Blessed Luna Rising

Chapter 4: The Birth

Pain was the first thing I felt.

It was everywhere. In my bones, my blood, my skull. I was burning from the inside out. I tried to scream but no sound came out.

“Lena, listen to me.”

Kane’s voice was inside my head. Clear even though the world was black.

“Look at me. Focus on my voice only.”

I forced my eyes open. I was on the floor of the cabin. My hands… my hands weren’t my hands. They were lengthening, changing. Black claws tearing out of my fingertips. Silver fur spreading across my skin.

“No,” I breathed. “Impossible.”

“You’re stronger than this,” Kane’s voice was steady. “You were born for this moment. Don’t fight it.”

The door exploded. The Shadow King walked in. He was bigger than anything I’d ever seen. Living darkness, hell-red eyes, twisted horns curling from his head.

“Found you at last, Moon Daughter,” his voice was a thousand screams at once. “Your blood will open the Gate.”

Kane stepped between us. His back was to me, but I saw his body start to change. Muscles bulged, claws ripped out, his silver eyes blazed.

“No one takes her while I still breathe,” Kane growled. His voice wasn’t human anymore.

“Alpha of a pathetic little pack,” the Shadow King laughed. “You think you can protect her from me? She is mine.”

“She is my mate,” Kane roared.

Then he shifted.

His clothes shredded off him. In a second, a massive wolf stood in his place. Pure silver, bigger than any natural wolf. The scar above his eye was still there, even in this form.

He launched himself at the Shadow King. The whole cabin shook from the impact.

And me? The fire in my veins hit its peak.

I screamed. But the scream came out as a howl.

Every bone in my body broke at once, then snapped back into a new shape. I dropped to my hands and knees. Silver fur covered me. My senses exploded. I could smell the blood, the fear, the rotting wood. I could hear Kane’s heart beating as he fought. I could see in the dark like it was noon.

I looked down. I was a wolf. Silver, a little smaller than Kane, but the same color.

The Shadow King threw Kane against the wall. The wall collapsed. Kane whimpered.

“Weak,” the Shadow King spat. “Just like your father.”

Kane tried to stand but he was bleeding.

Something inside me detonated. Rage. Pure, feral, protective rage.

Without thinking, I lunged.

I was fast. Faster than wind. My fangs sank into the Shadow King’s shoulder. He screamed. The sound was enough to bring the whole cabin down.

“Impossible,” he bellowed, trying to shake me off. “You’re just a pup! The first shift takes days!”

I didn’t let go. My blood was boiling. I felt Kane in my head. “That’s it, Lena. Fight with me.”

Kane got up and stood beside me. Shoulder to shoulder. Two silver wolves against the Shadow King.

“Two against one?” The Shadow King took a step back. “Good. The real war starts early.”

He raised his hand. Every shadow outside the cabin poured in. Dozens. Hundreds. Red eyes everywhere.

We were surrounded.

Kane looked at me. Without words, I understood. His eyes said everything: “Hold the line. We’re together.”

I moved closer until my fur brushed his. I felt his strength run through me. Felt his heart beat with mine.

“Run with me, Lena,” he whispered in my mind again.

Then we ran.

We crashed through the remaining wall of the cabin and burst into the forest. The shadow army behind us. The Shadow King roaring behind us.

But for the first time, I wasn’t scared.

I was running beside my fate. Beside my Alpha.

And the war had only just begun.