The night that followed was darker than any before it. The moon hung low behind drifting clouds, its light faint and distant, as if even the heavens could sense what was about to unfold.
Within the great hall of Moonfang, Luna Seraphina stood before the elders once more, her voice steady but her heart heavy. She had ordered extra patrols along the borders and doubled the guards at the packhouse. The rumors were growing stronger each day, whispers that she had lost her mind, that the Alpha bloodline had ended, that Caius would soon take the throne.
Seraphina could smell deceit everywhere.
Elder Rowan stood beside her, the last of the old council who remained loyal to her. "Luna," he said softly, "you must rest. You have not slept for three days."
She shook her head. "I will rest when my son walks through that door."
The hall doors opened suddenly, and every head turned. Caius entered with a handful of his loyal men. His cloak dragged against the floor, his face calm and confident.
"Luna Seraphina," he said smoothly, "the pack demands leadership. The people grow restless. We can no longer survive on faith alone."
Seraphina's eyes narrowed. "You come again with your poison words. I have already told you, the throne is not yours to take."
"Then whose is it?" Caius asked. "A ghost? A dead Alpha who will never return? How long will you blind them with false hope?"
The words echoed through the chamber like knives. Some of the younger warriors shifted uncomfortably, uncertainty flickering in their eyes.
Seraphina took a slow step forward. "You speak like a coward hiding behind grief. You think you can lead because you covet what was never yours."
Caius smiled faintly. "I lead because someone must."
Before she could respond, one of his men blew a horn. The sound filled the hall, deep and thunderous, rolling through every corner of the fortress. Outside, the howls began wild, fierce and desperate.
Seraphina froze. "What have you done?"
Caius's smile widened. "I am claiming my birthright."
At his signal, armed wolves stormed the hall. The loyal guards tried to fight, but the betrayal was swift and brutal. Claws met steel and blood splattered the stone walls.
Elder Rowan roared in defiance, swinging his staff against one of Caius's men, but a blade pierced his chest before he could strike again. He fell to the floor, his blood pooling beneath him.
Seraphina's heart broke, but rage burned stronger. She shifted in a flash of silver light, her wolf form emerging, a magnificent creature with fur white as snow and eyes like molten gold. She leapt into the fight, her claws tearing through traitors, her growl echoing through the hall like thunder. She & other elders and loyal warriors fought, the traitors and they make sure, they killed them, the pack gamma told the delta to send their loyal warriors to go keep pack members that are still loyal to their true alpha safe.
After luna seraphina killed the last wolf that was coming for her, she charged towards caius, as she ran to claw at him, to teach him a lesson, because she couldn't bear to kill him, he was like a son to her.
But Caius was ready. He held a dagger laced with silver and poison, a gift from the human king. He waited until she was charging towards him, then he drove the blade deep into her heart.
Her scream tore through the hall. She fell.
Lyra ran in at that moment, her eyes wide with horror. She screamed "Mother!" And she frozed unable to move from where she was standing.
Seraphina staggered, blood soaking her fur. She fell to her down, her wolf form flicked back to human, as Caius stepped over her stabbed heart and she mouthed, "son, i will never hate you, but know, that throne doesn't belong to you."
Caius snickered and replied "The throne is mine already, too bad you won't live to see me rule our people more than your dead son." Then he started laughing like a deranged person.
Lyra ran to her mother's side, she raced her head to her lap, using her hand to press down on her wound, she told the gamma to call for the pack doctor.
Other pack members that are traitors and yet to die, where panicking. But Caius said "Do not mourn her," he said to the pack watching. "She was holding you back."
Lyra screamed, charging at him, but one of his men grabbed her, holding her still. She fought, teeth bared, but she was outnumbered.
Caius looked down at his fallen aunt. "The age of cursed Alphas ends tonight. From this moment on, I am Alpha of Moonfang."
The pack doctor rushed in with the gamma and delta, with some other warriors, she quickly went to the luna side trying to check on her wound, then she discovered it was a silver dagger laced with poison. She looked at the gamma and lyra, she shaked her head and told them, she won't survive it.
Caius laughed and said everybody should bow down to him their new alpha, the hall was silent. Some bowed their heads out of fear, others out of confusion.
Luna Seraphina smiled at her daughter
Seraphina's eyes met her daughter's one last time. She smiled at her and her lips moved, whispering words too soft for anyone else to hear. "Find him, Lyra. Find your brother."
Her breath faded and the light left her eyes.
Lyra screamed again, her cry breaking the silence.
Caius turned away, his expression cold. He ordered for the luna corpse to be taken to the packs morgue.
Lyra, keeps crying and screaming, she rush to Caius and started hitting him, then he ordered
"Take her to the dungeons until she learns obedience."
The guards dragged her out as she kicked and cursed, her voice echoing down the corridors.
Caius climbed the steps to the Alpha's seat and sat upon the throne that was not his. The moment his body touched it, the torches around the hall flickered violently, as if rejecting him. The ancient spirits of the pack stirred in protest. But he only laughed.
"Soon, even the moon will bow to me," he murmured.
A few loyal wolves slipped away into the darkness, determined to find Darius or the true Alpha, if he still lived.
---
Far away, in the forest beyond Valehart, Selene sat by Lucian's bedside. His skin was no longer pale, and the wound had started to heal. Darius sat near the window, his sword across his knees, his eyes constantly scanning the darkness outside.
Selene suddenly froze. Her hands trembled as a vision struck her, not faint, but blinding. She saw fire, blood and a white wolf falling beneath a poisoned blade. A scream tore through her mind, the scream of a mother.
When the vision ended, she gasped for air, her heart pounding.
"What is it?" Darius demanded, already standing.
She looked at him, her eyes filled with grief. "Your Luna… she is gone."
Darius's face went still. "No."
"I saw it. The traitor has taken your pack. He sits upon your Alpha's throne even now."
Darius stumbled back, shaking his head. "You lie. You witches always lie."
Selene stepped closer, her voice breaking. "Would you rather I did? The truth burns, but it is still the truth."
Before he could respond, a low growl came from the bed. Lucian's hand twitched and his eyes opened, glowing faintly silver under the candlelight.
Both turned to him.
"Alpha," Darius whispered, falling to his knees.
Lucian's gaze moved slowly between them. His voice was rough, strained. "She is gone, isn't she?"
Selene's throat tightened. "Yes."
Lucian closed his eyes for a long moment, his breath trembling. He "I had a dream of her fighting and Caius stabbing her." Selene said "exactly my vision" Then he stood, despite his weakness, his power rippling faintly through the room.
"Then I will return to Moonfang," he said quietly. "And I will make the traitor remember why the moon chose me."
Selene stared at him, her heart pounding. She saw it in his eyes, the grief, the fury and something else, something ancient beginning to awaken.
The curse was stirring again.
And this time, it would not be silent.