Chapter 4: The Lunar Shrine
1281 Words
Liam woke to the smell of stone, blood, and smoke.
For several seconds, he couldn't remember where he was.
Then he tried to move.
Pain ripped through his side.
His wrists were tied behind his back, the rope biting into his skin. Cold stone pressed against his cheek. His breathing became shallow as he forced himself to look around.
The room was dark.
Ancient symbols covered the walls.
At the center stood a massive stone altar.
Liam's eyes widened.
The crescent symbol carved into the altar was the same symbol that had appeared on his skin.
“The Lunar Shrine,” he whispered.
Footsteps echoed through the darkness.
Liam's heart dropped.
Darian stepped into the dim light.
His clothes were stained with blood from the attack, but there wasn't a single trace of fear on his face.
“You finally woke up.”
Liam pulled against the ropes.
“You kidn*pped me.”
Darian smiled.
“You make it sound so unpleasant.”
“You stabbed me.”
“And yet you're alive.”
Liam glared at him.
“Where's Kael?”
Darian's smile widened.
“Looking for you.”
The answer sent a strange mixture of relief and fear through Liam.
Kael was coming.
Of course he was.
Even after rejecting him, Kael wouldn't let him disappear.
Darian walked toward the altar.
“You've spent your entire life believing you're just an Omega.”
“What do you want?”
“Your blood.”
Liam's stomach turned.
Darian stopped beside the altar.
“Your family carried something that was thought to have disappeared generations ago.”
“The Lunar Blood.”
“Yes.”
Liam stared at him.
“What does it do?”
Darian's expression became almost reverent.
“It can awaken what sleeps beneath this shrine.”
A chill moved down Liam's spine.
“What sleeps beneath it?”
“You'll find out.”
Darian pulled a knife from his belt.
Liam struggled against the ropes.
“Stay away from me.”
Darian ignored him.
“You were hidden because your family knew what would happen if the wrong wolves found you.”
“My family never told me anything.”
“They were afraid.”
“Of what?”
Darian crouched in front of him.
“Of the same thing your Alpha's father feared.”
Liam's eyes narrowed.
“What does Kael's father have to do with this?”
Darian's smile disappeared.
“Everything.”
Before Liam could question him, footsteps echoed from the other side of the shrine.
Elder Orin appeared.
Liam stared at him.
“You knew.”
The elder lowered his head.
“I knew what your birthmark meant.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was afraid.”
“You let me live my entire life thinking I was weak.”
Orin's expression broke.
“I thought ignorance would keep you alive.”
Darian laughed.
“Instead, it made him easy to control.”
Orin looked at him sharply.
“You were never supposed to find him.”
“But I did.”
Darian grabbed Liam's arm and dragged him toward the altar.
Liam fought him.
“Let me go!”
Darian forced his hand onto the stone.
A blade flashed.
He sliced Liam's palm.
Blood fell onto the crescent symbol.
The shrine trembled.
Liam gasped.
Silver light burst from beneath his hand.
The mark beneath his collarbone ignited.
The walls began to shake.
Orin stepped backward.
“No.”
Darian stared at the altar with wide, hungry eyes.
“It's beginning.”
Liam's vision blurred.
The shrine disappeared.
He saw a memory.
A younger Kael stood beside his father.
Across from them stood a man Liam recognized immediately.
His father.
They were arguing.
Liam couldn't hear the words.
Then something moved behind them.
A huge shadow with glowing red eyes.
Kael's father stepped forward.
He pushed Liam's father behind him.
A blade appeared.
It plunged into Kael's father's chest.
He collapsed.
Liam screamed.
The attacker turned.
A black-stone ring gleamed on his finger.
The vision shattered.
Liam fell against the altar, breathing hard.
Darian grabbed his shoulders.
“What did you see?”
Liam stared at him.
“You lied.”
Darian's face changed.
“You said Kael's father wanted my family dead.”
“I said nothing of the sort.”
“You said he was responsible.”
Darian's jaw tightened.
Liam looked at the black-stone ring on Darian's finger.
The same ring.
The same symbol.
“You were there.”
Darian went silent.
“You helped kill Kael's father.”
A slow smile returned to Darian's face.
“Yes.”
Liam's blood ran cold.
“You killed him?”
“No.”
Darian leaned closer.
“But I helped the person who did.”
Liam's heart pounded.
“Who?”
Darian turned toward the altar.
“You'll meet him soon enough.”
The stone beneath them cracked.
A deep growl came from below.
Orin's face turned white.
“Darian, stop.”
Darian ignored him.
He pulled Liam toward the center of the altar.
“You are the key.”
Liam fought with everything he had.
“I won't awaken anything for you.”
“You don't have a choice.”
Darian pressed his bleeding palm against the crescent symbol.
The entire shrine shook.
A c***k split across the floor.
Something enormous moved underneath them.
Liam heard a heartbeat.
One. Two. Three.
Then a howl exploded through the shrine.
Darian laughed.
“Wake, Lunar Wolf.”
The doors behind them suddenly exploded inward.
Kael stood in the entrance.
Blood covered his clothes.
His eyes were wild.
“Get your hands off him.”
Darian turned.
Kael's gaze found Liam.
For one second, everything else disappeared.
“Kael–”
The Alpha stepped forward.
Darian pressed the knife against Liam's throat.
Kael stopped.
“Another step,” Darian warned, “and he dies.”
Kael's hands slowly lowered.
“Let him go.”
“You rejected him.”
Pain flashed across Kael's face.
“I was wrong.”
Liam stared at him.
Kael looked directly into his eyes.
“I thought pushing you away would protect you.”
His voice shook.
“I was wrong.”
Darian laughed.
“You're too late.”
The ground cracked again.
A massive black paw pushed through the stone.
Liam's breath caught.
Silver eyes opened beneath the altar.
Kael shifted.
Bones cracked.
Black fur swept across his body as his Alpha wolf emerged with a roar that shook the shrine.
Darian lunged.
Liam moved at the same time.
His birthmark exploded with silver light.
The ropes around his wrists snapped.
Liam shifted.
His wolf emerged beneath a storm of silver light, faster and stronger than anything he had ever felt inside himself.
Darian stumbled backward.
“What are you?”
Liam stood between him and Kael.
“I don't know.”
The creature beneath the shrine raised its head.
Its silver eyes locked onto Liam.
The Shadow Wolf.
It did not attack.
Instead, it bowed its enormous head.
Liam stared at it.
A voice filled his mind.
Do not destroy what was born to protect you.
The shrine shook violently.
Kael moved beside Liam.
Their wolves stood shoulder to shoulder.
For the first time, Liam felt the broken bond between them stir again.
Then the floor beneath the Shadow Wolf split open.
Something darker than the night crawled through the c***k.
The Shadow Wolf growled.
Kael looked at Liam.
“Whatever happens next, stay with me.”
Liam looked into his gray eyes.
“I never left.”
A deafening roar came from beneath the shrine.
And the ancient darkness finally began to rise.
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