Chapter 28: The Shadow's Hound

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*Chapter 28: The Shadow’s Hound*

Day 4.

3 days left.

We were in the middle of training when the temperature dropped 20 degrees.

My breath fogged.

Kieran stopped mid-punch. “Everyone down.”

Too late.

The sky tore open. Not with clouds. With darkness.

And he dropped.

A hound.

10 feet at the shoulder. Black fur that moved like smoke. Red eyes. Teeth longer than my arm.

Shadow dripped from its mouth and burned the grass where it landed.

The Shadow King’s symbol was burned into its chest, glowing red.

“One,” his voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. Cold. Amused. 

“Just a messenger. To show you what’s coming in 3 days.”

The hound threw its head back and howled. The sound made the trees shake.

Kieran shifted instantly. “Evacuate the pups! Now! Fighters, line up!”

Chaos.

Mothers grabbed kids and ran for the pack house.

Wolves shifted and formed a wall between the hound and us.

I ran forward before I could think. “Stop!”

Gold light shot from my hands and hit the hound square in the chest.

It hit... and fizzled. Like water on stone.

The hound tilted its head. Then it laughed. In my head. 

`“Gold doesn’t work on me, Luna. I’m made of his shadow.”`

It swiped.

Mae tackled me out of the way and we rolled in the dirt. “Are you insane?!” she hissed.

“I had to try!” I gasped.

The hound was tearing through our front line. Too fast. Too strong.

Kieran met it head on, but every time he landed a hit, the shadow just reformed.

Blood was already on his fur.

“Rejoice! Get back!” Kieran roared.

I looked around.

Two of our wolves were down. Not moving.

And the hound was turning, slow, toward the group of pups huddled by the gate.

Something in me broke.

Not fear.

Not rage.

Love.

The gold on my neck burned so hot it felt like it would melt. It raced down my arms to my fingers.

But this time it wasn’t soft. It wasn’t healing.

It was a weapon.

I ran.

The hound saw me and grinned, teeth dripping. `“What are you—”`

I didn’t let it finish.

I jumped and grabbed its face with both hands.

Gold poured out of me.

Not to heal.

To purify.

The hound screamed. It was a sound that wasn’t natural. Shadow peeled off its body in strips, like burnt paper, and turned to ash in the air.

Underneath, there was just a wolf. Huge. Scarred. Eyes terrified.

A collar of black metal was fused to its neck, pulsing with the Shadow King’s mark.

The gold kept pouring.

Into the collar.

Into the curse.

Breaking it link by link.

The metal cracked. Fell off.

The hound collapsed, breathing hard. Just a wolf now. Free.

Silence.

My knees hit the ground. My hands were shaking.

Kieran was there in one heartbeat, shifting back, pulling me into his lap. “Rejoice. Look at me. Breathe.”

“I’m okay,” I whispered. My voice was gone. “He’s okay. He’s free.”

The freed wolf lifted his head. Looked at me with human eyes. Then he lowered his head to the dirt.

“Luna.”

The voice came again. The Shadow King. Furious this time. 

`“You freed my hound?!”`

“Yes,” I said. I forced myself to stand, leaning on Kieran. “And I’ll free them all.”

`“2 days,”` the Shadow King hissed. The air vibrated. `“I’ll be there in 2 days. And I’ll take you, your bond, and your soul, girl.”`

The darkness ripped closed.

He was gone.

The pack stared at me.

At the freed wolf beside me.

At the broken collar in the dirt.

Then, one by one, they knelt.

Even the wolf I’d saved.

Kieran picked me up bridal style. “You did it.”

“I didn’t hurt it,” I said against his chest. “I saved it.”

“I know,” Kieran said. He kissed my forehead, my temple, my cheek. “That’s why you’re the Luna.”

Mae walked over, holding the broken collar. She tossed it into the fire pit.

“Looks like we have a new recruit,” she said, nodding at the wolf. “What’s your name?”

“Gage,” the wolf said, voice rough. “I’ll fight for you, Luna.”

Word was already spreading through the territory.

The Shadow King had slaves.

And the Luna could free them.

2 days left.

But now, for the first time, we had hope.

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*END OF CHAPTER 28*