CHAPTER 21

Kael's POV 

They rose like ghosts from the cracked earth.

Their eyes glowing red, and their claws scraping stone.

One by one, the shadows took shape—some human, some wolf, all twisted. They didn’t breathe. They didn’t blink. They just watched and waited for a command that hadn’t yet come.

I watched from a far distance, hidden among blackened trees, as the Moon Queen’s ruined temple trembled in the distance.

Aria was down there. But she had no idea what was coming.

She always thought she was the chosen one. The Luna of prophecy. The Alpha was born to bring balance.

But the balance is a lie. Because power doesn’t share a throne. 

And if she was destined to rule with three mates… then I would be the one who took that crown and made it my own.

I left before they could sense me. My power was still masked in illusion, still hidden by the pact I’d made.

The Forbidden Mire was days away, deep within cursed lands where light didn’t touch and wolves lost their minds to whispers. But I didn’t need light. I followed the dead trees and the scent of decay.

No one dared enter the Mire—not even the Crimson Pack.

But I did. I had to.

The price of being ordinary in a world of chosen bloodlines is being overlooked, ignored. Treated like background. Like nothing. Not anymore.

The deeper I walked into the swamp, the heavier the air grew. Mist wrapped around my legs like fingers. Shadows slipped between the trees. They didn’t scare me now.

But they served me.

The stone altar stands at the center of the Mire, its surface carved with ancient runes. Dried blood stained every inch all around.

I cut my palm with a dagger carved from bone.

The blood dripped onto the stone and vanished instantly, pulled into the rock like the Mire itself was drinking me in.

“I will call you,” I whispered, voice shaking. “Shadow Lord. Devourer of truth. Keeper of lies.”

The ground cracked beneath me as mist turned black.

And then… he came.

He had no form—just smoke and eyes and hunger. But his presence made my skin crawl and my power sing.

“You seek a pact,” the shadow god hissed. “You offer blood. What do you take in return?”

“Power,” I said. “Enough to bend Luna's magic to me.”

I paused. Then I whisper in my mind:

“Then take this gift. Feed it and let it grow.”

From the shadow, there is a creature that slithers forward. Thin as a ribbon, made of smoke and scales, with eyes like dying stars. It coiled around my arm, hissing softly.

“A serpent?” I asked.

“A shadow serpent,” the god answered. “It feeds on emotion—envy, fear, rage. It will grow stronger with your lies. And so will you.”

I felt it already—its hunger threading into mine. The moment it touched me, my body surged with heat. My cut sealed instantly.

It curled around my wrist like a bracelet, invisible unless I willed it seen.

I didn’t thank the god. I turned and left.

We both knew the price wasn’t over. Not yet.

Back at the Bluemoon Pack, I returned unnoticed. I’d wrapped myself in false light, in pretty smiles. They thought I was just Lilith—the loyal second cousin. Quiet, obedient. Just another forgotten wolf under Aria’s shadow.

But things were already beginning to shift.

I tested the serpent that night, and I visited an injured scout, alone in the healing lodge. He didn’t even see me enter.

I stood over him. His pain was thick in the air—grief from his mate’s death, fear of never shifting again.

I whispered soft lies into his ear.

“She never loved you. The Alpha forgot your name. You're already dead to them.”

The serpent stirred. Its mouth opened but was silent, black.

And I watched as a thread of silver mist pulled from the scout’s chest and into my hand.

His eyes dimmed. Mine glowed faintly, just for a second.

When I left, he was still breathing. But he would never shift again.

And I… I felt alive.

The more I fed the serpent, the more my magic swelled.

Dark Luna magic. It wasn’t like Aria’s. It didn’t shine or glow. It coiled like smoke, moved like thought.

I learned to touch wolves’ minds with it. Plant whispers. Steal bits of memory. Twist feelings.

They all kept thinking that Kael’s return was what had cursed the pack. But it was me. And no one saw it coming.

By the end of the week, wolves were collapsing. Some grew feverish. Others lost their connection to the moon entirely.

Even the healers were baffled.

“It must be Kael,” they whispered. “His curse is spreading.” Good.

Let them believe that, and let them send him away again. Let him rot.

He was one of Aria’s chosen, wasn’t he? One of the three swords. The prophecy said so.

But what if one of those swords broke?

What if it turned?

Tonight, Magnus came to me. He moved like smoke, stepping out from between two trees without a sound.

He was older than me, but only in years. His magic had not aged.

He bowed his head slightly, but I didn’t trust it.

“Everything is in place,” he said. “The temple’s awakening has begun. The armies are moving.”

I nodded. “I saw them. I felt the call.”

He studied me. His eyes weren’t glowing yet, but they soon would be.

“You’ve grown more powerful,” he said. “The serpent serves you well.”

I raised my arm and let the creature shimmer into view. It hissed softly at him.

Magnus smiled. “The eclipse draws near. During that moment, Luna's magic will split. Light will falter. That’s when we strike.”

I tilted my head. “And what happens after we win?”

“You will take Aria’s place,” he said. “As Luna. As Queen. As the mother of the new heir.”

“I’ll never carry Kael’s child,” I spat.

He shook his head. “No. The prophecy was never about Kael. Or Cato. Or even Dorian.”

My blood chilled.

“What do you mean?”

Magnus stepped closer. “The third mate has not been revealed. Because he has not yet risen.”

He leaned down, his voice cold and final.

“You were not meant to replace Aria.”

He smiled, sharp and thin.

“You were meant to become her.”

I didn’t move for a long time after he vanished.

The serpent slithered tighter around my arm, whispering things I didn’t understand.

The third has not risen… Then who was it? And what did it mean to become her?

As I stared up at the sky, the moonlight flickered for a breath, and a shadow passed across it.

And in that moment, I heard a voice—deep, ancient, terrifying.

“The child is not hers. It never was.”

And suddenly, I wasn’t sure whose side I was truly on anymore.