Chapter 2: The Exile

The palace gates closed behind Kael with a heavy groan.

He didn’t look back.

The cold night air bit at his skin as he walked down the deserted stone road leading away from Black Fang Kingdom. The cheers and laughter from the Moon Bond Ceremony had faded, but the humiliation still echoed in his ears.

“The prince rejected his own mate.”

“An omega that weak has no place beside a king.”

“How pathetic.”

Each cruel word struck deeper than the last.

Kael tightened his grip on the small travel bag slung over his shoulder. It held little more than a change of clothes and a few silver coins—everything he owned.

He had nowhere to go.

For years, he had endured endless ridicule from the nobles, servants, and even distant relatives who had taken him in after his parents’ deaths. He told himself it didn’t matter.

As long as he had his fated mate.

As long as there was someone the Moon Goddess had chosen for him.

Tonight, that fragile hope had been shattered.

A sharp pain spread through his wrist.

Kael stopped beneath an old oak tree and looked down.

The silver mate mark still glowed faintly.

Cracks had appeared across it like broken glass.

“So even fate can break,” he whispered.

He clenched his jaw, refusing to let the tears fall.

If Lucien could reject him without a second thought…

Then he would learn to live without him.

“I won’t beg,” Kael said quietly.

“I’ll never beg anyone to stay.”

The wind answered with a mournful howl.

Clouds drifted across the moon, plunging the forest road into darkness.

Kael continued walking.

Hours passed.

His legs grew heavy, but he forced himself forward until an abandoned shrine appeared beside the road.

Its stone pillars had crumbled with age, and vines wrapped around the weathered statue of a silver wolf standing at its center.

Strangely…

The statue looked almost alive.

Kael sat on the broken steps, exhausted.

He rested his head against one of the cracked pillars and closed his eyes.

For the first time since leaving the palace, silence surrounded him.

No whispers.

No laughter.

Only the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

It should have been peaceful.

Instead, unease settled in his chest.

He wasn’t alone.

His wolf stirred restlessly.

Someone was nearby.

Kael slowly opened his eyes.

“Who’s there?”

No answer.

The forest remained still.

Perhaps he was imagining things.

He stood, preparing to leave.

A twig snapped.

Kael spun around.

A tall figure emerged from between the trees, dressed in a long black cloak. The hood concealed the stranger’s face, leaving only a sharp jawline visible beneath the moonlight.

Kael instinctively stepped back.

“I don’t want trouble.”

“You won’t find any from me,” the stranger replied calmly.

His voice was deep and strangely familiar.

“Then why are you following me?”

The man was silent for a long moment.

“I’ve been waiting for this night.”

Kael frowned.

“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

The stranger slowly shook his head.

“I never mistake the one I’ve sworn to protect.”

Kael’s heartbeat quickened.

“What are you talking about?”

Without another word, the cloaked man reached into his robe.

Kael tensed.

Instead of a weapon, the stranger withdrew an ancient silver pendant shaped like a crescent moon.

The instant it appeared…

Kael’s cracked mate mark burst into brilliant silver light.

The pendant answered with the same glow.

A powerful wave of energy swept through the abandoned shrine.

The ground trembled.

Dust fell from the broken pillars.

The stone wolf statue began to shine.

Kael stared in disbelief.

“What… is happening?”

The stranger looked at him with eyes full of respect.

Then, before Kael could ask another question, the man slowly lowered himself onto one knee.

He placed a hand over his heart.

His voice echoed through the silent forest.

“My prince…”

“I have searched for you for twenty years.”

Kael’s breath caught.

“Prince?”

The stranger finally raised his head.

“The kingdom you believe was destroyed…”

“…is waiting for its rightful heir to return.”

Far beneath the forgotten ruins of the ancient Moon Kingdom, a silver crown resting upon a stone throne began to glow.

A voice, ancient and powerful, whispered into the darkness.

“The last heir has awakened.”