chapter 29

The Moon Shrine fell deathly silent.

Only the whisper of the mountain wind disturbed the stillness.

Rowan stared at Elsie, unable to hide the shock on his face.

Frank looked equally stunned.

Even the elite warriors exchanged uneasy glances.

"The... Last Moonborn?" Frank repeated quietly.

Elsie nodded, still trying to steady her breathing.

"My wolf told me that before everything disappeared."

She looked at Rowan.

"You knew."

It wasn't an accusation.

It was a realization.

Rowan lowered his eyes.

"I suspected."

"You suspected?"

"I never had proof."

Elsie's voice trembled.

"So everyone here knows something except me?"

Rowan sighed.

"I was trying to protect you."

"By keeping me ignorant?"

His silence answered her.

The group returned to their horses, but no one mounted.

The weight of the revelation hung over them.

Finally, Rowan spoke.

"There are stories passed down only among Alpha bloodlines."

He looked toward the ancient tree towering over the shrine.

"They're older than any pack."

"They speak of the Moonborn."

Elsie listened quietly.

"Hundreds of years ago, before the werewolf packs were divided into kingdoms, there existed one bloodline chosen directly by the Moon Goddess."

"They weren't ordinary werewolves."

"Their wolves possessed abilities beyond strength."

"They could heal."

"They could sense lies."

"They could communicate with wolves over great distances."

"They were the guardians of balance."

Frank continued where Rowan stopped.

"And because they were so powerful..."

"Kings feared them."

"They believed no one should possess that much power."

"So they united."

"Pack after pack."

"They hunted every Moonborn they could find."

Elsie's chest tightened.

"They... killed them?"

Rowan nodded grimly.

"Entire families."

"Children."

"Elders."

"No one was spared."

"They believed they succeeded."

"But according to your wolf..."

He looked into her eyes.

"They failed."

Elsie struggled to process everything.

"My whole life..."

"I thought I was cursed."

She laughed bitterly.

"But I wasn't cursed."

"I was hidden."

Tears filled her eyes.

"My parents..."

"Did they know?"

Rowan hesitated.

"I don't think so."

"Then why couldn't I shift?"

"The seal."

"The Moon Goddess sealed your wolf."

"To keep your power hidden."

Elsie closed her eyes.

All those years.

The whispers.

The loneliness.

The humiliation.

None of it had been because she was broken.

It had been because someone—something—had been protecting her.

She suddenly remembered every night she had cried herself to sleep, begging the Moon Goddess to give her a wolf.

A sad smile crossed her face.

"I spent years blaming her."

Suddenly...

One of the Nightcrest warriors drew his sword.

"My Alpha."

Everyone turned.

The forest had gone silent.

Again.

Frank's expression hardened.

"Form a circle."

Immediately, the warriors surrounded Rowan and Elsie.

The horses became restless, stomping nervously.

A cold wind swept through the clearing.

Leaves rustled violently.

Then—

Crunch.

A twig snapped somewhere in the darkness.

Another.

Then another.

They weren't alone.

"Show yourselves!" Frank shouted.

Silence.

Then slow applause echoed through the trees.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

A tall man stepped into the moonlight.

He wore a long crimson cloak embroidered with black symbols.

His silver hair reached his shoulders, and a scar ran across one side of his face.

Behind him...

Nearly twenty armed men emerged from the forest.

Each wore the same crimson emblem over their chest.

Frank's grip tightened around his sword.

"The Crimson Fang..."

The silver-haired man smiled.

"So."

His sharp blue eyes settled on Elsie.

"The rumors were true."

"We finally found you."

Rowan stepped in front of Elsie.

"You've trespassed on Nightcrest land."

The stranger laughed.

"I didn't come for your land."

"I came for her."

He pointed directly at Elsie.

"Our last hunt."

Elsie's stomach dropped.

The man bowed mockingly.

"Allow me to introduce myself."

"I am Victor."

"Commander of the Crimson Fang."

He smiled as though greeting an old friend.

"For three hundred years..."

"My family has hunted yours."

Rowan's aura exploded across the clearing.

"If you take one more step..."

"You'll die."

Victor merely chuckled.

"I know you're strong, Alpha Rowan."

His smile widened.

"But tonight..."

He looked around the clearing.

"...I didn't come to fight."

He reached into his cloak and threw something onto the ground.

It rolled across the stone altar...

Stopping at Elsie's feet.

She looked down.

Her breath caught.

It was a silver pendant.

Old.

Worn.

Engraved with the same crescent moon symbol she had seen inside her vision.

Victor's voice became softer.

"Your mother wore that."

Elsie froze.

"My... mother?"

Rowan's eyes widened.

"Impossible."

Victor smiled.

"Is it?"

He looked directly into Elsie's eyes.

"The people who raised you..."

"They're not your real parents."

The world seemed to stop spinning.

Elsie couldn't breathe.

Victor's smile turned cold.

"The truth is far more interesting than you've been told."

Then, before anyone could react, he tossed a small black sphere onto the ground.

A thick cloud of smoke exploded around them.

"Protect the Luna!" Frank roared.

When the smoke cleared seconds later...

Victor and every member of the Crimson Fang had disappeared.

Only the silver pendant remained on the altar.

And Elsie stood frozen...

Wondering if everything she had believed about her life had just become a lie.