Selene sat wrapped in furs inside Kael's private den, her legs curled beneath her, the mark above her heart still warm. Rain fell outside in heavy, rhythmic sheets, drumming against the windows like a warning.
The shift had changed her. She could feel it in her bones. Her blood was hotter, her breath steadier. She could hear Kael's heartbeat in the next room without even trying. But it wasn't just the bond.
It was something older.
Something deeper than wolves or packs or blood moons.
"Lunari," Rowan had whispered the night before, after the ritual, eyes wide and reverent.
Selene hadn't understood. But now the word echoed through her thoughts like a forgotten prayer.
What had they awakened?
---
Kael entered quietly, his presence wrapping around her like heat.
He sat beside her, brushing damp hair from her face. "How do you feel?"
Selene hesitated. "Different. Like... like something else is inside me now."
Kael nodded slowly. "You're changing. Faster than anyone I've ever seen. The shift—what you became—it wasn't just a bond response."
She turned to him. "Then what was it?"
He looked troubled. "A memory. An echo. Something that hasn't walked this earth in centuries."
"Lunari?" she whispered.
Kael stilled.
"Rowan says it's a dead bloodline. A royal one. Part wolf, part something else. Magic-born. Their kind was destroyed in the Great Burning."
Selene's voice was tight. "So why am I alive?"
"I don't know." Kael took her hand. "But I do know this—whatever you are, whoever you were born to be, you're mine now. And I'll kill anyone who tries to take you."
His voice didn't waver.
But Selene saw the flicker of fear in his eyes.
Not for himself.
For her.
---
Later that night, Selene wandered back to the sacred spring alone.
The water was calm. The forest hushed.
She undressed and stepped into the pool, letting it rise to her waist. The water licked her skin, soothing and sharp all at once. She stared at her reflection—but it was wrong.
Her eyes were glowing. Iridescent. Not gold like Kael's, but silver-blue, like the heart of the moon.
Then—a voice.
"You are not meant to be here."
Selene spun.
A woman stood on the edge of the pool, tall and veiled, her long white gown flowing like mist. Her face was hidden, but Selene felt the chill of her gaze.
"Who are you?" Selene asked, heart pounding.
"I am a memory. A remnant. You carry my blood."
"Lunari?" Selene whispered.
The woman nodded once. "You are the last of us. The bond awakened what your family buried. It cannot be undone."
"I didn't ask for this."
"No. But now you must protect it. Or others will come to steal your power."
The vision began to fade, mist swallowing the figure.
Selene shouted, "Wait—what power?"
"You are moon-touched. Blessed by both the beast and the celestial flame. And that makes you hunted."
Then the woman vanished.
---
Selene gasped awake—still in the spring. Still alone.
But the mark over her heart now glowed brighter than before, and around her body, silver light shimmered faintly beneath her skin like armor.
---
When she returned to the den, Kael was waiting. His eyes scanned her, his nostrils flared.
"You saw something," he said.
She nodded. "I think I saw one of them. A Lunari. She said I'm the last."
Kael's face hardened. "Then they'll come."
"Who?"
"Hunters. Rogue Alphas. Blood witches. Anyone who thinks the Lunari power still has value. Which it does."
"Then we fight," she said, voice steady.
Kael crossed the room in a blur, cupped her face, and kissed her hard. "You're mine. And we fight together."
---
But in the darkness of the northern woods, across mountains and frozen rivers, another Alpha heard the call.
He stood over a burning body, eyes cold and cruel.
"The Lunari lives again," he whispered.
And his fangs lengthened in hunger.
"Then she will die by my hand."
---