SERAPHINAWe sat in silence again, watching the wind dance through the lavender, until footsteps crunched softly on the gravel path behind us. I turned my head and saw Dain and Elowen walking toward us, their hands loosely intertwined.Elowen’s face lit up when she saw Lira, but when her eyes found mine, her smile faltered. There was something in her gaze that mirrored my own heartache.She knew.Just like I did.They only had two days left.“Mind if we join you?” Dain asked, his voice unusually quiet.“Of course not,” Lira said gently, rising to her feet and wrapping Elowen in a warm embrace.The girls settled together, Elowen curling close to Lira like she belonged there. And she did, just as Lira belonged with us. I offered Dain a small smile as he took a seat beside me.He exhaled, his eyes drifting toward the horizon. “She doesn’t know what the Ashen Veil looks like,” he said after a moment. “Neither do most of them.”“You do,” I murmured, already knowing the answer.He nodded on
CAUISThe war room had emptied, but the weight of the vision still pressed against my chest like iron chains. Lira stood beside me, her presence always grounding, even in moments like this—when the future looked more twisted than ever. We didn’t speak as we walked through the halls of Grimhowl, Morgana silent at our side, her mind clearly racing. Aldric trailed us, his brows furrowed, lost in thought.We needed answers. And there was only one man who might unknowingly hold them.Dain.He’d been waiting in the east wing, training the guards, when Morgana summoned him. When we arrived, he was already sitting on a stone bench near the sparring yard, Elowen at his side. Her laughter quieted the moment she saw us.“Something’s wrong,” Dain said before I could open my mouth.“It’s urgent,” I said.Elowen’s brows pinched. Elias, always attuned to tension, approached from the courtyard and placed a gentle hand on her back.“El, come. Let’s give them a moment.”She hesitated, her eyes flicking
MORGANAThe room had quieted. The final candle flickered near the map, casting restless shadows along the aged stone walls. And yet, for all the warriors gathered, for all the alphas seated and ready, it was only the three of us who truly mattered in this moment—Caius, Lira, and me.Two nights ago, the Map of Bloodseer had revealed what I feared most—two endings. One drowned in shadow. The other, soaked in sacrifice. But I hadn’t been able to show them—not yet. We had been interrupted. The discovery of the black crystal buried beneath Grimhowl had demanded immediate attention. And then, Fenrir…But now, with the black crystal destroyed and Fenrir sealed away, the time had come. I had to show them. They had to see it with their own eyes. Because from here on, their path wasn’t just theirs—it would shape the future of every living creature in this realm.I stood from the war table slowly, drawing the eyes of those seated—Ronan, Elias, Tobias, Orion, Aldric, and even Thoren. All of them
CAUISThe clearing outside the main packhouse was quiet that morning. Not the kind of silence that came with peace—but the kind that settled in after something sacred had been broken.They all knew.Word of the ritual had spread before the sun had even risen. Whispers carried through the pack like wind through tall grass, brushing against every soul with reverence and sorrow.The Alpha had sealed his wolf.I stood at the edge of the training grounds, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the horizon. The sky was a pale silver streaked with soft gold. Birds chirped faintly in the distance. The world moved on like it didn’t feel the hole inside me.But they did.I could feel them—every pack member who passed me today. Their eyes held something different now. Not pity. Not fear. But something closer to awe. A deep, collective ache, mirrored by quiet loyalty. Even without saying it, they knew what it cost me.“Alpha,” someone murmured as they passed. Heads dipped lower than usual. Bows lingered a l
LIRAThe morning light filtered through the high windows of the Alpha’s quarters, soft and golden, wrapping everything in a delicate hush. The kind of light that promised a new beginning—but carried the shadows of the night before.Caius lay beside me, his arm draped loosely across his middle, eyes fixed on the ceiling. He wasn’t asleep.He hadn’t slept at all.Neither had I.Though his body was still, his mind stirred like a storm behind his eyes. The pain he carried wasn’t just physical. It hummed through our bond like a low, distant thunder, muted yet unrelenting. He hadn’t spoken since the ritual. Not really. Just soft words to reassure me when I’d tried to ease his grief.But he didn’t have to speak for me to know.I felt it all.The weight of silence where Fenrir once resided.The ache carved deep into his spirit.And the way he kept replaying the moment—the split second when he chose to seal his wolf to save us all.I turned on my side to face him, brushing my fingers lightly a
CAUISThe walls of the packhouse felt smaller than I remembered.Every creak in the floorboards, every breath I took—it all sounded louder now without Fenrir’s presence muffling the world. Without him, my senses were mine alone. Just mine. But it didn’t feel like freedom. It felt like a void.Lira walked beside me, silent but steady, her hand wrapped around mine. She hadn't let go since the clearing. I didn’t realize how much I was leaning on her until we reached the edge of the war room and I stumbled slightly.She caught me, of course. Just like she always did.“I’m fine,” I muttered, more for myself than for her.“You don’t have to lie to me,” she said gently, guiding me into the chair beside the long table. “You’re allowed to break, Caius. Just… not alone.”I leaned back, resting my head against the chair. The same chair I used to sit in when planning patrol routes, border meetings, or war tactics. But now I felt like an impostor in my own command.“I used to feel him everywhere,”
CAUISTwo days.That’s how long I’ve been walking around with the weight of a war I can’t even fight properly. Since Morgana’s revelation—since Ysara’s talisman reacted to me—I’ve been carrying more than just the burden of being Alpha.I’ve been carrying him.Malakar.He’s been leaking into my mind, into my instincts, tainting my bond with Fenrir. I’ve heard whispers that don’t belong to me—urges that feel wrong in the marrow of my bones. At first, they were faint. But now… they pulse beneath my skin.I’ve kept it hidden. From everyone.But Morgana knew.She came this morning, not alone—but with Aldric at her side.I was in the clearing behind the packhouse—the only place where Morgana’s wards still muted the noise in my head. It was the only place I could think. Or at least try to. And Lira, my luna, had been by my side through it all.I heard Aldric’s boots before I saw him—solid, slow, and full of purpose. Morgana’s steps were quieter, but the magic she carried always announced her
MORGANAThe scent of rosemary and dried bloodroot clung to my robes as I pored over the fifth tome of the morning. My fingers trembled—not from age, but from urgency. It had been two days since we discovered the truth.Two days since I learned that Malakar had not merely touched Caius’ mind… but had laced himself into his very shadow.A tether. A slow poison.A curse older than most witches alive today.I hadn’t slept. The fire in my chamber barely flickered anymore, kept alive only by the pulse of my magic and the constant rustling of pages. On the table before me, scrolls lay scattered, ink smudged by my hurried notes. I’d summoned wind spirits for answers. Brewed insight draughts. Called on the ancestors through the Oracle’s Mirror.Nothing had given me what I needed.Because this was no ordinary corruption. Malakar wasn’t just feeding off Caius—he was waiting. Waiting for the right moment to seize full control.And that moment was drawing near.Caius hadn't said much in the last t
CAUISWe scoured the halls until our feet ached and our patience thinned.Every wall, every crack, every space in the packhouse was searched—twice. The talismans Ysara gave us were sensitive, humming lightly in our palms whenever they neared even the faintest trace of cursed energy. But for hours, they offered nothing but silence.Until Kora stopped dead in her tracks."Wait… the old stone hearth," she said, her voice sharp with realization. "The one in the original east wing kitchen. No one uses it anymore, but it's still there."The east wing. Of course.No one cooked there now. The kitchens had been rebuilt on the other side after the fire years ago. But the room remained accessible—used occasionally for storage, sometimes by pups playing hide-and-seek. A forgotten relic of our home’s past.And the perfect place to hide something no one was meant to find.We rushed to the hearth, the talismans growing heavier with each step.As soon as we crossed the threshold, the symbols on the t