Derek pov
I've never been to the neutral ground before.
The ancient stone amphitheater sits exactly halfway between vampire and werewolf territories. It was built a thousand years ago for meetings like this.
I'm here because I'm the one who saw them. The one who reported the blood moon. Alpha Dante insisted I come as a witness.
I stand behind the werewolf elders with the other scouts and warriors. Alpha Dante is at the front, Beta Marcus stands guard beside him. Around us are fifty of our strongest warriors. All armed and ready to fight if this goes badly.
I'm terrified.
Across from us, the vampires arrive.
My breath catches. I've never seen a vampire before. I heard of them in stories and nightmares.
King Aldric leads them. He's tall, pale and radiates power. Queen Seraphina walks beside him. She's beautiful in a cold and dangerous way. Behind them are their elders and at least a hundred vampire warriors.
They're all pale. They are watching us with eyes that glow faintly red in the dim light.
The two groups face each other across the amphitheater floor. The tension is so thick that breathing feel almost impossible.
"This is insane," I whisper to the scout beside me. "We're going to die here."
"Shut up," he hisses back. "Don't say anything stupid."
King Aldric steps forward. "Alpha Dante. Thank you for agreeing to this meeting."
"I didn't have a choice," Dante says coldly. "Your son violated our territory, and corrupted one of our wolves. He even triggered a prophecy that threatens us all."
"My son did nothing your wolf didn't consent to," Aldric replies. His voice is sharp like a blade. "In fact, from what I understand, she pursued him."
"Pursued him?" Dante's face goes red with rage. "She's a servant! A wolfless freak! She has no right to pursue anyone, especially not a vampire!"
"And yet she did," Aldric says. "Which suggests your control over your pack is weaker than you'd like to admit."
I see Dante's hands clench into fists. Marcus grabs his arm quickly.
"Gentlemen," head Cornelius elder says loudly. He may old but his voice carries weight. "We're not here to assign blame. We're here to discuss the prophecy, and find a solution."
"Head Elder Cornelius is correct," Queen Seraphina says. Her voice is softer than her husband's. "Fighting each other won't solve anything."
"Then what do you suggest, Your Majesty?" Elder Margaret asks. "Because from where we stand, your prince has doomed us all."
"From where we stand, your wolf seduced him," a vampire elder says, he looks ancient, like he might crumble to dust any second. "Vampires and werewolves are natural enemies. The only way he would touch her is if she used some kind of wolf trick"
"Roselyn doesn't have anything special!" Cornelius protests. "She's wolfless. She has no powers at all!"
"She had no powers," another vampire corrects. "But she has a wolf now. A wolf that woke up at the exact moment the prophecy began. Convenient, don't you think?"
"Are you suggesting she planned this?" Dante demands. "That a servant girl somehow manipulated a vampire prince?"
"I'm suggesting," the vampire says coldly, "that we don't know the full story. And until we do, we shouldn't be so quick to execute anyone."
My heart jumps. Execute? They're talking about killing Roselyn?
"The prophecy is clear," Margaret says. She pulls out a scroll. "When the wolfless one finds love in the fangs of darkness, the blood moon shall rise, and the continent shall burn in eternal night. Only death can break the curse."
"Death," Aldric repeats. "Whose death?"
"Either hers or his," Margaret says. "Or both. The prophecy doesn't specify."
"How convenient," Seraphina says. Her voice is bitter. "Kill our son or your wolf or both. Is that what you're proposing?"
"We're proposing we follow the prophecy," Dante says. "Before it's too late."
"And what if the prophecy is wrong?" Seraphina asks. "What if killing them makes things worse?"
"How could it possibly be worse?" an elder demands. "The blood moon has risen. The signs have begun, and If we don't stop this now, we're all doomed."
"We don't even know what the curse is!" a vampire argues. "The prophecy says the continent will burn. But what does that mean? Literal fire? War? Plague? We're making decisions based on vague warnings from a thousand years ago!"
"The warnings have been accurate so far," Cornelius says quietly. "The wolfless one, the fangs of darkness, the blood moon. It's all coming true exactly as predicted."
"Then we stop it," Aldric says. "But not by killing our children. There has to be another way."
"What other way?" Dante asks. "The prophecy says only death can break the curse."
"Or separation," Seraphina says suddenly. "What if we separate them? Keep them apart? Maybe that would be enough."
"The prophecy doesn't mention separation," Margaret points out.
"The prophecy doesn't mention a lot of things," Seraphina counters. "It's deliberately vague. Which means we have options."
"I agree with the queen," Cornelius says. "If we can keep them apart, if we can prevent them from seeing each other again, maybe that will stop the prophecy from continuing."
"That's a big maybe," a werewolf elder says. "Are you willing to bet the entire continent on a maybe?"
"Are you willing to kill two young people on a maybe?" Cornelius counters. "Because that's what execution is. A maybe. We don't know if their deaths will actually stop anything."
Silence falls. I hold my breath. Around me, everyone is thinking. Calculating.
Please don't kill her, I think desperately. Please.
"Let's vote," Aldric says finally. "All those in favor of immediate execution, raise your hand."
My stomach drops as I watch hands go up. On the vampire side, three elders. On the werewolf side, seven. Including Dante.
Ten votes for death.
"All those in favor of separation," Aldric continues. "Keeping them alive but apart. Never allowing them contact again."
More hands rise. I count quickly. Fourteen votes for separation.
"Separation wins," Cornelius announces. "By a margin of four votes."
Relief floods through me. She's going to live, at least for now.
"This is a mistake," Dante says through clenched teeth. "We should kill them both and be done with it."
"Your opinion has been noted," Aldric says coldly. "But the vote is final. We separate them, and keep them under constant guard. And if any more signs appear, if the prophecy continues, then we revisit the question of execution."
"How long do we wait?" Margaret asks. "Days? Weeks? Months?"
"Three months," Seraphina suggests. "If no more signs appear in three months, we can assume separation worked."
"And if signs do appear?" a vampire elder asks.
"Then we execute them both," Aldric says. His voice is heavy. "There will be no discussion and debate, it will be Immediate execution."
He looks at Dante. "Do we have an agreement?"
Dante hesitates. Then nods. "Agreement. Three months of separation. But I want the boy imprisoned. Maximum security. I won't risk him escaping and crossing into our territory again."
"Done," Aldric says. "And I want the girl imprisoned as well. Your dungeons, same conditions, with constant guard."
"Already done," Dante says. "She's been in a silver cell since dawn."
I see something flash across Aldric's face. Pain, maybe. But it's gone quickly.
"Then we have a plan," he says. "Three months. If the prophecy stops, they live. If it continues, they die."
"The vote is recorded," Cornelius says formally. "The council is adjourned."
The vampires turn to leave. I watch them go, my mind racing.
Three months, Roselyn has three months to live if anything else goes wrong.
We start the journey back to pack territory. I walk with the other scouts, listening to the warriors talk.
"Should have killed them both," one mutters.
"Agreed," another says. "Separation won't work. The prophecy has already started."
"Three months," a third says. "I give it three days before something else happens."
I want to argue and defend Roselyn. But I stay quiet. Speaking up would only make things worse.
We're almost back to pack territory when a scout comes running toward us. His face is pale. His eyes are wide with terror.
"Head Elder!" he gasps. "Alpha! You need to come quickly!"
"What happened?" Cornelius demands.
"The river," the scout says. "The forbidden river. It's still boiling. The water hasn't stopped. And the moon. Even though it's daytime. You can still see it in the sky. Still red."
My blood goes cold.
"That's impossible," Margaret says. "The moon can't be visible during the day."
"It is," the scout insists. "Everyone can see it. The whole pack is panicking."
"Anything else?" Dante asks. His voice is deadly quiet.
The scout hesitates. Then whispers, "The graveyard. Something's happening in the graveyard."
"What do you mean?" I ask before I can stop myself.
The scout looks at me. His face is white with fear. "The dead are moving, we can hear scratching from inside the graves. Like something's trying to get out."
The world seems to tilt. Around me, warriors are shouting. Elders are arguing. Everyone is panicking.
But all I can think is: three months.
They gave her three months.
But the prophecy didn't wait three minutes.
We run back to pack territory. By the time we arrive, chaos has erupted.
Pack members are screaming. Children are crying. Warriors are running everywhere.
The moon hangs in the sky. Blood red. Visible even though the sun is shining. It shouldn't be possible but there it is.
And from the graveyard at the edge of pack lands, we hear it.
Scratching. Moaning. The sound of earth moving.
Something is waking up. Something that should stay buried.
"Seal the graveyard!" Dante orders. "No one goes near it!"
Warriors rush to obey. But I can see the fear in their eyes. We all know the truth.
The prophecy isn't stopping.
It's accelerating.
And Roselyn and her vampire have maybe hours instead of months.
I push through the crowd. I have to see her. I have to warn her somehow.
But when I reach the dungeon entrance, there are six guards blocking the way.
"No one enters," one says. "Alpha's orders."
"I'm a scout," I protest. "I was at the council meeting. I need to deliver a message."
"No – one – enters," he repeats.
I turn away, frustrated and helpless.
Somewhere below ground, Roselyn is trapped in a silver cell. Waiting for a salvation that isn't coming.
Because the prophecy has already decided her fate.
And mine.
And everyone's on this continent.
The dead are rising.
The moon won't set.
And we have no idea how to stop what's coming.