Eira's world narrowed to the glint of the silver bolt streaking toward her heart. The Council rider's crossbow gleamed under the blood moon's crimson glow, its aim steady despite the chaos of Ironhowl Keep's courtyard. Her body moved before her mind caught up, instinct honed by years in the Wastes kicking in. She dove, the bolt whistling past her ear, embedding itself in the stone wall behind her with a crack that echoed like a warning.
"Eira!" Kael's voice roared, raw with something she didn't dare name. He was at her side in an instant, his massive frame shielding her as another rider raised a crossbow. The battle raged around them Frostfang warriors clashing with rogue invaders, fires blazing from shattered scaffolds but the massive black wolf with violet eyes still loomed, its gaze locked on her like a predator sizing up prey. Its voice lingered in her mind: Claim your power, or it claims us all.
Her pendant burned against her chest, its silver light pulsing in time with her racing heart. She scrambled to her feet, clutching the stolen dagger, her breath ragged. The Council knew she was the heir,knew her blood could unmake their precious Alpha bonds. They wouldn't stop until she was dead or caged. And Kael, damn him, was still here, his blood-streaked arm and blazing amber eyes a complication she couldn't afford.
"Move, Alpha!" she snapped, shoving past him toward the side gate. Freedom was so close, the Wastes just beyond the keep's walls, but the wolf's presence and the Council's riders blocked her path. She couldn't fight them all not without unleashing her power, and that would be a death sentence.
Kael grabbed her wrist, his grip like iron but his touch sending a jolt through her, that cursed hum flaring in her chest. "You're not running," he growled, his voice low, almost desperate. "Not until I know what you are."
She yanked free, her violet eyes blazing. "You don't want to know." But the words felt hollow. The wolf's voice, the pendant's visions, the Shadowclaw figure calling her cousin it was all closing in, a noose tightening around her. She'd spent years hiding her bloodline, her curse, but it was unraveling faster than she could run.
The wolf moved, its massive form a blur as it lunged not at her, but at the Council rider. Its jaws closed around the man's arm, tearing the crossbow from his grip with a sickening crunch. The rider screamed, blood spraying, and the other Council guards scattered, their cloaks billowing as they drew blades. The wolf's violet eyes flicked to Eira, and that voice slithered through her mind again: You cannot hide forever, heir.
"Eira, stay with me!" Kael shouted, pulling her back as a rogue's axe swung too close, splintering a wooden crate. He slashed his blade, cutting the rogue down, but his eyes stayed on her, wild with something beyond duty. "What does it want with you?"
She didn't answer, her mind reeling. The wolf wasn't just a beast it was tied to her, to the First Moon Queen's power. Her mother's stories, half-forgotten, whispered of guardians, spirits bound to the royal bloodline. Was this one of them? Or something darker, summoned by the Shadowclaws' chants?
The pendant flared, and a vision hit her like a blade—Kael, standing in a moonlit grove, his hand outstretched, her own glowing with silver light. Fate binds you, the voice from before whispered, ancient and unyielding. She gasped, stumbling, and Kael caught her, his touch steadying but dangerous.
"Stop doing that," she hissed, shoving him away. But the hum in her chest grew stronger, tying her to him in a way that terrified her. Fated mates were a myth, a pack lie to chain wolves together. She wouldn't be chained not by him, not by anyone.
The wolf howled, a sound that shook the courtyard, and the blood moon pulsed brighter, its light bathing the keep in crimson. The Council riders rallied, their leader,a tall figure in a black cloak pointing at Eira. "The heir!" he shouted again, his voice carrying a command that made the Frostfang warriors hesitate. "Seize her, or the Council will burn this keep to ash!"
Kael's face darkened, his blade raised as he stepped in front of her. "You don't give orders here," he snarled, his voice a low rumble that sent a shiver down her spine. "She's mine."
Eira's heart stuttered. Mine. The word was possessive, primal, and it stirred something in her she refused to acknowledge. She didn't belong to him or to anyone. But before she could snap back, the wolf charged again, this time at Kael, its claws gleaming like obsidian.
Kael met it head-on, his blade flashing, but the wolf was relentless, its movements unnatural, as if fueled by the same power burning in Eira's pendant. She acted without thinking, lunging forward and slamming her dagger into the wolf's flank. It snarled, retreating, but its violet eyes stayed on her, and the voice roared in her mind: You cannot deny your blood!
Pain lanced through her, the pendant's light exploding outward in a silver wave. The force knocked Kael to his knees, the Council riders staggering, and even the wolf faltered, its form flickering like a shadow. Eira's vision swam, her body trembling as the power she'd fought to suppress surged through her, raw and uncontrollable.
"Eira!" Kael's voice cut through the haze, his hand grabbing hers. His touch grounded her, pulling her back from the edge, but it also intensified the hum, the bond she couldn't escape. "What did you do?"
She didn't know. The power had never felt like this wild, alive, as if the wolf's presence had awakened it. She yanked her hand free, her breath ragged, and turned toward the side gate, but the Council riders were closing in, their blades drawn, their eyes cold with purpose.
Then the ground shook, a deep rumble that sent stones tumbling from the keep's walls. The chanting from beyond the gate grew louder, a guttural rhythm that made Eira's skin crawl. The wolf's form shimmered, and behind it, shadows moved,more wolves, their eyes glowing violet, their forms half-real, like specters summoned from the moon itself.
The Council leader raised his hand, a silver chain glinting in his grip, its runes pulsing with a power that made Eira's pendant dim. "Bind her!" he shouted. "The heir's power ends tonight!"
Eira froze, her heart pounding as the wolves advanced, their violet eyes locked on her. Kael stepped closer, his blade raised, his body a shield between her and the Council. But the pendant burned again, and a new vision hit a grove, a throne of moonlight, and a figure cloaked in silver, reaching for her. Claim it now, the voice whispered, or lose everything.
The wolves lunged, and the Council's chain flew toward her, its runes glowing with deadly intent.