Selene's POV
The morning breeze was cold all over the village with the smell of rain. Mist hung in the air like a ghost, soft and silver, clinging to the edges of the rooftops. Inside her apothecary, Selene moved quietly among rows of glass bottles and herbs, her hands steady but her mind restless.
The pendant around her neck pulsed faintly. It had been doing that since last night, a rhythmic shimmer that responded not to her will but to something far away. Something or someone.
"Selene, I have finished drying the sage," Flora called from the back room.
Selene smiled faintly. "Thank you, dear. Bring it here."
Flora entered, her auburn hair tied in a loose braid, her belly now slightly rounded beneath her apron. The sight still filled Selene with both awe and worry. The child Flora carried was unlike any other. Selene could feel it in the air, in the way the herbs wilted or bloomed depending on the girl's moods.
"You are getting stronger," Selene said softly as she accepted the basket of herbs. "The glow in your aura has deepened."
Flora chuckled lightly, though her eyes betrayed her unease. "You say that as if it is a good thing."
"It can be," Selene replied, crushing a handful of sage leaves into powder. "If it is guided. But that will depend on the path you choose."
Flora hesitated. "Sometimes I feel… him."
Selene looked up sharply. "Caius?"
Flora shakes her head, her voice trembling. "The baby, In my dreams. He speaks to me. I cannot hear the words clearly, but I feel he is trying to tell me something, about someone who was angry. And the person's hunger. It frightens me."
Selene stepped closer and placed her hands on Flora's shoulders. "Listen to me, child. You are safe here. The wards around this place are bound by moonlight and blood. Nothing dark can enter unless you invite it."
Flora's lips pressed together, but she nodded.
"Go outside for a moment," Selene said gently. "Breathe the morning air. I will finish here."
Flora obeyed and stepped into the misty courtyard behind the apothecary. As soon as she was gone, Selene exhaled slowly and turned to the shelves behind her. Her eyes fell on a book wrapped in crimson leather, The Chronicle of the Moonlit Bloodline. It had belonged to her mother, passed down from a time when witches and wolves were still bound by sacred pacts.
She touched the cover and the pendant at her throat brightened. The same silver glow crept across her fingertips, connecting her to the book.
A faint voice whispered within her mind. 'The blood of the moon and the curse of the wolf are one. When light loves shadow, the world shall tremble.'
Selene's heart skipped. She closed the book at once, the whisper fading like smoke.
Before she could steady herself, the wind shifted. The bell above her shop door jingled softly.
She frowned. "We are not open yet," she called out.
But the voice that answered was calm, deep and unfamiliar. "Forgive my intrusion, Lady Selene. The door opened on its own."
She turned. Standing at the entrance was a man draped in a long coat of midnight blue. His presence carried an ancient weight, the kind that made the air thick with power. His eyes gleamed silver, and in the dim light, his shadow seemed to move with a will of its own.
"Who are you?" Selene asked, her voice wary.
The man bowed slightly. "Eldric Moorn. A scholar of the unseen. I have come a long way to find you."
Selene narrowed her eyes. "Find me? For what purpose?"
Eldric stepped closer, the faint scent of parchment and rain following him. "For the prophecy. The one written in the Blood Chronicle. The Moonlit Transformation."
Her blood ran cold. No one outside her coven should have known that phrase. "That prophecy has been buried for centuries," she said. "It was never meant to be spoken again."
"Perhaps," Eldric murmured. "Yet the world does not care for what we mean to bury. It has begun to stir again. You have felt it, have you not? The pulse in your pendant, the unrest in your dreams."
Selene said nothing, but her silence was answer enough.
Eldric's gaze softened. "You are the last of the true Moonborn witches, Selene. Your blood carries the binding thread between magic and moon. And the Alpha who carries the curse, he is tied to that thread."
Her throat tightened. "You speak of Lucian."
"I speak of destiny," Eldric said quietly. "A bond older than either of you understands. The Moonlit Transformation is not merely a union of witch and wolf. It is the convergence of creation and ruin."
Selene felt her knees weaken. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because the world has already begun to shift," he replied. "The balance that held the veil between realms is thinning. If the two of you unite fully, the seal will break. But if you remain apart, the darkness will consume what light is left."
Selene stared at him, her pulse loud in her ears. "You speak as if there is no right choice."
Eldric smiled faintly, though his eyes were sad. "There never is, when fate is involved."
The pendant around her neck flared again, brighter this time, and the shelves trembled as several bottles shattered. Eldric raised a hand, murmuring words under his breath. The shards floated midair for a brief moment before settling gently on the counter.
Selene's eyes widened. "You use old magic."
He nodded. "Forbidden magic, yes. But sometimes, the forbidden is all that remains when time runs out."
Before she could question him further, Flora rushed back inside, her eyes wide with fear. "Selene! The sky, look at the sky!"
Selene turned toward the window. The mist had darkened into a deep violet hue, and faint streaks of silver lightning flickered within it. The air shimmered, as though something beyond the veil was pressing against it.
Eldric's tone was grave. "It begins."
"What begins?" Flora asked, clutching her belly.
"The awakening," Eldric said. "The child feels it too, does he not?"
Flora looked down, trembling. "He moves when the sky does. As if he can sense it."
Eldric asked Selene "You didn't tell her, who she is?"
Selene moved swiftly, taking Flora's hands in hers. "Do not fear. You are protected here."
Flora asked Selene "What does he mean, who am i?"
Eldric watched her with quiet curiosity. "You two remind me of your mothers," he said softly. "Both women too, tried to protect others from the storm that could not be stopped."
Selene and Flora froze. Saying the same thing at once "You knew my mother?"
"I did," Eldric said, his gaze distant. Facing Selene "And I swore to her that when the signs appeared again, I would find you. That time has come."
Selene's mind swirled with a hundred questions, but before she could ask, then Flora asked about her mother, Eldric was about to answer when a strange sound echoed outside, not thunder, not wind, but a low growl that vibrated through the ground.
Selene's eyes met Eldric's. "What is that?"
"The veil thinning," he said grimly. "And something trying to cross it."
Flora gasped, holding her stomach as a wave of energy rippled through the room. The lamps flickered. The pendant at Selene's throat blazed like a star.
Eldric stepped forward, his voice calm but commanding. "Selene, listen to me. The prophecy was never about destruction alone. It speaks of choice, the choice to either seal the realms or merge them. Only your bond with the Alpha can determine which path unfolds."
Selene's heart raced. "Lucian…"
Eldric nodded. "Find him. Before the next full moon. If you delay, the world will decide for you."
The door burst open then, the wind howling through the apothecary. For a heartbeat, Selene thought she saw something in the mist, a shape, enormous and shifting, neither human nor beast.
Eldric raised his hand, chanting under his breath until the door slammed shut again. The air settled, but the silence that followed was heavy with unspoken dread.
Flora sank to her knees, tears in her eyes. "What was that?"
Selene crouched beside her, stroking her hair. "A warning," she whispered. "The balance is breaking."
When she looked up, Eldric was already moving toward the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To prepare," he said. "There are others who must be warned. The Veilborn seer has seen this too. She will find you when the time is right. Her name is Astra."
He turned, his silver eyes catching the light one last time. "Remember this, Selene. Love is the most dangerous spell ever cast and you are already under its influence."
Then he was gone, swallowed by the mist.
Selene stood there for a long moment, her heart pounding. Flora clung to her, trembling. Outside, the sky continued to shift between violet and silver, as if the moon itself was struggling to stay in its place.
Selene looked down at the pendant glowing against her skin. "Lucian," she whispered. "Whatever this is… we are running out of time."
The flame in the lamp flickered once and died, leaving the apothecary in complete silence and in that silence, Selene swore she heard the faint echo of a distant howl carried on the wind.