Chapter Thirty-Two: The Wolf in Their MidstNight blanketed the Ironfang stronghold in uneasy quiet.After days of blood and fire, the wounded slept in tents lit by moonlight. The warriors kept close watch. Patrols moved through the forest’s edge with silent steps, waiting for the next strike that hadn’t yet come.Lyra couldn’t sleep.Not with the soul fires burning across the western sky—three vertical columns of black flame that shimmered even through cloud cover. Rowan had said it: Retribution.She stood on the battlement now, overlooking the woods where shadows stretched long. Darius had offered to stay beside her, but she’d told him to rest. He had nearly died in her arms. She needed him strong… for what was coming.Behind her, boots approached softly.Rowan.“You know what those fires mean,” he said without preamble.Lyra nodded. “They’ve marked me. I’m not just a rebel anymore. I’m a threat to their throne.”He leaned on the stone wall, arms crossed. “They’ve used every weapon
Chapter Thirty-One: Mercy Is the Sharpest BladeSmoke curled across the battlefield, thick as fog, choking the wounded and silencing the dying. Fires burned along the broken ridge lines, consuming what little peace was left in the world of wolves.Lyra stood at the center of it all—alive, glowing, and feared.But not victorious.Not yet.Darius leaned on her shoulder, still recovering from the bond-severing spell that nearly tore him apart. Though he stood on two feet, the pain lingered in his eyes, an echo of the blade that had nearly cut the heart out of them both.“You broke it,” he whispered. “That chain… You shattered it.”“No,” Lyra said quietly, eyes still locked on the trail of light in the sky where the priest had fled. “I chose not to let them take us again.”Rowan limped toward them, one side of his armor scorched, blood smeared across his cheek.“They’re retreating to the hills,” he said. “But it’s not over. Savannah’s pulling back her elites. She’s preparing something wor
Chapter Thirty: The First Blow of WarThe blood moon loomed low over the horizon, casting the Ironfang stronghold in a veil of crimson. Fires were lit along the outer ramparts. Warriors clad in leathers, armor, and war paint lined the inner walls, their eyes flashing gold beneath the eerie sky. The air tasted like iron and ash. Every breath held the weight of something ancient stirring.War had come.Lyra stood at the highest tower, wind tearing through her braid, cloak billowing behind her like wings of shadow and light. Below, thousands of wolves — Ironfang, Stoneblood, and even rogue outcasts — waited for her command.She’d never imagined herself here: not as a Luna, not as a mate, but as a general.Behind her, Darius fastened his blade to his belt.“Scouts confirmed the Obsidian advance,” he said quietly. “They’ll reach the border by sunrise.”“And the other packs?”“They’re choosing sides. Some fear the Elders. Others fear you.”Lyra turned to face him. “Then we make them fear lo
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Beast Beneath the MoonThe temple groaned like a living thing.The walls vibrated with a low, grinding hum, and runes carved into the black stone pulsed in crimson. Beneath their feet, the floor cracked, revealing a growing chasm laced with light and ash. Lyra stood between Rowan and Darius, heart hammering in her chest.Then the voice returned — ancient, echoing inside her head. “Child of the Star… Will you open the gate, or seal the world?”Darius reached for her hand. “Lyra—”But she couldn’t respond.The altar flared again, and from its depths, something rose.First a shape: hulking, skeletal, impossibly tall. Then eyes — white-hot, pupil-less, burning through the stone like twin stars. The creature took no true form, shifting constantly between a massive wolf, a crowned humanoid, and a serpentine mist that slithered through the temple’s energy.It was not flesh and bone.It was Will.Pure, ancient will.A relic of the Goddess’s first breath.Rowan stumbl
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Blood on the BladeThe Moon’s Eye Temple was a furnace of flame and fury.Steel rang as Rowan’s blade clashed with Darius’s, their movements fast and brutal, like twin storms locked in a deadly dance. Sparks flew as iron met iron, the enchanted weapons pulsing with old magic — one born of the Elders’ control, the other of rebellion and fire.Lyra stood frozen for only a moment, her eyes wide with heartbreak and disbelief. Rowan — the boy in her mother's bedtime stories, the nameless savior from the shadows — was real. And now, he was the one trying to kill her.“Stop!” she shouted, her voice cutting through the roar of battle. “Rowan, please — this isn’t who you are!”Rowan’s eyes flickered — not with doubt, but with pain.“You don’t know what I’ve become,” he said darkly. “You don’t want to.”With a surge of energy, he slammed the hilt of his blade into Darius’s chest. Darius crashed to the ground, winded but alive.Lyra didn’t wait. She stepped forward, her pal
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Echoes Beneath the Moon’s EyeThe journey to the Moon’s Eye was not marked on any map. It couldn’t be. The temple existed between worlds—hidden by enchantment, protected by blood oaths older than the packs themselves. Only the chosen, or the cursed, could find it.Lyra was both.The deeper she and Darius traveled into the Northern Wastes, the colder the world became. The trees here were thin and silver, their leaves sharp as blades, their trunks humming with ancient power. The wind whispered secrets in voices not entirely human.“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Darius murmured as he scanned the crooked trees surrounding them.“That’s because this place was never meant for mortal eyes,” Lyra said, her voice quiet. “My mother told me stories. Of a temple buried in moonlight, where fate is written in fire and stone.”Darius glanced at her. “And you think we’ll find answers there?”Lyra didn’t answer. She didn’t need to.The mark on her collarbone was glowing ag