The mountain screamed.
Kael had never heard anything like it.
Stone groaned around him as if the entire mountain had become a living creature.
The floor shook beneath his feet.
Cracks raced along the walls, splitting ancient carvings and sending clouds of dust into the air.
Mara stumbled.
Kael caught her.
“Keep moving!”
“I am!”
Another tremor threw them against the wall.
Behind them came a sound that made every instinct in Kael’s body scream.
A claw scraped across stone.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The creature beneath the mountain was climbing.
Kael looked back.
For a moment, he saw nothing but darkness.
Then two enormous white eyes opened.
They were larger than his entire body.
Mara stared.
“That’s not a wolf.”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
The creature’s head emerged from the darkness.
It was enormous.
Its skull was long and narrow, covered in black armor-like plates.
Two twisted horns curved backward from its head.
Its mouth opened, revealing rows of teeth that looked more like shards of obsidian than anything belonging to a living creature.
But it was the eyes that terrified Kael.
They were not animal eyes.
They were intelligent.
Ancient.
Furious.
And they were looking directly at him.
The creature spoke.
**Little prison.**
Kael froze.
Mara grabbed his hand.
“Don’t listen.”
The creature smiled.
At least, Kael thought it smiled.
**You have returned.**
Kael’s heart hammered.
“Who are you?”
The creature’s head tilted.
**You know me.**
“I don’t.”
**You will.**
The beast pulled itself higher.
The cavern shook.
Kael felt something inside his chest respond.
A pulse.
Then another.
The crescent-shaped mark on his forehead burned.
The creature inhaled.
Its expression changed.
**The seal.**
It sounded almost amused.
**You still carry it.**
Kael touched his forehead.
“What seal?”
The creature laughed.
The sound traveled through the mountain.
**The one you placed upon yourself.**
Kael felt dizzy.
Mara looked at him.
“What does it mean?”
“I don’t know.”
The creature answered for him.
**He doesn’t remember.**
Its enormous eyes narrowed.
**Not yet.**
Nyra appeared behind them.
She looked tiny beside the creature.
Yet the beast immediately stopped.
Its expression changed.
“You.”
Nyra’s voice was no longer that of a frightened child.
It was ancient.
Powerful.
“Stay away from him.”
The creature snarled.
**You are only a fragment.**
Nyra raised her hand.
Light burst from her palm.
The creature recoiled.
For the first time, Kael saw fear in its eyes.
“Go!” Nyra shouted.
Kael grabbed Mara.
They ran.
They raced up the staircase as the cavern collapsed behind them.
Stone fell from above.
Mara ducked.
Kael pushed her beneath an archway as a massive chunk of rock crashed where she had been standing.
“Thank you,” she gasped.
“Don’t thank me yet.”
They continued climbing.
The staircase seemed endless.
Behind them, the creature roared.
The sound knocked Kael off his feet.
Mara fell beside him.
Then came another voice.
Not from the creature.
From above.
“Kael!”
His mother’s voice.
Kael looked up.
Seraphine stood at the top of the stairs.
She was holding a sword.
Behind her stood several wolves.
“Come!”
Kael and Mara climbed.
Seraphine grabbed Kael’s arm as soon as he reached the top.
“Where is Nyra?”
Kael looked back.
“She stayed.”
Seraphine’s face fell.
“Then we’re out of time.”
Aldren stood behind her.
His sword was drawn.
“How far?”
Kael stared at his father.
“How far what?”
“How far has it awakened?”
Kael looked toward the staircase.
“It spoke to me.”
Aldren’s face became grim.
“What did it say?”
Kael hesitated.
“It called me its prison.”
Aldren closed his eyes.
“Then the seal is already broken.”
Seraphine looked at him.
“You knew this would happen.”
“I knew it was possible.”
“You knew.”
Aldren turned toward her.
“And what did you expect me to do?”
“Tell him!”
“I was trying to protect him.”
“By lying?”
Aldren’s expression hardened.
“You don’t understand what happens if he remembers everything.”
Kael stepped between them.
“I am standing right here.”
Both stopped.
Kael looked at his father.
“No more secrets.”
Aldren stared at him.
Kael’s voice became stronger.
“I want everything.”
His father said nothing.
“Who was I?”
Silence.
“What is that creature?”
Silence.
“Why did I die?”
Still silence.
Kael’s eyes began glowing.
“Tell me.”
Aldren finally spoke.
“You were the first king of the Moon Clans.”
Kael waited.
“You united the wolves.”
Aldren continued.
“You defeated the human kingdoms that hunted them.”
He paused.
“You discovered the Moon Mother’s greatest secret.”
“What secret?”
“That the Moon Mother did not create the wolves.”
Kael frowned.
“Then who did?”
Aldren looked toward the floor.
“The creature below.”
Mara swallowed.
“The beast?”
Aldren nodded.
“The First Wolf.”
Kael remembered the creature’s voice.
**My prison.**
“What is it?”
Aldren’s voice dropped.
“It was the first living thing to ever transform.”
Kael stared.
“It created the first werewolves?”
“No.”
Aldren looked at him.
“It created the curse.”
Kael felt cold.
“What curse?”
“The wolf blood.”
Aldren continued.
“Long before humans built cities, the First Wolf wandered the world.
It could take any form.
It could possess any living creature.
It could enter dreams.
It could bend lesser wolves to its will.”
Seraphine added:
“It became obsessed with the moon.”
Kael looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because the moon rejected it.”
Kael frowned.
“Rejected it?”
“The Moon Mother was not always a goddess.”
Seraphine looked toward the cracked ceiling.
“She was once a mortal woman who carried the power of the moon within her blood.”
Aldren nodded.
“She defeated the First Wolf and imprisoned it beneath the mountain.”
Kael looked toward the stairs.
“Then where did werewolves come from?”
“The Moon Mother created the first wolf bloodlines from fragments of its power.”
Kael stared.
“So every werewolf carries a piece of that creature.”
“Yes.”
Kael felt sick.
“Then what am I?”
Aldren looked at him.
“You carry more than a piece.”
The mountain shook.
Everyone staggered.
A deep growl rolled through the palace.
Aldren raised his sword.
“He’s coming.”
Kael’s heart began pounding.
“Can we stop him?”
Aldren looked at his son.
“Yes.”
Kael waited.
“How?”
Aldren’s answer was quiet.
“You must remember.”
Kael frowned.
“Remember what?”
“How you killed yourself.”
Mara stepped forward.
“Why would that help?”
Aldren looked at her.
“Because Kael’s death was not an accident.”
Kael’s blood chilled.
“What do you mean?”
Aldren looked into his son’s eyes.
“You sacrificed yourself to become the seal.”
Kael shook his head.
“I don’t understand.”
“You bound the First Wolf to your own soul.”
Kael froze.
Aldren continued.
“Your body died, but your soul carried the creature with it.”
Kael touched his chest.
“The voice…”
“Is him.”
Kael looked toward the stairs.
“The creature inside me?”
Aldren nodded.
“You are not its prison anymore.”
Kael’s stomach dropped.
“What am I?”
Aldren looked at him.
“A doorway.”
The palace doors exploded.
Everyone turned.
A wave of black energy swept through the throne room.
Wolves were thrown against the walls.
Mara screamed.
Seraphine raised her sword.
Aldren stood before Kael.
The darkness gathered.
Then a figure stepped through.
It looked human.
At first.
A tall man emerged from the smoke.
He had black hair.
Pale skin.
White eyes.
His body was covered in black markings.
Two small horns protruded from his forehead.
Kael stared.
The creature smiled.
“Better.”
Its voice was almost human.
Aldren raised his sword.
“You cannot have him.”
The creature laughed.
“You still believe you can command me?”
Aldren charged.
The creature moved.
Too fast.
Its hand struck Aldren in the chest.
The king flew backward.
He crashed through the throne.
The ancient stone shattered.
Seraphine screamed.
“Aldren!”
She attacked.
The creature caught her sword.
With one hand.
Seraphine’s eyes widened.
The creature whispered:
“Guardian.”
Then it threw her aside.
Kael’s anger exploded.
“Don’t touch them!”
The creature looked at him.
Its smile widened.
“There’s my king.”
Kael’s body transformed.
Black fur erupted across his arms.
His claws extended.
His eyes burned white.
He lunged.
The creature caught him by the throat.
Kael struggled.
The beast brought its face close.
“Do you remember me?”
Kael growled.
“No.”
The creature smiled.
“You will.”
It slammed him into the floor.
Pain exploded through his body.
Mara screamed his name.
Kael tried to rise.
The creature stepped toward him.
“You were magnificent.”
Kael looked up.
“What?”
“You killed yourself to imprison me.”
The creature crouched.
“You chose death rather than serve me.”
Kael stared.
“I would do it again.”
The creature’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
It grabbed Kael’s head.
“This time, you will choose me.”
Dark energy flooded into Kael.
He screamed.
Memories exploded through his mind.
A thousand years vanished.
He saw himself as the ancient king.
He saw the old kingdom.
He saw his mother.
He saw Aldren.
He saw the Moon Mother.
He saw the First Wolf.
And then he saw the truth.
Aldren had not murdered the Moon Mother.
The Moon Mother had sacrificed herself to weaken the First Wolf.
But someone had betrayed her.
Someone had opened the prison.
Someone had allowed the creature to escape.
Kael saw himself confronting that person.
He saw a sword.
He saw blood.
He saw the traitor.
His father.
Kael’s eyes widened.
“No.”
Aldren’s voice echoed in the memory.
**I had no choice.**
Kael remembered.
Aldren had opened the prison.
Not to free the First Wolf.
To steal its power.
He had wanted immortality.
He had wanted to become the strongest wolf king in history.
But the First Wolf had deceived him.
It had entered Aldren’s soul.
The Moon Mother discovered the betrayal.
She sacrificed herself to force the creature back into the prison.
Kael had tried to save her.
He failed.
Then he made his final choice.
He sealed the First Wolf inside himself.
But Aldren had survived.
And for a thousand years, he had searched for a way to bring his son back.
Kael opened his eyes.
He was lying on the floor.
The creature stood over him.
Aldren was wounded.
Seraphine was unconscious.
Mara was trapped beneath fallen stone.
Kael looked at his father.
“You lied.”
Aldren’s face was filled with pain.
“I know.”
“You opened the prison.”
“I was young.”
“You killed the Moon Mother.”
“I didn’t know what would happen.”
“You betrayed me.”
Aldren lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Kael’s eyes burned white.
“Why?”
Aldren looked at him.
“Because I was afraid of dying.”
The creature laughed.
“At last.”
Everyone looked at it.
The First Wolf stepped closer.
“He remembers.”
Kael slowly stood.
The creature’s expression changed.
Kael’s body began changing.
Black fur spread across his chest.
His claws grew longer.
His shoulders broadened.
His spine cracked.
But this transformation was different.
The power didn’t feel wild.
It felt controlled.
Ancient.
Royal.
A crown-shaped mark appeared across his forehead.
The First Wolf took one step backward.
Kael looked at it.
“I remember you.”
The creature’s eyes narrowed.
“You remember nothing.”
Kael smiled.
“I remember everything.”
He raised his hand.
The shadows around the creature began moving.
The First Wolf looked down.
Chains appeared beneath its feet.
Ancient silver chains.
The same chains that had sealed it a thousand years ago.
Its expression changed.
“No.”
Kael’s voice echoed through the throne room.
“You forgot something.”
The creature struggled.
Kael stepped forward.
“I was never your prison.”
The chains tightened.
“I was your jailer.”
The First Wolf roared.
The palace shook.
Kael’s power erupted.
A wave of silver energy swept across the kingdom.
Every ancient wolf beneath the mountain bowed.
Even Aldren lowered his head.
Mara stared at Kael.
He no longer looked like the frightened boy from Blackthorn Valley.
He looked like a king.
The First Wolf screamed.
“You cannot bind me again!”
Kael’s eyes became completely white.
“I don’t have to.”
The chains tightened.
“I only have to remember who I am.”
The creature began dissolving into darkness.
But before it disappeared, it smiled.
Kael froze.
The creature whispered:
“Then remember this.”
The darkness vanished.
Silence returned.
Kael stood motionless.
Mara slowly emerged from beneath the rubble.
“Kael?”
He turned.
His eyes returned to silver.
Mara approached carefully.
“Are you okay?”
Kael looked at his hands.
“I don’t know.”
Aldren rose slowly.
Blood covered his armor.
He looked at Kael.
“You have awakened.”
Kael stared at him.
“No.”
He walked closer.
“I have remembered.”
Aldren’s expression became sorrowful.
“Then you know what must happen.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Aldren looked toward the palace doors.
“War.”
Outside, thousands of wolves were howling.
But beneath their voices came something else.
Horns.
Drums.
Marching armies.
Seraphine opened her eyes.
She looked toward the ceiling.
“The king’s army has entered the mountain.”
Mara frowned.
“Which king?”
Seraphine looked at Kael.
“Not Aldren.”
Kael’s blood froze.
Aldren turned toward the entrance.
His expression became one of pure terror.
“No.”
A figure appeared beyond the palace doors.
A man wearing a crown of bone.
His armor was red.
His eyes were black.
Behind him stood thousands of soldiers.
But they weren’t human.
They were wolves.
Werewolves.
Ancient warriors carrying swords, axes, and spears.
At the center of them stood a woman.
Her hair was red.
Her eyes were golden.
She smiled at Kael.
“Moon-Born.”
Kael stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
She bowed.
“Queen Lyssara.”
Mara whispered:
“Queen?”
Lyssara smiled.
“The Queen of the Western Packs.”
Kael’s mother stood.
“Why are you here?”
Lyssara looked at Seraphine.
“Because the First Wolf has awakened.”
Kael frowned.
“He is sealed again.”
Lyssara laughed.
“No.”
She pointed at Kael.
“He’s inside you.”
Kael froze.
The mark on his forehead burned.
Lyssara’s smile widened.
“And every wolf in the world can feel it.”
She raised her sword.
“The packs have chosen.”
Kael looked at the thousands of wolves behind her.
“What have they chosen?”
Lyssara’s golden eyes gleamed.
“War.”
She lowered her sword.
“Against the human kingdoms.”
The wolves roared.
Mara looked at Kael.
“That’s not good.”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
He stared at the army.
“That’s not the worst part.”
“What is?”
Kael could feel something far beyond the mountain.
Something moving.
Something enormous.
Something that had been waiting for the First Wolf to awaken.
He looked toward the cracked Blood Moon.
And suddenly he understood.
The First Wolf had not been trying to escape.
It had been calling something else.
Something worse.
Kael whispered:
“The war isn’t between humans and wolves.”
Mara looked at him.
“Then who is it against?”
Kael stared into the distance.
“The thing that created the First Wolf.”
The palace went silent.
Even Queen Lyssara’s smile disappeared.
A shadow passed across the Blood Moon.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The sky darkened.
Kael looked upward.
For the first time, fear returned to his face.
Something was descending from the heavens.
And every wolf beneath the mountain began to kneel.
Not to Kael.
Not to Aldren.
Not to Lyssara.
To whatever was coming.
A voice echoed across the world.
**MY CHILDREN.**
Kael’s blood froze.
The voice continued.
**YOU HAVE PLAYED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE MOON FOR LONG ENOUGH.**
The clouds split apart.
Something enormous looked down through the opening.
An eye.
Silver.
Colossal.
Kael stared.
Mara whispered:
“What is that?”
Kael didn’t answer.
He already knew.
The First Wolf had been the beginning.
The Moon Mother had been the guardian.
But the thing above them—
was the creator.
And it had finally come looking for its children.
The Blood Moon turned completely black.
Then the voice spoke again.
**BRING ME THE MOON-BORN.**
Every wolf in the kingdom turned toward Kael.
And for the first time since his awakening, Kael understood something terrifying.
He wasn’t being hunted anymore.
He was being claimed.
Far above the mountain, the ancient creator opened its second eye.
And smiled.
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