Ashes don't forget the fire that made them.
The sky outside the war chamber bled crimson.
Smoke rose from the edge of the forest, coiling like dark fingers into the clouds, and the thud of war drums shook the walls as if the very earth had grown a heartbeat. Something ancient stirred in the distance—something neither wolf nor magic had claimed dominion over.
And in the heart of it all, Lyra stood frozen.
Kade's scent still lingered in the air—pine, storm, heat—and it twisted with her rising panic. His rejection hadn't dulled her senses to him. It had only sharpened them, like a blade honed too long. Every look, every breath, still carried a weight she hadn't unlearned.
Yet now, he wasn't the only one watching her.
Caelan's silver eyes were fixed on her, too cold to be comforting. He hadn't moved since laying claim to her with that bone-chilling declaration. She wanted to tell him he was wrong. That she didn't belong to anyone. But her voice had fled somewhere deep in her chest, caged by fear and fire.
"What's coming?" Lyra asked Ronan, finally finding her words.
Ronan's jaw was clenched, his brown eyes dark with worry. "Something wrong. The trees whispered it before they went silent."
"You talk to trees now?" Kade snapped, his patience worn thin.
"They talk to me," Ronan said without looking at him. "When they want to be heard."
No one laughed. The tension was too thick. The air too charged.
Caelan stepped forward. "If we don't move now, the choice will be made for us. Lyra, come with me."
Kade's arm shot out, blocking him. "She stays."
"She's not yours to command."
"You don't know what you're unleashing. She's—"
"She's the Moonborne, Alpha Vale." Caelan's tone turned steely. "And she's more valuable than your entire bloodline."
Lyra's head spun. Moonborne. That word again.
"What does that mean?" she demanded. "Why does everyone keep calling me that?"
Caelan turned to her, slow and deliberate. "Because you are the heir of a forgotten line—one that was nearly wiped from existence. You are the blood of the Moonmother, Lyra. And if your powers are awakening… the balance has already begun to shift."
"You're lying."
"I don't lie," Caelan said. "I deliver truth. Whether people want it or not."
Before Lyra could respond, a deafening roar split the sky.
The stone beneath them cracked. Dust rained down from the ceiling. The entire chamber shook as something massive slammed into the northern wall of the fortress.
A second roar followed.
And then—howls.
Hundreds of them.
Not wolves.
Not pure wolves.
These were something else.
"Run," Ronan whispered.
But it was too late.
The northern wall caved in with a sound like mountains dying. Stone shattered, smoke billowed in, and through the thick cloud stepped a creature that looked like it had clawed its way out of a nightmare.
It stood twelve feet tall, covered in matted gray fur, with glowing red eyes and curved fangs the length of Lyra's forearm. Its limbs were too long, too crooked. Not natural. Not born.
Twisted.
A rogue.
But not just any rogue.
A Fanged One.
Ronan swore, pulling Lyra behind him. "They were extinct!"
"Not anymore," Caelan growled, unsheathing twin crescent blades from his back. "Someone's resurrecting old sins."
The beast howled and charged.
Chaos broke loose.
Kade shifted instantly, launching himself into the fray with teeth bared. Caelan met the beast head-on, his blades dancing in silver arcs as they clashed with the Fanged One's claws. Sparks flew. Stone splintered.
Ronan dragged Lyra toward the escape tunnel, his grip fierce. "We have to go."
"I'm not running."
"Lyra—"
"I can't leave them."
The second the words left her lips, she knew they were truth. She couldn't run again. Not when everything inside her screamed that this battle was part of the awakening. Her magic pulsed at her fingertips, raw and untamed.
She stepped forward.
And the world shifted around her.
The smoke parted as if bowing. The Fanged One faltered in its steps, sniffing the air as its glowing eyes locked on her.
Then it kneeled.
A stunned silence fell.
Even Kade froze mid-battle, fur bristling, panting.
"What the hell…" Ronan breathed.
Caelan's eyes narrowed. "She commands them."
"No," Lyra whispered, shaking her head. "I—I didn't do anything."
But the truth hung in the air like fog.
The creature was obeying.
Her.
Another one stepped through the smoke—just as deformed, just as monstrous—and dropped to its knees beside the first.
Three more followed.
Kade shifted back slowly, blood trailing down his arm, eyes locked on Lyra like she'd grown horns.
"What are you?"
Lyra didn't answer. Couldn't. Her head was spinning, her breath shallow.
Caelan lowered his blades but didn't sheath them. "The Moonborne weren't just royal bloodlines. They were commanders of the dark and light. Balance incarnate."
"She can't control these things," Kade said. "They're killers."
"Maybe they were," Caelan said. "Maybe they are. But she's calling to something older. Something deeper."
The Fanged Ones didn't move. They waited, breath steaming in the cold air.
"I didn't ask them to kneel," Lyra said. "I don't want this."
"Want it or not," Caelan replied, "you just changed the rules of the game."
Then the final blow came.
One of the creatures opened its mouth.
And spoke.
Its voice was guttural, broken, like gravel and nightmares.
"Mother returns."
Lyra stumbled back.
"No. No, I'm not—"
The beast repeated, louder this time. "Mother returns."
The others echoed the cry, heads still bowed, and the sound shook the marrow of every bone in her body.
Caelan turned toward her, his expression unreadable. "The Eclipse Council won't ignore this."
"I don't even know what this is!"
Kade moved closer, chest rising and falling, eyes filled with something she couldn't place—fear, awe, maybe even guilt.
"I thought you were just…" he started.
"Just what?"
He didn't answer.
And then the silence was shattered by another voice—sharp, mocking, venomous.
"Well, well. The broken little witch grew fangs."
Celine.
Bloodied, bruised, but alive. Standing in the broken archway with her eyes burning.
"I knew there was something wrong about you," she hissed. "Now I have proof."
Kade stepped in front of Lyra, surprisingly. "You're not laying a hand on her."
"Oh, I won't have to," Celine smirked. "Because now the entire Council will come for her. And when they do, they'll put her down like the cursed mutt she is."
Lyra's hands trembled.
But her voice didn't.
"Let them come," she said, golden light glowing in her palms. "I won't run this time."
"You think your monsters will protect you?"
"No," Lyra said, stepping out from behind Kade. "I'll protect myself."
The Fanged Ones rose behind her, their shadows long under the blood moonlight.
Caelan smiled faintly. "Then let the war begin."