Chapter 8: The Shadow Wolves.
1091 Words
"The Shadow Wolves are awake."
The words left my mouth in a whisper.
Yet somehow, they echoed louder than a scream.
The warrior frowned.
Kael's expression darkened.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Kael broke the silence.
"That's impossible."
I wished he was right.
Moon Goddess, I wished he was right.
But the memory had returned too clearly.
Too vividly.
The ancient stories.
The forbidden records hidden deep within the royal archives.
Stories that every werewolf pup grew up hearing.
Stories meant to frighten children into obedience.
Stories everyone believed were myths.
Including me.
Until now.
The warrior shifted nervously.
"Alpha?"
Kael never looked away from me.
"What are Shadow Wolves?"
My stomach tightened.
Because if they truly existed...
Everything was about to change.
I took a slow breath.
"They're older than the werewolf kingdom."
The warrior's face immediately paled.
Kael remained silent.
Listening.
Watching.
Waiting.
I continued.
"Long before the first Alpha King united the packs, there were creatures that fed on life force."
A chill ran through me.
"They weren't wolves."
The warrior swallowed.
"Were they rogues?"
"No."
My voice came out sharper than intended.
"They were monsters."
The wind suddenly felt colder.
The training grounds seemed quieter.
As though nature itself was listening.
"The stories say they could drain an entire village overnight."
Neither man interrupted.
"They could steal strength."
I swallowed.
"Memories."
Another pause.
"Even souls."
The warrior stepped backward.
Fear filled his eyes.
Good.
Fear was the correct response.
Because if even half the stories were true...
We were all in danger.
Kael folded his arms.
"You believe these creatures killed the prisoners?"
I nodded.
"The bodies."
The warrior shuddered.
"They looked empty."
Exactly.
Not torn apart.
Not mutilated.
Empty.
Drained.
The way Shadow Wolves supposedly left their victims.
Silence settled over the group.
Then Kael sighed.
"No."
I frowned.
"What?"
"No."
His voice hardened.
"I'm not basing military decisions on children's stories."
Anger flared inside me.
Children's stories?
I took a step forward.
"You think this is a coincidence?"
His eyes narrowed.
"I think you're frightened."
The words hit harder than expected.
Because he wasn't entirely wrong.
I was frightened.
Terrified, actually.
But fear didn't make me wrong.
A memory flashed through my mind.
Darkness.
Screaming.
Blood.
A pair of glowing crimson eyes.
I froze.
The image vanished instantly.
Leaving my heart racing.
Kael noticed.
Of course he noticed.
"What did you remember?"
I hesitated.
Then shook my head.
"Nothing."
Lie.
His expression said he knew it was a lie.
Before he could press further, another howl echoed across the territory.
This one was different.
Urgent.
Desperate.
Danger.
Every wolf on the training grounds stiffened.
The warrior's face went white.
"Oh no."
"What now?" Kael demanded.
The warrior looked terrified.
"The eastern watchtower."
My stomach dropped.
"No."
"The signal came from the eastern watchtower."
Kael immediately shifted into Alpha mode.
Cold.
Focused.
Commanding.
"Gather every available warrior."
The warrior sprinted away.
Within seconds, chaos erupted throughout the territory.
Alarms sounded.
Orders were shouted.
Warriors rushed toward the armory.
Everyone moved.
Everyone except me.
Because I already knew.
This wasn't normal.
In the previous timeline, there had been only one attack.
One.
Now there had been two within a single day.
Something was accelerating events.
Something wanted the kingdom destabilized.
And it was succeeding.
Kael turned toward me.
"You're staying here."
I laughed.
The audacity.
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"No?"
"No."
I folded my arms.
"You're not ordering me around."
"I am an Alpha."
"And I'm not one of your pack members."
For a second, he looked genuinely annoyed.
Good.
Let him be annoyed.
I had been annoyed for five years.
We stared at each other.
Neither willing to back down.
Then Kael surprised me.
Again.
"Fine."
I blinked.
"What?"
"You can come."
Suspicion immediately flooded me.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
I narrowed my eyes.
He was definitely planning something.
Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out what.
And that worried me.
A lot.
---
An hour later, we arrived at the eastern watchtower.
The atmosphere felt wrong immediately.
Too quiet.
Too still.
The forest surrounding the tower was silent.
No birds.
No insects.
Nothing.
The silence made my skin crawl.
Kael noticed too.
His wolf was close to the surface.
Alert.
Dangerous.
Ready to fight.
The warriors spread out.
Searching.
Investigating.
Looking for survivors.
Then someone screamed.
My heart nearly stopped.
We ran toward the sound.
And found the watchtower guard.
Or what remained of him.
The sight nearly made me vomit.
His body wasn't torn apart.
There were no wounds.
No blood.
Nothing.
Yet something was horribly wrong.
His skin looked grey.
Almost lifeless.
His eyes stared blankly at the sky.
Empty.
Drained.
Exactly like the prisoners.
A cold dread settled in my stomach.
No.
No.
No.
One dead guard wasn't the problem.
The problem was what stood behind him.
A symbol.
Carved directly into the stone wall.
Fresh.
Deep.
Deliberate.
My blood froze.
I knew that symbol.
Moon Goddess.
I knew it.
A black crescent moon surrounded by claw marks.
The mark of the Shadow Wolves.
The symbol from the ancient stories.
The symbol of a war everyone believed ended centuries ago.
My knees nearly buckled.
This wasn't a coincidence.
This wasn't a legend.
This wasn't a myth.
They were real.
Kael stared at the symbol.
Then slowly turned toward me.
For the first time since we met, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Because he recognized it too.
"I've seen that before."
The words sent a chill through me.
"What?"
His expression darkened.
"In my previous life."
The world seemed to stop.
My pulse hammered.
"What do you mean?"
Kael's jaw clenched.
"I saw this symbol three days before your execution."
The air left my lungs.
No.
That couldn't be right.
Could it?
Suddenly, pieces began falling into place.
My execution.
The rogue attacks.
The timeline reset.
The mysterious voice.
The Shadow Wolves.
What if none of it was random?
What if my death wasn't the main event?
What if it was only the beginning?
A terrible realization struck me.
And judging by Kael's face...
He had reached the same conclusion.
"We weren't sent back to save ourselves."
My voice trembled.
Kael looked directly into my eyes.
"No."
The Alpha's expression turned grim.
"Dying was never the problem."
The forest seemed to grow darker around us.
Colder.
More threatening.
Then Kael spoke the words neither of us wanted to hear.
"We were sent back to stop a war."
And somewhere deep within the forest...
A pair of crimson eyes opened.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
- Writer
