Chapter 6

LUCIEN.

The vision struck like lightning —white-hot and blinding.

One moment, I stood alone in the War Room, the candlelight flickering like whispers of flame. The next, I was elsewhere—a forest thick with shadows and moonlight. Fire crackled in the underbrush. A wolf, massive and spectral, circled something—

No. Someone. 

She stood in the clearing, clutching a strange pendant at her chest, eyes wide with recognition—and terror. The wolf’s eyes glowed gold and seemed awfully familiar.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t stop what came next.

The wolf lunged.

The vision shattered, dragging my breath with it. I gripped the edge of the war table, knuckles bone-white, chest heaving. Runes flared beneath my fingers—bright, angry, ancient.

“She’s waking up,” I muttered.

“She is, isn’t she?”

The voice was soft, but carried the weight of years of history forged in blood and heartbreak.

I turned slowly. My mother stood in the doorway, her presence regal, sharp as the sword she used to carry.

“You saw it too,” I said.

“Not all of it. Just enough.” Her eyes, silver like frostbite, narrowed. “The full moon. The fire. Her.”

I didn’t answer.

“She matters, Lucien,” my mother continued, stepping into the room. “You feel it. You’ve felt it since the vision started. Don’t pretend she’s just a coincidence.”

“I’m protecting the pack,” I snapped. “That’s my priority.”

“No,” she said, voice like a blade sliding free of its sheath. “You’re hiding the truth. From them, and from yourself.”

Silence settled between us like falling snow.

“She’s a Lunar Borne, isn’t she?” Her voice softened. “You know the signs. The dreams. The heat in the air. The pendant she carries —it’s connected to the Lunar Borne Pack.”

My throat went dry. “You said it was lost.”

“We told you it was lost,” she corrected. “Because your father died protecting the last of them. And now—” She exhaled. “Now it begins again.”

I turned away, heart pounding. “Then we keep her away. We don’t involve her. The prophecy—”

“Doesn’t care about your strategy.”

I flinched.

“She’s already involved, Lucien. If she dies before the Awakening completes, the balance collapses. It seems the Moonridge council knows. They sent you that letter for more than diplomacy.”

I clenched my jaw, shoulders tight.

“I saw her torn apart,” I whispered. “In my vision, a wolf with eyes that was familiar. I think… I think it was me.”

My mother stepped forward, touching my arm gently. “Then you must make a choice. Either you run from what’s coming—or you rise. Protect her, Lucien. Not as the Alpha. As you.”

MAYA.

The trees loomed tall and silent around me, their mossy trunks wrapped in a veil of morning mist. Leaves whispered high above, shifting with the wind like they were trading secrets. My shoes crunched softly over the uneven forest trail. As I walked my phone dinged indicating a recent notification, it was a new email, I opened it and saw it was from Moonridge academy; an addition to their previous letter. I read through it twice —just to make sure this was real.

Moonridge Academy: Invitation to Interview – 10:00 AM | Northern Trail Entrance; it was the next morning.

No signature. No logo. Just a set of GPS coordinates and a brief message that read more like a dare than a welcome.

A twig snapped up ahead, sharp and deliberate. I froze mid-step.

Something was watching me.

My eyes scanned the undergrowth, chest tightening. For a second, I considered turning back. But then a shape moved between the trees—tall, slender, and completely at ease.

A girl.

She stepped into view like she belonged there, like she was part of the forest. Her skin was a warm brown, glowing slightly in the filtered sunlight, and her black curls were tied up in a messy bun that looked anything but accidental. She wore worn hiking boots and a sleeveless black vest, despite the morning chill. But it was her eyes that hit me hardest—amber-gold and almost... inhuman.

She smiled as if we’d met before. “You must be headed to Moonridge Academy?”

I blinked. “I—yeah.”

She nodded like that confirmed something. “Figured. You’ve got the ‘what the hell am I doing here’ look.”

I didn’t answer. My fingers tightened around my phone.

I stared, frozen. “Who are you?”

“I’m Kaia, one of the students heading to Moonridge, I was just… walking. The woods help clear my head, you know? I wasn’t expecting anyone out here.” Her gaze lingered on the pendant at my chest. “But then I saw you. You looked… kind of lost. Or pulled.” .” she added, stepping closer. Her tone was light, but there was strength behind it. “I’m from the Silverclaw pack, my brother’s the beta.”

I blinked, my brain stalling on every unfamiliar word. “The... what pack?”

“Silverclaw,” she said again, like it was obvious. “One of the oldest werewolf packs in the region.”

“Wolf packs,” I echoed slowly. “Like actual wolves?”

Kaia tilted her head slightly, as if she couldn’t tell whether I was joking or just slow to catch up. “Yeah. We’ve been around for a while. Just not out in the open.”

I stared at her.

She had to be joking.

Except nothing about her seemed like a joke. Not the way she stood, calm and completely grounded in this surreal setting. Not those eyes.

It seemed I wasn’t crazy after all, and that the rumors were true.

“Okay,” I said cautiously. “And you said your brother’s a... beta? What does that mean?”

“Second in command,” she explained. “Under the alpha. Kind of like the executive officer of the pack. Keeps things in line, handles issues, protects the structure.Though with a lot more growling.”

I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “Right. Of course. Growling.”

She laughed at that, a sound that was somehow both wild and warm.

This strange encounter felt more like a dream, but the slight breeze blowing in the woods reminded me that this was indeed real.

“So like... a wolf hierarchy?” I tried to process it out loud.

She nodded. “Exactly.”

“Wow, I’m actually shocked to hear this and honestly I still can’t believe I got an invitation for an interview from Moonridge Academy”

Kaia shrugged, amused. “ Moonridge Academy has layers. You’re just now seeing the one most people aren’t meant to.”

My heart beat faster, and not from the hike. “And what does that have to do with me?”

She looked at me then, really looked—like she saw more than I understood about myself. “Maybe nothing,” she said. “Or maybe everything. That’s what the interview will help figure out.”

I wanted to ask more. To demand answers. But Kaia had already turned and started walking again, like the conversation was finished.

I stood there for a second longer, caught between what I thought I knew and what

I was being pulled into. Then, without even meaning to, I followed.