room.

"He's right."

All three turned immediately.

Hector stood near the dining hall entrance still wearing dark combat clothes stained with dried blood. Alpha wolves moved differently than everyone else.

Even exhausted, he felt dangerous.

Controlled power.

Nyx had spent most of her life trying not to disappoint him.

Tonight she could not even read his expression.

That scared her.

Hector approached slowly.

"The Moonborn were part of old pack stories," he said.

Nyx folded her arms tightly. "Meaning?"

"Wolves tied directly to the Hollow."

Cold spread through her stomach instantly.

Kael stepped closer to her automatically.

Protective.

Hector noticed.

So did Nyx.

Interesting.

"The stories claimed they could hear the forest," Hector continued carefully. "That the Hollow spoke to them differently."

Nyx thought about the whispers she heard at night.

The dreams.

The voice calling her name through the woods.

Her throat tightened.

Lucas watched her reaction carefully.

"You've heard things before, haven't you?"

Nyx stayed silent.

That answered enough.

Kael cursed softly under his breath.

Hector's face darkened instantly.

"How long?"

Nyx looked away.

"A while."

"How long, Nyx?"

"Since I was little."

Silence crashed over the room.

Kael looked furious now.

Not at her.

At everyone else.

"You knew?" he demanded toward Hector.

The Alpha's expression remained unreadable.

"We suspected."

Nyx stared at him in disbelief.

"You knew I was hearing voices?"

"They were whispers. Dreams. We believed they would stop."

"And if they didn't?"

Hector did not answer.

That terrified her more than any monster outside.

Footsteps echoed softly from the upper balcony.

Lila.

Nyx looked up immediately.

Lila descended the staircase slowly, silver eyes unreadable beneath the dim candlelight. Unlike Hector's overwhelming Alpha presence, Lila felt cold and sharp.

Beautiful in the same dangerous way winter storms were beautiful.

She stopped beside Hector silently.

But her attention remained entirely on Nyx.

"You should not have gone near the body tonight," Lila said quietly.

Nyx frowned.

"I didn't exactly plan that."

"The Hollow reacts to attention."

Lucas muttered under his breath, "That sounds healthy."

Lila ignored him.

Nyx stared at her carefully.

"Why are all of you acting like this is my fault?"

"No one said that."

"You don't have to."

Another silence.

Then thunder shook the estate hard enough to rattle the windows.

The lights flickered once.

Twice.

Then every candle inside the dining hall extinguished simultaneously.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Kael shifted instantly in front of Nyx.

Lucas cursed softly.

Low whispers echoed faintly through the walls.

Nyx felt ice crawl up her spine.

Not outside.

Inside the estate.

The whispers were inside now.

Then moonlight spread slowly across the floor.

Silver.

Soft.

Wrong.

A figure appeared near the fireplace.

Woman.

Long white hair.

Glowing silver eyes.

Flowing robes that moved like mist beneath water.

Nyx stopped breathing.

The same woman from the courtyard.

Everyone in the room froze instantly.

Even Hector.

Lila's expression sharpened dangerously.

The woman's gaze settled directly onto Nyx.

Ancient.

Powerful.

Not human.

The whispers stopped the second she appeared.

Nyx swallowed hard.

"Who are you?"

The woman tilted her head slightly.

"The moon remembers."

Her voice sounded soft.

And impossibly old.

Kael's wolf growled low beneath his skin.

The woman looked toward him briefly before returning her attention to Nyx.

"You are waking."

Nyx's pulse quickened.

"I don't know what that means."

"You will."

Hector stepped forward carefully.

"Selene."

The name moved through the room heavily.

Nyx looked sharply toward him.

Selene.

The Moon Goddess.

The stories suddenly came back all at once.

Children whispering around bonfires.

Prayers carved into silver charms.

Ancient wolves kneeling beneath moonlight.

Nyx stared at the woman in disbelief.

"That's impossible."

Selene's expression almost softened.

"Impossible things are waking again."

Lila moved subtly closer to Nyx.

Protective.

Selene noticed.

"So fearful still."

Lila's silver eyes narrowed.

"I know what follows your mark."

Nyx frowned immediately.

"My mark?"

Selene looked directly at her chest.

Then the Moon Goddess vanished.

Just like that.

The candles reignited violently throughout the room.

Everyone immediately started talking at once.

Lucas looked pale.

Kael looked furious.

Hector looked unsettled.

Lila looked terrified.

Nyx looked down at herself instinctively.

And froze.

Beneath the collar of her shirt—

Silver light glowed faintly beneath her skin.

A crescent symbol.

Split down the center like claw marks.

Nyx's breathing stopped.

"No..."

Kael moved instantly beside her.

"What is that?"

Nyx stepped backward before he could touch her.

Because deep inside the Hollow—

Something answered her fear with a roar.