Austin P.o.v:
It's been 10 years since I last saw my little sister. Questions constantly invade my thoughts.. Where is she? Is she alive? Does she remember me? Does she think about her family?
"Alpha, I think we crossed a border," says my beta.
"Ok, let's slow down so it won't look like we are attacking," I said. "When the warriors reach us, don't attack."
"Yes, sir," everyone replies.
When we arrive closer to the pack-house on this territory, not only are we met by their warriors but by their Alpha Damien Gray. The person I was hoping to talk to.
"What are you doing here, rogue?" The Alpha sneers.
"I came here to warn you," I replied.
"Warn me?" He asks. "What for?"
"The Alpha of the Half Moon pack is starting a war," I state.
"What do you mean with war?" Damien asks.
"I was walking around his border and I heard one of his guards saying that their alpha is planning a war and every pack who doesn't join them will die," I say, point-blank.
I don't care if I'm killed for trespassing multiple territories. The situation needs to die before it begins.
"Why shouldn't I believe anything you say?"
"Because your life - and the lives of your pack - depend on it," I reply. "Find a way to survive or defeat them, once and for all, before it goes to down in human history as the biggest mass murder."
When did you pass the bother?" Damien asks me.
"Last night. I came here as soon as I could. I wanted to warn you guys because you are closer."
"Who else knows about this?" Damien keeps throwing questions at me.
"Some of my rogue friends, vampires, a group of witches," I reveal.
He looks at me weirdly. He stays silent for a moment. I presume he was talking to someone in his pack or his wolf.
"Come with me. This isn't a good place to discuss this situation," he finally says. "Who else is with you?"
"All the people who know about the war."
"How many are there?" He asks.
"We are 30 in total," I reply. I look behind me. Several yards away - in the shadows - my people await.
"Tell them all to follow me to the meeting room," he orders. "If anyone, I mean anyone, does something that I don't like, he or she will be locked in the dungeons. Deal?"
I think about what that would mean to my pack. It's better than being kicked to the curb, I suppose.
"Deal," I comply. "My name is Austin Montes. I was the head of warriors of the Brown Wolf Pack."
"Weren't they killed?" Damien asks.
"No, some of us escaped," I confirm the opposite.
Damien nods and motions me to follow him. I turn around and whistle. That was their cue to follow.
'If you guys don't want to die don't do something that will kill you" I mind-link my pack
The closer we get to the pack house, the bigger the feeling that something big is going to happen tomorrow.
When we got to the pack house there was a familiar scent but I don't know whose it is.
My beta, pack warrior, and I follow Alpha Damian to the meeting room.
The events that happened throughout the next few days were overwhelming. The familiar scent in the pack-house turned out to be my sister. The sister I had lost at a young age. The one I was beginning to think was dead. The DNA test Damian ordered proved she was.
I told Mia what I was told about her disappearance. I wanted her to get to know me. I sensed Damian was her mate. He was protective of her. He didn't show it but it was lingering there. He followed her with his eyes everywhere she went. She doesn't know. She doesn't even know she's a werewolf.
~*~*~*~
Mia POV:
After one hour mom came back inside, I couldn't read her face. She seemed mad. Or perhaps she was sad.
"Honey, can we talk?"
"Of course, mom," I accept.
I do want to talk to her. I feel like I'm at a loss.
"I'm going to tell you everything, okay?" she says.
"But--" I am interrupted.
"I know you have questions; they can wait 'till when I'm done."
The ways she talks scares me.
"It all began 24 years ago on New Year's Eve. There was a King looking for it's Queen. When he found her, she was in a relationship with one of the King's friends. The King didn't know that his Queen was in a relationship, so he asked her to marry him. She said yes. When the King's friend found out that the love of life was marrying his best friend and then that she had become pregnant, all he wanted was revenge. So, he kidnapped the queen and beat her until she passed out. He wanted her to abort the baby but she told him no. He didn't like that answer. He planned to get rid of it. The King arrived in time to save his Queen. The queen had a baby girl, but she knew that they were not safe so she hired a witch to protect her family. It was too late. Her ex-boyfriend had already escaped from prison. The Queen asked the witch to protect her little girl until she is big and strong enough to save herself. Unfortunately, the Queen and the King died trying to protect their kingdom. Half of their Kingdom died with them," Mom tells me the story. "Therefore, I am hoping that you understand I'm trying to keep you safe. I need your brother to understand that too. "Okay," I nod. "Thank you."
She smiles and caresses the side of my face. "You're welcome, honey. Get some sleep okay?"
“The strongest light is born from the deepest dark.”3,127 years ago – The Hidden Temple of Aetherion3rd POVThe moon was red that night. Not a hunter’s moon, nor a blood omen.This was something older.The sky itself seemed to bleed as the stars flickered one by one, retreating into silence. Winds howled through the high cliffs of Aetherion, tearing through the sacred trees that had not bent in a thousand years. Even the air, thick with divine magic, was still and waiting.Selene—goddess of the moon—stood barefoot at the edge of the Trial Circle. She was younger then, her silver hair loose around her shoulders, her violet eyes shadowed with something no god should carry:
“You can only rise by facing the dark.”Mia’s POVThe world fractured the moment the moon turned red.The trees no longer whispered—they screamed.I stood in the dead center of the Hollow Clearing, surrounded by a silence so sharp it could bleed. The air pulsed with a rhythm that wasn’t mine, yet matched my heartbeat perfectly. My breath fogged, though the air wasn’t cold. Shadows shifted around me, too fluid to be real, too slow to be wind.Snowy, I called internally. Where are you?No answer.My wolf had been silent ever since the Blood Moon rose.Damian stood behind me. I could feel him—his scent, the warmth of his soul. But he was distant, physically present yet unreachable. The trial had begun, and even he was not permitted to interfere.This trial was mine.A circle of runes blazed around me. Gold and violet light surged beneath my bare feet. The sigils had appeared the moment I stepped into the clearing, awakening an old power.A test. A message. A warning.Above me, the Blood
Kato’s POVThe portal collapsed behind us with a shriek, sealing off the world we left behind. For a moment, everything was silent. Not the comforting silence of peace—this silence was electric. It crawled across my skin like static. I gripped Nyx tighter in my arms. She was still unconscious, her small frame shivering from the trauma of what we’d just escaped.The Phoenix Realm was not meant for mortals.The sky above us shimmered with hues of molten gold and deep amethyst, shifting and warping as if it were alive. Ash fell softly from above, white as snow and hot as coals. Trees, or what once were trees, stood like charcoal statues, limbs twisted skyward in frozen agony. Every step I took felt like walking across a memory—each one burning, raw, and sacred.N
Mia's POVThe moon hung low that night, tinged crimson and ominous. It was the beginning.The Blood Moon.I stood on the edge of the cliff that bordered our packlands, the wind tearing at my hair, my heart thunderous in my chest. Behind me, the forest was still recovering from our return—the surge of power that had burst from the portal when Lunara collapsed had scorched a half-mile radius of trees. Yet no one spoke of the damage. No one dared.Because we had her.Nyx.The child of the Blood Moon.She slept now in the warded nursery below the pack house, guarded by Sybil and Kato, while Elara and I stood watch under the bleeding sky.
Mia's POVThe next morning arrived with an eerie stillness. No birdsong, no rustle of leaves. Just silence.It unsettled me more than any nightmare ever could.By the time I made it to the dining room, the pack was already gathered. Damian stood at the head of the table, maps spread before him. Elara, Kato, Austin, and Sybil flanked him. Mike and Nella sat to the side, tension thick in the room."You're late," Damian said without looking up."I'm aware," I muttered. "I had a name in my dreams. Nyx."That got his attention. He looked up sharply, eyes narrowing."That's the name of a goddess," Sybil said, stepping forward. "The ancient personificatio
Mia’s POVThe next morning, I woke with a dull ache in my muscles and an electric buzz under my skin. Something was shifting. I felt... heavier, not physically, but spiritually. Like power was settling into my bones.“Time to start,” I murmured to myself.Outside, the clearing behind the pack house had been transformed into a training ground. Trees surrounded us, their branches like silent witnesses. Warriors from both Damian’s and Austin’s packs were scattered around, but they all paused when I stepped into the sun-drenched circle. Beside me stood Elara, calm and centered. Kato lingered near the trees, nervously kicking at the dirt.Sybil, arms crossed, watched from the edge like a teacher observing a test.