I woke to silence.
Not the comforting kind that lulled you to peace—but the strained, anticipatory quiet that settles just before a storm breaks. Even the birds had stopped singing.
The sun was setting.
And the Blood Moon was rising.
I dressed quickly, choosing the black leathers that Kane had left for me—sturdy, flexible, marked with the crescent emblem of the Sanctuary. As I strapped the bone talon necklace around my throat, I paused.
A sharp pulse burned beneath my skin the moment it touched me.
The world didn't shift, but I did. My eyes widened. Shadows around the room elongated—almost like they were watching. And in the mirror's reflection, for just a second, I saw her again.
The woman from the spring. My mother—or something wearing her face.
"You are more than prophecy," the reflection whispered. "You are the reckoning."
And then it was gone.
Kane met me in the eastern courtyard. He was already in his battle form—tall, armored in leather and dark wolf markings, his eyes flickering amber.
"You feel it?" he asked.
I nodded. "Like something's waking up beneath the earth."
He looked up. "The moon's almost full."
In the sky, it had begun to rise—bloody and enormous, casting a red sheen over the trees.
The gates of the Sanctuary were already manned. Sentinels, warriors, and old blooded elders stood in quiet formation. The air hummed with restrained violence and old magic.
Lyra appeared beside me, gripping twin daggers. "If you're going to run, now's the time."
I smirked. "Running's never really been my thing."
She grinned. "Good. Because they're already here."
The first howls tore through the trees like jagged glass.
Low. Hollow. Wrong.
Kane's expression darkened. "Howlborn."
I followed his gaze—and my breath caught.
They emerged from the mist like phantoms. Tall. Twisted. Not fully wolf. Not fully man. Their eyes were black, their fangs too long. Some bore armor etched with foreign runes—symbols that rejected the moon.
A lead figure stepped forward. Unlike the others, he looked... controlled. Human, even.
But the scent of him—rotten ash and bone—made my stomach turn.
"You are the Moonveil girl?" he called out, voice oily.
I stepped forward before Kane could speak. "My name is Elara. Not girl. And who the hell are you?"
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I am Malric. Alpha of the Hollow Claw. We've come to offer you what the others fear."
"And what's that?"
"Freedom," he said. "From the leash of the moon. From the chains of your ancestors. You are more than the wolves would let you be."
My hand gripped the talon around my neck. "You want me to betray my blood."
"I want you to embrace power. We can help you tear down the Gate and claim your place as ruler."
Beside me, Kane shifted slightly, a growl rising from his throat.
I raised my chin. "You're not the first to offer me power. But you are the first to insult me while doing it."
Malric's smile dropped. "Then you've made your choice."
"I have."
I reached for the shift. I felt the wolf rise in me—smooth, seamless this time.
My body bent, cracked, reshaped—and I was the beast. The huntress.
Behind me, Kane and Lyra shifted too. The Sanctuary erupted in motion.
And the war began.
Claws met steel. Magic screamed through the trees.
I tore into the enemy with savage precision. My senses were beyond human, beyond wolf. I saw their movements before they made them. I felt their fear—tasted it.
The talon around my neck burned white-hot.
I leapt at Malric, catching him mid-incantation, and slammed him into the earth. He snarled, shifting into a grotesque half-beast form.
"You don't understand what you are!" he shouted.
I slashed at him, missing his throat by inches. "Then educate me!"
He shoved me back with a blast of corrupt energy, and I hit a tree hard enough to snap the bark.
Pain flared, but I stood.
And something broke loose inside me.
A burst of silvery light erupted from my chest—an arcane ripple that sent Malric staggering.
All around me, the battle froze.
The sky pulsed. The Blood Moon seemed to bend toward me.
And a voice echoed—from within me.
"Daughter of dusk. Keeper of gates. It is time."
The ground beneath my feet split, and a circular seal glowed—etched into the earth. Ancient. Moonveil.
The Gate.
I heard Kane's voice—distant, desperate. "Elara, don't touch it!"
But I was already moving.
The light called to me.
I stepped into the circle
And the world turned to fire.