LOGINThe word echoed through the chamber. “No.” Small. Simple. But powerful enough to shake the mountain itself. The moment the child refused, the silver abyss erupted violently. The connected wolves cried out as energy burst upward in massive waves, tearing cracks through the ancient chamber walls. Stone collapsed from above while the silver veins pulsing through the mountain brightened to blinding intensity. Ronan pulled Aria against him instantly, shielding her body with his own as debris rained around them. “Move!” Marcus shouted. The ground beneath them lurched violently. Garrick barely kept his footing as another shockwave exploded upward from the abyss. “That thing’s coming!” No one needed confirmation anymore. They could feel it. The enormous presence rising from below. Not fast. Not aggressively. Inevitably. Aria clutched her stomach sharply as the third triplet surged again. Fear flooded through her. Not her fear. The child’s. And beneath it— Resistance. T
Silence consumed the chamber after the vision faded.Even the mountain seemed to pause.Aria remained in Ronan’s arms, trembling slightly as fragments of impossible memories continued echoing through her mind.Not hers.Never hers.But somehow connected to the child growing inside her.The third triplet pulsed softly now.Not distressed.Calm.Almost relieved.Ronan held her tighter.“What did you see?” he asked quietly.Aria swallowed hard.Because saying it aloud would make it real.Still—She answered.“The child…” Her voice shook slightly. “It isn’t just connected to the entity.”Marcus frowned.“Then what is it?”Aria slowly lifted her eyes toward the silver abyss below.“It’s connected to what the entity used to be.”The chamber went still.Malrik’s expression darkened immediately.“No…”Aria nodded faintly.“When it split itself apart… one part refused.”Ronan’s body stiffened.“Refused what?”Aria’s chest tightened painfully.“To become whole again.”Silence hit harder than an
The mountain trembled beneath them.Dust rained from the ceiling while silver light climbed higher through the massive opening in the earth, illuminating the ancient chamber in cold, unnatural waves.No one moved.No one breathed.Because the voice had spoken directly to the child.Not Aria.Not the entity.The child.Ronan’s arm tightened protectively around her instantly.His entire body had gone rigid beneath the force of his fury.“You do not speak to my child,” he growled into the darkness.The voice answered softly.“But it remembers me.”The silver light pulsed brighter.The connected wolves lowered their heads almost reverently as the mountain continued shaking around them.Marcus stepped closer to Garrick, keeping his claws extended.“I officially hate this place.”Garrick didn’t answer.Because his eyes remained fixed on Aria.Or more specifically—On the faint silver-gold glow beginning to pulse beneath her skin.The third triplet stirred violently now.Not painfully.Emoti
The sound came again.Low.Ancient.Breathing.It echoed through the tunnels like the mountain itself had become alive.Every wolf froze instantly.Marcus lifted his torch higher, though the trembling flame barely touched the darkness ahead.“That,” he said quietly, “does not sound asleep.”No one answered him.Because they were all thinking the same thing.Aria stood perfectly still at the center of the tunnel, her pulse thundering painfully against her ribs as the third triplet stirred harder than ever before.Not fear.Recognition.The realization made her stomach twist.Ronan moved closer immediately.“We turn back,” he said firmly.Aria looked toward him sharply.“You know we can’t.”“Yes,” he growled. “We can.”Another deep sound rolled through the tunnels.Closer this time.The walls vibrated beneath it.Dust rained softly from the ceiling above.Garrick’s expression darkened.“We’re running out of time.”Marcus nodded grimly.“If that thing fully wakes before we understand wha
They found the entrance just after midday.It wasn’t marked.It wasn’t guarded.It wasn’t even meant to be found.A crack in the mountain’s lower ridge, hidden beneath layers of collapsed stone and dead roots, opened like a wound in the earth.Aria stopped the moment she saw it.Her breath caught sharply.Ronan noticed instantly.“Aria?”She didn’t answer at first.Because she could feel it now—clearly.Not just below them.Ahead of them.Waiting.Marcus stepped closer, narrowing his eyes at the dark opening.“That’s it?”Garrick crouched slightly, inspecting the ground.“No guards. No traps. Nothing.”“That’s worse,” Marcus muttered.Aria slowly stepped forward.Ronan immediately moved to block her path.“You’re not going in first,” he said firmly.She looked up at him.“I have to.”“That is not a discussion.”Her voice softened slightly.“It’s calling me, Ronan.”His jaw tig
They left before sunrise.Not as an army.Not even as a full council decision.Just a small group moving quietly through the fortress gates while most of the kingdom still slept—because if too many knew, too many would try to stop them.Or follow them.And Ronan couldn’t allow either.Aria rode beside him in silence, her cloak drawn tightly around her body as the cold wind cut across the open land beyond the fortress walls. Ahead of them, Marcus led the path, while Garrick and a handful of elite warriors followed behind at a careful distance.No one spoke much.Not because there was nothing to say.But because everything had already been said.The mountains loomed in the distance like dark teeth against the pale sky.Every mile they moved toward them felt heavier than the last.Aria’s hand rested against her stomach almost constantly now.The third triplet was awake.Not fully.But aware enough that she could feel it respon
The fortress never felt so alive.Even before dawn, the walls thrummed with energy—the bond between me, the triplets, and Ronan feeding the stones, the runes, the very air around us. My wolf shifted beneath my skin, restless, eager. The ritual had left a residue of power that made every nerve sharp
The fortress never truly slept.Even in the quietest hours before dawn, it breathed—stone walls humming faintly with ward magic, sentries pacing along battlements, wolves shifting restlessly beneath the surface of their skin. Tonight, however, the air felt different.Heavier.I woke with a sharp ga
The smell of smoke clung to everything.It seeped into the stone walls, into my hair and clothes, into my lungs until every breath tasted like burned earth and iron. Dawn crept slowly over the fortress, pale and hesitant, as if even the sun was unsure whether it was welcome after the bloodshed of t
Staying did not bring peace.If anything, it sharpened everything—the sounds, the smells, the emotions clawing beneath my skin. The moment I made my choice, the fortress seemed to awaken around me, as if it had been waiting to see whether I would flee or fight.Dawn arrived wrapped in steel.I was







