CHAPTER 5 " The Secrets Beneath The Moonlight "

The pain hadn’t stopped.

Selene gritted her teeth as the carriage bounced over rocky terrain. The dagger wound from Thorne's betrayal pulsed with heat, the wolfsbane coursing through her veins like liquid fire. Every heartbeat was a reminder: she was betrayed by the one she trusted most.

Ryker sat across from her, arms crossed, watching her with unreadable eyes. The moon cast slivers of silver through the window, illuminating her pale skin and bloodstained bandages.

“You should rest,” he said.

“I don’t need rest,” she snapped.

“You’ve been stabbed, Luna.”

“I’m aware,” she growled.

Silence stretched between them. Tense. Crackling. Until he leaned forward.

“You need to know what’s coming,” Ryker said. “Thorne wasn’t acting alone. The Ironhide Pack has found something..an artifact. Ancient. Tied to your bloodline.”

Selene’s heart skipped. “My bloodline?”

He nodded. “You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you? About the Moonborn?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Stories meant to scare pups around a campfire.”

“No.” Ryker’s voice dropped. “They’re real. You’re real. And they’re hunting you because you don’t know what you are yet.”

Selene swallowed hard.

Then came the whisper. Not from Ryker. Not from the wind.

But from inside her mind.

> “Come to the ruins, child of moonlight… under the crescent’s eye, truth shall be revealed…”

Her eyes snapped open.

“What is it?” Ryker asked.

Selene’s voice was hoarse. “I just heard… a voice.”

He sat up straight. “What did it say?”

She stared out the window, toward the crescent moon.

“Something’s calling me.”

The ruins lay deep within the Silvergrove Forest ; land forbidden to all but the Elders.

As children, they were told it was cursed. That those who entered never returned.

Selene now understood the truth: the Elders didn’t fear death… they feared discovery.

The moment her boots touched the moss-covered stone, the air around her shifted. Cold. Ancient. Watching.

Ryker walked silently beside her, his hand brushing the hilt of his blade. “You sure about this?”

“No,” she admitted. “But I have to know.”

As they descended deeper, the trees grew twisted, leaves silvered under moonlight. A waterfall shimmered up ahead, its base churning into a black pool. In the center stood a stone altar carved with symbols so old they pulsed with energy.

Selene stepped forward, her chest tightening.

The Moonstone pendant at her neck blazed white-hot.

Then she heard it again.

> “Place the stone.”

Trembling, she unhooked the pendant and laid it in the altar’s groove.

The air shattered.

Light exploded upward, forming a spectral figure, cloaked in light, long-haired, eyes glowing like twin moons.

Ryker snarled, stepping in front of Selene, claws bared.

But the figure raised a hand.

“I am Lysira,” it said. “High Oracle of the Moonborn. Daughter of Seluria the First Lunar Queen.”

Selene’s knees nearly buckled.

Ryker caught her, stunned.

“You are… my ancestor?” she whispered.

“I am your blood,” the spirit replied. “And I have waited lifetimes to guide you.”

“The Moonborn were chosen by the Goddess to guard the balance between wolf and magic,” Lysira began. “But the Council feared our strength. So they hunted us. Banished our bloodline. Hid our power.”

Selene’s voice cracked. “My mother… was she.....?”

“She was the last Lunar Queen. Until you.”

The spirit drifted forward. “Your power has awakened, Selene. But it is only a fraction of what lies within. There is more. Much more.”

The altar rumbled. Stone split, revealing a hidden chamber beneath.

Selene hesitated.

Ryker grabbed her wrist. “This could be a trap.”

She looked at him, voice calm. “Then stay here.”

And with that, she descended into the dark.

Torches lit themselves as she stepped into the vault. The air pulsed with raw magic. Carvings covered the walls; depictions of ancient wolves with wings of light, women crowned in moonfire, and beasts with eyes like galaxies.

In the center lay a small basin of glowing water.

Selene approached it slowly.

Her reflection shifted. Morphed.

She saw herself, but older, crowned in silver, eyes blazing like the full moon. Blood stained her hands. Behind her stood an army of wolves… and Ryker, kneeling, chains around his wrists.

Her breath caught.

Then the image changed.

She saw her mother alive, whispering into a crib.

And then, a man cloaked in shadow… stabbing her.

Selene staggered back.

> The truth of your lineage lies in blood… and betrayal…

She turned and saw the figure of Lysira waiting at the stairs.

“You must choose,” the spirit said. “Power… or peace. Love… or the throne. One cannot serve both.”

Selene’s fists clenched.

“I’ll serve myself.”

Lysira smiled, then began to fade.

“Then you may yet become the queen this world fears.”

Back at the fortress, chaos reigned.

Thorne had returned...not alone.

With him came an envoy from Ironhide, and a new Alpha, Marcus, brutal, cold-eyed, and power-hungry.

He strolled through Selene’s courtyard like he owned it, his warriors flanking him in black armor.

“I come with terms,” Marcus announced. “Hand over the traitorous rogue and the Moonstone, and I’ll let your pack live.”

Selene, newly returned, stood on the balcony, her gaze sharp.

“Bold of you to assume you’re still breathing.”

Marcus laughed. “You’re bleeding power, Luna. Your Beta’s gone. Your people are doubting. Surrender! "

Selene descended the stairs slowly, Ryker beside her.

“My people follow me because I protect them. You come here with threats? You’ve already lost.”

Then Marcus threw something at her feet.

A bound warrior, one of her own, bloodied and beaten.

“Next time, I’ll bring back a head.”

Selene’s wolf howled inside her.

“Then next time,” she said coldly, “bring an army.”

That night, as the fortress prepared for war, Selene sat alone in the Moon Chamber, staring at the blade Ryker had left her.

He hadn’t said a word since they returned.

She knew why.

He’d seen the vision in the vault. Felt the storm brewing inside her.

She was changing.

The Moonborn magic was claiming her, sharpening her instincts, whispering truths no one else could hear.

She stood, walking to the window.

The moon was full again.

And at the afar edge of the forest… she saw it.

A red glow.

Dozens of torches. Hundreds of warriors.

The Ironhide Pack was marching to war.

And Thorne...was leading them!

Her own Beta.

Her own brother.