SCARLETT
The first howl split the night like a blade through flesh. It wasn't a wolf's howl. Not really. Too guttural, too hollow. It rattled bone and pulled the blood cold in every warrior who heard it.
Kael was first to the wall, his fire blazing so hot the stones glowed red beneath his grip. His golden eyes narrowed at the forest beyond. "They're here."
Darius appeared beside him, a storm crackling across his shoulders, gray eyes sharp. "Shadow-wolves. Dozens of them."
My mark throbbed, the crescent searing under my skin. I could feel Lucien out there, his darkness stretching across the land like a plague. The wolves weren't just beasts, they were his puppets, extensions of his will.
The first one emerged from the black wolf with eyes like empty pits. Its fur writhed as though alive, its claws dripping shadow that hissed against the ground. Then another. And another. Until the woods were crawling with them, the night itself spilling forward on all fours.
Kael's fire roared higher. "Scarlett stayed inside the keep."
"No," I snapped, stepping forward. "If Lucien sent them, they're here for me. My mark's already burning. Hiding won't save your warriors."
Darius's storm sparked violently. "She's right. She fights with us."
Kael rounded on him, snarling. "She'll get herself killed."
I met Kael's fury with a wicked smile. "Or maybe I'll get you killed if you keep trying to leash me."
The argument ended as the first shadow-wolf leapt for the wall.
Kael incinerated it midair, its body collapsing into smoke and ash. But two more leapt in its place, their jaws snapping with darkness. Darius's lightning arced, frying them in blinding flashes, but for every one that fell, three more climbed over the battlements.
Chaos erupted. Warriors screamed. Steel clashed against the shadow.
I drew in a ragged breath, the mark burning hotter, and then I let it loose.
Silver fire burst from my palm, searing into a shadow-wolf that had cornered one of Kael's men. The beast shrieked, dissolving into smoke. Every head turned toward me their Luna-not-Luna, the rogue, the cursed one wielding moonfire against the dark.
Kael stared at me like I was both salvation and damnation.
Darius grinned, teeth bared. "Now that's my girl."
The battle consumed us. Wolves poured over the walls, snapping and clawing, their shadows stretching, twisting, dragging warriors into the dark.
Kael fought like a god of fire, his fists blazing, his wolf snarling beneath his skin. Darius was a storm made flesh, every strike a crack of thunder, every kick a flash of lightning.
And me moonfire bled from my mark, each blast burning a path through Lucien's beasts.
But for every wave we destroyed, another followed. Their numbers were endless.
"Too many!" Darius roared, slamming his fist into a wolf's skull as it dissolved into smoke. "He's not just attacking us, he's testing her!"
Kael burned a path to my side, his face twisted with rage and fear. "He wants to force you to break, Scarlett. He wants to see what happens when you lose control."
The mark seared again, harder this time. My knees buckled. My vision blurred silver.
Lucien's voice slid into my head like velvet.
That's it, little wolf. Unleash it. Burn them all. Fire. Storm. Pack. Every last one. Then you'll be mine.
"No!" I screamed, clutching my shoulder.
But a moonfire erupted anyway.
It tore through the battlements in a sweeping arc, incinerating a dozen shadow-wolves in one blinding flare. Warriors dropped their weapons, shielding their eyes. Kael staggered back. Darius cursed under his breath.
And when the light faded half the courtyard was gone. The stone turned to ash. Wolves. Warriors. Gone.
Silence,horrified silence.
Every eye turned toward me.
Kael's lips parted, disbelief and fury burning in his gaze. "Scarlett… what did you do?"
Darius's jaw clenched, torn between awe and terror. "She… she destroyed them. But gods she destroyed us, too."
The ground trembled. A low growl rose from the forest.
And then Lucien's voice carried over the battlefield, smooth and triumphant.
"You see, Scarlett? You're not fired. You're not a storm. You're not even mine. You're worse."
The shadow-wolves parted like a tide.
And Lucien himself stepped onto the field.
His black eyes fixed on me.
"You're the end of them."
The battlefield smelled of ash, blood, and fear.
My chest heaved, silver light still licking across my skin. The mark pulsed violently, each beat like molten iron under my flesh. I could feel them staring at Kael's men, the warriors who had once cheered their Alpha. Now they looked at me like I was a monster.
Kael staggered closer, his fire dimming, eyes wild. His hand shook as he reached for me. "Scarlett… what have you done?"
I wanted to scream back that I hadn't chosen this, that it wasn't me it was the mark, Lucien's game, the Moon's curse but the words stuck in my throat.
Because deep inside, my wolf was purring.
She liked the power.
Darius was the first to step between us, sparks snapping around him as he lifted his chin. "Don't you see? She's more than either of us. She's not just a mate, she's a weapon."
Kael's eyes flared gold, fury spiking. "A weapon that just killed my warriors!" He shoved Darius back, his heat surging. "She's dangerous, she's unstable—"
"—she's mine," Darius cut in, his voice a storm.
The air crackled, the two of them about to tear each other apart again, when Lucien's laughter sliced through the night.
It wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. The sound crawled down my spine, dark and decadent.
He stepped forward from the treeline, the shadow-wolves bowing their heads as he passed. His presence devoured the battlefield, the torches dimmed, Kael's fire guttered, even the lightning in Darius's fists hissed low.
"Mine," Lucien echoed softly, his black gaze locking on me. "You've finally tasted it, haven't you, little wolf? The hunger. The destruction. You burned them alive, and yet… tell me you didn't enjoy it."
I staggered back, my lips parting, but I had no defense. Because the truth was he was right. My body trembled, not from fear, but from the intoxicating rush of what I'd unleashed.
Kael roared, fire blazing higher as he stepped in front of me. "Stay away from her!"
Lucien tilted his head, smiling like Kael was a child throwing a tantrum. "Stay away? From what is already mine? Don't be a fool, fire-born. You felt it too—the mark doesn't belong to you. It doesn't even belong to her. It belongs… to me."
Darius's storm flared as he moved to Kael's side, teeth bared. "Over my dead body."
Lucien's eyes gleamed. "That can be arranged."
The shadow-wolves lunged as if on command, slamming into the courtyard in a tidal wave of claws and fangs.
Kael's fire surged, Darius's lightning split the sky and I screamed, torn between terror and ecstasy, as the battlefield erupted in chaos once more.
The mark on my chest blazed hotter, my body convulsing with silver light.
And Lucien's voice silken, poisonous filled my head, drowning out the screams of men and beasts alike.
Let go, Scarlett. Let the moonfire take them all. Fire. Storm. Flesh. Bone. If they fear you now… make them worship you.
My knees buckled, the world spinning. Kael shouted my name. Darius grabbed my arm, shaking me. Their touches felt like chains hot and crackling but Lucien's pull was a velvet leash around my throat, tightening deliciously.
One choice. One breath. One surrender… and I could end this war tonight.
I lifted my eyes to the battlefield Kael bleeding, Darius raging, Lucien waiting like a dark god and my lips parted on the edge of a decision that would damn us all.
And then
A howl ripped through the night.
Not shadow. Not a storm. Not fire.
Something older. Wilder.
Every wolf on the field froze. Even Lucien. His black eyes narrowed, his smile faltering for the first time.
The sound rolled across the land like the voice of the Moon itself.
And deep inside me, my mark answered.
Silver light exploded from my chest again, brighter than before, but this time different. Not destructive. Not wild. It called. It was summoned.
The battlefield shook.
And from the far edge of the forest… Another Alpha stepped into the clearing.