Chapter 34: The shattered moon fragments still hovered in the sky, bleeding crimson light across the forest. A trembling hush replaced the tremors. Inside the fortress, Aria lay cradled in Kael’s arms, the supernatural cry of their unborn child still echoing. Her skin glowed with silver light, each breath labored.“Stay with me,” Kael whispered, brushing damp strands from her face. His wolf senses flicked overhead threats and hope, pain and resolve, all interwoven.Doctor Miren hurried them to the ancient healing grotto beneath the fortress. Steam rose from crystalline pools, their surfaces shimmering with runes that sparked faintly at Aria’s presence.“Miren,” Kael pressed, “this might kill her.”She dipped a crystal orb into the water; it turned obsidian-black.“The child,” she said softly, “carries both the Moon’s blessing and the Sealed Alpha’s curse.”Kael staggered. “Impossible”“It is.” The orb pulsed. “If we don’t purify him before the Blood Eclipse, he could become a co
Chapter 33: The moon hung low, casting an eerie silver glow over the Midnight Pack as the war drums finally ceased. Silence reigned, thick and tense. Aria stood amidst the rubble of the battlefield, Kael’s bloodied hand locked with hers. Her chest rose and fell heavily as she looked over the injured, the broken, and the dead.But the moment of peace didn’t last long.A strange scent wafted through the air foreign, ancient, terrifying. It was colder than death, thicker than smoke. Aria’s body stiffened as her wolf stirred uneasily.Kael growled. “Do you feel that?”She nodded. “Something’s not right.”Then, the earth trembled.From the forest’s edge, black mist slithered out like venomous tendrils. Warriors backed away, growling. Some collapsed to their knees, clawing at their chests, gasping for breath.A voice rose from the mist. Deep. Hollow. Familiar.“You thought the bloodline was gone. But it was only buried.”Everyone turned toward the voice. Kael stepped in front of Aria,
Chapter 32 The moon was blood-red again.Aria stood on the cliff overlooking the northern forest, her silver hair dancing in the night wind. Her heart pounded, not just from the cold or the eerie silence but because the mark on her shoulder was glowing.Again.Kael appeared beside her silently, his black cloak swirling around his muscular frame. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?” he asked.Aria nodded. “The mark burned the moment the wind changed.”Kael’s jaw clenched. “Then the Sealed Alpha is closer than we thought.”They turned at the sound of paws crashing through the trees. A scout Lira emerged, shifting back into her human form, blood smeared on her arms.“Alpha Kael, Luna Aria… bodies,” she panted. “Twelve rogues dead… but something else was there. Something I couldn’t see.”Kael’s eyes darkened. “Invisible?”“No scent. No sound. Just death. And a symbol… burned into the trees.”She handed Kael a scrap of bark. On it, charred into the grain, was a sigil a crescent moon broken
Chapter 31: Aria’s breath came in sharp, ragged gasps as she clung to Kael, the world around her spinning. The chamber of the Midnight Pack’s Alpha King had gone eerily quiet, save for the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. The crimson rift, once a gateway to unimaginable horrors, now seemed to pulse with a sinister rhythm, its hunger far from sated.Kael’s grip tightened around her, his chest rising and falling in a slow, agonizing cadence. The bond between them, fragile yet unbreakable, flickered like a dying flame, struggling to keep them tethered amidst the chaos.“Mara…” Aria’s voice was barely a whisper, the weight of her mother’s betrayal still heavy in her chest. “She’s alive, Kael. She’s”The words were stolen from her lips as a low growl rumbled from the shadows.Lucien.The Beta stood at the edge of the rift, his eyes glowing with an unholy crimson light, the twisted power of the Abyss coursing through his veins. Aria’s stomach churned, her claws instinctively fl
Chapter 30: The crimson rift screamed in the Alpha King’s underground chamber, its light swallowing the air in a blood-red haze. Aria stood defiant, her silver claws glowing with the power of her bloodline, her body trembling from blood loss and venom. Kael leaned against her, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his wounds, their bond a faint spark in her heart. Lyra gripped her dagger, her silver hair streaked with blood, her arm shaking. Torin growled, his scarred fur matted, his claws scraping the stone despite his faltering strength. Zane, Aria’s former mate, stood before the rift, his crimson eyes blazing, a new shard in his hand pulsing with the Abyss’s hunger. But the woman who emerged from the rift stole the breath from the room, her fur black as void, her eyes glowing crimson, her presence a crushing force. Her voice was a whisper of death: You woke me.“Who are you?” Aria demanded, her silver claws flaring, her heart pounding. The chamber shook, stone cracking un
Chapter 29: The crimson light roared from the crack in the Alpha King’s underground chamber, the air thick with the stench of blood and shadow. Aria clutched Kael’s arm, her claws glowing silver with the newfound power of her bloodline, her heart hammering. Kael leaned against her, his chest slick with blood, his bond a fragile thread in her chest. Lyra gripped her bloodied dagger, her silver hair matted with sweat, while Torin growled, his scarred body swaying, claws scraping the stone. Drenvar, Aria’s father, stood before the rift, his crimson eyes blazing, his fur rippling like liquid night. The Daughter of the Iceborn flanked him, a new shard in her hand, its black glow pulsing with the Abyss’s hunger. Drenvar’s words echoed: You woke the Abyss’s true heart to me.“Stay back!” Aria shouted, her silver claws flaring, the Goddess’s power burning in her veins. Her bond with Kael pulsed, weak but alive, urging her to fight. “You’re not taking us.”Drenvar’s smile was cruel, hi