The forest didn't just tremble—It bowed, as if something sacred and terrifying had stepped into the world.
Branches withered, then bloomed. The grass rose and flattened in a rhythmic pulse, moving like a heartbeat. Red moonlight wove through the trees in trembling beams that bent toward Evelyn, not the sky.
Ronan felt it immediately.A cold shock.A pressure that pressed against his ribs.
This wasn't the Bloodmoon alpha's doing.This wasn't war.
This was her.
Evelyn staggered forward, clutching her chest, as something ancient and massive awakened inside her. Light flickered beneath her skin—silver threaded with deep violet—and each pulse sent a tremor through the forest floor.
Ronan reached her in three long strides.
"Evie—stay with me. Look at me."
But she couldn't.
Her head dropped, breath ripping in and out of her lungs as if she were drowning in air.
Whispers rose around her.Not external—internal.Thousands of overlapping voices.Some crying.Some warning.Some worshipping.
Daughter of Moonlight…Child of Shadow…Chosen…Awaken…
She dropped to her knees, fingers digging into the earth as though trying to anchor herself to reality.
"STOP!" she screamed.
The whispers only grew louder.
*********************************************************************************
Ash crashed into the clearing, blade drawn, eyes wide as he took in the scene.
"What—what is—oh gods—RONAN?!"
Ronan didn't look up.
"She's awakening. But it's wrong—too fast—too much."
Ash stared helplessly.
"Awakening WHAT?!"
Ronan's jaw tightened.
"Herself."
Ash paled.
"THAT—THAT IS NOT NORMAL 'HERSELF'!"
An explosion of violet light shot up from Evelyn, throwing Ash into a fallen log.
He groaned. "I hate my life…"
A shape appeared at the tree line—tall, cloaked, its silhouette rippling like living smoke.
The creature.
The one that dared call itself her father.
The Shadowborn Primordial.
It stood with arms folded, watching Evelyn convulse in the red moon's glow.
"This," it murmured, voice smooth and cold, "is the cost of suppressing a destiny older than wolves."
Ronan's eyes snapped to him, burning.
"You stay away from her."
"I am the only one who understands her."
"You are the only thing I want dead right now."
The creature smirked.
"Your anger is irrelevant. The girl is splitting."
Ash wheezed from the ground. "Splitting WHAT—HER SOUL?!"
"If she is lucky," the creature replied.
************************************************************************************
Evelyn's back arched violently, and light tore from her throat in a silent scream. Her hair lifted, floating in the red glow. Shadows rippled beneath her as though something inside her body was trying to claw its way free.
Ronan lunged—but a wall of black flame erupted between them.
"No!" Evelyn choked out. "R—Ronan—don't come near me!"
"Evie, I'm not leaving you!"
"You MUST—" She gasped as her fingers curled into claws of light and darkness. "I'm hurting everything—everyone—"
"I don't care."
"RONAN, YOU'LL DIE!"
The flames dimmed for half a second—just long enough for him to push through.
He reached her, kneeling beside her trembling form.
Her eyes were no longer her own.
Silver.Violet.Black.All swirling, shifting, battling for dominance.
"Evie," he said softly, cupping her face."Breathe with me."
"I—I can't—"
"Yes, you can."
"Ronan, please—please run—RUN—"
"No."
He pressed his forehead to hers, voice breaking.
"You don't face this alone."
Something inside her cracked—not her power, but her fear.
Her breathing eased by one fraction of a second.
The whispers dulled.
Her shaking slowed.
And the moonlight around her softened…
…only for a heartbeat.
***************************************************************************
"ENOUGH."
The creature stepped forward, shadows swirling behind him like wings.
"This girl is not yours to anchor."
Ronan bared his teeth.
"She is mine to protect."
"Protect?" the creature laughed. "You wolves ruin what you claim to love. You nearly killed her once already."
Ronan's voice dropped to a lethal whisper.
"And you think I'll let you near her again?"
He surged to his feet—
—but the creature flicked a finger, and a tendril of void slammed Ronan into a tree.
"RONAN—!" Evelyn screamed.
Her fear surged—and with it, her power.
The light beneath her skin erupted, and a shockwave blasted outward, sending leaves spiraling into the sky.
The creature stumbled.
Ash cursed softly from the ground. "Okay—nope. Nope. We've hit 'end of the world' levels. I'm out."
**********************************************************************
Evelyn rose.
Not standing—floating.
Her feet lifted off the earth as the crimson moonlight poured into her like molten fire.
Her hair billowed around her in a slow, weightless halo.
Her shadow grew wings.
A thin crown of shifting light formed above her head—half silver, half void.
Ronan staggered upright, staring.
"Evie…" he whispered."You're… changing."
She turned toward him—but while her voice shook, her presence did not.
"I'm not done changing."
A crack spidered through the forest floor beneath her.
The creature bowed its head—not in fear, but in acknowledgment.
"It begins."
Ash froze."What begins?!"
"The prophecy," the creature said simply.
Evelyn opened her glowing eyes.
"The end of it."
*********************************************************************
The moon flared brighter—then dimmed—then flared again.
Evelyn lifted her hand, and the entire clearing went silent.
Wind halted mid-gust.
Leaves froze in the air.
Even the creature stilled.
Evelyn inhaled—
And breathed in the moonlight.
Her body lit up like a lantern of fire and shadow.
A voice—not hers, not his—echoed from her chest.
The Shadowborn has awakened.
The forest shuddered.
Ronan stepped toward her on instinct.
But Evelyn lifted a hand, palm trembling.
"Ronan…"Her voice was layered—two, three, four tones at once."…don't come closer. I don't know what I am right now."
Ronan didn't stop.
"I do."
She blinked.
"You're Evelyn."
The light around her flickered.
"You're the girl who hates tea but pretends to like it."Another flicker."You're the girl who cries when she's furious."A pulse."You're the girl who survived everything meant to break her."
He stepped right into her glow, ignoring the burn of her power against his skin.
"And you're mine."
Her breath cracked.
For a second—just one—the moonlight dimmed enough to show her eyes.
Her real eyes.
Fear.Love.Confusion.All tangled together.
"Ronan…"
"I'm here."
"You shouldn't be."
"I don't care."
The creature sighed dramatically from behind them.
"Are you quite finished? The world is ending."
Ronan didn't look away from her.
"Evie. Listen."
Her light surged again, brighter than before.
Ronan grabbed her hands, ignoring how her heat scorched his palms.
"You're not done awakening," he whispered."Not even close."
A tremor rippled through the earth.
"But we'll face the rest of it together."
Evelyn swallowed, voice trembling.
"And if… if I become something I can't control?"
Ronan's answer was immediate.
"Then I'll learn to control it with you."
Her power pulsed—
The moon flared—
The creature bowed deeper—
Ash muttered a prayer—
And Evelyn realized one truth:
Her awakening wasn't a moment.
It was a beginning.
The prophecy had not arrived.
It had been activated.