Chapter Six

Chapter 6: Echoes of the Forgotten Moon

Everything happened at once.

The creature burst from the darkness like a nightmare given flesh.

Its body was enormous, easily twice the height of the palace doors. Black scales covered its wolf-like frame, each one edged with silver that shimmered beneath the blood-red moon. Six curved horns rose from its skull, and chains of glowing runes hung broken around its neck as though it had ripped itself free from an ancient prison.

Its crimson eyes found me instantly.

Not Kael.

Not the warriors surrounding the throne hall.

Me.

The little girl in white threw herself in front of the creature, stretching out both arms.

“No!” she cried. “She isn’t ready!”

The beast paused.

For one impossible heartbeat, its murderous eyes softened.

Then it let out a roar so deafening that every stained-glass window in the throne hall exploded.

Shards of crystal rained from the ceiling.

“Protect the King!” Commander Darius shouted.

The Royal Guard charged as one.

Dozens of wolves shifted mid-run, bones snapping and muscles stretching as enormous gray wolves lunged toward the monster.

The clash shook the palace.

The creature swung one massive claw.

Three wolves were thrown across the hall as though they weighed nothing. Marble pillars cracked where they landed.

“Silver weapons!” Darius yelled.

“They’re useless!” another warrior screamed as his silver spear shattered against the beast’s hide.

Fear spread through the hall.

The monster wasn’t simply stronger.

It was untouchable.

⸻

Kael stepped in front of me once again.

His black sword gleamed beneath the crimson moonlight.

“Stay behind me.”

His voice was steady, but I caught the slight tightening of his grip on the sword.

He was worried.

Not for himself.

For me.

“You can’t fight that alone,” I whispered.

His lips curved into the faintest smile.

“A king never fights alone.”

As though answering his words, the ground outside trembled.

A chorus of howls echoed through the capital.

Hundreds.

No…

Thousands.

The Royal Pack had answered their Alpha.

Within moments, wolves poured into the palace courtyard from every direction, surrounding Moonstone Palace like a living tide.

Even the Moon Hunters exchanged uneasy glances.

“The entire kingdom…” one whispered.

“They’ve all come.”

Kael slowly raised his sword.

His aura exploded through the palace.

It wasn’t visible like fire or light.

It was something every wolf could feel.

Power.

Authority.

The weight of a true Alpha King.

Every royal wolf immediately bowed their heads.

Even those injured struggled to kneel.

“My kingdom,” Kael said, his voice carrying far beyond the palace walls.

“No one fights for revenge.”

His gaze remained fixed on the monster.

“No one fights for glory.”

The wolves listened in complete silence.

“We fight…”

His hand reached back without looking.

His fingers found mine.

“…to protect our home.”

Warmth surged through the mate bond.

It flowed from him into me like calm water.

My racing heart slowed.

The fear that had consumed me moments earlier began to fade.

My wolf sighed softly.

Home…

I looked up at him.

Why did his touch feel so familiar?

Why did it hurt to imagine losing someone I had only just met?

Before I could understand my own emotions, Rowan stepped beside his father.

“I’ll take the left.”

Kael didn’t argue.

Instead, he nodded.

Father and son stood shoulder to shoulder.

For the first time that night.

The tension between them disappeared.

They weren’t rivals.

They were warriors.

Family.

Ready to die protecting their people.

The sight stirred something deep inside me.

⸻

The little girl slowly backed away from the monster.

Tears streamed down her pale cheeks.

“I tried…” she whispered.

“I kept him asleep for so long.”

She looked directly at me.

“I’m sorry.”

“Who are you?” I asked again.

This time…

She answered.

“My name is Selene.”

The name struck the throne hall like lightning.

The High Elder staggered backward.

Commander Darius crossed himself in the ancient wolf blessing.

Even Kael froze.

“No…” he breathed.

His face drained of color.

“That’s impossible.”

I frowned.

“You know her?”

The High Elder’s voice trembled.

“Selene…”

He looked at the little girl with tears in his ancient eyes.

“…was the name of our Queen.”

Queen?

I looked at Kael.

His expression had completely changed.

Gone was the fearless king.

In his place stood a man staring at a ghost.

“My Luna…” he whispered.

The little girl smiled sadly.

“I remember you.”

Kael took one hesitant step toward her.

His voice cracked for the first time all night.

“Selene died twenty years ago.”

She slowly shook her head.

“No.”

“I was taken.”

Silence swallowed the throne hall.

Every noble.

Every warrior.

Every Moon Hunter.

No one dared speak.

The Queen everyone believed dead…

was standing beneath the palace.

Only…

She was a child.

The impossible truth settled over the room like frost.

If this child truly was Queen Selene…

Then time itself had betrayed them.

⸻

The Moon Hunter leader suddenly laughed.

A cold, bitter laugh.

“So the prison didn’t merely hide the guardian.”

He slowly removed the silver pendant from around his neck.

“It hid the Queen.”

He crushed the pendant in his fist.

Dark smoke poured from the shattered metal.

The monster lifted its head.

Its crimson eyes began glowing brighter.

“No!” Selene screamed.

“Don’t wake him!”

The smoke rushed into the creature’s body.

The runes around its neck shattered one by one.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Its chains fell to the floor.

The beast straightened to its full height.

For the first time…

It spoke.

Its voice sounded like mountains breaking apart.

“At last…”

Its gaze settled on me.

“I have found…”

A long pause.

“…my daughter.”

The world stopped.

Every heartbeat.

Every breath.

Every thought vanished.

I stared at the monster in disbelief.

My voice barely escaped my lips.

“…What did you call me?”