The crypt breathed cold.
Stone steps spiraled into darkness, slick with condensation. Each footfall echoed like a heartbeat, swallowed by the earth.
Melody followed Lucien, her hand brushing damp walls etched with faint carvings of wolves bowing to a crowned figure whose face had long eroded.
"How far down does this go?" she whispered
With her voice threaded with uneasiness.
Lucien's voice was low. "Farther than we're meant to remember."
The air thickened with the scent of iron and moss. Beneath it lingered something older: fur, stone, and wild rain.
At the bottom, a vast chamber opened. Lanterns of pale blue flame swung from chains, throwing trembling light across a cracked stone table. Faint runes glowed beneath a layer of dust.
And around the table stood three figures.
Melody froze.
The first was a woman cloaked in dark silver, eyes sharp as moonlight. "Lucien," she said. "You finally decided to return."
"Asha." His tone softened. "Still keeping the veil from collapsing, I see."
"Someone had to." Her gaze slid to Melody. "And who is this?"
"Melody," she said before Lucien could answer.
Asha tilted her head, a faint smile not quite reaching her eyes. "The goddess's echo."
The words sent a chill through Melody. "So you know about me?"
Asha's gaze flicked to the mark on her neck. "Melody, I've guarded the place where your soul once burned through the sky."
Movement stirred in the shadows, two men emerging. Both wolves.
The first, Kael, had eyes the color of frost, his bearing disciplined and still. Scars glimmered faintly along his neck.
The second, Darian, was younger and wilder, his dark curls messy, his stare sharp. He leaned against a pillar, arms crossed.
"You brought her here?" Darian's voice was rough. "You brought her?" He said again,his voice laced with a bit of anger to register his disappointment.
Lucien's jaw tensed. "Watch your tone."
"She's the reason the seal broke last time," Darian shot back. "Or did you forget Dusk Hollow?"
Kael's low growl cut through the air. "Enough." He turned to Lucien. "Why bring her below?"
"The Hollow's heralds found us," Lucien said. "The veil's weakening faster than before. And she"his eyes met Melody's"is the key to stopping it."
Silence pressed down.
Asha moved closer, circling Melody. "The mark is awake," she murmured. "I can feel it."
Melody's voice was barely a whisper. "Can you take it away?"she asked with hope filling her voice.
"No." Asha's tone softened. "It isn't a curse to be removed. It's a call to be answered."
"And if I don't want to?"melody asked with her voice laced with fear.
"The moon doesn't ask permission to rise."
Replied Asha.
Melody caught the look between Asha and Lucien, something unspoken, too familiar. Her heart stuttered.
Kael broke the silence. "The Hollow is awoken. The forest has gone quiet. The stars fade earlier each night. It feeds on the moon's reflection now."
"The Hollow feeds on memory," Lucien said. "The stronger the goddess's power returns, the hungrier it gets."
Darian laughed, harsh. "So the answer is to bring the goddess's vessel to its doorstep? Brilliant." He replied sarcasticaly obviously not convinced,clapping theatrically for good measure.
Lucien's claws flexed, but Asha lifted a hand. "He speaks from fear."Asha said trying to calm Lucien down.
Darian looked at Melody. "Tell me you don't feel it the whisper in your blood. She's waking through you. When she does, you won't be Melody anymore."
The words hit hard.
Lucien's voice dropped. "Enough."
Darian didn't back down. "You think you can protect her forever? How many times have you said that before she died in your arms?"
Pain flickered across Lucien's face, gone as quickly as it came.
Kael stepped forward, firm. "We don't have time for ghosts. The Hollow spreads faster every night as we speak. We need to fortify the ward before it reaches this crypt."
Asha nodded. "Melody can help. The mark binds her to the goddess's magic. She can strengthen the seal."
"I don't know how," Melody said,a part of her wishing this was all a dream--nightmare.
"Instinct will guide you," Asha replied. "It always has."
Lucien's voice softened. "I'll be right here."
Something in his tone steadied her.She hadn't known him for long but she felt somewhat safe and sure that he'd protect her even if it meant him loosing his life.
Melody approached the cracked table. Runes shimmered faintly beneath the dust. Asha and Kael began to chant in a tongue that vibrated through her bones.
Her pulse matched theirs a rhythm older than time.
The mark on her neck flared. Silver light spilled from her hands, weaving through the air into the runes. The ground trembled, magic answering her call.
Flashes hit her, visions of another life. A temple of glass moons. Lucien kneeling, bound in chains of light. Her own voice whispering a promise that ended in fire.
Then it was gone.
She staggered, breathless. Lucien caught her, steadying her by the waist.
The touch lingered. Their eyes met storm meeting storm, centuries between them collapsing heavily in a heartbeat.
"I told you," Asha murmured. "The bond always finds its way back."
Before Melody could speak, the lanterns flickered, dimmed, then steadied.
Kael's head snapped up. "Something's moving above."
Lucien's expression hardened. "They've found us."
Darian drew his crescent-shaped blade. "Let them come."
Lucien's eyes gleamed silver. "No. We move first."
He turned to Melody. "Stay close. Don't use the mark again unless you must. It's not just magicit's a signal."
"To who?" she asked.
His jaw tightened. "To everything that remembers her."
A rumble shook the crypt. Heavy footsteps thundered from the stairwell above.
Asha's voice dropped. "The Hollow's army is awoken."
Lucien gripped Melody's hand. "Then it's time they remembered who we are."
The lanterns blazed white. In a rush of silver flame and shadow, they vanished into the dark
a goddess reborn,
a cursed wolf,
and the remnants of a dying pack marching toward a war centuries in the making.