The battle between Selena and Damien raged beneath the Black Pines, silver light clashing against shadow darkness.
Just when the tide seemed to turn against her, a new presence cut through the chaos,a fierce howl echoed, sharp and commanding.
From the shadows stepped Alpha Kael, his eyes blazing sapphire-gold, aura rippling with power. The ground seemed to pulse beneath his feet.
With a single roar, he unleashed a torrent of energy that forced Damien and Morren to stagger back.
> "Step away from her," Kael commanded, voice like thunder.
Selena, panting, glanced at Kael with a mixture of relief and surprise.
> "You came," she said, steady despite the pounding in her chest.
Kael nodded, but his face was grim. "I didn't come alone."
From the mist behind him emerged a pack of shadow wolves, silent, deadly, loyal only to Kael.
Damien snarled. "More monsters."
Kael's eyes darkened. "They're not monsters, they're my family. Outcasts, like us."
Selena studied Kael carefully, sensing the weight of his words.
But then a shadow flickered behind Kael,a flash of pain in his eyes.
> "What haunts you?" Selena asked quietly.
Kael hesitated.
> "I carry a curse," he admitted. "Bound to the shadows I command. A price for power."
Before Selena could respond, Morren stepped forward, voice like the grinding of bones.
> "Your time is short, Alpha Kael. The Shadow King grows impatient."
Kael squared his shoulders. "Then let us show him what true darkness looks like."
Together, Selena and Kael stood against Damien and the shadow king's growing power.
The war was no longer just hers.
It was theirs.