The Forgotten Crown

The floor cracked beneath Kael's feet.

Silver light raced through the lines in the stone, forming a circle around him.

His wolf panicked.

Move.

Kael tried.

He couldn't.

Something was holding him in place.

“Kael!”

Lucien rushed toward him.

The moment he crossed the glowing circle, the Moon Seal reacted.

A wave of silver energy struck Lucien and threw him backward.

He hit the stone floor.

“Lucien!”

Kael's voice broke.

The stranger laughed softly.

“Don't fight it.”

Kael glared at him.

“Get out of my head.”

“I haven't entered your mind.”

“Then what is this?”

The stranger looked at the glowing seal.

“The Moon remembers what you have forgotten.”

Kael clenched his fists.

“I remember enough.”

“Do you?”

The stranger stepped closer.

“You remember being raised in Moonwood. You remember Rowan. You remember being told that your parents were dead.”

Kael's breathing stopped.

“You remember hiding your Omega nature.”

His eyes narrowed.

“But you don't remember the night you were born.”

“I do.”

“No.”

The stranger shook his head.

“You remember what someone wanted you to remember.”

Kael looked at Rowan.

The former Shadow Guard stood completely still.

“Rowan?”

He didn't answer.

Kael's heart sank.

“You knew.”

Rowan's eyes filled with regret.

“I knew there were memories you couldn't safely carry.”

“You erased them?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Your mother sealed them.”

Kael stared.

“Why?”

“Because someone was searching for you.”

The stranger interrupted.

“Not someone.”

His golden eyes glowed.

“Everyone.”

Lucien rose slowly from the floor.

His sword was still in his hand.

“Enough.”

The stranger looked at him.

“You are the King of Blackfang.”

“Yes.”

“And yet you don't know what sits beneath your own throne.”

Lucien's expression hardened.

“I know enough to stop you.”

The stranger smiled.

“Do you?”

He lifted his hand.

The palace shook.

A deep sound rolled beneath them.

Boom.

Then another.

Boom.

Kael felt it in his bones.

The Moon Gate.

It was opening.

Lucien looked toward the floor.

“What happens if it opens?”

The stranger's expression became serious.

“The forgotten kingdom returns.”

Kael's heart raced.

“The Moon Kingdom?”

“Yes.”

“And what happens to the other kingdoms?”

The stranger looked directly at him.

“They will have to kneel.”

Kael shook his head.

“No.”

The stranger raised an eyebrow.

“No?”

“I don't want them to kneel.”

For the first time, the stranger looked surprised.

Kael continued.

“I don't want a throne.”

“You are the heir.”

“I don't care.”

“You have the blood.”

“Blood doesn't decide who I become.”

The stranger stared at him.

Kael could feel the Moon Seal burning.

His body trembled.

But he refused to bend.

“I spent eighteen years hiding because everyone thought an Omega should belong to someone.”

His eyes moved toward Lucien.

“I won't become another ruler who decides who belongs to me.”

Lucien's gaze softened.

The stranger's smile disappeared.

“You sound like your mother.”

Kael froze.

“You knew her?”

“Yes.”

“Where is she?”

The stranger was silent.

“Tell me!”

The golden-eyed figure looked toward the opening beneath the throne.

“She is closer than you think.”

Kael's breath caught.

Then the stranger disappeared.

Not shifted.

Not ran.

Simply vanished into a cloud of black smoke.

Lucien immediately moved toward Kael.

“Are you hurt?”

Kael shook his head.

“I don't know.”

Lucien stopped before touching him.

“May I?”

Kael hesitated.

Then nodded.

Lucien placed his hand lightly against Kael's shoulder.

The Moon Bond pulsed.

Warmth spread through Kael.

His trembling eased.

Rowan watched them.

Something complicated crossed his face.

Kael noticed.

“What?”

Rowan shook his head.

“Nothing.”

“You've been saying that for eighteen years.”

Rowan sighed.

“You're right.”

He walked toward them.

“There is something you need to know.”

Kael waited.

“Your mother didn't just run from Valerion.”

Kael's heart tightened.

“What did she do?”

“She came to Blackfang.”

Lucien looked at Rowan sharply.

“When?”

“Before Kael was born.”

Lucien frowned.

“My father was king then.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Rowan looked toward the sealed chamber.

“Because your father's family guarded the Moon Gate.”

Lucien went still.

“My father?”

“Yes.”

Kael looked between them.

“Then why didn't you tell me?”

“Because the gate was never supposed to open again.”

Another tremor shook the palace.

The crack in the floor widened.

A beam of silver light shot upward.

Lucien grabbed Kael's hand.

This time Kael didn't pull away.

Their bond flared.

The silver key-shaped mark on Lucien's wrist began glowing brighter.

Kael's Moon Seal answered.

The throne room transformed.

The black stone walls became transparent.

For one impossible moment, Kael saw another city layered over Blackfang.

Silver towers.

Moonlit bridges.

A palace crowned with crystal.

Thousands of wolves gathered in its streets.

And above everything stood a gigantic silver tree.

Kael whispered,

“Moonwood.”

Rowan shook his head.

“No.”

Kael stared.

“That isn't Moonwood.”

“It is.”

Rowan's voice was barely audible.

“Moonwood was once part of the Moon Kingdom.”

Kael's heart pounded.

The vision shifted.

He saw a young woman standing beneath the silver tree.

Elara.

She held a baby.

Kael.

But she wasn't alone.

Standing beside her was a man.

King Cassian.

Yet Cassian wasn't wearing the crown of Valerion.

He wore a silver crown.

The crown from Kael's vision.

Kael's breath caught.

“My father…”

Rowan nodded.

“Your father was not born King of Valerion.”

“Then who was he?”

“The last surviving prince of the Moon Kingdom.”

Kael stared at him.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You said the Moon bloodline was almost extinct.”

“It was.”

“Then why did my father become King of Valerion?”

“Because he believed the Moon Kingdom needed to disappear.”

Kael's eyes filled with tears.

“Why?”

“Because the kingdoms were hunting the bloodline.”

Rowan's voice broke.

“Cassian and Elara sacrificed their claim to protect you.”

Kael couldn't speak.

The vision disappeared.

The throne room returned.

The Moon Gate beneath them was now completely visible.

An enormous stone doorway stood beneath the palace.

Its surface was covered with ancient writing.

Kael stepped toward it.

He could read the first line.

ONLY THE MOON-BORN MAY OPEN THE GATE.

Below it was another inscription.

ONLY THE FREE MAY RULE WHAT LIES BEYOND.

Kael touched the stone.

The door responded.

Silver light spread beneath his palm.

Lucien's mark burned.

Kael looked back at him.

“I think it wants both of us.”

Lucien approached.

“Then we decide whether to open it.”

Kael looked at the enormous door.

Behind it might be answers.

His mother's location.

His family's history.

The Moon Throne.

And perhaps the reason kingdoms were willing to destroy everything to find him.

But he remembered the prophecy.

Love freely chosen shall save the world.

He looked at Lucien.

“If we open this, there's no going back.”

Lucien nodded.

“Then we don't open it until you're ready.”

Kael stared at him.

“You'd really wait?”

“For as long as you need.”

Something inside Kael softened.

He slowly reached for Lucien's hand.

Their fingers touched.

The Moon Bond glowed.

Then the ancient gate spoke.

Not in words.

In a voice that came from everywhere at once.

“Two chosen by the Moon.”

The stone doors began opening.

“One born to rule.”

Kael's heart raced.

“One born to protect.”

Lucien's eyes widened.

And beneath the final line of ancient writing, new words appeared.

“But only one will survive the coming war.”

Kael's hand tightened around Lucien's.

Neither of them spoke.

Above the palace, the false eclipse darkened the sky.

And far beyond Blackfang's walls, thousands of wolves began howling.