I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
"Kael," I whispered. "Something's—"
"I know. I feel it too."
Marcus's hand went to his sword. "How many?"
"Can't tell. They're masking their scent." Kael's eyes scanned the rocks above us. "But they're close."
A whistle cut through the air. High-pitched. Sharp.
Then wolves poured from the rocks.
Not regular wolves. These were wrong—eyes glowing red, mouths frothing, moving with unnatural speed.
Cult warriors. Enhanced with dark magic.
"Run!" Kael shouted.
We ran.
Behind us, the corrupted wolves howled. The sound was horrible—half wolf, half something else entirely.
"There!" Marcus pointed to a narrow canyon ahead. "We can bottleneck them!"
We sprinted for it. My lungs burned. The rune magic surged inside me, responding to my fear.
We made it into the canyon just as the first wolf lunged.
Kael's sword flashed. The wolf's head hit the ground before its body did.
But more came. Four. Six. Eight.
Too many.
"Sophia!" Kael was beside me, blade dripping black blood. "Use your magic! The precision strikes!"
Right. I'd trained for this.
I reached for the rune magic, pulling it into focus. Narrow beams. Controlled bursts.
I thrust my hand forward. Silver light shot from my palm, striking a wolf mid-leap. It exploded in a spray of dark energy.
"Again!" Kael shouted, deflecting another attack.
I fired again. And again. Each strike precise, each one locating its target.
Marcus fought beside us, his sword a blur. But he was tiring. A wolf got past his guard and raked claws across his shoulder.
"Marcus!" I reached for him, ready to share my strength.
"I'm fine! Keep fighting!"
Three more wolves charged together. I couldn't take them all.
But Kael could.
He moved like death itself. His blade sang through the air, cutting down two wolves in a single motion. The third leaped at me—
—and Kael caught it by the throat. His hand glowed with silver light—my rune magic, channeled through our mate bond.
He crushed the wolf's windpipe and threw the body aside.
The remaining wolves hesitated. We'd killed more than half their pack.
Then they ran. Disappearing back into the rocks as quickly as they'd appeared.
Silence fell. Broken only by our harsh breathing.
"Is everyone okay?" I gasped.
"Define okay," Marcus muttered, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
I rushed to him. "Let me see."
"It's not deep—"
"Let me see." I pulled his hand away. Four parallel gashes ran across his shoulder. Deep enough to scar, but not life-threatening.
I placed my hand over the wound, reaching for the rune magic. But not to attack this time. To heal.
The magic resisted. It wanted to destroy, not repair. But I pushed harder, remembering my mother's journal. Silvermanes could share strength. Could enhance others.
Why not heal?
Silver light flowed from my palm into Marcus's wound. He gasped.
"What are you—"
The gashes began to close. Not completely, but enough. The bleeding stopped. The flesh knitted together, leaving red lines instead of open wounds.
"Moon Goddess," Marcus breathed. "You can heal?"
"Apparently." I swayed, suddenly dizzy. Healing took more energy than attacking.
Kael caught me. "Easy. Don't drain yourself."
"I'm okay. Just... need a minute."
We rested in the canyon, catching our breath. I drank water and ate some dried meat, trying to restore my energy.
"That was a patrol," Kael said. "Which means they know we're here now."
"How many patrols do you think they have?" I asked.
"If they can spare eight enhanced wolves just for patrols? Dozens. Maybe more." He looked grim. "The cult is stronger than we thought."
"Then we need to be smarter," Marcus said. "No more walking into ambushes."
"Agreed." Kael pulled out a rough map he'd drawn. "The temple is here, at the mountain's peak. But there's probably a main path—heavily guarded. We need to find another way up."
I studied the map. "What about the eastern slope? It looks steeper, but—"
"But less guarded," Kael finished. "Good thinking."
We changed course, heading east. The terrain grew rougher. Rockier. Several times we had to climb instead of walk.
But we saw no more patrols.
By late afternoon, we'd climbed high enough to see the temple in the distance.
It was massive. Ancient. Built from black stone that seemed to absorb light. Red banners hung from its towers, flapping in the wind.
"There," Kael said quietly. "The Temple of the First Moon."
It looked nothing like a holy place. It looked like a fortress.
"How do we get inside?" Marcus asked.
"Carefully." Kael studied the structure. "Tomorrow, when we're rested. We'll scout the perimeter and find the weak points."
"And then?"
"And then we go in. Find the Moon's Tear. And destroy it before the Cult can use it."
Simple plan. Probably impossible.
But it was all we had.
That night, we made camp in a small cave halfway up the mountain.
No fire. Too risky. We ate cold rations and took turns keeping watch.
When Marcus took first watch, Kael and I huddled together for warmth.
"I keep thinking about Erica," I said quietly. "Is she okay? Is she safe?"
"She's with Garrett and Helena. The safest place she could be."
"But what if Leighton attacks Black River while we're here?"
"He won't. He's too focused on stopping us." Kael pulled me closer. "Stop torturing yourself. Erica is strong. You made sure of that."
I wanted to believe him. But the fear wouldn't go away.
"Tell me about her," Kael said. "What was she like as a little girl?"
The question surprised me. "Why?"
"Because you need something good to think about. And I want to know."
I smiled despite everything. "She was fearless. Always climbing trees, chasing animals. Leighton hated it. Said she wasn't ladylike enough."
"Sounds perfect to me."
"She used to have nightmares. About monsters in the dark. I'd sit with her every night, telling her stories about brave warriors who defeated the monsters."
"And now she's becoming one of those brave warriors."
"Because of you. You gave her confidence. Made her believe she could be strong."
"I just showed her what was already there." His hand found mine in the darkness. "Just like someone did for me."
The mate bond pulsed warm between us. Even exhausted, even scared, it was there. Steady. Real.
"Kael?"
"Mm?"
"Thank you. For everything. For believing in me. For being here."
"Where else would I be?" He pressed a kiss to my temple. "You're my mate. My purpose. The reason I waited two hundred years."
"No pressure," I joked weakly.
He chuckled. "Sleep, Sophia. Tomorrow's going to be hard."
"Promise you'll wake me if anything happens."
"Promise."
I closed my eyes, listening to his heartbeat. Steady. Strong. A rhythm I could trust.
But sleep didn't come easy. My mind kept racing, playing out scenarios.
What if we failed? What if the Cult got the Moon's Tear? What if we died here and never saw Erica again?
Through the bond, Kael felt my anxiety. "Stop thinking so loud."
"Can't help it."
"Then think about this instead." He tightened his arms around me. "After we stop the Cult, after this is all over—where do you want to go?"
"What do you mean?"
"Where do you want to live? What kind of life do you want?" His voice was soft in the darkness. "We can go anywhere. Do anything. Build whatever life we choose."
I'd never thought about it. For three years, my life had been defined by Leighton. By duty and fear and survival.
"I don't know," I admitted. "What do you want?"
"A home. A real one. With you and Erica. Somewhere peaceful. With trees and a garden and..." He paused. "Laughter. I want to hear laughter again."
The image filled my mind. A little house. Erica is playing outside. Kael and me growing old together.
It was so simple. So ordinary. So perfect.
"That sounds impressive," I whispered.
"Then that's what we'll have. After this is over." He kissed the top of my head. "I promise."
I finally drifted off to sleep, holding onto that promise like a lifeline.
I woke to Marcus shaking my shoulder.
"Sophia. Wake up. Quietly."
I sat up immediately, every sense on alert. "What's wrong?"
"Voices. Coming from below." He pointed down the mountain slope. "Leighton's people. They've caught up."
Kael was already awake, peering out of the cave entrance. "How many?"
"At least a dozen. Maybe more. They're making camp about half a mile down."
"Did they see us?"
"Don't think so. But they will in the morning when the sun rises."
We couldn't stay here. But we were unable to leave without being seen either.
"We climb," Kael decided. "Now. In the dark. By the time the sun rises, we'll be too far up for them to follow easily."
"That's insane," Marcus said. "We could fall—"
"We'll fall slower than they'll kill us." Kael was already packing. "Move."
We gathered our gear in minutes. Then we stepped out of the cave into the freezing night air.
The mountain face loomed above us, black against the starry sky. The climb looked impossible in daylight. In darkness, it was suicide.
But we climbed anyway.
Hand over hand. Foot by foot. The rock was cold and sharp. My fingers went numb. My arms screamed.
Below us, I could hear the camp. Voices. Laughter. They had no idea we were directly above them.
We climbed for hours. Every muscle shaking. Every breath is a knife in my lungs.
Finally, just as the eastern sky began to lighten, we pulled ourselves onto a narrow ledge.
We'd made it.
I collapsed, gasping. Beside me, Marcus was breathing just as hard.
Kael looked back down the mountain. Far below, the camp was stirring.
Wolves beginning to wake.
"They'll realize we're gone soon," he said. "And they'll start climbing."
"Let them," I panted. "We have a head start now."
"And we're almost to the temple." He pointed ahead.
The Temple of the First Moon rose before us, maybe a mile away. In the dawn light, it looked even more ominous. The red banners snapped in the wind like bloody flags.
"No turning back now," Marcus said.
"No turning back," I agreed.
We rested for a few minutes, then pressed on. The ledge became a narrow path, winding around the mountain toward the temple.
With each step, I felt the weight of what we were about to do.
This was it. The moment everything had been building toward.
We were going to infiltrate a cult stronghold. Fight corrupted wolves enhanced with dark magic. Find an ancient relic of terrible power.
And somehow survive.
The odds were impossible.
But I looked at Kael, walking beside me. Marcus, loyal and brave despite his injuries.
I wasn't alone. We'd come this far together.
We'd finish it together too.
Whatever came next.
The path to the temple grew narrower with each step.
On our left, the mountain rose in sheer black stone. On our right, a drop into nothing. One wrong move and we'd fall hundreds of feet.
"Don't look down," Kael said.
I'd already looked down. My stomach lurched.
"Too late."
"Then focus ahead. We're almost there."
The temple loomed larger now. Up close, it was even more massive than I'd thought. The black stone walls rose at least fifty feet high, covered in carvings I couldn't read. The red banners—there were dozens of them—snapped violently in the wind.
"There," Marcus pointed. "An entrance. Ground level."
A massive door stood at the base of the temple. Ironbound. Covered in more of those strange symbols.
"That's the main entrance," Kael said. "It'll be heavily guarded."
"What about there?" I pointed higher up. A narrow window, maybe twenty feet above the door. "Could we climb to that?"
"Perhaps. But first we need to get closer." He scanned the area. "I don't see any patrols. That's strange."
"Possibly they're all inside," Marcus suggested.
"Or could it be a trap?" Kael's hand stayed on his sword hilt. "Stay alert."
We moved forward carefully. The ground here was strange—smooth black stone, like the temple had been carved from the mountain itself rather than built on it.
We were possibly fifty yards from the entrance when I heard it.
A howl. Behind us.
I spun around. On the path we'd just climbed, wolves were appearing. A dozen at least. All wearing Silver Moon colors.
Leighton's warriors had caught up.
"Run!" Kael shouted.
We sprinted toward the temple. The door was our only option—even if it meant running straight into Cult territory.
Behind us, the Silver Moon wolves gave chase. I could hear their paws pounding the stone, getting closer.
"The door!" Marcus yelled. "It's opening!"
He was right. The massive iron door was swinging inward.
And from inside, more wolves emerged.