Moonlit Warnings

Kaelis POV

The farther north we traveled, the quieter everyone became. Even Nyra stopped complaining by the second day and that alone felt unnatural enough to concern me.

Snow fell steadily around our caravan as Black Hollow wolves pushed through the frozen mountain roads leading toward Moonspire. Horses breathed harsh clouds into the cold air while wagon wheels groaned against thick ice.

No one liked traveling this close to northern royal territory because of Draeven Thorn.

Fear had a strange way of surviving long after stories became legends.

I pulled my hood lower against the wind and walked beside the caravan instead of riding. The movement helped settle the tension crawling beneath my skin slightly.

Nyxara remained restless.

Ever since the black wolf appeared near the stream last night and the tweak from the figs, my instincts refused to calm.

I still remembered those golden eyes. The way the creature looked at me. As though it already knew exactly who I was.

A sharp shiver slid down my spine 

“Cold?”

I glanced sideways.

Nyra rode beside me atop a gray mare, bundled beneath enough fur to survive a blizzard 

“No” I replied.

“You’ve been glaring at trees for the last hour” Nyra mentioned.

“Maybe the trees deserves someone looking at it” I said.

She sighed dramatically “You’re so impossible”.

“That sounds like a personal problem” I responded.

A small smile tugged at her lips before fading again. Her gaze shifted toward the mountains ahead.

Moonspire Fortress stood somewhere beyond them.

“You’re nervous” she said quietly.

I immediately denied it “No”.

“Kaelis” She called my name.

I exhaled slowly, maybe nervous wasn’t the right word but uneasy felt closer.

As though every step toward Moonspire dragged me deeper into something I wouldn’t survive unchanged.

The bond between wolf instincts and danger had always been sharp for me and also stronger than most.

And right now? Every instinct inside me screamed turn back but it was too late for that now.

The caravan stopped briefly near midday beside a frozen river. Several wolves began unpacking supplies while others checked horses and weapons.

I wandered away before anyone could assign me conversation.

The forest nearby stood silent beneath silver snow, untouched except for animal tracks scattered between the trees.

For a few precious moments, the quiet settled my thoughts. Then memory hit me unexpectedly.

I was eight years old again:

Small enough that my mother still carried me home when storms became too heavy. We sat beside the fireplace inside our cabin while snow battered the roof overhead.

She brushed dark curls away from my face gently “Listen to me carefully, Kaelis”. 

I remembered the seriousness in her voice more than anything else “Alpha bloodlines are dangerous”.

At the time, I frowned in confusion “Because they’re stronger?”

A strange sadness crossed her silver eyes “No” she whispered “But because they believe strength gives them ownership”.

The fire crackled softly between us. I didn’t fully understand her words then.

But I remembered asking “What’s ownership?”

Her hand tightened around mine “It’s when someone believes your life belongs to them and they give you reasons to believe so”.

The memory blurred painfully around the edges after that but one thing remained crystal clear: she had fear, not fear for herself but for me.

I stopped walking. Cold wind swept through the trees while tension tightened slowly beneath my ribs.

Why had my mother feared Alpha bloodlines so deeply? Not ordinary Alphas but specifically bloodlines.

As though there was something ancient buried beneath royal wolves that no one else understood or perhaps it was something buried beneath me.

Nyxara stirred quietly “Your Mate”.

I clenched my jaw immediately “No, I do not need one” I disagreed bluntly. Nyxara went silent afterwards. 

A nearby branch snapped. I spun instinctively. Only Alpha Ronan stood there.

He studied me carefully from several feet away “Talking to yourself, huh?” he asked.

“Considering murder actually” I said, sarcastically.

“That’s comforting” he chuckled.

I relaxed slightly. Ronan approached slowly, boots crunching against snow. Unlike most wolves in Black Hollow, he never looked at me with outright fear, just concern maybe or suspicion sometimes.

That alone made him dangerous. “You should stay closer to the caravan” he said quietly.

“I can handle myself” I replied. 

“I know but still it's dangerous” he warned.

Something about the answer unsettled me. Ronan glanced briefly toward the mountains ahead before lowering his voice “There will be wolves at Moonspire who can sense weakness” he said.

I almost laughed, like seriously! “I’m not weak” I said.

“That isn’t what I meant” he responded.

Silence stretched between us. Then finally he asked the question I’d spent years avoiding “Have your markings spread again?”

Every muscle in my body tightened instantly “How do you know about them?” I questioned him. 

His expression darkened slightly “Your mother trusted me once”.

That surprised me enough to go still. My mother trusted almost no one “And what exactly did she tell you?”

Ronan hesitated at first but then he opened up “She asked me to protect you”.

Frustration flared immediately “From what exactly?”

His gaze met mine steadily “The Alpha throne”.

Cold settled sharply in my stomach but before I could respond, voices echoed from the camp behind us.

Ronan stepped back instantly, his expression closing off again “We should keep moving” he said.

And just like that, the conversation ended. I hated when people did that especially when they clearly knew something important.

By nightfall, Moonspire finally appeared. The first glimpse of it nearly stole my breath.

The fortress rose from the northern mountains like something carved from shadow itself.

Massive black walls stretched across icy cliffs while towering spires pierced the sky. Torches burned along the fortress exterior, glowing against the snowfall like scattered embers.

It looked less like a kingdom…and more like a prison.

Nyra rode closer beside me “Well, well”.

I stared upward “That seems deeply hostile”. 

She laughed nervously “I was going to say impressive”.

“That too” I agreed.

Even from a distance, power radiated from the fortress, an ancient predatory power, which was somehow familiar.

Nyxara pushed sharply beneath my skin the moment we crossed the outer gates “Mine”. 

The reaction hit so violently that I nearly stumbled. ‘What the fuck is wrong with Nyxara’.

The courtyard beyond the gates overflowed with wolves from dozens of territories. Massive warriors moved between banners bearing pack symbols while servants hurried through the snow carrying supplies and luggage.

Everywhere I looked, powerful wolves filled the fortress grounds and immediately… they noticed me.

Some stared too long. Others stepped aside instinctively as I passed. One older Alpha narrowed his eyes at me like he sensed something wrong.

Nyra leaned closer “Why does it feel like everyone’s looking at you?” she asked.

Because they can feel it too. Whatever “it” was. Before I could answer, a deep horn echoed across the fortress.

The sound vibrated through stone itself and conversations immediately quieted. Wolves turned toward the massive entrance leading into Moonspire Hall.

Then I felt it: Raw Alpha dominance crashed through the courtyard so suddenly, my breath caught.

Every wolf around me lowered their gaze instinctively. Every wolf except me because my body refused and standing at the top of the black staircase above the hall entrance…was him: Alpha Draeven Thorn; The Beast King. Dressed entirely in black. His golden eyes swept across the crowded courtyard with terrifying calm.

Scars marked his hands, power rolled from him in suffocating waves and somehow he looked even more dangerous than the stories claimed.

The moment his gaze landed on me, my pulse slammed violently against my ribs. The bond hit like a lightning strike straight through my chest.

Pain exploded beneath my skin. Draeven froze above the staircase.

His expression changed instantly. Every instinct inside me screamed run but I couldn’t move because the Alpha King was staring at me like he’d finally found something he’d spent his entire life hunting.

He stared for so long and his stare looked dangerous and scary, like he was going to prey on me anytime soon.

Suddenly…I understood exactly why my mother had been afraid.