Chapter 4

MAYA

The email still sat open on my phone, but I hadn’t looked at it in hours.

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, the pendant resting in the centre of my palm like a coin waiting to be flipped. On one side I had my Aunt and uncle telling me to stay, while on the other it seemed like everything I had longed.

Every sound in the house felt louder tonight. The creak of floorboards, the tick of the hallway clock, the wind tapping against my window like it was trying to say something. And maybe it was. Maybe everything was. The dream. The pendant. Aunt Emilia’s silence.

Aunt Emilia’s warning echoed again in my mind: Promise me you won’t go…

But I hadn’t promised. And I couldn’t—not when everything inside me was pointing toward that school, that invitation, and the suspicious behaviours of my aunt made me more curious.

I didn’t know what I’d find. I didn’t know if I’d come back the same.

But maybe that was the point.

I slipped the pendant over my head and let it settle against my chest.

I was going.

Not because I wasn’t afraid.

Because I was. But that wasn’t enough to make me stay.

LUCIEN

The forest never sleeps.

Even now, in the blue haze of dawn, it watches.

My boots crushed the frost beneath them as I climbed the ridge, eyes scanning the canopy like I was still a soldier on the run. Old habits. My breath ghosted in front of me, but I didn’t feel the cold. I hadn’t in years- not since my first shift under the full moon.

Not since I stopped being just a wolf.

The trees here were older than memory. And beneath their roots, the ground still remembered the blood of the last war.

I crouched near the border, scenting the wind.

She’s changing.

I could feel it. Even from miles away, across human cities and steel towers and the fake safety of human laws. Something ancient was awakening in her. The pull was magnetic, electric. Like moonlight threading itself through my spine.

They said she was hidden in New York. Buried among the herd.

But a Lunar-borne can’t stay buried forever.

I rose, cracking my knuckles, staring toward the east. Toward her.

She doesn’t know who she is. What she is…

They kept her safe. Sheltered. Fed her. Told her lies and called them love.

But the blood remembers.

And when it does… every pack will come clawing. Some will claim her, Others will kill her.

But I knew this; if she was the girl from the prophecy… then my fate isn’t mine anymore. It’s hers.

The forest quieted when I crossed the threshold.

No birds. No wind. Just the hush of breathless trees, bowing like they remembered the blood spilled here.

The air shimmered. Cold and heavy.

I stepped into the clearing barefoot, carrying only a black candle and the name of my bloodline. The ritual was old, older than my pack. A link to the ones who walked before.

I didn’t know if it would work. I never tried to summon them before. But I needed answers. I placed the candle on the stone slab. Lit it. Then whispered;

“I call on the shadow of the first wolf who bore my name. Speak, if you still roam.”

The flame flickered once. Twice. Then the clearing shifted-like I had blinked and night fell at once.

A presence stepped from the tree line. Not wolf, not man. Cloaked in shadow and antlers, glowing eyes like lanterns under ice.

At first glance I recognized who he was; my great-grandfather—Raihn, the blood-marked. First of our line to walk with that curse and keep it chained.

“You seek the girl,” he said, his voice cracked with time. “The Lunar-Borne.”

“I came for guidance.” I said

“You came because you’re afraid of her.” He countered swiftly.

He stepped closer, jaw marked with old battle scars. His eyes held only sorrow.

“The world will try to kill her. And so will you… unless you learn to choose.”

I clenched my fists. “The prophecy says she can destroy us.”

“The prophecy also says she can save us.” He touched my chest. “But only if you let her choose her own path.” He added. ”You are the Alpha of The Silver Claw pack. You are the one now with the responsibility; a responsibility that has been passed down from ages. Our pack has always been cursed to forever shield the Lunar-Borne pack. Though the Lunar-Borne were claimed extinct but there is still one—the last of their kind and she is nothing but your responsibility.” He said as he placed he’s hand on my shoulder

Already startled by what was already spoken, I asked in a hollow voice. “And if she chooses wrong?”

He looked past me into the darkness and spoke with disdain, “Then she burns. And we burn with her.”

The candle sputtered violently. The air dropped in temperature.

I tried to speak again, to ask more—but he was already fading into mist, bones crumbling into ash on the wind.

By the time I rushed back to the den, the storm had already rolled in. The rain, drumming on the pines like war drums.  Thunder echoed between the peaks. It suited my mood. I passed the outer sentries with a nod, my clothes damp, boots streaked with ash. It was quite a relief that no one had asked where I had been or maybe I spoke to soon.

“Where the hell were you?”

That voice—sharp, sounded familiar.

It was Talen, my best friend.

He stood by the hearth, arms crossed, damp cloak clinging to his shoulders. His amber eyes narrowed, scanning me like I was prey instead of pack.

I gave him the blandest look I could, hoping that I won’t get busted. ”Hunting.”

“In a sacred clearing, during the full moon storm?” Talen countered, his jaw clenched. “You smell like fire, like shadow”

I didn’t answer. Not yet.

He stepped closer. “Lucien, I’m not just your Beta. I’m your brother in bond. If you saw something, if there’s danger coming, you tell me.

“I didn’t see anything,” I lied bluntly. “Just old stones and silence.”

It was quite obvious Talen didn’t believe me. I could see it in the way his shoulders stayed tense.

But he didn’t push.

“You’ve been different since the city…. Since the girl,”

I stiffened, “She’s just a myth,”

“Maybe, But myths bleed too.” He turned and walked off into the shadows, the scent of suspicion trailing behind him like smoke. I knew it wasn’t right to hide it from him, but I felt like some things are better left unsaid for a while.