The first thing Kael felt was heat.
Not the heat of fire.
Not the warmth of sunlight.
This was different.
It burned beneath his skin.
It moved through his veins like molten silver, gathering behind his heart before spreading through every part of his body.
The ancient wolves were awake.
Their roars shook the kingdom beneath the mountain.
Stone dust rained from the ceiling.
Blue flames became crimson.
The enormous statues lining the throne room cracked.
Then one of them moved.
A stone wolf turned its head.
Mara stared.
“Kael…”
“I see it.”
Another statue moved.
Then another.
The kingdom was waking.
The king stood across the throne room with his sword raised.
He was taller than Kael had expected.
His hair was black streaked with silver, and a thin scar ran from the corner of his left eye to his jaw.
He wore armor made of dark metal.
A crown of silver rested upon his head.
But it was his eyes that Kael couldn’t stop looking at.
Gold.
The same golden eyes he had seen in his visions.
The same eyes that belonged to Lord Varian.
Kael’s mother stood between them.
“Leave him alone, Aldren.”
The king laughed quietly.
“You still believe you can protect him?”
“I protected him once.”
“And failed.”
His words struck harder than any weapon.
Kael looked at his mother.
“Is that true?”
She didn’t answer.
The king smiled.
“You see?”
He lowered his sword.
“She has never told you the truth.”
Kael’s claws extended.
“Then tell me.”
Aldren looked directly into his eyes.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Very well.”
The king slowly stepped forward.
“You were not born sixteen years ago.”
Kael’s chest tightened.
“You were born more than a thousand years ago.”
Silence.
Mara stared at Aldren.
“That’s impossible.”
“To humans.”
The king glanced at her.
“Not to wolves.”
Kael shook his head.
“You’re lying.”
Aldren smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
Kael turned.
“Mother?”
She closed her eyes.
“He’s telling the truth.”
The words broke something inside Kael.
His knees nearly weakened.
Mara caught his arm.
Kael stared at the woman who had been a stranger only moments ago.
“Who was I?”
She looked at him.
“The first Moon-Born king.”
Kael swallowed.
“And you?”
“I was your guardian.”
“And Aldren?”
His mother hesitated.
Then she said:
“Your father.”
Kael’s eyes widened.
Aldren sheathed his sword.
“You were my son.”
“Was?”
The king’s expression changed.
“You died.”
Kael stared at him.
“How?”
Aldren looked toward the ancient mural.
“Because you tried to kill me.”
The words echoed through the throne room.
Kael shook his head.
“I wouldn’t.”
“You did.”
“Why?”
Aldren’s jaw tightened.
“Because you discovered what I had done.”
“What did you do?”
The king didn’t answer.
Kael stepped closer.
“What did you do?”
Aldren’s golden eyes darkened.
“I became king.”
“That’s not a crime.”
“No.”
Aldren looked toward Kael’s mother.
“Becoming king wasn’t the crime.”
His gaze returned to Kael.
“What I did to become king was.”
Kael felt the ancient power inside him stir.
“Tell me.”
Aldren’s voice became quieter.
“I killed the Moon Mother.”
The throne room went silent.
Mara stared at him.
Kael looked toward the mural.
The inscription suddenly made sense.
**Slayer of the Moon Goddess.**
“You killed her.”
Aldren nodded.
“She refused to give me immortality.”
Kael’s mother stepped forward.
“And you slaughtered her followers.”
“I did what was necessary.”
“You murdered thousands.”
“I built an empire.”
“You destroyed the old kingdom!”
“I created the new one.”
Kael looked between them.
“Why?”
Aldren’s eyes returned to him.
“Because I wanted a world where wolves would never bow to humans again.”
Kael frowned.
“Then why did you try to kill me?”
Aldren’s expression became almost sorrowful.
“Because you became stronger than I ever imagined.”
He stepped closer.
“After the Moon Mother died, her power entered you.”
Kael felt a chill.
“The power of a goddess?”
“Not all of it.”
Aldren smiled.
“Enough.”
Kael’s mother shook her head.
“You weren’t supposed to inherit it.”
“But he did.”
Aldren’s gaze hardened.
“And that made him dangerous.”
Kael remembered the voice in his mind.
**Open the gate.**
He looked toward the throne.
“What gate?”
Aldren’s expression changed.
For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.
“The Gate of the First Moon.”
Kael looked at his mother.
“What is it?”
She whispered:
“A doorway.”
“To where?”
“To the world before this one.”
Mara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Aldren answered.
“It means a doorway to the place where the first wolves were created.”
Kael stared.
“Why does everyone want it?”
“Because whoever controls it controls the source of every wolf’s blood.”
The ancient kingdom trembled again.
A distant roar echoed through the halls.
Aldren looked toward the doorway.
“They’re coming.”
Varian stepped forward.
“My king.”
Aldren nodded.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Kael looked at Varian.
“You knew.”
Varian met his gaze.
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who my father was.”
“Yes.”
Kael’s claws lengthened.
“And you lied to me.”
Varian didn’t deny it.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Kael laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says that.”
His mother stepped toward him.
“Kael—”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“All my life, people have been deciding what I should know.”
His voice trembled.
“My parents were alive.”
He looked at Aldren.
“My father is a king.”
Then at his mother.
“My mother is a guardian.”
He looked around the throne room.
“And I am supposed to be some ancient king who died a thousand years ago.”
He shook his head.
“Yet nobody thought I deserved the truth.”
His mother reached toward him.
“I’m sorry.”
Kael stepped away.
“Sorry doesn’t explain why I remember dying.”
Her expression froze.
“What?”
Kael looked at Aldren.
“I remember.”
The king went still.
Kael’s voice lowered.
“I remember the battlefield.”
Aldren’s face became pale.
“I remember the fire.”
Kael’s eyes glowed.
“I remember you.”
Aldren’s fingers tightened around his sword.
Kael saw another memory.
A thousand years ago.
A battlefield beneath a silver moon.
He stood surrounded by wolves.
His mother stood beside him.
Aldren faced him with a sword.
The young Kael of the past was covered in blood.
He remembered shouting.
He remembered rage.
He remembered something else.
Aldren had not killed him.
Kael had fallen by his own choice.
He had driven a blade into his own chest.
Because he had discovered the truth.
The Moon Mother had not been killed by Aldren.
She had sacrificed herself.
To seal something.
Something worse.
Kael’s eyes widened.
“No.”
Aldren stepped forward.
“You remember.”
Kael looked at him.
“What did you seal?”
Aldren’s face became expressionless.
“Nothing.”
Kael knew he was lying.
“You didn’t kill the Moon Mother.”
The king said nothing.
“You couldn’t.”
Kael’s voice became stronger.
“She sacrificed herself.”
His mother covered her mouth.
Aldren’s silence confirmed it.
Mara looked between them.
“What did she sacrifice herself for?”
Kael suddenly heard the voice again.
**Open the gate.**
He looked toward the throne.
The stone beneath it was glowing.
A symbol appeared.
A crescent surrounded by three claws.
His mother gasped.
“The seal.”
Kael walked toward it.
Aldren grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
Kael looked down at his father’s hand.
“Let go.”
“No.”
“Let go.”
Aldren’s grip tightened.
“You don’t understand what is beneath this kingdom.”
Kael’s eyes flashed white.
A shockwave exploded from his body.
Aldren was thrown across the room.
He crashed into a pillar.
Mara stared.
Kael stared at his own hands.
He had not meant to do that.
His mother whispered:
“The power is awakening.”
Kael looked toward the floor.
The symbol continued glowing.
Then the throne moved.
Stone scraped against stone.
A hidden staircase appeared beneath it.
Darkness waited below.
Aldren rose slowly.
Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
“Seal it.”
Kael looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because if you open it, everything dies.”
A voice echoed from beneath the staircase.
A whisper.
Then another.
Then thousands.
**Moon-Born.**
Kael’s body went cold.
**Come below.**
His mother grabbed his arm.
“Don’t listen.”
Kael looked at her.
“What is down there?”
She hesitated.
“The truth.”
“About what?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“About your birth.”
Kael stared into the darkness.
Then he stepped onto the first stair.
His mother grabbed his wrist.
“Kael.”
He stopped.
She looked into his eyes.
“If you go down there, there is no returning to the life you knew.”
Kael looked back at the throne room.
At Mara.
At Aldren.
At Varian.
Then at the darkness.
“I don’t have a life I knew anymore.”
He pulled free.
And descended.
Mara followed immediately.
“Wait!”
Kael looked back.
“You don’t have to.”
She smiled.
“I’ve already told you.”
“What?”
“Someone has to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”
Kael almost smiled.
Together they descended.
Behind them, Kael’s mother turned toward Aldren.
“You can’t stop him.”
Aldren wiped the blood from his mouth.
“I know.”
Varian looked at him.
“My king.”
Aldren stared into the darkness.
“Prepare the army.”
“For what?”
Aldren’s eyes hardened.
“For the war.”
The staircase seemed endless.
Kael and Mara descended for several minutes.
The walls were covered with carvings.
Wolves.
Moon symbols.
Battles.
Kings.
And one recurring image.
A black wolf standing before a doorway.
Every carving showed the same wolf.
Every time, its eyes were white.
Mara ran her fingers across one carving.
“Is that you?”
Kael looked at it.
“I don’t know.”
They continued.
The air grew colder.
Then they heard water.
A river flowed beneath the stairs.
But this river wasn’t black.
It was silver.
Moonlight seemed to move inside it.
Kael stopped.
Mara stared.
“How can moonlight be underground?”
Kael stepped toward the river.
He saw his reflection.
For a moment, he looked normal.
Then the reflection changed.
He saw himself wearing a crown.
His eyes were white.
Blood covered his hands.
Behind him stood thousands of wolves.
And behind them—
a woman with black wings.
Kael stepped backward.
“What was that?”
Mara looked at the water.
“I didn’t see anything.”
Kael stared.
“You didn’t?”
She shook her head.
Before he could respond, a voice came from the darkness.
“You weren’t supposed to see her yet.”
Kael spun around.
A small figure stood on the opposite bank.
A girl.
She looked perhaps twelve years old.
Her hair was white.
Her eyes were completely black.
She wore a dress made from silver threads.
Mara immediately stepped in front of Kael.
“Who are you?”
The girl smiled.
“My name is Nyra.”
Kael frowned.
“Are you a wolf?”
The girl laughed.
“No.”
“What are you?”
She tilted her head.
“I am what remains of the Moon Mother.”
Silence.
Kael stared.
Mara’s face went pale.
“The goddess?”
Nyra nodded.
“Part of her.”
Kael stepped closer.
“Why am I here?”
Nyra’s smile disappeared.
“Because you are running out of time.”
“Time for what?”
“To remember.”
Kael felt the strange pressure behind his eyes.
Nyra pointed toward the river.
“Look.”
Kael stared into the silver water.
Images appeared.
A thousand years ago.
A city burning.
Wolves screaming.
The Moon Mother standing before a massive black gate.
Aldren stood behind her.
Kael stood between them.
His mother was crying.
Then the gate opened.
Something reached through.
A hand.
Too large.
Too black.
Covered in glowing symbols.
Kael watched himself step forward.
He heard his own ancient voice.
**I will seal it.**
The Moon Mother shook her head.
**You will die.**
His ancient self smiled.
**Then remember me.**
He drove a blade into his chest.
The gate slammed shut.
The vision ended.
Kael collapsed.
Mara caught him.
“Kael!”
He struggled to breathe.
“I remember.”
Nyra watched him silently.
“What did I seal?”
The girl looked toward the darkness.
Then she whispered:
“The first wolf.”
Kael froze.
“I thought I was the first wolf.”
Nyra shook her head.
“No.”
Her black eyes turned white.
“You were its prison.”
The mountain trembled.
A roar came from somewhere below.
Not like a wolf.
Not like any living creature.
It sounded like the earth itself had learned how to scream.
The silver river began flowing backward.
Mara grabbed Kael’s arm.
“What is happening?”
Nyra looked frightened for the first time.
“The seal is breaking.”
Kael stared into the darkness.
“Why?”
Nyra looked at him.
“Because you have returned.”
Kael’s blood turned cold.
“But I didn’t break it.”
Nyra whispered:
“You don’t have to.”
Another roar shook the kingdom.
The ancient creature beneath them spoke.
Its voice traveled through the stone.
Through the river.
Through Kael’s bones.
**MY PRISON HAS RETURNED.**
Kael’s eyes flashed white.
The creature continued.
**AND MY PRISON WILL BECOME MY KINGDOM.**
The floor cracked.
A massive black claw emerged from beneath the stone.
Mara screamed.
Kael stepped backward.
Nyra looked at him.
“Run.”
Kael stared at the claw.
“Where?”
Nyra pointed upward.
“Anywhere.”
The claw struck the ground.
The entire cavern exploded.
Stone collapsed.
The silver river burst from its banks.
Kael grabbed Mara.
They ran.
Behind them, something enormous began climbing out of the darkness.
And as they fled through the collapsing kingdom, Kael heard a final whisper inside his mind.
Not from Nyra.
Not from his mother.
Not from the creature.
From himself.
**You remembered too soon.**
Kael looked back.
Two enormous white eyes opened beneath the mountain.
Then came the voice.
**Now remember how you died.**
The kingdom beneath the mountain began to fall.
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