THE LAST MOONFANG

The Alpha of Darkness

Victor Nightfang stood before the ancient stone door, his amber eyes glowing beneath the hood of his black cloak.

For nineteen years, he had searched every kingdom, every abandoned ruin, and every forgotten forest for the last surviving heir of Moonfang.

Tonight...

His search was over.

The cracked stone door trembled beneath another powerful strike.

BOOM!

Dust cascaded from the ceiling as long fractures spread across the ancient barrier.

Inside the sanctuary, every crystal dimmed.

General Aldric tightened his grip on his silver spear.

His weathered face remained calm, but his eyes betrayed the danger they faced.

"He shouldn't have found this place," he muttered.

Daisy looked toward the trembling entrance.

"Who is he... really?"

Aldric turned to her.

"Victor Nightfang was once your father's greatest friend."

Her eyes widened.

"What?"

"He trained beside King Adrian."

"They hunted together."

"They fought wars together."

"He even stood beside your parents on the day they were crowned."

Daisy struggled to believe it.

"If they were friends..."

"What happened?"

A shadow crossed Aldric's face.

"Ambition."

"He believed the werewolf world needed one ruler."

"One law."

"One Alpha."

"When your father refused to conquer the other kingdoms..."

"Victor decided he would."

Another explosion shook the sanctuary.

This time, several marble pillars cracked.

The great silver crystal suspended above the chamber flickered violently.

Aldric looked upward.

"The sanctuary is failing."

Daisy instinctively touched the pendant around her neck.

"Can't it protect us?"

"It has protected us."

He smiled sadly.

"For nineteen years."

"But every protection has its limit."

Outside, Victor calmly rested one hand against the ancient stone door.

Silver symbols glowed beneath his fingertips.

Then...

One by one...

They faded.

Aldric's face turned pale.

"Impossible."

Daisy frowned.

"What is it?"

"He's breaking the Moon Seals."

"No one should be able to do that."

Victor's voice echoed through the chamber.

"Your ancestors were brilliant."

"But they never imagined..."

"...that one of their own would teach me their secrets."

Aldric's expression hardened.

"The traitor..."

Daisy looked at him.

"Someone betrayed Moonfang?"

Aldric nodded slowly.

"The man who built these defenses."

"He revealed every weakness before the kingdom fell."

Another c***k echoed across the chamber.

The stone door split down the middle.

Only a thin layer remained.

Aldric suddenly turned toward Daisy.

"We're out of time."

He hurried across the sanctuary toward one of the ancient statues.

At its base rested a carved pedestal.

He placed his palm against it.

The marble shifted with a deep grinding sound.

A hidden staircase spiraled downward beneath the sanctuary.

Daisy stared.

"Another tunnel?"

"The last one."

"It leads beyond the mountain."

"You must leave."

She shook her head immediately.

"I'm not running again."

"You don't understand."

"I've spent my entire life hiding."

"I'm tired of it."

Aldric smiled faintly.

"So was your father."

She looked at him in surprise.

"The night Moonfang fell..."

"He wanted to stay and fight until his last breath."

"Your mother convinced him that saving you mattered more than saving himself."

He stepped closer.

"And now..."

"I'm asking you to make that same choice."

Daisy clenched her fists.

"If I leave..."

"What happens to you?"

Aldric looked toward the door.

His answer came without hesitation.

"I fulfill the oath I made nineteen years ago."

Silence filled the sanctuary.

Daisy suddenly understood.

He never expected to survive.

BOOM!

The stone entrance shattered.

Chunks of ancient rock crashed across the marble floor.

Smoke drifted into the chamber.

Slowly...

Victor Nightfang walked through the dust.

His black armor reflected the pale glow of the sanctuary crystals.

Though nearly two decades had passed since the fall of Moonfang, time seemed unable to touch him.

He looked exactly as he had in the visions.

Strong.

Calm.

Terrifying.

His amber eyes settled on Daisy.

For a long moment...

Neither spoke.

Then Victor smiled.

"So..."

"The Moon Princess lives."

Daisy instinctively stepped backward.

Victor studied her quietly.

"You have your mother's eyes."

"And your father's defiance."

His smile widened.

"I've missed them."

Aldric lowered his spear.

"You'll go no farther."

Victor barely acknowledged him.

"General Aldric."

"The last loyal hound."

"I'm honored."

"The feeling isn't mutual."

Victor sighed.

"You could have ruled beside me."

"I chose honor."

"And lost everything."

"No."

Aldric's voice rang through the chamber.

"You lost your soul."

Victor's smile disappeared.

The air grew heavy.

Every crystal in the sanctuary flickered.

Even Daisy struggled to breathe beneath the crushing pressure of Victor's Alpha Aura.

It was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

Pure dominance.

Pure authority.

Victor finally looked directly at her.

"Come with me."

She stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"You are the last Moonfang."

"The kingdoms will follow whoever possesses your blood."

"I'd rather die."

Victor nodded, almost approvingly.

"Exactly what your father said."

He slowly drew his black sword.

"Unfortunately..."

"...he was serious."

Aldric planted his spear firmly before Daisy.

"You'll have to kill me first."

Victor's expression became emotionless.

"I was planning to."

He took one step forward.

The sanctuary trembled.

A second step.

The marble beneath his boots cracked.

A third.

His amber eyes never left Daisy.

"Run."

Aldric whispered.

Daisy hesitated.

Victor raised his sword.

And the battle for the Hidden Sanctuary began.

Victor moved first.

His black sword sliced through the air with terrifying speed, aimed directly at General Aldric's chest.

Clang!

The sanctuary erupted with sparks as Aldric's silver spear intercepted the strike.

The impact echoed through the chamber like thunder.

Daisy stumbled backward, shielding her face from the blast of energy that swept across the marble floor. Ancient statues trembled, and cracks raced along the walls.

Victor smiled faintly.

"You've grown slower."

Aldric tightened his grip on the spear.

"And you've grown cruel."

Victor pushed forward, forcing Aldric back several steps. Their weapons locked together as both men stared into each other's eyes.

"I warned Adrian that mercy would destroy Moonfang," Victor said quietly.

"He believed strength existed to protect the weak."

"He was right," Aldric replied.

Victor laughed.

"And where did that leave him?"

The words struck Aldric harder than any blade.

Victor twisted suddenly, knocking the spear aside before driving his elbow into Aldric's ribs.

The old general grunted as he crashed into one of the marble pillars.

The pillar cracked from the force.

"Daisy!" Aldric shouted.

"Go!"

She didn't move.

Every part of her screamed to help him, but she knew she would only become a distraction.

Victor glanced at her.

"You hesitate."

"That's your father's heart."

"It will get you killed."

He raised his sword again.

Aldric blocked the attack, but the difference in strength was becoming painfully obvious.

Nineteen years had passed.

Age had slowed the old general.

Victor, however, seemed untouched by time.

Their weapons clashed again and again, each strike shaking the sanctuary.

Finally, Victor seized an opening.

His fist slammed into Aldric's jaw, sending the old warrior sprawling across the marble floor.

The silver spear slid from his grasp.

Victor calmly walked toward him.

"I respected you once."

"You were the finest commander Moonfang ever produced."

Aldric slowly struggled to his knees.

"And yet..."

Victor continued.

"...you chose a dead kingdom over a living future."

"My kingdom was never dead," Aldric replied, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"It was waiting."

Victor frowned.

"For what?"

Aldric smiled.

"For her."

He looked at Daisy.

Victor followed his gaze.

For the first time, he truly studied the young woman before him.

She stood trembling, yet she hadn't fled.

Fear was written across her face.

So was determination.

Victor nodded slowly.

"I see Adrian in you."

"And Nancy."

He lowered his sword slightly.

"I'll make you an offer."

Daisy stared at him.

"Come willingly."

"I'll spare everyone who serves you."

Aldric laughed weakly.

"Liar."

Victor ignored him.

"You've lived as a rogue."

"You've hunted rabbits."

"Slept beneath broken roofs."

"Wondered why the world never felt like home."

He took another step toward her.

"I can give you everything that was stolen."

"The throne."

"The kingdom."

"The respect your family once commanded."

Daisy's fingers tightened around the pendant.

"And what do you want in return?"

Victor answered without hesitation.

"Your loyalty."

Silence settled over the sanctuary.

For a fleeting moment, Daisy imagined it.

An end to running.

No more hiding.

No more fear.

Then she remembered the vision of Silvermoon Palace burning.

She remembered her father's final words.

Never let hatred decide the kind of Queen you become.

She lifted her chin.

"You murdered my family."

Victor's expression remained calm.

"I ended a war before it began."

"You slaughtered innocent people."

"I built peace."

"On their graves."

The words echoed through the chamber.

Victor's eyes hardened.

"I offered you mercy."

He slowly raised his sword once more.

"You inherited Adrian's stubbornness."

"And that means you'll share his fate."

Before he could strike—

A deafening roar echoed from outside the sanctuary.

Everyone froze.

Another roar followed.

Closer this time.

Victor frowned.

"Impossible."

The sound of fierce fighting echoed through the tunnel leading into the sanctuary.

Nightfang soldiers cried out in alarm.

Steel clashed.

Someone was cutting through Victor's guards.

Fast.

Very fast.

A Nightfang warrior stumbled into the chamber, covered in blood.

"My Alpha!"

He dropped to one knee.

"The Blackwood Alpha..."

Victor's expression darkened.

"What about him?"

"He's broken through our lines."

"He... he's coming this way."

Aldric smiled despite his injuries.

"I told you."

Victor turned toward the tunnel entrance.

A powerful Alpha Aura rolled through the sanctuary.

Unlike Victor's crushing darkness, this presence was steady and unyielding.

It carried the scent of rain, pine, and mountain winds.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the passage.

One...

Two...

Three...

A familiar voice broke the silence.

"I believe..."

Hogan Blackwood stepped into the sanctuary, his sword stained with the blood of Victor's soldiers.

"...you've kept my guest long enough."

Victor slowly smiled.

"So..."

"The wolf finally arrives."

Hogan's grey eyes met Daisy's first.

He quickly confirmed she was unharmed before turning his full attention to Victor.

"I've crossed blades with many Alphas."

He raised his sword.

"But never with the man who destroyed Moonfang."

Victor lifted his own blade.

"Then tonight..."

"You'll have that honor."

The two Alphas stood facing one another as the air between them crackled with killing intent.

Behind them, the ancient Moonfang Sanctuary trembled, as if history itself was holding its breath.