Chapter 9

LUCIEN

As I headed back to meet the pack, I felt a strong scent of blood clung to the wind.

It hit me the moment I crossed into the neutral territory—iron-thick and laced with something darker. Something wrong. Crows scattered from the treetops as my boots crunched over charred earth, the silence here so complete it felt like the forest itself was holding its breath.

The trees bore scorch marks in jagged arcs. Claw marks slashed deep into stone, not fresh—but recent enough to still weep sap. Patches of ground were scorched black, like fire had swept through in violent spirals.

This wasn’t a battle.

It was a warning.

Talen followed a few paces behind, tense. “This is strange but familiar,” he muttered. “Same pattern. Same brutality.”

I crouched near a tree, fingers grazing the bark. It flaked away under my touch, like ash.

“Whatever did this… wasn’t just hunting.”

A moan echoed from deeper in the woods.

We exchanged glances, knowing what was at hand.

We ran toward it.

Near the ruins of what used to be a guard post, a figure lay slumped against a fallen log, breathing shallowly. A beta. His uniform torn, blood matting his fur. One arm twisted at an unnatural angle.

I knelt beside him. His eyes flickered open—wide, glassy, haunted.

“He’s back,” the beta rasped. “gods help us… he’s back.”

My chest tightened.

“Who?” I asked.

The beta’s lips trembled. “Rowan…”

The name hit harder than a blow.

I stood slowly, a chill cutting through even my thick coat.

“Rowan,” I said aloud, quieter this time. The forest seemed to echo it back.

Rowan.

My oldest friend.

My worst failure.

Flashback

We were barely more than pups when we first trained together—me, the future Alpha of Silverclaw, and him, the prodigy no one could tame. Rowan burned brighter than all of us. Fast. Sharp. Merciless in a fight, loyal in a way that made you bleed just to match him.

We used to howl under the same moon.

But everything changed the night we read the prophecy.

One Lunar-Borne. A power old as the moon itself. One who could shatter the balance—or restore it.

Rowan’s eyes had gone strange that night. Too still. Too bright.

“She’s a weapon,” he said. “And weapons only have one use.”

I tried to talk him down. For days. Weeks. But something inside him had already shifted.

He left the pack without a word.

The next time we heard of him, a small Fae village had been razed. Their seers said they saw a man with shadow for eyes—and a crescent scar on his hand.

The same scar I once watched him carve into his skin.

Present ;

“He won’t stop,” Talen said quietly beside me. “Not this time. He’ll come for her.”

Or whoever it is the prophecy spoke of, we can’t be too sure it’s her, she could also be sent as a distraction

I stared into the blackened trees.

“It looks like our enemy is already one step ahead of us,” I whispered.

And in the distance, beneath the wind and crows, I could almost hear it—

The first low, echoing growl of a wolf I once called brother.

Talen and I headed back to our pack’s abode.

…… (back at our place)

The war room felt colder than usual.

Behind me, the rest of the pack had gathered—Kaia among them, silent but alert. Marek and Veyla stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their brows drawn tight. Sora leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.

Talen stood at my side.

I raised my head. The room quieted.

“We found another outpost,” I said. “Neutral territory. Six wolves missing. One survivor.” I paused, letting the silence drag. “Same signs. Same destruction.”

“The same thing that wiped out the scouts last week?” Marek asked.

“No,” I said. “Not a thing.”

“A wolf,” Talen added. “One of ours. Once.”

Kaia’s gaze sharpened. “Who?”

I looked around the room—at my people, my pack, my responsibility. “His name is Rowan.”

A low growl rippled through the room.

“You mean that Rowan?” Veyla muttered. “From your old unit?”

“He’s not just from my unit,” I said. “We trained together. He was like a brother. Until he went rogue.”

“Rogue’s an understatement,” Sora said coldly. “He butchered a Fae village. Broke the treaties. The council issued a kill-on-sight order.”

“Yes,” I said. “And now he’s back.”

I let the weight of it settle over them.

“He’s targeting outposts. Neutral zones. Leaving no trace but chaos. That’s not just vengeance. It’s strategy.”

Kaia’s eyes flicked to the map. “Then what does he want?”

I met her gaze. “The Lunar-Borne.”

Silence again. This time heavier. More dangerous.

“He believes in the prophecy,” Talen said. “Twisted it into something else. He sees the Lunar-Borne as the key to destruction—not balance.”

Sora stepped forward. “Then we strike first.”

“No.” I held up a hand. “We don’t know where he is yet. And charging in blind is exactly what he wants. He’ll expect rage. Chaos.”

“So what do we do?” Kaia asked.

“We prepare,” I said. “We strengthen our watch. Double the sentries near the Academy. Quietly. No panic. No spreading fear. We act like wolves—not prey.”

I straightened, voice firm. “If he’s coming for the girl… then he’s coming for us. And I don’t intend to lose anyone else to the ghosts of the past.”

The pack nodded. Some with grim resolve. Some with fire in their eyes.

Talen clapped a hand on my shoulder once the others began to move. “You know it’ll come down to you and him in the end.”

I nodded once, jaw tight.

“I know.”

And I wasn’t sure which scared me more—the fight I might lose…

Or the brother I might still want to save.