Fifteen days had passed in the frozen North. The air was still thick with the scent of battles fought, monsters slain, and the quiet pride of warriors enduring the harshest trials. Theodore and his friends had pushed forward relentlessly, each day sharpening their strength, their minds hardened, their hearts tested.
On this fifteenth day, a sudden light shimmered through the blizzard—a radiant presence that made the very air hum. One of the guard-gods descended from the skies, massive and imposing, yet carrying an unmistakable sense of purpose. In his hands, he bore a letter sealed with the crest of the Crescent Blood Pack.
Theodore's golden eyes narrowed as he took the letter. Around him, his friends—Oliver, Leo, Lucas, Dorian, Rowan, and Cassian—gathered, curiosity etched across their faces.
"Orders from your father?" Oliver whispered, his voice tense.
The Alpha's jaw clenched. He broke the seal, hands steady despite the frost biting through the night. As he unfolded the parchment, the words seemed to shimmer in the cold, as though the fate of the world itself had been inked upon it.
In a voice trembling with disbelief, he read aloud:
"Dear son,
It is with a heavy heart that I write to you. Your actions in the North have been noted, and yet fate cannot bend to pride or strength alone. Isabella's grandmother, head of the Crimson Pack and sovereign of the Alpha's and creatures has passed down an irrevocable decree: should you return alive after twenty days, you are bound to marry Isabella and accept her as your Luna. Should you refuse, the Crescent Blood Pack shall see its legacy tarnished, and another Alpha shall rise in your place, shaming our lineage forever.
May the winds guide you, and may courage not falter where honor is demanded."
Silence fell over the snow-covered plains. The words weighed like iron chains on the shoulders of every man present. Theodore's golden eyes glistened, a storm of emotion raging behind them. Slowly, he crushed the parchment in his fist, the sound of crumpling paper echoing like a scream across the North.
"So this… is what destiny has brought me," he whispered, voice low but burning with fury. "I am to bow to the Moon Goddess's will… to obey this curse she has placed through the Crimson bloodline?"
A single tear escaped, shimmering like molten gold in his eye. But rage consumed it, turning it into a blaze that no frost could touch. He hurled the crushed letter into the wind, letting it scatter across the icy plains.
Standing tall, eyes blazing with defiance, Theodore's voice rang across the North, unwavering and thunderous:
"I want to see what destiny has wrought! I have longed to defy the Moon's order, the Moon Goddess herself! And now… now let me see what Isabella has done to me. My hatred for her… it is unmatchable, unpeakable, and unspeakable!"
His friends watched, hearts pounding, awe and fear entwined in equal measure. The wind howled around them, carrying the echo of the Alpha's fury. Theodore mounted his majestic black horse, mane flowing like midnight fire, and prepared to charge forward into whatever destiny awaited him.
Tonight, in the frozen wilderness of the North, fate would bend—but not without a struggle.