Snow fell in slow spirals as Rhea and Kael crossed the threshold of the forest.
But this was no ordinary wood.
The trees here were dead not fallen, but still upright, as if frozen mid-scream. The bark was scorched black. The air was thick with a scent not of rot, but of burned magic.
Kael's steps slowed. "This is where the first Alpha died. Where the Queen's bones were buried under silver and salt."
Rhea clutched her cloak tighter around her. Her body still hummed from the Queen's touch. Her lips still tingled from Kael's almost-kiss. And her heart… her heart felt like it was being pulled in two.
"She was powerful," she whispered.
"She still is," Kael replied. "That's why we're here. To find the truth. To cut her out of you."
But something in his voice cracked on that last word.
They didn't speak again until they reached the Vault.
It was carved into the earth, a yawning mouth at the base of a cliff. Ancient wolf statues flanked the entrance one with eyes missing, the other with a jaw torn off.
"This is forbidden," Rhea said.
Kael took her hand. "So is loving you."
They entered together.
The Vault was cold. Colder than outside. Colder than death.
Rhea's breath came in clouds. The floor beneath her boots was layered in ash. And at the far end of the tunnel, a set of obsidian doors stood sealed by runes that glowed faintly with bloodlight.
Kael's hand trembled as he reached into his coat and pulled out a bone dagger.
"What is that?"
"My father's tooth," he said grimly. "Carved into a blade when he died. Only blood from the Alpha line can open this gate."
Rhea touched the runes. They pulsed at her skin.
"What if she doesn't want us in?"
Kael met her eyes. "Then we go anyway."
He sliced his palm and pressed it to the stone.
The Vault shook.
Runes burned red-hot, then dimmed.
The doors creaked open revealing not bones, but a chamber of memories.
The walls were carved with images: a wolf queen with a silver crown, a betrayal under a full moon, a burning palace, and in the center…
A cradle.
Empty.
"This isn't a tomb," Rhea whispered. "It's a warning."
Kael stepped forward, eyes wide.
"No… it's a story. Her story."
They walked deeper in, tracing the history written in stone. Each image showed a piece of her descent from protector of the Pack to cursed entity bound in rage and heartbreak.
"She lost a child," Rhea said softly.
"Or had one stolen," Kael added.
A crack of energy struck the wall behind them.
They spun.
A new rune had appeared,shaped like a crescent moon with two crossed claws.
It burned.
Rhea clutched her chest.
"I know this symbol."
Kael caught her before she fell.
"What is it?"
Rhea's voice was barely a whisper. "It's on my back. A birthmark. I've had it since I was a child."
The Vault responded with a thunderous groan.
And then the shadows moved.
A spirit-wolf leapt from the wall,its form made of ash and bone, its eyes blazing with cold fire. Kael pushed Rhea behind him, shifting mid-leap, his body cracking and warping into the beast within.
Fur. Fangs. Fury.
Wolf met wolf.
Rhea staggered back, heart screaming as Kael fought the creature that should not exist. Her vision blurred,her head throbbed and then she felt it again:
The Queen.
Inside her mind.
Speaking.
"Let him die, child. Let me out… and I will save you both."
Rhea fell to her knees.
"No," she whispered. "You're not me."
"You are mine."
"NO."
And then something inside Rhea snapped.
Magic,ancient and raw,exploded from her hands, lighting up the chamber in blinding moonlight. The spirit-wolf howled and vanished in a wail of smoke.
Kael shifted back, coughing, bloodied, eyes wild.
"Rhea… what was that?"
But Rhea wasn't the same.
Her eyes glowed silver.
And the mark on her back?
It was no longer dormant.
It was alive.