The forest still hummed with the aftershock of the battle, the air thick with the scent of scorched earth and fading shadow. Lyon stood at the center of the broken clearing, breathing slow and steady. His muscles still thrummed with power, but his mind… his mind was chaos.
Rhea touched his arm softly.
"Lyon… who exactly came for you?"
Lyon's gaze remained fixed on the dark horizon.
"Something older than wolves," he finally replied. "Older than Alpha laws. Older than the Moon's first blessing."
Rhea shivered. "Older than the Moon? That can't be possible."
Lyon turned to face her.
"It shouldn't be. But tonight… everything that shouldn't be has already happened."
Rhea looked around again, scanning the torn roots, the shattered trees.
"This wasn't a normal fight."
"No," Lyon said. "It was a warning."
---
A Night That Refused to Be Still
A cold wind swept through the clearing. Not natural. Not ordinary.
It carried a message—something Lyon felt in his bones.
He turned toward the North.
Rhea noticed.
"What is it?"
Lyon listened.
The wind whispered again—soft, faint, almost human.
"Kade…"
He stiffened. "Someone's calling me."
"No one's here," Rhea said.
Lyon didn't answer. He was already walking deeper into the forest.
The whisper came again, clearer this time.
"Lyon… heir…"
Not threatening. More like a plea.
Rhea followed him.
"Lyon, wait. You're still recovering. You don't know what that thing was—"
Lyon stopped so suddenly she almost collided with him.
His eyes narrowed.
Up ahead, the trees parted into a small ravine. Moonlight pooled in the center like liquid silver.
"What is this place?" Rhea breathed.
"A memory," Lyon murmured. "A place I shouldn't remember."
But he did.
Not from this life…
From the one before.
He descended the ravine slowly.
Rhea hesitated. "Should we… even be here?"
"Yes," Lyon said. "This is meant for me."
---
The Pool of Echoes
They reached the bottom. A shallow pool reflected the moon like a mirror, perfectly still even though the wind blew sharply above.
Rhea frowned.
"There's no ripple."
"There never is," Lyon said quietly.
"You've been here before?"
"…I think so."
He felt the mark on his chest heat up.
Warmth spread across his ribs, pulsing in rhythm with the pool.
A faint outline shimmered within the water—then formed into a face.
A woman's face.
Glowing.
Ancient.
Eyes like galaxies collapsed into silver.
Rhea gasped. "Is that—?"
"Yes," Lyon said hoarsely. "The one who brought me back."
The Moon's Messenger.
The pool rippled softly and her voice rose, ethereal and layered with infinite echoes.
"Lyon Kade… you have been found."
Lyon stepped closer. "What came for me tonight? Who sent him?"
"A warning," the Messenger replied. "The Primordial Order has awakened."
Rhea whispered, "Primordial…?"
Lyon's jaw clenched. "Why do they want me dead?"
The pool shivered, splashing light onto his face.
"Because your rebirth broke a seal that should never have been touched."
Lyon's blood went cold.
"What seal?"
The Messenger's face flickered.
"The seal that binds what you once were."
Lyon's chest tightened.
His heart hammered painfully.
"What I once was?" he repeated.
Rhea's breath stopped.
The Messenger continued, voice quieter now—almost mournful.
"You were not reborn as a wolf. You were returned… as a remnant of the Celestial Beast."
The world dropped from beneath Lyon's feet.
"The Celestial… what?"
"The first alpha," the Messenger said. "The one before wolves. The one the Moon blessed not with claws or fangs—but with sovereignty."
Rhea stumbled.
"Lyon… you're saying—"
Lyon shook his head, not in denial, but in shock.
"That's impossible."
"Your existence is impossible," the Messenger said. "And yet… here you stand."
The pool darkened around her face.
"This is why the Order hunts you. If your celestial nature awakens fully…"
She paused.
"…no power in the world will contain you."
Lyon swallowed hard.
"So what do I do?"
The Messenger's expression softened.
"You must awaken properly. Or you will die."
Rhea gripped Lyon's arm.
"How do we awaken him?"
The Messenger raised her hand, light swirling in her palm.
"Seek the remnants of your former self. The echoes scattered across the world. Only then will you regain what was lost."
Lyon stared at her.
"You're saying there are pieces of… me… out there?"
"Three pieces," the Messenger whispered.
"Three fragments of your prior power. You must find them before the Order does."
The pool began to fade.
Her voice weakened.
"The first fragment… lies closer than you think…"
"What do you mean?" Lyon demanded.
The light flickered violently.
"It is coming for you…"
"What is coming?"
The Messenger's face warped in panic.
"RUN."
The pool exploded upward in a geyser of white light.
---
The Arrival
The forest shook.
The ravine trembled.
Rhea grabbed Lyon's hand.
"Something's coming—"
A roar tore through the night.
Not wolf.
Not bear.
Not anything natural.
Something ancient.
Something that had been waiting.
Trees splintered as a massive shadow lunged between the trunks, eyes glowing with molten gold.
Rhea froze. "Lyon… what is that?"
Lyon didn't speak.
His instincts whispered the truth with icy certainty.
It was one of the fragments.
One piece of himself—twisted, corrupted by centuries of isolation.
A beast shaped like a wolf yet not a wolf.
Bones glowing under its skin.
Teeth formed from light.
Breath heavy with celestial heat.
And it was staring at Lyon.
Not with hunger.
With recognition.
It growled—a sound that made the earth bow.
Rhea trembled. "Lyon… say something…"
Lyon stepped forward, eyes locked on the creature.
"That's mine," he whispered.
The creature roared, shaking the sky.
It charged.
The ground cracked beneath its sprint.
Rhea screamed, "LYON!"
Lyon didn't move.
Instead—
He welcomed it.
Power surged through him like a storm breaking free.
The creature leapt.
Lyon lifted his hand—
—and his mark ignited like a newborn sun.
Light exploded between them.
Rhea shielded her face as the world turned white.
---
Contact
The creature slammed into the radiant barrier, its body dissolving into pure energy. The force knocked Lyon back two steps, but he held his ground.
The beast howled—not in pain, but in release.
Its form shattered into hundreds of luminous shards that spiraled around Lyon like fireflies caught in a hurricane.
They rushed into his mark.
One shard at a time.
One echo at a time.
One memory at a time.
Lyon screamed as the power fused with him.
Rhea reached for him—but the force threw her back.
The light consumed the ravine.
Consumed the forest.
Consumed Lyon.
When it finally dimmed…
Lyon stood alone.
Breathing hard.
Eyes burning silver.
A new aura crackling around him like chains made of lightning.
Rhea stumbled toward him.
"Lyon… are you still… you?"
Lyon looked at his hands, trembling with power he didn't yet understand.
"I don't know," he whispered.
The ground behind them cracked open.
A familiar voice echoed through the trees.
"Well," the cloaked visitor said, stepping from the shadows.
"Now you've done it."
Lyon turned slowly.
The figure's smile was cold.
"You've awakened the first fragment."
He raised his hand.
"And now every hunter in the Order will feel it."
He pointed directly at Lyon.
"Congratulations, heir. Your war starts tonight."