Chapter 13 – Before Dawn
1108 Words
The silence that followed King Roderick's declaration felt heavier than the armor worn by the soldiers gathered beyond the gates.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Even the restless wind that had swept through the courtyard moments earlier seemed to disappear, leaving only the crackling of torch flames against the ancient stone walls of the Crescent Pack House.
Evelyn stood motionless on the balcony, her fingers wrapped tightly around the cold railing. She refused to look away from the king waiting outside the gates. His golden eyes never left her, as though he could already see through every wall separating him from the children he had come to claim.
Behind him, hundreds of Northern Lycan warriors remained perfectly still.
Not one shifted.
Not one whispered.
Their discipline was unsettling.
They weren't an army preparing for battle.
They were an execution waiting for permission.
Luke slowly stepped forward until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Evelyn.
"The gates stay closed," he ordered without taking his eyes off the enemy. "No one enters. No one leaves."
His voice carried across the courtyard.
Captain Marcus immediately saluted.
"Double the guards."
"Yes, Alpha."
"Archers on every tower."
"Already moving."
"Silver arrows only."
Within seconds, the peaceful courtyard transformed into controlled chaos.
Warriors sprinted toward the walls.
Blacksmiths dragged carts overflowing with freshly forged weapons.
Women hurried children into the underground shelters while elderly wolves whispered anxious prayers to the Moon Goddess.
Everyone understood what dawn would bring.
War.
Evelyn watched the preparations with a strange ache in her chest.
Five years ago these same wolves had looked at her with suspicion after Luke rejected her before the entire pack.
Some had pitied her.
Others had celebrated her exile.
Now they were preparing to die protecting her sons.
Life had a cruel sense of irony.
Luke finally turned toward her.
"We need to get the boys somewhere safer."
"They're already hidden."
"They won't stay hidden for long."
"They know."
Luke frowned.
"They know what?"
"They heard everything."
A sharp pain settled in his stomach.
Before he could ask another question, hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway behind them.
Gamma Thomas appeared, breathing heavily.
"Alpha."
"What is it?"
"The twins..."
Thomas hesitated.
"They're gone."
Luke's eyes widened.
"What?"
"We stationed four guards outside their room. The guards swear no one entered and no one left."
Evelyn's heartbeat accelerated.
Without another word she rushed through the corridor.
Luke followed.
Thomas and half a dozen warriors raced behind them.
The doors to the twins' room stood wide open.
The guards were still there, pale and visibly shaken.
"We never left our posts," one of them stammered.
"I swear it."
"There wasn't even a scent."
Luke entered first.
The room looked untouched.
Two neatly made beds.
Books scattered across a wooden desk.
A toy wolf carved from oak rested near the fireplace.
Nothing suggested a struggle.
Yet the room was empty.
Evelyn slowly walked inside.
She closed her eyes.
The familiar scent of her sons lingered in the air.
They hadn't been kidnapped.
They had left willingly.
A quiet laugh suddenly echoed from outside.
Everyone rushed toward the sound.
Standing on the roof above the western watchtower were Ethan and Elijah.
Moonlight wrapped around them like flowing silver mist.
Neither boy appeared frightened.
Instead they stared toward the horizon where King Roderick's army waited beneath fluttering banners.
Luke frowned.
"How did they get up there?"
No one answered.
The roof stood nearly forty feet above the courtyard.
Even experienced warriors would struggle to reach it without climbing gear.
Evelyn's heart pounded as she hurried toward the tower stairs.
By the time she reached the top, both boys were still standing at the edge, completely calm.
"Ethan."
"Elijah."
Her voice softened.
"What are you doing?"
The twins turned together.
Their bright blue eyes reflected the moonlight.
For a brief second Evelyn froze.
Their irises shimmered with faint rings of gold.
Not yellow.
Gold.
Ancient gold.
The color vanished almost immediately.
Ethan spoke first.
"He's waiting for us."
"Who?"
"The king."
Elijah finished his brother's sentence.
"But he isn't the one we should fear."
A cold breeze swept across the rooftop.
Luke stepped closer.
"What do you mean?"
The twins exchanged another glance.
Neither answered immediately.
Instead Ethan looked toward the forest stretching beyond the Northern army.
"There are others."
Luke followed his gaze.
He saw nothing except darkness.
"Others where?"
Elijah pointed into the trees.
"They've been watching since sunset."
Gamma Thomas narrowed his eyes.
"I don't see anyone."
"They don't want to be seen."
Evelyn knelt before her sons.
"Tell me exactly what you saw."
The boys remained unusually serious.
"It wasn't a dream," Ethan whispered.
"We both saw it."
"We heard a voice," Elijah added.
"It called our names."
Luke's expression hardened.
"What voice?"
The twins answered together.
"The First King."
Every warrior on the rooftop fell silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Thomas slowly made the sign of the Moon Goddess across his chest.
"No..."
"It can't be."
Luke stared at the twins.
Only a handful of wolves still remembered the oldest legends.
According to those forgotten stories, the First King had united every Lycan kingdom thousands of years before the packs divided into rival nations.
When his bloodline disappeared, peace vanished with it.
Most believed the tales were myths told to young pups before bedtime.
Yet the twins had spoken the ancient title without hesitation.
Without anyone teaching it to them.
Evelyn felt her pulse quicken.
"What did the voice say?"
Ethan looked toward the rising moon.
"It said the crown is broken."
Elijah continued.
"And only blood born under rejection can restore it."
Before anyone could react—
A deafening horn blasted across the valley.
Then another.
And another.
Every soldier on the walls shouted at once.
"Movement!"
"They're moving!"
"The Northern army is advancing!"
Luke rushed to the edge of the rooftop.
Rows upon rows of armored warriors had begun marching toward the Crescent gates.
But something immediately felt wrong.
King Roderick's soldiers weren't charging.
They were making way.
Slowly.
Methodically.
Creating a path through the center of their ranks.
A single rider emerged from the darkness behind them.
Unlike the others, this rider wore no armor.
Only a long white cloak that flowed behind a towering white stallion.
The stranger's face remained hidden beneath a silver hood.
Yet the moment the rider appeared, King Roderick lowered his head in respect.
Luke's heart sank.
"The king... is bowing."
Evelyn's eyes widened.
"If Roderick bows to someone..."
She couldn't finish the sentence.
Because there was only one possibility.
Someone far more powerful than the King of the Northern Court had just arrived
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