chapter three: Awoken!
1601 Words
The fortress erupted into chaos.
Warriors rushed through the courtyard, weapons drawn, while the howls of wolves echoed from every direction.
Seraphina stood frozen beside Kael.
The words of the warrior replayed in her mind.
The Hollow Moon.
She didn't understand what it meant.
But everyone else did.
Fear had spread across the faces of the people surrounding her.
Even the strongest warriors looked unsettled.
Kael grabbed her wrist.
"Stay close to me."
Seraphina pulled against his grip.
"You're not answering me."
"Now isn't the time."
"You've said that twice already."
His eyes flashed.
"Seraphina."
"No."
She stepped closer to him.
"You keep telling me that my family is dangerous. That people have been hunting me since I was born. That my mother carried this mark."
She lifted her wrist.
The silver crescent glowed faintly beneath her skin.
"Then tell me what it means."
Kael stared at the mark.
His jaw tightened.
Before he could answer, another explosion shook the fortress.
Seraphina screamed as the ground beneath her feet trembled.
Kael immediately pulled her against his chest.
For one brief second, she felt something she hadn't felt in years.
Safe.
His arms were strong around her.
His heartbeat was steady.
And beneath his skin, she could feel the restrained power of his wolf.
Then she remembered who he was.
She pushed him away.
"I don't need you protecting me."
His eyebrows rose.
"You almost died ten minutes ago."
"I survived."
"Because I was there."
"I didn't ask you to be."
His expression darkened.
"And yet your wolf did."
Seraphina froze.
"My what?"
Kael said nothing.
Her heart began pounding.
"You said my wolf."
"I did."
"I don't have a wolf."
"You do."
"I would know."
"Would you?"
His voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Seraphina stared at him.
Kael stepped closer.
"Why do you think you haven't shifted?"
She swallowed.
"Because I'm defective."
Something flashed across his face.
Anger.
"Don't ever call yourself that."
She blinked.
The words had come so quickly, so fiercely, that she didn't know what to say.
Kael looked away.
Then another howl shook the night.
His expression immediately hardened.
"Come."
"Where?"
"My study."
"I thought we were going to fight."
"We are."
He looked at her.
"But before we do, you need to know what you're fighting."
---
Kael's study was nothing like Seraphina expected.
It wasn't dark or cold.
It was enormous.
Bookshelves covered almost every wall, filled with ancient leather-bound books and dusty scrolls. A huge fireplace burned at the far end of the room.
Maps covered one wall.
Seraphina recognized the territories of several packs.
But one section was different.
A large black circle had been drawn around a mountain range.
Hollow Moon Territory.
She stared at it.
"What is that place?"
Kael closed the door behind them.
"No one goes there."
"Why?"
"Because no one comes back."
Seraphina's stomach tightened.
"What is the Hollow Moon?"
Kael walked toward the fireplace.
For the first time, he looked tired.
Not like an Alpha.
Like a man.
"Long before our packs existed, there were wolves who worshipped something beneath the moon."
"Something?"
"A force."
He turned toward her.
"They called it the Hollow Moon."
Seraphina folded her arms.
"And what does it want?"
Kael's eyes met hers.
"Freedom."
A chill passed through her.
"Freedom from what?"
"The Moon Goddess."
Seraphina frowned.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
Every story she'd ever heard told her the same thing.
The Moon Goddess created werewolves.
She gave them their wolves.
She created the mate bond.
She protected the packs.
"You're saying the Moon Goddess isn't responsible for our existence?"
"I'm saying you shouldn't believe everything you've been taught."
Seraphina stared at him.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Kael didn't answer.
Instead, he walked to a locked cabinet.
He pulled a key from around his neck.
Seraphina watched as he unlocked it.
Inside was a single book.
It was ancient.
The cover was blackened and cracked, with a silver crescent carved into the center.
Kael removed it carefully.
He placed it on the desk.
Seraphina stepped closer.
"What is that?"
"My father's journal."
She looked at him.
"You said your parents were killed."
"They were."
"By my family?"
Kael's expression hardened.
"That's what I believed."
He opened the journal.
Several pages had been torn out.
But one page remained.
At the top was a drawing.
A woman.
She had long dark hair.
A crescent-shaped mark on her wrist.
And in her arms...
A baby.
Seraphina's breath stopped.
She recognized the woman.
She had seen her in her visions.
"That's my mother."
Kael nodded.
"Her name was Elara Vale."
Seraphina's fingers trembled.
"How do you know?"
"My father wrote about her."
Kael turned the page.
There was a single sentence written in faded ink.
When the Moonblood child is born, the Hollow Moon will awaken.
Seraphina stared at it.
"Moonblood."
Kael nodded.
"That's what your bloodline was called."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Seraphina—"
"No."
She stepped away.
"My mother was an ordinary wolf."
"She wasn't."
"My father was an ordinary wolf."
"He wasn't."
"You don't know anything about my family!"
"I know more than you think."
Her eyes burned.
"Then tell me!"
Kael fell silent.
She stared at him.
"Tell me the truth."
He looked down at the journal.
Then back at her.
"Your mother came to my father twenty years ago."
"Why?"
"She was running."
"From the Hollow Moon?"
Kael shook his head.
"From the people who served it."
Seraphina's breathing became shallow.
"Why?"
"Because she had discovered what they planned to do with you."
Her blood ran cold.
"What did they plan to do?"
Kael didn't answer.
"Kael."
"They wanted to use you."
"For what?"
His eyes darkened.
"To open the Hollow Moon."
Silence.
Seraphina laughed nervously.
"That makes no sense."
"I know."
"How could a baby open anything?"
"Not a baby."
He looked at her.
"Your blood."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Seraphina looked at the mark on her wrist.
The silver crescent pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then pain shot through her body.
She gasped.
Kael immediately moved toward her.
"Seraphina?"
She grabbed the edge of the desk.
Her vision blurred.
The room disappeared.
She was somewhere else.
Somewhere burning.
A woman stood before her.
Her mother.
Elara.
She was crying.
In her arms was a baby.
Seraphina.
A man stood behind her.
She couldn't see his face.
But she heard his voice.
"Give me the child."
Elara shook her head.
"Never."
"You cannot hide her forever."
"I don't need forever."
She kissed the baby's forehead.
"I only need enough time."
The man stepped forward.
"Elara."
She turned.
Her eyes were filled with fear.
Then she whispered something.
A word.
A name.
Kael.
The vision shattered.
Seraphina screamed.
She collapsed.
Kael caught her.
"Seraphina!"
She opened her eyes.
She was back in the study.
Kael was holding her.
But there was something different about him.
He looked terrified.
"You saw her."
Seraphina stared at him.
"My mother."
He nodded.
"What did she say?"
Seraphina swallowed.
"Your name."
Kael went completely still.
"What?"
"She said your name."
His grip tightened slightly.
"Anything else?"
She shook her head.
Then she remembered.
"There was a man."
Kael's expression changed.
"What man?"
"I couldn't see his face."
"What did he say?"
"He wanted me."
Kael's eyes became colder.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
She looked at him.
"But my mother was afraid of him."
Kael slowly released her.
Then he turned away.
"That means he knows you're alive."
"Who?"
Kael's silence answered her.
"Who, Kael?"
Before he could respond, the door burst open.
A young warrior rushed inside.
"Alpha!"
Kael spun around.
"What?"
The warrior's face was pale.
"The western wall has fallen."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"How many?"
The warrior swallowed.
"Too many."
"Rogues?"
"No."
The warrior looked at Seraphina.
Then immediately lowered his head.
"They're not wolves."
Kael's expression changed.
"What are they?"
The warrior's voice trembled.
"Men."
Kael reached for the sword hanging beside his desk.
"How many?"
"At least fifty."
"Armed?"
"Yes."
"Who leads them?"
The warrior hesitated.
Then whispered:
"A man wearing the Hollow Moon symbol."
Seraphina felt something inside her stir.
A growl.
Low.
Deep.
Coming from somewhere beneath her ribs.
She looked down.
Her fingers had changed.
Black claws slowly emerged from her fingertips.
Seraphina stared in horror.
"What is happening to me?"
Kael turned.
His eyes widened.
The silver mark on her wrist had spread.
Thin black veins crawled from it toward her elbow.
Her heartbeat thundered.
Then came the voice.
The same voice from the forest.
The same voice from her dreams.
But this time...
it wasn't whispering.
It was awake.
Let me out.
Seraphina grabbed her chest.
"No."
Kael stepped toward her.
"Seraphina."
"Don't come near me."
Her voice sounded different.
Deeper.
Almost unfamiliar.
The claws grew longer.
Her eyes burned.
Kael's wolf roared inside him.
Mate.
But Seraphina could barely hear him.
Something else was louder.
Something ancient.
Something hungry.
Let me out.
Seraphina screamed.
And the windows of the study exploded.
Kael was thrown backward.
The walls shook.
Every wolf in Nightfang dropped to its knees.
Outside, the invading army suddenly stopped.
Then a single howl rose above the fortress.
Not a wolf's howl.
A sound that seemed to come from the earth itself.
Seraphina slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes had turned silver.
Kael stared at her.
And for the first time in his life...
the Black Wolf was afraid.
Because the creature standing before him wasn't an Omega.
Wasn't even an ordinary werewolf.
It was the reason the Hollow Moon had returned.
And it had finally awakened.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD