His Moonfire Luna

The Moonfire

Chapter 5

Kael

The storm broke just as we reached the ridge.

Lightning split the sky in half, painting the world white for a heartbeat before plunging it back into shadow. The scent was stronger now, wild rain, burnt pine, and that faint trace of jasmine that had been haunting me for days.

She was close.

Rowan shifted beside me, his wolf pacing just under his skin. “We should wait till morning,” he said over the thunder. “Visibility’s crap, and the rogues are getting bolder at night.”

“I’m not waiting,” I said flatly.

He sighed. “Didn’t think you would.”

We moved deeper into the woods, our boots sinking into the wet soil. Every sound was sharper, heavier. The forest was alive with danger and something else. Power. It hummed through the air, low and pulsing, like the ground itself was vibrating with it.

When the wind shifted, I froze. There, beneath the rain and blood and moss was her scent again. Stronger this time. Real.

I barely heard Rowan calling my name before I was already moving. My body acted on instinct, my wolf surging forward with a hunger that had nothing to do with prey.

Branches whipped my face as I tore through the undergrowth. Every muscle screamed to slow down, but I didn’t care. I just needed to see her. To prove to myself that she was alive and then, maybe, kill her for not staying dead.

Then I saw her.

She stood in a clearing beneath a ruined temple, the rain slicking her hair to her face. For a second, everything inside me stopped.

Lyra.

Her clothes were torn, her skin streaked with mud and blood, but she was breathing. Alive. And the energy rolling off her…it wasn’t human. It wasn't a wolf, either. It was… ancient. Wild.

Darius stood beside her, his hand brushing her shoulder like he had a right to touch her.

A growl ripped through my throat before I could stop it.

Darius turned, his expression sharp. “You shouldn’t have come, Draven.”

“Move away from her,” I said, my voice low, steady. The kind of steady that came right before violence.

Lyra’s eyes found mine then, and for a heartbeat, the world fell away. The storm, the forest, the centuries of anger between us, they vanished. All I saw was her.

And then she flinched.

“Don’t,” she said quietly. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Like what? Like I’d clawed my way through hell just to see her breathe again?

I swallowed hard, forcing steel into my voice. “You should’ve stayed hidden, Lyra.”

“Hidden?” She let out a short, bitter laugh. “That’s what I was to you, wasn’t I? Something to hide.”

“This isn’t the place,” I said through gritted teeth.

Darius stepped forward, his smirk dangerous. “Funny. That’s exactly what your father said before he died.”

The words hit like a blade to the chest. “Watch your mouth.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me like he did?”

Before I could respond, the air split open with a snarl. Shadows darted between the trees…eyes glinting red, teeth flashing.

“Rogues,” Rowan hissed, appearing at my side, his claws already out.

But these weren’t ordinary rogues. Their scent was twisted, wrong. Shadowfang.

Dozens of them poured into the clearing, circling us like predators who knew they had the advantage.

“Lyra, stay behind me,” Darius ordered, but she didn’t move. Her hands were trembling…no, glowing. Faint light pulsed beneath her skin, crawling up her arms like liquid fire.

“What’s happening to her?” Rowan shouted.

I didn’t answer, because I didn’t know. I could feel it, though…the pull between us, sharper now, burning through the hollow space where the bond used to be.

Lyra gasped, clutching her chest. “Kael…”

I was already moving.

The first rogue lunged, and I caught it mid-air, twisting its neck with a snap. Another came from behind…Rowan took it down but there were too many. They came in waves, snarling, clawing, driven by something beyond hunger.

One nearly got to her. I saw its shadow in the corner of my eye and didn’t think, I just moved. My arm wrapped around her waist, yanking her against me as my claws tore through the creature’s throat.

For a moment, we were chest to chest, both breathing hard. Her heartbeat slammed against mine, fast and erratic.

“You came for me,” she said softly, disbelief threading her voice.

“I came to finish what I started,” I lied.

Her eyes flickered. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Before I could respond, the light inside her exploded.

It wasn’t just light…it was flame. White, searing, and alive. It erupted from her hands, sweeping across the clearing in a blinding arc. The rogues screamed as the fire consumed them, burning without smoke or heat, as if the moon itself had poured fire through her veins.

I shielded her as best I could, but the blast sent us both crashing to the ground. When the light finally dimmed, the forest was silent. The rogues were gone.

Every one of them. Lyra lay in my arms, pale and shaking, her skin glowing faintly like embers beneath the surface.

I brushed a strand of wet hair from her face, my chest tight. “What the hell was that?”

Her lips trembled. “I don’t know. It just…happened.”

Darius stumbled toward us, blood streaking his cheek. “The Moonfire,” he rasped. “It’s awake.”

I glared at him. “What the hell is the Moonfire?”

He smirked weakly. “Ask your father.”

Before I could demand more, he vanished into the woods, leaving only his scent behind.

Typical.

Lyra tried to sit up, but I held her down gently. “Don’t move. You burned half the damn forest.”

She managed a weak laugh. “Guess that’s one way to make an impression.”

I wanted to be angry. I wanted to remind myself that she was supposed to be my enemy but the truth was, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.

Her fingers brushed mine…accidental, maybe but the jolt that shot through me was anything but. The bond wasn’t dead. It was alive. Violent. Awake.

“Kael,” she whispered, eyes meeting mine, “something’s coming.”

“I know,” I said, though I wasn’t sure what she meant.

“No,” she breathed, her voice trembling. “Something worse than the rogues. Worse than us.”

Then the ground beneath us cracked.

The forest shuddered, and from somewhere deep below, a low, ancient growl echoed through the earth like the sound of something that had been sleeping for centuries finally stirring awake.

I met her eyes. “What did you do?”

She shook her head slowly, terror blooming in her expression.

“I think I just woke it up.”