Thessa's POV
"Cadeirin killed you."
The words tumble from my mouth before I can stop them. I'm staring at nothing, seeing everything—memories that aren't mine, a life I never lived, a death I didn't die.
But the Moon Goddess did.
And she's inside me now. Her memories. Her pain. Her rage.
"Thessa?" Erynd's voice cuts through the visions. "What did you just say?"
I blink and he's crouching in front of me, silver eyes intense with concern. When did he come back inside? How much time has passed?
"He killed her," I whisper. "Three thousand years ago. The wolf who murdered the Moon Goddess—it was him. Or his soul. He keeps coming back, life after life, always seeking power. Always betraying those who trust him."
Erynd goes completely still. "That's impossible. That knowledge died with the goddess. No one knows who struck the killing blow. I was there and even I couldn't see through the chaos of battle—"
"She's showing me." I press my hands against my temples where the visions pulse like a second heartbeat. "The memories are flooding in. I can see it. A wolf with blue eyes and dark hair. He told her he loved her. Promised to protect her. Then he led the attack that shattered her essence."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he thought if he consumed her power, he'd become a god himself." My voice sounds strange. Older. Like someone else is speaking through me. "But divine essence can't be stolen. Only given freely. So when he tried to take it by force, it exploded. Killed him and hundreds of others. Destroyed the goddess."
Erynd's face has gone pale. "If what you're saying is true—if Cadeirin's soul carries that ancient betrayer—then he's not here by accident. Some part of him remembers. Some instinct is driving him to find you, to finish what he started three thousand years ago."
"He wants to consume the Moon's power again." Horror washes over me. "And this time, he might succeed. Because I'm mortal. Killable. If he kills me and takes my essence before I'm strong enough to stop him—"
"He becomes divine." Erynd stands abruptly, pacing. "And every wolf in the world becomes his slave. That's what would have happened if he'd succeeded the first time."
A howl splits the night. Close. Too close.
Erynd's head snaps toward the sound. "They've breached the inner barrier. We're out of time."
"How long until dawn?" My voice shakes.
"Three hours." He moves to the weapons shelf, grabbing more blades. "Can you fight?"
I try to stand. My legs wobble but hold. The exhaustion from using my power earlier has faded to a dull ache. "I can try."
"That's not good enough." Erynd crosses to me in two strides and grabs my shoulders. "Listen to me. You have the goddess's essence inside you. That means you have access to her power. But power without control is useless. Worse than useless—it's dangerous."
"Then teach me control."
"There's no time—"
"Then teach me enough to survive the next three hours!" I push against his chest, frustrated. "I'm not going to hide in this room while you fight an army alone. Either help me or get out of my way."
Something flashes in his silver eyes. Surprise? Respect?
"You're braver than you think," he says quietly. Then louder: "Fine. Lesson one: your power responds to emotion. Fear makes it wild and unpredictable. Anger makes it destructive. But calm focus makes it precise."
"How am I supposed to stay calm when two hundred wolves want to kill me?"
"Practice." He releases me and steps back. "Close your eyes."
"Now? They're literally breaking down the—"
"Close. Your. Eyes."
I do, mostly because his voice carries that command that makes me want to obey.
"Feel the power inside you," Erynd instructs. "Don't force it. Just acknowledge it's there."
I try. At first, there's nothing but my racing heartbeat and the distant sounds of wolves howling. Then I feel it—a warmth in my chest, spreading outward through my veins like liquid light.
"Good. Now imagine it as water. It flows where you direct it, but only if you guide it gently. Try to force it and it slips away."
The warmth pulses stronger. I breathe slowly, feeling it move through my body.
"Open your eyes but keep that feeling."
I open them. My hands are glowing faintly silver.
"Perfect." Erynd picks up a piece of ice from the shattered door and tosses it in the air. "Hit it."
"With what?"
"With your power. Focus on the ice. Will the light to reach it."
I stare at the falling ice, willing the silver glow to move. Nothing happens. The ice hits the ground.
"Again." Erynd tosses another piece.
This time I focus harder. The glow brightens. A thin thread of silver light shoots from my palm—and misses the ice by three feet.
"Better. Again."
We practice for what feels like hours but is probably only minutes. Piece after piece of ice. My accuracy improves slowly. By the tenth try, I actually hit one.
"Excellent," Erynd says. But his eyes keep flicking toward the door. Toward the sounds of wolves getting closer.
"That's all I get? Ten minutes of practice?"
"It's more than most divine wolves get before their first real fight." He hands me a knife. "Use the blade for anything that gets close. Save your power for ranged attacks. And whatever you do, don't let them bite you."
"Why?"
"Because some of those wolves are priests. They carry blessed weapons and teeth. If they bite you, they can drain your essence directly into themselves."
My blood runs cold. "That's what Cadeirin's planning, isn't it? He's going to try to bite me. To consume my power the way his previous life tried to consume the goddess."
"Yes." Erynd won't look at me. "And if he succeeds, if he takes enough of your essence, you'll become truly Moonless. Empty. A shell. You'll die slowly over days, feeling yourself fade."
"That's horrible."
"That's divine murder." He finally meets my eyes. "Promise me something. If it comes down to him or you—if he gets past me and you have no other choice—you'll kill him. No hesitation. No mercy."
"I don't know if I can—"
"Promise me!" His hands grip my shoulders so tight it almost hurts. "Because he won't hesitate. He'll smile and speak sweet words and the moment you let your guard down, he'll rip your throat out and drink your essence while you're still dying."
The visions flash again. The goddess falling. The blue-eyed wolf standing over her, his mouth red with her blood, screaming as power he couldn't contain tore him apart from inside.
"I promise," I whisper.
Erynd releases me, his expression softening slightly. "Good girl."
The door explodes inward.
Not the ice door—the outer entrance. The one leading into the ruins from outside.
A wolf forces through, massive and gray with Alpha authority rolling off him in waves. He shifts into human form.
Cadeirin.
He looks exactly like he did at the ceremony. Perfect. Powerful. Cold. Except now there's something else in his blue eyes. Something hungry and ancient that makes my skin crawl.
"Hello, Thessa." His voice is smooth as silk. "I've come to bring you home."
"I have no home." I raise the knife with shaking hands. "You made sure of that."
"A mistake." He steps into the room, ignoring Erynd completely. Like the ancient Guardian isn't even there. "I was foolish. Prideful. The Moon clouded my judgment, made me reject what was rightfully mine."
"I was never yours."
"Oh, but you were. You are." Cadeirin smiles and it's beautiful and terrible. "We were fated, Thessa. The goddess herself chose us. And I threw that away because I couldn't see past your curse to what you really are."
"What I really am," I say slowly, "is something you want to consume. Just like you tried three thousand years ago."
His smile freezes. For just a second, something flickers behind his eyes. Confusion. Then recognition.
Then rage.
"So," he says softly, dangerously. "The goddess told you. Showed you what happened." He laughs but there's no humor in it. "Does it make you feel special? Knowing you carry the essence of the divine bitch who refused to share her power? Who let wolves suffer and die while she hoarded her gifts?"
"She died trying to protect wolves from parasites like you," I spit back.
"She died because she was weak!" Cadeirin's voice rises. "Power that isn't used is wasted. She could have made us gods. All of us. Instead she kept us as pets, dependent on her scraps of blessing."
"So you killed her."
"I freed us." His blue eyes burn with fanatic conviction. "And I'll free us again. Give me your essence, Thessa. Willingly. Let me become what I was meant to be. Together we could rule—"
"No."
His face hardens. "Then I'll take it by force. Just like before."
He lunges.
But Erynd is faster.
The Guardian intercepts Cadeirin mid-leap, driving him backward into the wall with bone-crushing force. They crash through ice and stone, disappearing into the outer chamber in a tangle of limbs and snarling fury.
I run to the opening, heart pounding.
Erynd and Cadeirin circle each other in the larger room. Behind Cadeirin, I see them—dozens of wolves pouring through the breached entrance. Some in wolf form. Some human. All armed. All ready to kill.
"Thessa, run!" Erynd shouts.
"Where?" I scream back.
"The crystal chamber! The goddess's essence will protect you there—"
A brown wolf tackles Erynd from the side. Then another. Three more pile on, driving him down under their combined weight.
Cadeirin's eyes lock onto mine. He shifts mid-step, becoming his wolf—massive, dark, and faster than any wolf should be.
He charges straight at me.
I raise my glowing hands and release everything I have.
Silver light explodes from my palms in a wave of pure power.
It hits Cadeirin dead center.
He screams—a sound that's half wolf howl, half human agony—as the divine light burns him. His momentum stops. He staggers backward, smoke rising from his fur.
But he doesn't fall.
He doesn't die.
He just stares at me with those ancient blue eyes and smiles with too many teeth.
"Weak," he growls. "Just like she was."
Behind him, the army of wolves surges forward.
And I realize with sickening certainty: I don't have enough power to stop them all.