ALPHA OF THE FORGOTTEN PACK

Chapter 4: The Blade Beneath the Throne

The newly claimed MoonHowl lands echoed with the sounds of construction—walls rising, warriors training, laughter from pups who had never known fear. But Selene felt the shift before anyone else. Something was wrong. The winds didn’t carry a warning—they carried silence. She stood at the edge of the old council chamber, now converted into a war hall. Her boots scraped against the stone floor as she approached the ceremonial throne that had once belonged to Myrick. She hadn’t touched it since the council fell. It still smelled like control, like blood wrapped in velvet." You're avoiding your crown," came Cael’s voice from behind her." I didn’t fight for the seat," she replied. "I fought to free the wolves."" And now that they’re free… they look to you." Selene placed her palm on the armrest. Cold. She moved to sit, and the moment her weight touched the throne, she felt it: a c***k of energy beneath the stone. She jumped up." What was that?" Cael asked, immediately alert. Selene narrowed her eyes and crouched beside the throne. With a grunt, she pushed it aside—and what they saw underneath made her blood freeze. A sigil. Ancient. Faintly glowing. A binding mark." Someone marked the throne," Cael muttered. "It’s a curse. "Probably meant to trap the will of whoever sits on it." Selene's jaw clenched. "No wonder the council stayed in power so long. They didn’t just rule by fear. "They ruled by magic." Before Cael could speak, a cold wind burst into the chamber, slamming the doors shut.A figure emerged from the shadows. Tall. Dressed in gray leather. Hooded." You weren’t supposed to find that," the stranger said. Selene stepped forward. "And who are you to decide what I find?" The figure pulled back their hood—revealing piercing violet eyes and silver tattoos trailing down their jaws." A Shadowblade," Cael hissed. "They serve the old order." Selene didn’t flinch. "You work for the council?"" No," the Shadowblade replied. "I work for the ones who created them." Before either of them could move, the stranger drew a curved blade and slashed it across the air. A gust of dark magic exploded. Selene was thrown across the chamber, hitting the wall hard. Cael roared, shifting midair into his wolf form, teeth bared, but the Shadowblade vanished into black mist. Selene staggered to her feet.“Are you okay?" Cael asked, shifting back." I’m fine." Her lip bled. "But we’re not done." She walked to the mark under the throne and slammed her palm against it. A pulse of energy rippled out. The mark shattered. The throne cracked in half." What are you doing?" Cael shouted.“Ending it, "she growled. "I don’t need their throne." I don’t need their curses." Dust filled the air. The crown chamber broke open. And for the first time, Selene stood not above the old power—but beyond it." We built a new hall," she said. "One where wolves kneel only to truth." Cael stepped beside her. "And what of the Shadowblade?" Selene’s eyes gleamed. "We hunt them. Every last one." The remains of the old council chamber smoldered in the background as Selene stood at the edge of the cliff, her cloak snapping in the wind. The throne was destroyed. The mark was broken. But the warning left by the Shadowblade lingered like a splinter under her skin. She’d faced power-hungry Alphas, bloodthirsty councils, and memories that burned her soul. But this was different. This was ancient.“Selene,” Ronan called, jogging up the slope. His usual calm was gone. “You need to see this.” He handed her a scroll, bound with black ribbon. She took it carefully. No crest. No seal. But the paper pulsed faintly, as if alive.“Where did this come from?”“It appeared at the border post. "The sentries said it was carried in by mist.” Selene unrolled the parchment. Only one line was written—burned into the paper with dark magic: "The blood moon rises. "The firstborn must fall." She stared at the words.“What does it mean?” Ronan asked. Selene didn’t answer. Because she knew. That night, she visited the old MoonHowl shrine hidden deep in the woods. The statue of the Moon Goddess stood half-buried in ivy, her stone hands open to the sky. Selene knelt and placed her palms on the ground.“Mother Moon,” she whispered, “you chose me for this". You gave me a second chance. "Tell me what I’m facing.” A breeze rustled the leaves. Then a vision surged through her—a flash of fire and silver eyes… a girl with Selene’s face but younger… falling… screaming… And above her, a red moon burned. Selene gasped and fell backward. It wasn’t a threat. It was a prophecy. And the "firstborn" wasn’t just a metaphor. It was real. It was her. She returned to the rebuilt village at dawn, eyes dark with sleeplessness. Cael waited by the well, arms crossed.“I felt something shift last night,” he said. “You went to the shrine.” Selene nodded. Cael studied her. “What did you see?”“A girl,” Selene said softly. “Younger than me." But with my eyes.” Cael’s brow furrowed. “You think…?”“I don’t know. It could be a warning. A memory. "Or something coming.” Cael stepped forward. “Then we prepared. "If something ancient is awakening, we’ll meet it together.” Selene looked up. “Together?” He cupped her cheek gently. “You’ve always fought alone. "Maybe it’s time you didn’t have to.” She leaned into him for just a moment, letting herself rest there, in the quiet. But even then, her mind was spinning. The blood moon rose. The firstborn must have fallen. And somewhere deep in the wilds, a forgotten force was stirring, watching and waiting. The map was burned into old leather, etched with runes so faded even the council’s archivists refused to interpret it. Selene rolled it out on the war table.“The Vale of Ash?” Cael asked. “I thought it was a myth.”“It’s not,” Selene replied. “It’s where the first wolves passed through. "Where blood met moonlight for the first time.” Ronan stared. “No one who enters that land returns.”“Maybe they weren’t meant to,” she said. “But I am.” They left before sunrise, with only a small pack of trusted warriors—Ronan, Cael, and two guards. They crossed the highlands in silence, passing into lands where the trees no longer whispered. At the edge of the vale, the world changed. The grass died beneath their boots. The sky dimmed. The wind stopped moving. Selene stepped forward alone.“Only the Alpha may enter,” read the inscription carved into the black stone gate. Cael reached for her arm. “You don’t have to do this alone.” She shook her head. “This is the price of knowing.” And then she stepped through. Inside, the vale was silent. Not empty—but still. Like the world was holding its breath.Then came the voice.Low. Ancient. Genderless.“Daughter of MoonHowl. Why do you disturb our rest?”Selene turned in a circle. “I seek the truth. Of the prophecy. Of my blood.”A swirl of silver mist coiled around her, then formed into a tall figure cloaked in light. No face. No eyes. Just presence.“You seek what even the council feared,” the voice said. “Are you willing to pay the cost?”“Yes,” Selene whispered.“Then face what you are.” She was yanked into a vision—ripped from her body and dropped into memory. She was a child again, crouched beneath her mother’s cloak, watching as wolves howled in protest around a burning altar. Her father knelt, bleeding. At the center, the council stood—casting judgment.“The firstborn of the bloodline will bring ruin,” one of them said. “She must be marked.” And then she saw it. Her mother pressed a moonstone into Selene’s chest as a baby. Hiding her light. Sealing her power.“To protect you,” the vision whispered. Selene screamed and fell to her knees. The vision shattered. She was back in the vale. The light figure stood before her, unmoved.“You were never meant to survive,” it said. But the moon intervened. Now your power returns.”“What am I?” she gasped.“Not cursed. Not chosen. "Remembered.” Selene stood shakily.“If I’m the prophecy’s key… how do I stop what’s coming?”“You don’t stop it. "You become it.” With a flash, the mist collapsed inward—and a mark burned across her chest, over her heart. A crescent moon. Surrounded by three stars. The mark of the True Alpha. Selene opened her eyes—truly opened them—and saw the world as it was. Not ruled by fate. But ready to be remade.