Nymera's POV
The black monster hurled itself toward us, faster than anything that size should move.
Dain shoved me sideways a heartbeat before it landed.
The stone floor shattered where I'd been standing. Shards of rock exploded into the air.
I hit the ground hard, my shoulder screaming in protest.
Across the room, Kaelith was already shifting, his silver wolf form charging with a savage roar. He slammed into the beast's side, teeth sinking into its flank.
The monster barely flinched.
With one brutal twist, it hurled Kaelith across the chamber like a ragdoll.
He slammed into the wall with a sickening crack—and didn't get up.
"Kaelith!" I screamed.
No response.
Dain was already moving, flanking the creature, blood still dripping from his wounded arm.
"Stay down!" he barked at me without looking.
I ignored him.
The monster's red eyes locked on Dain now, its lips peeling back in a grotesque grin.
It lunged.
Dain dodged left, moving like smoke. His blade flashed, scoring a deep cut across the beast's shoulder.
Black blood spattered the ground.
The monster snarled—then its body shivered, twisted—healing itself instantly.
My stomach turned.
"What is that thing?" I gasped.
One of the MoonBlood warriors shouted from across the chamber:
"Shadowspawn!"
The word made the Elders flinch.
The ground quaked again as the beast charged. Dain met it head-on, their bodies crashing together in a thunderous impact.
The fight was brutal.
Claws raked flesh. Teeth snapped. Blood stained the broken stones.
And still, Dain fought.
Still, he protected me.
But I could see it in his stance—in the faltering of his strikes—
He was weakening.
The arrow wound. Blood loss. It was catching up to him.
And the monster was just getting stronger.
If I didn't act—he was going to die.
I have no wolf.
I have no power.
But something deep inside me stirred.
Something ancient.
Something angry.
I crawled across the rubble toward Kaelith's crumpled form. His chest rose and fell shallowly—he was alive, but barely.
Beside him, his fallen sword gleamed under the ruined moonlight.
I grabbed it with both hands.
The hilt was warm, pulsing like a heartbeat.
The monster threw Dain across the chamber. He crashed into a pillar, cracking it down the middle, and slumped to the ground, unmoving.
The monster turned back to me.
Smiling that nightmare smile.
It stalked forward, slow, savoring the moment.
I forced myself to my feet, Kaelith's sword heavy in my trembling hands.
The beast growled low in its throat—a sound of triumph.
Everyone else was down.
I was alone.
It lunged.
I moved.
Not thinking.
Not afraid.
The sword met the beast's charge.
Steel bit into flesh—deeper than before. Sparks flew. Black blood sprayed across my arms.
The monster roared, rearing back.
For the first time—it looked uncertain.
I pressed the attack, screaming every ounce of terror and rage I'd ever carried.
I struck again. And again.
The blade sang through the air, fueled by something bigger than myself.
The runes on the floor—the ones meant to judge me—lit up again.
But not with accusation.
With power.
The monster lunged one last time, desperate.
I ducked under its snapping jaws and drove the sword upward.
Straight into its throat.
The blade pierced clean through, bursting from the back of its skull.
The creature let out a gurgling snarl.
Its body spasmed—and collapsed.
Dead.
The chamber fell silent.
All I could hear was my own ragged breathing.
The monster's black blood pooled around my feet, hissing against the ancient stones.
Slowly, I lowered the sword.
Around me, the warriors of both packs stared in stunned silence.
Dain staggered to his feet, clutching his shoulder.
His eyes locked on me.
Shock. Awe.
Something deeper.
The High Priestess, still alive somehow, rose from the shadows.
Her voice trembled.
"The Moonfire… accepted her," she whispered. "She is chosen."
A new sound cut through the stunned hush.
A howl.
Low. Pure. Rising into the broken night.
It wasn't Dain.
It wasn't Kaelith.
It was me.
From deep within my chest, my wolf answered the call.
My body shimmered, shifted—not painful, not forced.
Natural.
Like it had been waiting all along.
White fur spread across my skin. Power sang through my blood.
Gasps echoed around the chamber.
Nymera Benardine—the wolfless girl—was no longer wolfless.
I shifted fully for the first time.
And the world would never be the same.
I stood in the ruins of the chamber, breathing hard in my new form.
Stronger. Faster. Complete.
Dain stumbled toward me, awe in his silver eyes.
"You…" he breathed. "You shifted."
Before I could answer, a new scent hit the air—thick, rotten, wrong.
Behind Dain, the rubble shifted.
A hand emerged.
Not Astra.
Someone worse.
A figure cloaked in black, eyes glowing like coals.
A voice rasped from the darkness.
"You belong to me now."
And before I could react—
the world exploded into blackness.