The moon was sinking behind the mountains when the spy reached Valehart. His horse staggered beneath him, foam streaking its neck. The scent of smoke clung to his cloak and a faint shimmer of silver still clung to his boots, the dust of the werewolves' valley.
He passed the outer guards and entered the torch-lit halls of the citadel. The air was heavy with incense and iron. Tapestries depicting human victories over beasts hung from the walls, each one soaked in pride and blood.
He dropped to one knee before the dais.
"Your Majesty," he rasped. "It is done."
King Aldred of Valehart leaned forward from his throne. His crown was wrought of black steel, his eyes cold as river stone. He was not an old man, yet his gaze carried the weight of a thousand cruelties.
"Speak," he said. "Tell me of the wolves."
The spy's voice trembled with the memory. "The poison spread as you commanded, my king. Many of the beasts died before dawn. Their young, their weak, even their elders. The Alpha himself lives, but he bleeds rage. The valley mourns. They will not recover soon."
King Aldred smiled, thin and cruel. "Good."
The courtiers whispered among themselves, fear and admiration mingling in their eyes. The king rose from his seat and paced slowly before the great hearth. Flames danced across his armor, the gold catching light like fire.
"The beasts have lived too long," he said. "They call themselves rulers of the night. I will remind them that the world belongs to men. When the next moon rises, I will burn their dens to ash."
The spy hesitated. "There was one more thing, my lord. The Alpha… he hunts for the source of the poison. He suspects us."
Aldred laughed softly. "Let him. It will drive him to madness. And when he comes for me, I will have him chained like an animal for all the kingdoms to see."
He turned toward the court alchemist, a thin man named Serwin, whose fingers were always stained with black powder. "Prepare another batch. Stronger this time. I want the air itself to turn against them."
Serwin bowed low. "As you command, Majesty."
The spy dared a glance up. "My king, the witches… if the curse still binds them..... "
"Silence," Aldred snapped. "There are no witches. Only stories to frighten children. The covens are dead."
The spy lowered his head. Yet in the firelight, the king's shadow stretched across the walls like a beast with claws. He stood there, smiling as if already tasting victory, unaware that the fates he mocked were already stirring against him.
Far across the valley, the storm began to build.
Selene woke with a gasp. Her breath clouded in the cold air, her heart racing. The cauldron in her shop had gone still, the herbs she had been brewing burned to ash. Her fingers trembled as she gripped the edge of the table.
She had seen it.
Flashes of smoke. Wolves coughing blood beneath the moon. The Alpha kneeling in the dirt, holding the body of a dying child. Silver fire pouring through the valley.
Lucian.
She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breath. The vision had been too clear to ignore. She could feel the echo of his pain pulsing in her veins like a distant heartbeat.
"Selene?"
Elara's voice came from the doorway. She stood wrapped in a cloak, her pale hair unbound, eyes heavy with knowing. "You saw something, did you not?"
Selene turned away. "I saw nothing."
Elara sighed. "Do not lie to me. The air trembles when your visions come. What did you see?"
"Death," Selene whispered. "Poison. Wolves gasping for breath. The Alpha…" She stopped herself before saying his name aloud. "They are dying."
Elara stepped closer. "Then let them die. Their kind brought ruin to ours. You owe them nothing."
Selene's eyes flashed. "It was not them.
It was their ancestors."
" The human king of Valehart. King Aldred was the cause of this poisoning"
Elara frowned. "And what would you do, Selene? March into his castle and strike him down? You cannot show your power. The world hunts witches still. They would burn you before you reached his gates."
Selene clenched her fists, the veins on her wrists faintly glowing with the pulse of restrained magic. "I cannot sit idle while he slaughters them. Children and weak elderly people. "
"You must," Elara said sharply. "Remember the prophecy. The curse that binds their Alpha is bound to you as well. If you intervene, you may awaken it."
Selene turned toward her, eyes bright with unshed fire. "It is already awake. I felt it when i touched his wound."
Elara's lips parted in shock. "Then it has begun."
Silence fell. The wind outside howled against the windows, rattling the herbs hanging from the rafters.
Selene lowered her voice. "I do not care about curses or prophecy. I care about justice."
Elara shook her head slowly. "You speak like your mother before the flames took her. Do not repeat her fate."
Selene moved past her, reaching for a bundle of herbs and a small vial of moonstone dust. Her movements were calm, deliberate, but her eyes gleamed with purpose. "The king believes witches are gone. He believes he can poison and kill without consequence. He is wrong."
Elara caught her arm. "Selene, listen to me. If you do this.... "
"I am not doing anything," Selene said, pulling free. "Not yet. But the next time the moon rises full, I will be ready."
The room darkened as clouds swallowed the moonlight. For a moment, the only sound was the faint hiss of the cauldron reigniting, its blue flame flickering back to life on its own.
Elara watched her in silence, her expression torn between fear and sorrow. She knew that once Selene's resolve hardened, no force in the world could turn her aside.
And far away, beyond the forests and the human borders, the Alpha of the Moonfang pack lifted his head to the same moon, his eyes burning with the same quiet fury.
Neither of them knew that their fates had already begun to intertwine again.
In the highest tower of Valehart, King Aldred stood before his window, looking down at the sleeping city. The spy knelt behind him, waiting for his next command.
Aldred smiled as he watched the torches flicker along the walls. "When dawn comes," he said softly, "the beasts will grieve. And when the next moon rises, they will bow."
The spy lifted his head. "And if they do not, my king?"
Aldred turned, his eyes glinting like cold steel. "Then I will burn their moon from the sky."
Far away, the wind shifted, carrying the faint scent of crushed herbs and old magic. It brushed against his window, though he did not feel it.
Selene had whispered her first word of vengeance into the night.
The war between witch and king had quietly begun.