Chapter Twenty Seven - Shadows of the Prophecy ( Sienna's POV )

The forest held its breath. Mist curled low over the undergrowth, weaving between the trunks like smoke from a dying fire. Every drop of rain that clung to the leaves glittered like a shard of moonlight, but there was no time to admire it. Danger was closer than the wet fog suggested.

Kael’s hand was tight over mine, guiding me through the hollowed path beneath ancient pines. My heart thumped against his chest, matching the rhythm of his careful, measured steps. But I could feel it, a shift in the air. Not just the scent of wet earth, not just the cold brushing my skin. Something else. A presence.

“Ronan,” Kael muttered, his voice low, almost a growl. The name carried weight, fear, and fury all at once. “He’s closer than we thought.”

I flinched at the sound, even though I’d already heard the whispers of his approach for days. This was the first time I felt it so tangible. My powers reacted instantly, a prickle beneath my skin, a surge of energy I barely controlled. My stomach fluttered, the baby moving sharply as if sensing the same threat.

“Keep it together,” Kael murmured. He didn’t need to specify for whom; the words carried in the shared silence between us.

The Beta pack moved behind us, shadows following our lead. Jaxon’s eyes scanned constantly, sharp and wary. Even loyal wolves showed strain, tension in the pack’s ranks whispered of worry. They had never seen their Alpha and his Luna retreating like this, and they could sense the threat in every twitch of the trees.

And then it hit me. The power inside me, the blood of Kael, the child, it was surging again. I felt it in my hands, my chest, my pulse. I couldn’t hide it. Not from him, not from Ronan, not from the very forest itself.

“Aria,” Kael warned, pressing a hand to my shoulder, “focus. Control it.”

I swallowed, but the air around me thickened. Every raindrop seemed heavier, every shadow sharper. A low growl rolled through the trees. Ronan’s wolves. Not many, but enough. Enough to test us.

Then one leapt forward. Steel glinted. I reacted before I could think. My hand shot out, energy flaring like a living thing. The wolf froze mid-strike, yelped, and staggered back as though the forest itself had pushed it away. My chest burned with exertion, every muscle trembling.

Kael’s golden eyes widened. “Aria…” His voice was disbelief and awe, low and rumbling. He didn’t scold. He didn’t even touch me. He just watched, a predator understanding the reach of its mate’s strength.

I pressed my hand to my stomach, heart hammering. “I can… I think I can control it,” I whispered. But Kael didn’t answer. His gaze was already forward, sharp, deadly.

Ronan stepped out from the mist then, tall, broad, silver hair plastered to his wet skin, eyes glittering with cruelty. A sneer twisted his lips. “So… the Luna hides a secret,” he said. “And the Alpha thinks he can protect both.”

Kael growled low in his chest. “Ronan.”

“You’re meddling in things you don’t understand,” Ronan continued, voice silk over steel. “The prophecy isn’t yours. Never was. But you ...” He nodded at me, then at the small curve of my belly. “....you, little Luna, you might be the key.”

I felt it, the pull, the surge, the warning. He knew. Somehow, he knew about the child. My hands tightened on Kael’s sleeve. “What… what do you mean?” I managed.

Ronan smirked, stepping closer, silver claws glinting at his fingers. “The bloodline isn’t just a gift. It’s a weapon. A child born of the Alpha carries power that can either unite the northern packs… or shatter them all. Kael knows this. But can you?”

Kael moved in front of me, stance low, muscles coiled. “You won’t touch her. You won’t touch my child,” he said, voice low, lethal. Every word carried the weight of command, but also fear, the fear he tried so desperately to hide.

Ronan laughed, sharp and cruel. “Oh, I’ll touch what I please. And you....” His gaze slid over Kael’s chest, “...you’ve grown soft. Too soft. The Alpha blood won’t save you if you can’t protect what’s yours.”

The Beta pack surged forward at Kael’s gesture, claws out, teeth bared. But the moment they did, a trap snapped into motion, hidden from the trees, ropes of silver-hued wire twisted between pines. They clamped around some of the wolves, yanking them into the air.

I felt panic rise. “Kael!” I screamed. And then the energy within me erupted. My hands flared again, the air bending, snowlike shards of silver light scattering through the trees. Wolves fell free of the traps, tumbling into the mud safely. But the power wasn’t gentle.

Kael’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “Enough,” he said. But even as he spoke, I felt it, the magic that surged from me was more than instinct. It was raw, uncontrolled, dangerous.

“Aria,” Kael shouted over the chaos, “focus now! If you lose control....”

“I won’t,” I growled back. And yet, deep down, I felt it slipping. Every time I used this power, every surge, I risked losing control. And if I lost control… Kael, my pack, the child, everything, would be in danger.

Ronan moved closer again, his eyes gleaming with triumph. “Careful, Alpha,” he said. “Or your Luna will burn everything you’ve built.”

I pressed my hand to my belly instinctively. The baby shifted, fluttering violently. I felt the connection, the pulse of life and power intertwined. And something in me hardened. I wasn’t just protecting myself, or even Kael. I was protecting this life, this future.

Kael’s hand found mine again, fingers lacing with mine. “We face him together,” he said. “Whatever it takes.”

I nodded, though terror twisted in my gut. I could feel Ronan watching me, measuring, calculating. He wanted me to falter. He wanted Kael to hesitate.

The first clash came suddenly. Ronan lunged, and Kael met him with a snarl. Steel met steel. The forest seemed to roar around them. I stayed back, focusing, pouring everything I had into holding the energy at bay, forcing it outward in flashes, forcing Ronan’s wolves to retreat and stumble.

But then I felt it, a whisper of power I hadn’t noticed before. A pulse, dark and hungry, pulling at the edges of my control. It wasn’t Ronan, not entirely. It was the prophecy itself.

Kael’s voice cut through the surge. “Aria! Don’t let it take you!”

I tried to respond, tried to center myself, but it was too late. The air exploded in light and sound, sending Ronan stumbling back. My heart leapt, and then froze.

Ronan’s smirk returned, but there was something different in his eyes. “Clever girl,” he hissed. “But you don’t know what you’ve just unleashed.”

Kael’s eyes met mine, gold and stormy, and I could read it all. fear, love, awe. And for a heartbeat, everything stopped. The forest held its breath.

Then Ronan vanished into the mist, his words echoing.

“The prophecy has chosen… and soon, all will burn.”

The mist swallowed him. Silence pressed down. The pack was shaken but unharmed. Kael pressed close to me, his hand over mine, both of us breathing heavily. I rested my forehead against his chest, heart hammering in a rhythm that matched the storm of our own power.

But even as I felt the pulse of life inside me, I knew the truth.

Ronan had left something behind. A warning. A threat. A promise.

And whatever came next, I was no longer just hiding. I was fighting, for myself, for the child, for Kael.

The forest exhaled around us. The rain had stopped, but the world felt charged, waiting.

And far off, unseen, a shadow moved in the mist. Watching. Waiting.

The prophecy was no longer whispers in the dark. It was alive.

And so were its hunters.