MasukBrynn Hollis' POVThe void shard was cracked but not destroyed.Dawn had touched it, weakened it, broken its hold on the followers. But a fragment remained—a splinter of absence, buried deep in the frozen wastes, pulsing with cold light. The followers who had not come south were guarding it, desperate to rebuild what they had lost.Luna Rose saw it in her visions."They are rebuilding. Slowly. But they are.""Can we stop them?""Only if we destroy the fragment completely.""Then we go."---The journey to the frozen wastes took four days.Nox led us this time. His nothing-touch could sense the fragment, could feel its cold pulse even from a distance. He walked with purpose, his ancient form steady, his eyes fixed on the horizon."It is close," he said. "I can feel it.""How close?""Half a day's journey. But the followers are guarding it.""Then we fight."He looked at me. "Not you. Me.""No.""I am nothing. Or I was. The fragment is nothing. I can touch it without being consumed.""A
Brynn Hollis' POVThe shard's removal changed everything.Dawn—the wolf who had once been the Eclipse—was no longer absence. She was presence. Solid, real, vulnerable. She walked through Silver Creek like a stranger in a familiar land, touching walls, smelling flowers, listening to the laughter of pups."I have never heard laughter," she said."Now you have.""It is... strange.""Good strange?"She considered. "Yes. Good strange."---But the shard's removal had consequences we had not foreseen.The followers who had once been frozen by the shard's power were now free—but not all of them chose to thaw. Some clung to the cold, desperate for the absence they had known. They gathered in the frozen wastes, leaderless, directionless.Then they found a new leader.Not a wolf—a remnant. A fragment of the void that had been left behind when the shard was removed. It was not as powerful as the original, but it was enough."They are building something," Luna Rose said. "A new shard. Not from ab
Brynn Hollis' POVThe Eclipse's transformation was not complete.She had lost her emptiness—the void that had defined her existence for millennia. But something else remained. A thread, cold and silver, connecting her to a place she could not name.Luna Rose saw it first."Mama, there's something inside her. A shard. It's not hers—it's holding her.""A shard?""Of the original void. Before the Moon Goddess created wolves. Before anything. It's been inside her since she was born."I called the Eclipse to the garden.She came slowly, her steps uncertain. Her form was solid now, her eyes bright with the effort of presence."You asked for me.""Sit."She sat.Luna Rose approached her, her small hands hovering over the Eclipse's chest."There's something inside you. A shard of the void. It's been there since the beginning."The Eclipse's eyes widened."I did not know.""That's because you didn't want to know. If you knew, you would have to let it go.""What happens if I let it go?"Luna Ro
Brynn Hollis' POVThe attack came at midnight.Not from the frozen wastes—from within. The followers who had retreated had not gone far. They had circled back, silent as shadows, and struck at the heart of the Circle's newest settlement. A pack of gray wolves who had only just begun to thaw.Mira's wolves.I felt it through the bond—a flash of cold, sharp and sudden. Then silence."Mira!"I ran. Dax was beside me before I reached the gate."What happened?""Her pack. They're under attack.""The followers?""Yes."---We reached the settlement at dawn.It was small—a cluster of huts, a communal fire, a garden that had just begun to bloom. Now it was frozen. Wolves lay on the ground, their bodies cold, their spirits taken. Mira stood in the center, her ancient eyes hollow."They came at midnight," she said. "They did not fight. They just... took.""Where are they now?""Gone. Into the wastes. They left this."She held out a piece of frozen parchment.You cannot protect them. You cannot
Bynn Hollis' POVThe Eclipse's followers did not retreat.They scattered—into the frozen wastes, into the shadowed valleys, into the places where the sun never reached. They had been absence for so long that presence was a wound. They could not bear the warmth of the Circle."They are afraid," the Eclipse said."Afraid of what?""Of becoming something. Of feeling. Of being known.""Then we let them go.""No. They will come back. They will attack. They will try to prove that I am wrong.""Then we'll be ready."---The attacks began at dusk.Not on Silver Creek—on the outlying packs. Small villages, isolated patrols, wolves who had wandered too far from the Circle's protection. They were not killed. They were frozen—their bodies cold, their spirits taken.Luna Rose saw it in her visions."They are trying to build an army," she said. "Not to fight—to convince. They want to show the Circle that absence is peace.""How do we stop them?""We show them that peace is not absence. It is presen
Brynn Hollis' POVThe Eclipse stood at the edge of the eastern meadow for three days.She did not move. She did not speak. She simply watched. Wolves walked past her, some flinching, some curious. She did not react. She was learning—not from words, from presence.On the fourth day, she came to me.Not at the meadow—at the garden. She appeared at dawn, her form more solid than before, her eyes holding a faint glimmer of warmth."I have watched your Circle," she said. "I have seen wolves who were enemies become friends. I have seen wolves who were frozen become warm. I have seen wolves who were nothing become something.""And?""I do not understand it. But I want to.""Then stay. Join. Learn."She shook her head."I cannot stay. Not yet. I have been absence for too long. If I stay now, I will break.""Then what do you want?"She looked at the sky."I want you to come with me. To the place where I was born. To the void that made me.""Why?""Because I need a witness. Someone who has seen
Brynn Hollis' POVThe cycle was broken.The prophecy was fulfilled. The Shepherd was gone, Selene was imprisoned, the Council was scattered. We had the stone, the medallion, the bond.But the Silence was still out there.Not the quiet of peace—the wolf. The seventh member of the Council, the one wi
Brynn Hollis' POVThe locket had been in my family for generations.Or so I thought. Morwen examined it by candlelight, turning it over and over in her gnarled hands."This isn't Aldric's," she said. "It's not Elena's either. This belonged to Seraphina.""The first Luna?""She gave it to your fathe
Brynn Hollis' POVThe wolf arrived at midnight.Not a messenger—a prisoner. The Circle's scouts had found him wandering the northern forests, half-starved, half-mad. He claimed to have information about my birth parents."He says his name is Theron," Rian told me. "He was a guard in Selene's pack.
Brynn Hollis' POVVictory felt heavier than defeat.The blizzard cleared. Selene's army scattered or surrendered. The wolves of Silver Creek emerged from their homes, blinking in the pale winter sunlight, counting the dead.We'd lost seventeen.Not as many as the Shepherd's war. But each name carve







