Chapter Nine – The Sound of the Dead

“No,” Liam breathed. “That’s not,…..he’s dead. He died with the pack.”

The scream echoed again, fractured by the wind but unmistakably familiar. Mira’s spine stiffened as the sound twisted through her bones like it had been waiting in her blood all along.

“I heard it too,” she said quietly.

The seer stood slowly, gripping his staff. “The blood remembers. But what you hear now... is not the man you knew.”

Grey’s claws unsheathed with a slow scrape. “We need to move. That sound didn’t just come out of nowhere.”

Liam looked shaken, rooted to the ground. “What if it’s him? What if they took him too?”

“If they did,” Grey said darkly, “then what’s left might not be your father anymore.”

Mira grabbed her brother’s wrist. “We’re not leaving until we find out.”

The seer turned toward the shadows. “You’ll find what you’re looking for beyond the dead grove. But be warned… the answers will not heal you.”

“They never do,” Mira muttered.

They left the hidden lair and stepped into the half-light of dawn. The sky was smeared with clouds, casting long, uncertain shadows across the ruined forest. Each step into the grove felt like walking into a memory turned rotten.

Mira felt it first.

The hum in the air.

Like static beneath her skin.

Magic, old and twisted.

Liam gripped his blade tighter. “You feel that?”

Mira nodded. “Something’s wrong.”

They passed through the blackened trees, ash crunching underfoot. Then she saw it.

A stone circle; cracked and overgrown. In the center stood a figure.

Chained.

Motionless.

But alive.

Mira’s breath caught.

It was a man; tall, broad-shouldered, but broken. His head hung low, hair matted with blood and dirt. Scars covered his back, deep and ritualistic. One shoulder bore the mark of the Iceclaw pack.

Her father’s mark.

“Dad?” Liam called, stepping forward.

The man didn’t move.

Mira walked forward slowly. “No… it can’t be.”

Grey held her back. “Wait. Something’s not right.”

“I have to see…”

The man lifted his head.

And Mira stopped breathing.

It was him.

But wrong.

His eyes were black. Empty. Stripped of light.

“Mira…” the voice rasped. It was his but twisted, like something else was speaking through him.

Liam stumbled forward. “Dad, it’s me. It’s Liam…”

“Leave!” the man roared suddenly, struggling against the chains. “They made me a vessel!”

Mira froze. “What?”

He looked at her, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth.

“They used me to find you.”

Grey moved in front of her now, protective. “He’s infected. Possessed.”

“No,” the man growled. “Trapped.”

“What did they do?” Mira whispered.

“They tied my soul to the pack’s ashes. Used my body as bait. A beacon. They knew you would come.”

And then..…..

From behind them were movements.

Figures stepping out from behind the trees.

Dozens.

Ghost Howlers.

Surrounding them.

“Dammit,” Grey snarled. “It’s a trap.”

Mira turned to her father, frantic. “Can we free you?”

His face contorted. “Kill me.”

Liam’s voice cracked. “No!”

“Listen to me,” the man choked. “They need my blood to tether you. As long as I live, they can track you.”

Grey raised his blade.

Liam blocked him. “Don’t.”

Mira stepped between them, breath shaking.

Then…..

A voice rang through the trees.

Feminine. Cold. Familiar.

“Hello, Mira.”

Mira turned sharply.

A woman stood among the shadows, tall and hooded, her eyes glowing faintly red.

She pulled down the hood.

Mira’s heart stopped.

It was her aunt. Valda.

“You…” Mira whispered. “You died with the others.”

Valda smiled. “That’s what we wanted you to believe.”

Liam stepped forward, fury burning. “You betrayed the pack.”

“No,” Valda said calmly. “I fulfilled the pact. You, Mira, were never meant to vanish. You were meant to rise. But you ran. So we waited. And now…”

She pointed to the chained man.

“Your father has delivered you to us.”

Mira’s mouth went dry.

“What do you want from me?”

Valda’s eyes gleamed.

“To awaken the full Luna bloodline. To bind you. And take back the world that the Council poisoned.”

Grey shifted, fangs bared. “You’ll have to kill us first.”

Valda smiled wider.

“No, Alpha Maddox. We won’t kill you.”

She raised a hand.

“We’ll make you watch.”

And then….

The chains holding Mira’s father lit up with red flame.

He screamed, a howl of agony and loss that split the sky.

And from the shadows…..

Mira’s wolf answered.

End of Chapter Nine

……………..

Mira’s aunt is alive. Her father is a tethered vessel. And her wolf, long dormant, is finally awake. But what will Mira do now that everything she thought she lost is being weaponized against her?