The night hung heavy over the scorched battlefield. The blood moon bled across the sky, its red light painting the ruins in an unholy glow. The scent of iron, ash, and burnt flesh clung to the air, thick enough to choke.
Kaelan knelt beside a fallen foe, claws dripping with blood. His breathing was ragged, his heart pounding like thunder. One eye glowed gold, the other crimson — the mark of a creature torn between two worlds.
"Kaelan."
The voice came from the darkness — deep, weary, commanding.
Ragnar, the elder of the pack, emerged with his silver staff gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
"Your blood has changed."
Kaelan's voice was hoarse. "I can feel it breathing inside me."
"That is not breath," Ragnar warned grimly. "It's the curse awakening. Wolf and vampire blood should never coexist — it will tear your soul apart."
Kaelan clenched his fists, blood dripping between his fingers.
"If this curse gives me strength to protect my kin, then let it consume me."
Before Ragnar could speak again, a sudden chill swept across the field.
From the veil of smoke stepped Seraphina, heir to the Vampire Throne. Her beauty was deadly — black hair flowing like ink, eyes deep as the void, skin pale as frost. She wore a crimson robe embroidered with the royal sigil: a thorned blood moon.
"Wolf King," she said, her tone calm but cutting. "You have slain my father's general and broken a covenant older than empires."
Kaelan rose to his full height, his dual-colored eyes burning.
"Your kind began this war when you hunted my people like beasts."
Seraphina smiled, slow and cruel. "Peace is an illusion for the weak. You've won a battle, Kaelan, but you've lost your soul."
She raised her hand — a crimson blade materialized, Shadowfang, the royal weapon of her bloodline.
Before she could strike, another shadow landed beside her.
Adrian, commander of the Vampire Knights, tall and fierce, his armor glimmering darkly under the moon. "Your Highness, do not underestimate him. He carries both bloodlines — he is a danger even to us."
Kaelan's growl rolled like thunder. "Call me a danger, if fear is what you taste."
He lunged forward. Steel met claw, and the valley erupted in fury.
Their battle was chaos made flesh — Kaelan's blows shattered stone, Adrian's strikes sliced the air like lightning. The clash of beast and blade sent shockwaves through the ground.
Seraphina watched from above, her expression unreadable. "Fascinating," she murmured. "Now this… is power worth watching."
Ragnar traced runes in the dirt, summoning a barrier of silver light to contain the storm of destruction. "If he loses control now…" he muttered, "…the entire valley will burn."
Finally, Kaelan caught Adrian's blade and crushed it with a snarl. The vampire staggered backward, armor cracked and bleeding.
Seraphina appeared before Kaelan in a flash, stopping his final strike.
"Enough," she commanded. "If you two continue, the mountain itself will drown in blood."
Kaelan's chest heaved. "Afraid already?"
She tilted her head. "Not afraid. Intrigued."
Her pale fingers touched his chest. A surge of power rushed through him — his blood roared like a storm.
"What… did you do?"
"The Blood Pact," she whispered. "From this night on, your curse will grow alongside your strength. And I… will watch your fall."
Ragnar's staff blazed. "ENOUGH!"
A burst of silver light cut through the darkness, shattering the spell.
The blood moon dimmed, leaving behind only silence.
Kaelan rose slowly, trembling but defiant.
"I will not kneel to your fate," he growled. "If destiny curses me, I'll make destiny bleed."
Seraphina smiled faintly, eyes glinting.
"Then we shall see, hybrid king."
She and Adrian vanished into crimson mist.
Ragnar placed a hand on Kaelan's shoulder. "The mark is on you now. The war outside is nothing compared to the one inside your blood."
Kaelan looked up at the fading moonlight, his breath steady.
"Then let it begin," he whispered. "The Blood Pact… I accept it."
The wind carried the scent of ash and prophecy.
And far beyond the mountains, unseen eyes awakened in the dark — for the new king of monsters had taken his first step into legend.