15.
888 Words
The howl echoed across the night.
Then another answered.
And another.
And another.
My blood turned cold.
Because those weren’t ordinary wolves.
The sound carried too much power.
Too much purpose.
They weren’t hunting.
They were searching.
For me.
The silver aura around my body flickered violently as fear rushed through me.
Every instinct screamed danger.
Run.
Hide.
Escape.
But there was nowhere to go.
Not anymore.
The moment the Moon-Blood power awakened, everything changed.
The entire clearing stood frozen.
Even Kael’s warriors looked shaken now.
One of them swallowed hard.
“Alpha…”
His voice sounded strained.
“We need to leave.”
Kael’s eyes remained fixed on the darkness beyond the trees.
Listening.
Calculating.
The distant howls were growing closer.
Not quickly.
Deliberately.
As if whoever was making them knew exactly where I was.
Theron suddenly stepped forward.
“We’re out of time.”
Kael’s gaze shifted toward him instantly.
“Who are they?”
Theron hesitated.
And that alone terrified me.
Because Theron never hesitated.
“They are called the Nightborn.”
A chill ran down my spine.
The name itself felt wrong.
Ancient.
Dangerous.
Forgotten.
Kael’s expression hardened.
“I’ve never heard of them.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
The silver aura surrounding me pulsed again.
This time it hurt.
A sharp ache spread through my chest.
Like something was pulling on the bond.
Searching for it.
Following it.
My breathing became uneven.
Theron noticed immediately.
“They’ve locked onto her scent.”
Fear twisted inside me.
“How?”
His answer came quietly.
“They’ve been waiting for a Moon-Blood to awaken.”
Silence.
The words settled heavily across the clearing.
Waiting.
Not searching.
Waiting.
Like they always knew this day would come.
Kael’s wolf surged beneath his skin.
Protective.
Possessive.
Dangerous.
Mine reacted immediately.
The bond pulsed sharply.
Warmth spread through my chest despite the fear.
I hated that.
Hated how my body still recognized him as safety.
Even after everything.
Kael stepped slightly closer.
Instinct.
Nothing more.
But the second he did—
The ache in my chest lessened.
His eyes narrowed instantly.
He felt it too.
The bond was adapting again.
Growing.
Learning.
And neither of us knew how to stop it.
A branch snapped somewhere beyond the trees.
Every warrior shifted instantly.
Weapons raised.
Eyes glowing.
The forest suddenly felt crowded.
Watched.
Alive.
Kael moved in front of me without thinking.
A protective barrier between me and the darkness.
I stared at his back.
At the broad shoulders that once turned away from me.
At the Alpha who had rejected me.
And now couldn’t seem to stop protecting me.
The contradiction made my chest hurt.
Theron’s voice cut through the tension.
“They won’t attack tonight.”
Kael didn’t lower his guard.
“How do you know?”
“Because they’re confirming.”
“Confirming what?”
Theron’s gaze shifted toward me.
“The heir.”
The word settled heavily in the air.
Heir.
Not survivor.
Not Moon-Blood.
Heir.
Kael noticed immediately.
“What exactly is she heir to?”
Theron remained silent.
For several seconds.
Then—
“A throne.”
The forest went completely still.
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Theron looked directly at me.
“The first Moon-Blood kingdom disappeared centuries ago.”
Kingdom.
Not pack.
Kingdom.
Nothing about this made sense.
Moon-Bloods were supposed to be myths.
Stories.
Legends.
Not rulers.
Not royalty.
Not real.
Yet the vision flashed through my mind again.
The silver-eyed woman.
The temple.
The kneeling wolves.
The impossible power.
Suddenly it didn’t feel like a dream anymore.
Kael’s voice lowered dangerously.
“If she’s an heir, who took the throne?”
Theron’s expression darkened.
“Nobody.”
That answer somehow felt worse.
Because abandoned thrones didn’t stay abandoned forever.
Someone always wanted them.
Another howl echoed through the forest.
Closer this time.
Much closer.
Several warriors flinched.
Even Kael’s Beta looked uneasy now.
The silver aura around me flickered again.
Then suddenly—
The bond surged.
Violently.
Pain exploded through my chest.
I gasped sharply.
The world tilted.
Kael caught me before I fell.
The second his arms wrapped around me—
Everything stopped.
The pain.
The instability.
The silver flickering.
All of it.
Gone.
The clearing froze.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Because this time there was no denying it.
The bond wasn’t merely reacting anymore.
It was choosing.
Choosing him.
Choosing us.
My pulse stumbled.
Kael’s arms tightened instinctively around me.
For one brief second neither of us pulled away.
And through the fractured bond, I felt something from him so clearly it stole my breath.
Not dominance.
Not possessiveness.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Real fear.
The fear of losing me.
His eyes widened slightly.
Because he realized I felt it.
And I realized he felt me realize it.
The bond had crossed another line.
One neither of us knew how to uncross.
Then a cold voice suddenly echoed from the darkness beyond the trees.
A voice none of us recognized.
Yet every wolf in the clearing reacted instantly.
“At last.”
The forest went silent.
Branches shifted.
Shadows moved.
And from between the trees stepped a man with silver eyes identical to mine.
He smiled.
Then looked directly at me.
“Princess.”
And suddenly, everything I thought I knew about myself shattered.
- Writer
