Blood Moon Rising
563 Words
Chapter 15 – Blood Moon Rising
The next morning, the entire packhouse buzzed with tension.
The moon would be full in three days. Lena’s mark pulsed with heat now, like it was counting down. Every look Kael gave her was laced with protectiveness and quiet dread.
In the war room, maps were spread across the table. Kael’s beta, Jarek, paced restlessly while Kael traced a path through the Shadow Mountains toward the Temple of Umbra.
Jarek frowned. “That temple hasn’t been seen in over a century.”
“We found it once,” Kael replied. “We can find it again.”
Lena stood beside him. “If that flame is the only thing that can break the curse, I’ll go alone if I have to.”
Kael shot her a glare. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”
She almost smiled. “Figured you'd say that.”
Kael looked at his beta. “We leave tonight. No more waiting.”
That evening, under cover of twilight, Kael, Lena, and two scouts made their way through the dense forest and into the foothills of the Shadow Mountains. Fog clung to the rocks like ghostly fingers. Every sound echoed—every breath felt too loud.
Hours passed in silence until they reached a ridge with jagged rocks resembling claws.
“This is it,” Kael murmured.
Beneath the ridge, nestled between crumbling ruins and vines, stood the Temple of Umbra.
Black stone columns rose like broken teeth, and between them, an arch of shimmering white fire.
Lena stepped forward, heart racing.
The fire didn’t burn—it shimmered. Pulsed. Whispered her name.
She took a step closer... and the flame parted, revealing an altar inside.
But then something stirred.
Three shadow wolves emerged from the mist—spectral guardians, their eyes glowing silver. They circled the entrance, growling low and steady.
Kael stepped in front of her. “Stay behind me.”
“No,” Lena said firmly. “They’re not attacking. They’re... waiting.”
The wolves stopped. One stepped forward and sat, head tilted as if measuring her soul.
Then it bowed.
Kael’s mouth fell open. “That’s not possible.”
Lena walked slowly to the altar. On it sat a small crystal flame, burning without fuel. Its warmth filled her chest, not with fire, but light. Calm. Power.
She reached out.
“Wait,” Kael warned.
But her fingers touched it.
The moment she did, a flash of white fire surged through her body, lifting her off the ground.
Visions filled her mind—wolves, witches, blood, betrayal. She saw the original Alpha, his fated mate, the broken vow, and the curse born of pain.
She saw herself.
Not as Lena—but as someone older, reborn again and again, always tied to the cursed Alpha.
When her feet touched the ground again, she held the flame in her hand—and her mark stopped burning.
Kael caught her as she staggered. “Are you okay?”
“I saw it all,” she whispered. “I’m the key. I always was.”
Before Kael could respond, a deep rumble echoed through the mountain.
Lena turned to him, voice shaking. “Someone else is coming.”
And this time, it wasn’t just a guardian.
It was Ronan—Alpha of the Bloodfang Pack.
And he was coming for them both.
- Writer
