The forest was too quiet.
Elena could feel it—like the Hollow had drawn in a breath and refused to exhale. Every branch seemed tense, every leaf holding still as if waiting for something awful to pass.
She stood at the edge of the Ashclaw camp, staring into the night. The sky had turned a sickly shade of crimson, the clouds spinning unnaturally fast. Above it all, the moon was rising—red, vast, and watching.
"What is that?" Elena asked.
Kael appeared beside her, his expression grim. "The Blood Moon."
The name tasted like iron. Elena's breath caught in her throat. "That's... real?"
Kael nodded. "It's more than real. It's prophecy. The Blood Moon changes everything—it brings the old magic back. It calls what should remain buried."
As if in answer, a long, guttural howl tore through the woods. Not Ryn's. Not anything familiar.
Kael's jaw tightened. "We're not alone."
Elena turned—and from the tree line, they emerged.
Three creatures. Gray fur matted with dried blood, limbs too long, claws curved like hooks. Their eyes glowed molten orange.
"They're not wolves," she whispered.
"They used to be," Kael said coldly. "Rivenborn. Wolves twisted by silver magic. They don't obey the moon. They hunt it."
Before Elena could react, one leapt.
Kael drew his blade, intercepting it mid-air, steel flashing. The second lunged at Ryn, who met it with a snarl and a brutal bite. The third went straight for Elena.
Her heartbeat thundered. Instinct rose.
And for the first time—she let it.
Her vision sharpened. Her muscles coiled like springs. Her fingers ignited with silver fire. She ducked the Rivenborn's strike, twisted, and slammed her elbow into its throat. The thing reeled—but didn't fall.
So Elena roared. A sound not quite human, not quite wolf.
And she shifted.
Not completely. Not like Kael. But enough.
Her bones didn't break—they flexed. Her skin shimmered faintly, her eyes turning wild-gold. Her senses exploded.
She met the creature's second charge with no fear.
She tackled it, both of them tumbling down the slope. Teeth snapped. Claws raked. She felt blood, but she didn't stop. Her body moved like it knew a thousand-year-old dance.
When the dust cleared, she stood over the creature's limp body—panting, bloodied, shaking.
Kael stared at her from the ridge, his voice low. "You weren't supposed to be able to do that."
"I didn't plan it," she said breathlessly. "It just... happened."
The Blood Moon pulsed above them like an open eye.
—
By the time they returned to the Ashclaw camp, the alarm had already sounded.
Wolves gathered in the clearing, forming a ring of tension. Lyra stood at its center, her silver axe drawn. When she saw Elena—her torn shirt, glowing pendant, and blood-streaked face—she froze.
Then slowly, she dropped to one knee.
And with a voice like thunder rolling through stone, she said:
"Moonborn returns.I swear my tooth and blood.I serve the one who sings the Hollow back to life."
The other Ashclaws followed suit—kneeling, bowing their heads.
Elena stood at the center of it all, stunned.
"I'm not a queen," she said, barely above a whisper.
Lyra raised her head. "You're not. You're more. The Hollow doesn't need a throne. It needs a heartbeat."
—
Later that night, Elena sat atop the camp's watchtower, a blanket around her shoulders and the fire dying low below.
Kael joined her silently. After a long moment, he handed her something.
A letter. Old. Fragile. The seal broken long ago.
"We found it in your mother's old shelter," he said.
Elena unfolded it carefully.
"My darling girl,If you're reading this, the Hollow has remembered you.You are not meant to lead with force. You are meant to survive it, carry it, and break the curse I could not.The Hollow doesn't need a queen.It needs a girl brave enough to let it break her."
Tears blurred her vision.
She looked up at the blood moon overhead. Still watching. Still waiting.
And she whispered to it:
"Then break me.And see what I become."
Far off in the distance, another howl rose.
But this one was different.
It didn't sound like a threat.
It sounded like a call.
And Elena, Moonborn and shifting, answered it.