Chapter 8 – Moonborne Pack
1273 Words
Chapter 8 – Moonborne Pack
Dawn bled across the snowy horizon like gold spilled on ice. The Moonborne stronghold, nestled between the jagged cliffs and ancient pinewoods, stirred to life under a sky painted in fire. Bells rang softly to call the morning guard, while smoke curled from the chimneys of the lower halls.
Seren stood barefoot in the snow.
Kaelen had said first light. She hadn’t expected him to mean exactly first light.
The courtyard was deserted except for her and the Alpha, who stood shirtless in the cold like it didn’t touch him. His skin bore scars—dozens of them. Claw marks. Bite wounds. Blade cuts.
And his eyes, golden and wild, locked on her.
"We train as wolves," Kaelen said. "Not humans."
Seren glanced around. "What does that mean?"
He tossed her a wooden staff. "It means we don’t wait for battles to come to us. We hunt them."
Seren barely caught the staff in time.
He came at her in the next breath.
She dodged purely on instinct, the staff swinging wide. Kaelen pressed harder, forcing her to pivot, duck, and block until her arms trembled from effort.
"Your enemy won’t care if you’re tired. Or scared. Or new to this. They’ll kill you just the same."
He spun the staff and knocked her to the ground with a sweep of her legs. The wind left her lungs in a gasp.
"Get up."
She did. Teeth clenched.
And attacked.
---
By the time the village stirred fully, she was bruised, breathless, and covered in sweat.
Lyra watched from a distance, arms crossed.
"He’s pushing her too hard," said Eli, one of the younger warriors. "She’s just a human."
Lyra didn’t look away. "No, she’s not. Not anymore."
Kaelen knocked Seren’s staff from her hands and pressed his blade—wooden, but sharp—against her neck.
"Dead," he said flatly.
Seren closed her eyes, panting. "Then do it."
Kaelen stared at her. Something unreadable passed through his expression.
He lowered the blade.
"Again."
---
After training, Lyra brought Seren to the war room—an ancient chamber built into the cliffside, where maps of both the Hollowlands and human world were etched into stone and constantly updated by hand.
Around the curved table stood Kaelen, Eli, three other commanders, and an elder woman named Elatha, whose blind eyes could still see more than most.
"The vampire scouts weren’t probing us," Kaelen said, pointing to the northwest edge of the map. "They were guiding something. A beast, or a magic tracker. Something that can pick up her scent."
"Lucien wants her alive?" asked Eli.
"For now," said Elatha. Her voice was low, cracked like frost. "Until he finds the altar. Then he only needs her blood."
Seren flinched.
"There’s more," Kaelen continued. "The traitor from Nightfang said Lucien is raising things. Ancient ones. I want scouts sent to the Forgotten Valley."
One of the commanders protested. "It’s suicide. Those ruins haven’t been opened in generations."
Kaelen’s glare silenced him.
Seren found her voice. "What altar?"
Elatha turned her milky eyes to her. "The Temple of Moirak. Lost in the eastern mountains. It holds a gateway to the true veil. One that connects this world to what lies beyond both yours and ours."
"And my blood opens it?"
Elatha nodded. "You are Moonblooded. The child of both realms. The only key."
"But I’m not—"
"Not entirely human," Kaelen said. "We know."
Seren looked at him, anger flickering behind her confusion. "And you were going to tell me this when?"
"When it was safe. When we were sure."
"I deserve to know!"
"And now you do."
Lyra stepped in. "We have bigger problems. If Lucien finds the temple before we do, he opens the gate. Everything changes."
Eli added, "The last time the gate was touched, it took four packs, three covens, and an army of witches to close it. Half didn’t survive."
Seren felt the room close in.
She turned, leaving without another word.
---
She found herself near the shrine again, at the carved stone wolf nestled against the cliff.
Snow dusted the offerings below—wildflowers, blades, trinkets. The runes carved into the statue pulsed faintly.
She fell to her knees.
"Why me?" she whispered. "I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to be hunted or marked or—"
She broke off, tears freezing on her cheeks.
"I just wanted to be free."
A soft sound reached her ears. Not a voice. A vibration. The runes on the statue flared brighter. Her wrist burned.
She looked down.
The mark glowed, more vivid than ever.
Behind her, footsteps crunched in the snow.
Kaelen.
He said nothing for a long moment, then sat beside her.
"This place used to scare me," he said. "When I was young. The stories... the gods... it all felt too big. Too ancient."
She didn’t reply.
"Then my brother died. I came here every night after. Begged for answers. Cried when none came. I thought the gods were cruel."
Seren looked at him.
"Are they?"
He exhaled. "I think they just don’t lie. They give us what we need, not what we want."
"And what do you need?"
"Strength. Enough to protect this place. My people. You."
She stared at him, surprised.
He didn’t meet her gaze.
"You asked why you? Maybe it’s because you survived when no one thought you would. Maybe it’s because your blood remembers something older than war. Or maybe... maybe the world is tired of waiting for someone to fix what’s broken."
She swallowed hard. "I don’t want to be special."
"Neither did I."
They sat in silence, the snow falling between them.
Then Kaelen stood.
"There’s a hunt tonight. You’ll come."
"Why?"
"To learn. To see. And because if you're going to face Lucien... you need to know what you're protecting."
---
Night fell like a blade.
The Moonborne pack gathered at the border woods—dozens of warriors, hunters, and scouts. The air buzzed with energy. Wolves shifted in unison, howls rising into the cold sky.
Seren rode behind Lyra on horseback, Kaelen leading at the front in wolf form. His massive form shimmered silver beneath the moonlight.
They hunted through the trees in perfect silence. No one spoke. No one stumbled.
Then Kaelen halted.
Ahead, a clearing. Scorch marks. Bones. A half-eaten deer. Something was close.
Kaelen growled, low and rumbling.
From the shadows, creatures emerged.
Not vampires. Not wolves.
Twisted things. With hollow eyes, limbs that bent wrong, mouths full of teeth. Dead flesh reanimated by magic.
The risen.
Kaelen lunged. The pack followed.
Seren watched in horror and awe as wolves clashed with monsters. Claws tore through rotting flesh. Fangs sank into shrieking beasts. Lyra dismounted and joined the fray, blades flashing.
One of the risen broke past the line. It charged Seren.
She raised her hands.
A burst of light erupted from her palm.
The creature was flung back, disintegrating into ash.
Everyone turned to look.
Kaelen shifted back mid-fight, bloodied and breathless.
"You're not just a key," he murmured. "You're a weapon."
Seren shook, staring at her hands.
"I didn’t mean to. I just—"
"It saved you. Again. But this time... it didn’t just protect. It destroyed."
The battle ended in minutes. The clearing was littered with remains, ashes blowing in the wind.
Kaelen approached her.
"You’re coming with me tomorrow. To the archives. We’re going to find out what you really are."
Seren nodded.
For the first time, she didn’t argue.
Because she felt it too.
Something was changing inside her.
And time was running out.
- Writer
