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The peace didn't last long.
A tremor rattled the floor of the bunker at dawn—subtle, but unnatural. Eira was the first to sense it. She woke Alex with a single word: "Totem."
They followed the pulse of the tremor deep into the Preserve, where the land turned cold and brittle despite the season. In a clearing ringed by dying trees stood a stone monolith carved with ancient symbols—older than Hale, older than Beacon Hills.
"It wasn't here yesterday," Eira said, circling the structure. "This… this is a shifter totem. But the marks—"
"They're from the Wild Pact," Alex finished, his voice suddenly hoarse.
She looked at him. "That pact was broken centuries ago."
"Or we thought it was."
As he reached out, the stone reacted. A deep hum stirred the air, and the runes ignited with crimson light.
Visions crashed into him: monstrous shifters running under blood-red moons, a voice chanting an oath in a language no longer spoken, and finally—Kaelen's face… but twisted, almost feral.
Alex jerked his hand back.
"They bound something here. And Kaelen—he was trying to unleash it."
Eira's eyes widened. "If he failed, maybe this is the consequence. A fallback. A curse."
"Or a door," Alex muttered.
Before they could react, black roots exploded from the earth, wrapping around the base of the totem. A burst of dark energy erupted from the stone, slamming them both into the trees.
Alex shifted midair, landing in a low crouch, claws bared.
From the base of the totem, a creature emerged—neither wolf nor man, but a fusion of shifter forms. Its body pulsed with ancient runes, its eyes burned with fury.
It hissed. "The pact is void. The curse awakens."
Then it lunged.
Alex collided with the creature, claws clashing in a storm of fire and ash. Eira joined the fray, launching sigils to slow it down. But the totem pulsed again, feeding the beast with every passing second.
"We can't win like this," Eira shouted.
"We're not meant to," Alex growled. "It's a warning."
He looked at the glowing runes and realized what they meant.
"Three totems. One curse. One choice."
They had found the first.
And something far older than Kaelen was waiting for the last seal to break.
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Chapter 21: The Crimson Moon Oath?