The night of sealing

     ~PROLOGUE~

The storm raged above the forest, lightning splitting the sky as if the heavens themselves knew what was about to be done.

In the small cabin hidden deep within the forest, a woman cradled her newborn to her chest. Her mother clutched her tightly, sweat and blood soaking her gown.

Sweat slicked her brow, but her hands trembled not from weakness, rather from fear.

The baby’s cry was soft, fragile, but beneath it the mother felt a thrum of power, too great for such a tiny body. A wolf not yet born, yet already dangerous.

 “They will come for her,” the woman whispered to her husband, tears streaking her cheeks. “If they sense her… if they discover what she is, she will never survive.”

Her heart ached, torn between love and duty. 

She pressed her lips to the child’s forehead, inhaling her scent one last time. 

“Forgive me, my little moon. One day, you will hate me for this… but it is the only way to keep you safe,” she whispered.

She laid the infant on a blanket and traced symbols into the air with shaking fingers, the runes glowing with violet fire. The baby whimpered, sensing the weight of the spell.

“Selene,” the father’s deep voice broke, roughened with desperation. He was tall, broad, his Beta strength useless against what was happening. His golden eyes shone with unshed tears as he knelt beside her. “Don’t do this. There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t,” she whispered, her voice both fierce and trembling.

And as if not wanting to part ways from the baby anytime soon, she carried the infant again in her arms, and kissed the infant’s forehead, rocking her gently even as her own body shook with exhaustion. 

“You know what she carries, Darius. My blood… your blood. Her wolf will be too strong. They will hunt her before she can even take her first steps.” she told her husband.

Darius’s fists clenched. “Then let them come. I’ll protect her. I’ll protect both of you.”

Her smile was sad, tender. “You’re brave, my love… but even you can’t fight fate. Look, we came out to this hidden cabin just to give birth to her because we know she wouldn't survive if people found out about her birth.”

The baby whimpered, sensing the tension, and the mother drew a shaky breath.

“I have to do this” she said, more tears rolling down her cheeks as she laid the baby back on the blanket.

 She began the incantation, her voice low and resonant, filling the air with ancient power.

“By blood of witch and wolf, I bind what should not yet awaken. I seal her strength, her fangs, her howl, her power… until the day love and destiny break these chains.”

The air shimmered. The magic surged. Violet fire wrapped around the child like a cocoon, pulsing with every heartbeat. The baby wailed, her small body arching as the seal locked into place.

Selene gasped as the spell clawed at her, ripping through her veins, draining her life-force with merciless hunger.

Her body buckled, but she did not falter.

“Selene, stop!” Darius shouted, grabbing her shoulders as the magic tore through her. Blood trickled from her nose, her skin paling rapidly.

She turned to him, her lips trembling but smiling still. “Take care of her… tell her I loved her more than life itself.”

“No,” he choked, pulling her into his arms as her strength drained away. “Stay with me. Please, don’t leave me like this.”

She smiled weakly down at her child, whose cries had softened into sleep, eyes wide as though she understood. The seal was complete as the glow around her dimmed.

“My little one,” the mother whispered, her last breath against his chest as she collapsed more into her husband's body. “Live. Even if I do not… live.”

Darius bowed over his wife’s lifeless body, his howl of grief echoing into the storm-torn night. When morning came, the cabin held only silence: a Beta clutching his dead mate, and a child the world would believe to be wolf-less.