Eira's boots skidded on the blood-slick stones of Ironhowl Keep's courtyard, her heart pounding as she dove into the fray. The air was a cacophony of snarls, screams, and the splintering of wood as the rogue attackers pressed through the shattered eastern gate.
Firelight from burning scaffolds cast jagged shadows, and the blood moon above pulsed like a living thing, its crimson glow mirrored in the pendant searing against her chest. She didn't know who the silver-haired figure was, but their violet eyes,so like her own had called her name with a certainty that chilled her to the bone.
Time to choose your side.
The words echoed in her mind, sharp as a blade. She didn't have a side not the rogues, not the Shadowclaws, and definitely not Kael Draven's pack. All she had was her freedom, and she'd fight to keep it. But the pendant's hum, that cursed pulse tied to her blood, was growing stronger, threatening to betray her to everyone in this damned keep.
She ducked under a swinging axe, her body moving on instinct honed by years in the Wastes. A rogue lunged at her, his eyes wild with battle lust, but she sidestepped, driving her stolen iron rod into his knee. He crumpled with a howl, and she didn't look back, her gaze locked on the cloaked figure standing amid the chaos. They hadn't moved, their silver hair glinting like a beacon, their hand raised as if commanding the attack itself.
"Eira!" Kael's voice cut through the din, raw and commanding. She didn't turn, but she felt him—his presence like a storm at her back, his amber eyes burning into her even from across the courtyard. He'd saved her from that wolf, and she hated him for it. Hated the way her chest tightened when he'd shouted her name, like it meant something. Like he meant something.
She pushed the thought away, weaving through the clash of wolves and warriors. A Frostfang guard fell nearby, blood pooling from a gash in his side, and she snatched his dagger, its blade heavier than her own but sharp enough to kill. The side gate was close, a narrow escape route through the keep's outer wall. If she could reach it, she could vanish into the Wastes before the Shadowclaws or Kael caught her.
But the figure was faster. They appeared in front of her, silent as a ghost, their cloak billowing in the wind. Up close, their features were sharp high cheekbones, a jaw like carved stone, and those violet eyes that seemed to see through her. "You can't run from this, Eira," they said, their voice low, almost intimate. "Not from me. Not from what you are."
Eira's grip tightened on the dagger, her pulse racing. "I don't know you," she spat, but the lie felt thin. The pendant burned hotter, and a flash of memory hit her,a woman with silver hair, singing under a moonlit sky, her hands glowing with power. Her mother? A vision? She shook it off, raising the dagger. "Get out of my way."
The figure smiled, a cold, knowing curve of their lips. "You're the key, cousin. The blood of the First Moon Queen runs in you. Join us, and we'll tear down the Alphas' chains."
Cousin. The word hit like a blow, stealing her breath. She'd thought her family was dead, slaughtered by the Council when she was a child. But those eyes, that hair—they were hers, mirrored in a stranger who knew her secrets. The Shadowclaws weren't just rebels. They were blood.
Before she could respond, a roar split the air, and Kael barreled through the fray, his blade flashing as he cut down a rogue wolf. He was at her side in an instant, his arm bleeding but his stance unyielding. "Step away from her," he growled at the figure, his voice a low rumble that sent a shiver down Eira's spine.
The figure's smile widened. "Protecting your prisoner, Alpha? Or something more?" Their gaze flicked to Eira's pendant, still glowing, and then to Kael. "You feel it, don't you? The bond."
Eira's heart stopped. Bond. The word was a blade, slicing through her defenses. She'd heard the stories—fated mates, chosen by the moon, bound by a force stronger than will. But her? With him? She wanted to laugh, to scream, to deny it. But the hum in her chest, the way her skin burned where Kael's hand brushed her arm,it wasn't just her power. It was something else, something ancient.
Kael's eyes darkened, but he didn't deny it. "You're Shadowclaw," he said to the figure, his voice cold. "What do you want with her?"
"Her power," the figure said simply. "To end the mate system. To free us all." They stepped closer, ignoring Kael's blade. "Eira, you can break their bonds. You can break him."
Eira's breath hitched. Her power,the curse that unmade Alpha bonds was no secret to this stranger. But the way they said it, like it was a gift, not a death sentence, stirred something in her. Vengeance had driven her for years, but this was bigger.
Dangerous.
"Enough!" Kael snarled, stepping between them. "She's mine to deal with."
The figure laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "Yours? Oh, Alpha, you have no idea what you've claimed." They raised their hand, and the air twisted, a dark pulse rippling outward. The pendant flared, and Eira gasped as pain lanced through her, her vision blurring with another flash—Kael, under the blood moon, reaching for her as howls echoed.
She staggered, clutching the pendant, and Kael caught her, his grip steady but his eyes wild with something she couldn't name. "Stay with me," he said, his voice low, urgent.
The figure vanished into the chaos as the battle surged around them, rogues and Frostfangs clashing in a whirlwind of claws and steel. Eira pulled free, her mind reeling. Cousin. Bond. Power. It was too much, and the side gate was still her only way out. She lunged for it, but a new sound stopped her—a low, guttural chant from the shadows beyond the gate.
The ground trembled, and the blood moon pulsed brighter, its light bathing the courtyard in crimson. From the darkness, a massive wolf emerged, its fur black as night, its eyes glowing violet. Not a rogue. Not a Frostfang. Something else,something old, something tied to her blood.
"Eira!" Kael shouted, but she was already moving, the dagger in her hand, the pendant burning like a star. The wolf's eyes locked on her, and a voice not her own whispered in her mind: Claim your power, or it claims us all.