LOGINChapter 47: The celebration lasted until midnight.By morning, the courtyard was quiet again. The lanterns had been taken down, the musicians had returned to their quarters, and the pack had settled into its usual routine.But something had changed.People greeted one another more freely. The guards no longer watched every visitor as if an attack could come at any moment. Even the council members seemed less burdened.Perhaps peace did not arrive with a grand announcement.Perhaps it began with ordinary mornings like this.I was walking toward the training grounds when Zoe called my name."Layla! Wait!"I turned.She approached with a folded piece of parchment in her hand."What is it?""Something Victor wants you to see."I accepted the parchment and unfolded it.It was a proposal for rebuilding the old eastern village. Several homes had been abandoned during the years of conflict. The plan included repairing the houses, reopening the training school, and creating a place where youn
Chapter 46:The morning after the council meeting, Ironclaw felt different.Not because the castle had changed.Not because the guards had doubled or the council had issued new orders.It was the people.For the first time in a long while, conversations in the courtyard were not about ancient curses, dangerous prophecies, or who might be the next target.They were about ordinary things.The upcoming harvest. Repairs to the eastern training grounds. A celebration Zoe insisted the pack desperately needed.I stood by the window, watching two young wolves chase each other across the courtyard."You're staring again."I turned.Eve stood in the doorway, holding two cups of tea."Watching the pack.""That's what you said yesterday.""Perhaps I enjoy watching people live without worrying about the end of the world."She handed me a cup."Then you should come downstairs. Mother has been asking for you."I raised an eyebrow."Did she say why?""No. But she has that expression.""What expressio
Chapter 45: The mountain was finally behind us.For the first time since this journey began, nobody was looking over their shoulder.No strange voices followed us. No ancient doors opened beneath our feet. No warning appeared on the walls.There was only the road home.Victor walked beside me, his hand resting loosely around mine.I glanced at him."How does it feel?"He looked down at our joined hands. "What?""Being free from the mark. From the responsibility everyone placed on your bloodline."He considered the question."Strange," he admitted. "I've spent so long believing my life belonged to the kingdom that I almost forgot it belonged to me first.""And now?""Now I intend to live it."His eyes met mine."Not as the Alpha King everyone expects me to be. Not as the last piece of some ancient safeguard."He squeezed my hand gently."Just Victor."I smiled."That sounds like a good beginning."Beside us, Eve was walking with our mother. They had been talking for most of the journe
Chapter 44: The sphere opened.A wave of darkness swept across the chamber, throwing everyone backward.“Victor!”I reached for him, but the force between us pushed me away.He stood at the center of the platform, his eyes completely silver. The symbol on his chest had spread across his shoulders, glowing like a crown.Lucifer's voice filled the chamber.“AT LAST. THE BLOODLINE HAS RETURNED.”Alexander rushed toward him.“Victor, listen to me! Do not answer the voice!”Victor didn't move.“Victor!” I shouted again.His head slowly turned toward me.For a moment, I saw him.Then he spoke.“Layla, get everyone out.”My heart tightened.“No.”“Please. I can't control what is happening.”I took a step forward.“You told me we would face this together.”“I know.”“Then don't ask me to leave you now.”The darkness surged again.Eve grabbed my arm before I could move closer.“Layla, wait! Look at the floor!”The symbols beneath Victor were changing.The crown was no longer connected to the
Chapter 43: “Lucifer.”Alexander's whisper echoed through the chamber.Nobody moved.I looked at the silver eyes inside the broken sphere, then turned toward him.“Who is Lucifer?”Alexander didn't answer immediately.Elias stepped between us and the sphere.“You should have told them.”Alexander's expression tightened.“I thought he had been destroyed.”“You thought a lot of things, brother. That doesn't make them true.”Victor moved closer to the platform.“Enough secrets. Who are we dealing with?”Alexander finally faced us.“Lucifer was the first guardian of the seal. Before I became king, he helped us build the original safeguard. He understood the ancient power better than anyone.”“Then why is he inside the prison?” Eve asked.“Because he wanted to control the Hollow.”Elias shook his head.“That isn't the whole truth.”Alexander looked at him.“Tell them, then.”Elias turned toward us.“Lucifer believed the Hollow could be used to protect the kingdom. He thought that if he co
Chapter 42: The hand struck the stone again.Once.Twice.Then everything went silent.Nobody moved.I stared into the darkness beneath the platform, trying to understand what we had just heard.“Alexander promised he would come back for me.”The voice sounded tired.Not angry.Not threatening.Just tired.Victor stepped closer to the edge.“Who are you?”A faint laugh came from below.“That's a question your ancestors should have asked a long time ago.”Lucian approached the platform, his face unusually pale.“The figure in the memory,” he whispered. “The man standing beside Alexander…”“You recognize him?” Adrian asked.“I recognize the symbol on his crown.”He pointed toward the broken carving beneath the sphere.It was almost identical to the mark on Victor's palm, except this one had two circles instead of one.“Who was he?” Eve asked.Lucian swallowed.“His name was Elias Ironclaw.”Victor turned sharply.“Ironclaw?”“The first king had a brother. According to the oldest record







