The silence in the Trial Hall was deafening.Not even the crackle of the enchanted torches dared disturb the air as Ava stared at the crimson smear across her shoulder. Her breathing was shallow, her pulse a wild rhythm in her ears.He had struck her.One of them had crossed the line.A contender. A sworn protector.And now… everything was changed.The Elders were frozen in place on the high stone dais. The Oracle’s veil fluttered from the force of an unseen wind, her lips parted in silent horror.Damon stepped forward first, his voice low and dangerous. “You broke the Oath.”The accused—Lucien.His silver-blond hair was tousled from the scuffle, his eyes wild, rimmed with the golden hue of his wolf barely restrained. “She’s not who you think she is,” he hissed, blood still dripping from his claws. “You don’t know what she’s becoming.”“She is the Chosen of the Blood Moon!” Kellan roared, shoving past the others. His aura surged, powerful and blinding, as if his wolf stood beside him.
—AVA—Her hands still trembled with the aftershock of the spirit realm.But she stood tall, eyes glowing gold and silver, the mark of her rebirth seared across her skin.The three men who had crossed death for her stood silently nearby—Cassian, Lucien, and Darius—each of them battle-worn, each of them hers.But the Realms?The Realms were falling apart.—THE DIVIDEWithin hours of her return, the messenger ravens came.The Ironfangs refused to bow.The Stormhowlers blamed her for the Moon’s bleeding.And the Frostborn? They declared neutrality.War drums were echoing in every territory—not against a god this time…But against each other.Ava gritted her teeth as she paced the temple ruins.“I brought the Blood Queen down, and they’re already tearing each other apart.”Lucien stepped forward. “They don’t understand what you’ve become.”Darius nodded. “Then show them.”—THE SUMMONINGAva raised her palm and whispered a spell lost to time.The earth cracked. Magic surged.“Let the Crownl
—CASSIAN—They stood in the crater where Ava had fallen.The battlefield was silent. The moon hung cracked and bleeding.And she lay there—Still.Unmoving.Silent.Cassian dropped to his knees beside her, his breath shallow. “No… no, no, no. Don’t you dare leave me, Ava.”Lucien knelt across from him, his hands trembling as he pressed glowing runes against her chest.“She’s not gone,” Lucien whispered. “But her soul’s no longer… here.”Darius looked up. “Then we go get her.”—THE RITUAL OF RETURNThe celestial wolf—freed from the Blood Queen’s chains—spoke ancient words none of them recognized.It lowered its head to Ava’s chest and whispered:“She walks the Path of Echoes.”“If you want her back, you must enter the realm where time breaks, memories twist, and truth reveals itself.”Cassian stood. “What do we need to do?”The celestial’s eyes burned gold.“You must give part of yourselves—your blood, your memory, your name.”Lucien stepped forward. “Take it.”Darius followed. “We don
—AVA—The red-stained cloth lay on the table between them, its scent unmistakable.The Moon Goddess.Her blood.Her message.Ava stared at it, rage simmering beneath her skin.“She’s taken a celestial,” Lucien said grimly. “That's a declaration of divine war.”“No,” Ava whispered. “It’s bait.”“She’s daring me to come alone.”—THE GODS WHISPERIn the spirit realm, the gods argued. Oryn stood at the edge of the Skyfire Hall, listening to their chaos.“She must be stopped.”“She must be protected.”“She’s no longer mortal—”“She never was.”And then, a voice stronger than them all:“Let her choose.”The Moon Goddess stepped forward, cloaked in chains.“This war began with my silence.Let it end with her voice.”—THE FROSTLANDSAva traveled with only her three mates and the Shadowborn Alpha.Snow fell in dagger-like flakes.The trees whispered her name.And the further they went, the colder her soul became.Until they found it—A citadel carved into a glacier.Lit by cursed fire.The Blo
—AVA—She didn’t speak for two days.Not when the bodies were burned.Not when the packs began to whisper of surrender.Not even when the Elders called for a retreat.Ava just watched the horizon, where frost met fire.She could feel her sister breathing there—waiting.Cassian knelt beside her one night, pressing her cold fingers between his.“You can’t carry it all,” he whispered. “Not alone.”She looked at him.“Then let me become something that can.”—THE LEGEND OF THE FORBIDDEN FLAMEDeep beneath the Sovereign Temple, a scroll had long been sealed by divine order. It was said to contain a ritual—so dangerous, so ancient—that even the gods refused to speak its name.But Ava’s blood had unlocked it.As she read it aloud under moonlight, the wind shifted unnaturally. The flames in her lantern burned blue.Lucien appeared beside her, eyes sharp with warning.“That flame killed the first Moon Queen,” he said. “It burns your soul to fuel your power.”“I don’t need to be saved,” Ava whis
—AVA—The camp stirred long before dawn.Ava stood alone at the edge of the cliff, eyes fixed on the bleeding moon. The mark on her back—the Sovereign Sigil—burned with a strange, cold fire.Cassian joined her in silence, wrapping a cloak over her shoulders.“She’s coming, isn’t she?” he murmured.Ava nodded once.“She’s not hiding anymore.”“She wants war. And she’ll draw it in blood.”—THE WARNINGA raven arrived at sunrise—its feathers dipped in frost, its eyes glowing red.In its beak: a scroll sealed with black wax.Ava opened it.And her blood ran cold.The Shadowfangs have fallen. Your allies are next.Come find me, Sovereign.Let’s see which queen the moon truly favors.—R.Lucien swore under his breath. “The Shadowfang Pack was three days north.”“They’re not just allies,” Ava whispered. “They held the last gate between us… and the Frostlands.”—THE MARCHBy noon, the war horn sounded across the valley.Ava mounted her obsidian-coated direwolf. Her army—an unholy mix of pack