The moon hung low, fat and swollen, bleeding its pale light over the jagged peaks. Selene stood at the cliff's edge, her boots slick with frost, her breath curling in the frigid air. Behind her, the war camp churned with restless energy — warriors sharpening blades, shamans chanting prayers to gods long thought dead, and the uneasy shuffling of those who knew tomorrow might be their last sunrise.
Kai emerged from the shadows like he always did — soundless, dangerous, and impossibly calm. His golden eyes locked on hers, and for a heartbeat, it felt like the wind itself bent around them.
"You're thinking of jumping," he said, his voice low, not as an accusation but as if stating the weather.
Selene's lips twitched into a humorless smile. "I was thinking about how many of us won't see tomorrow. Maybe I'll spare the gods the trouble."
His jaw tightened, but he didn't argue. Instead, he stepped beside her, his presence a living wall of heat in the cold night. "If you want to die, do it after the fight. Make them work for it."
She snorted, shaking her head, but her fingers curled at her sides. "Always so poetic, Kai."
He didn't smile. "There's something you need to know before this starts."
The air between them shifted, the faint scent of ozone crawling across her skin. She turned to him fully, seeing the faint glow under his collarbone — the mark of the Blood Howl pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"You've felt it, haven't you?" he asked. "That… pull. That fire in your veins when I'm near."
Her breath caught. She had felt it — in battle, in silence, in the rare moments when his hand brushed hers. It was maddening.
"That's not just you," he said, voice low. "It's the bloodline. My bloodline."
She froze. "What do you mean?"
He hesitated for a moment, then reached into the pouch at his side and pulled out a shard of obsidian, etched with runes so old they seemed to pulse with life.
"My mother wasn't just a Howl-born. She was the last daughter of the Ancient Wolf-God Tyrakar. The god who… didn't die when the others fell. He sleeps beneath the Ashen Vale, and his blood runs through mine."
The words were heavy, almost too much for her to hold. "So you're saying—"
"I'm saying if I fall tomorrow, Tyrakar wakes." He stepped closer, his shadow swallowing hers. "And if he wakes, the world burns."
She should have been afraid. But the way he looked at her, as if he'd already chosen her over gods and destiny, made fear impossible.
A shout from the camp tore through the moment — a signal horn. Scouts returning, breathless, covered in snow and blood.
"They're here," one gasped. "But… it's not just the Ravenscourge."
From the eastern ridge, a second army poured into view, their banners black and gold. At their head rode a figure Selene knew too well — Dorian. Her first love. Her betrayer. The man who had left her bleeding in the snow two winters ago.
Kai's gaze followed hers, and something primal darkened his eyes. "Stay behind me," he said, but she was already stepping forward, hand on her blade.
"Oh no," she whispered, voice shaking with fury. "I want him to see me before I kill him."
Far above, the stars seemed to shiver, and in that trembling light, Selene swore she saw them turn red. Somewhere deep in the earth, something old and angry began to stir.