Theodore's steps echoed against the marble floor as he approached his steed. The horse stood waiting at the edge of the courtyard—majestic, pitch black, towering as tall as any wolf of the empire, its presence alone commanding silence. Its mane shimmered in the silver light, each strand fine as silk, flowing down to a tail that swept nearly two meters across the ground like a dark banner of power.
For a moment, the Alpha bent his pride and lowered his head. His forehead touched the beast's, and silence fell.
"My beloved," Theodore whispered, voice heavy with command and reverence alike. "My partner… tonight, we do not ride for glory. We ride to save what is left of an empire, to tear apart the chains of a cursed fate. They think they can bind me to a half-human—" his lips curled, "—but we shall return stronger, feared by all who dared to doubt us. Twenty days. Only twenty days, and the world will know my name."
The horse snorted, as though it understood the gravity of its master's vow. Theodore's cloak billowed as he mounted, a silhouette of raw defiance against the moonlight. His pride burned in his chest, and though the mark of the Moon Goddess still scorched his skin, he held his spine straight, unwilling to bend, unwilling to show weakness.
And then—he saw him.
At the far edge of the courtyard stood Dante. The rival Alpha. The enemy of his bloodline.
Dante raised his hand, mocking, his wave dripping with arrogance and sarcasm. His smirk carved through the night like a blade, as if to say: Your mate is mine now. You will not return. You cannot protect her.
Theodore's jaw tightened. His chest ached with a pain he would not name. For a fleeting second, something inside him whispered of loss, of a bond he refused to admit. But he crushed the thought beneath the weight of his pride.
"No," he murmured, almost to himself. "We cannot let feelings consume us. I bend to no goddess. I bow to no man. Not to Dante. Not to fate itself."
With a sharp pull of the reins, his horse reared, striking the air with power enough to split the silence. Behind him, hoofbeats thundered. Rowan, Leo, Dorian, Cassian, Oliver, and Lucas were already mounting their own steeds, shadows in the moonlight, their loyalty bound to him like steel.
"Twenty days," Theodore said again, louder this time, fire flickering in his voice. "This is only the beginning."
Together, the Alpha and his pack thundered into the night, a storm of black silhouettes swallowed by the horizon—while behind them, Nina and Isabella stood at the balcony, watching. Narcissistic smiles played at their lips, but as Isabella's eyes glowed faintly, pale lavender and unnatural, silence overtook them.
And the dream began.