The forest whispered my name long after she vanished.
Every rustle of wind felt like a voice from the past — calling, warning, haunting. I stood there for what felt like hours, staring at the spot where she'd been.
Heir of the Shadow Moon.
Those words burned in my mind like fire under my skin.
I'd spent my whole life believing my blood was cursed — that the red moon on the night of my birth marked me as a monster. But now, it seemed the truth was far darker. The curse wasn't punishment… it was protection. A secret buried so deep even my father had died keeping it hidden.
The night grew colder. Mist rolled in from the river, and the scent of silverleaf filled the air — sharp and faintly metallic. My instincts flared. I wasn't alone.
"Still hiding in the trees, Kael?"
The voice came from behind me — low, smooth, and cruelly familiar.
Ronan.
I didn't turn immediately. The forest was quiet, too quiet. He wasn't alone.
"Couldn't wait to finish what you started?" I asked.
He chuckled, the sound dark and humorless. "You made quite a scene tonight. The Council won't like that. They wanted you forgotten, not reborn."
I finally turned, meeting his golden eyes through the mist. He looked different now — sharper, colder, his aura burning with raw power. Behind him stood two of his guards, wolves loyal to him, not the pack.
"Tell me something," I said quietly. "When my father was murdered, did you watch?"
Ronan's jaw tightened. "I was a child."
"That's not an answer."
He stepped closer, smirking. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. What matters now is that your return threatens everything I built."
"You built nothing but lies."
He grinned, eyes flashing gold. "Lies make better kings than truth ever did."
The tension cracked like lightning. Before I could move, his guards lunged. Two wolves — fast, brutal. I shifted mid-spin, my bones snapping, muscles tearing, fur bursting through my skin. My wolf emerged with a growl that shook the ground.
The first wolf hit me head-on, claws slashing across my flank. Pain seared, but I moved with it — grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into a tree so hard the bark exploded. He whimpered once before falling silent.
The second came from behind, teeth sinking into my shoulder. I twisted, blood spraying across the leaves, and tore him free. His body hit the earth with a dull thud.
When I turned back, Ronan hadn't moved. He just watched — calculating, cold.
"You've grown stronger," he said. "But you still don't understand what you are."
"What am I?" I growled.
He smirked. "You think you're the heir to Nightshade? You're not even one of us."
I froze.
"The Shadow Moon bloodline," he continued. "That's not some legend. It's a curse from the first wolves — those who defied the Moon Goddess herself. Your father tried to destroy it. He failed. You're the proof."
My heart pounded in my chest. "You're lying."
"Ask the Council," he said, turning away. "They've been hunting your kind for centuries. Why do you think they killed him?"
His words sank into me like claws. The ground felt unsteady, the world spinning. Everything I thought I knew — my father, my pack, my curse — it was all built on secrets.
"Why tell me this?" I asked.
He glanced back, a cruel smile on his lips. "Because I want to see what happens when you realize the truth. Maybe then, you'll understand what it means to lose everything."
Then he disappeared into the mist, leaving the bodies of his guards behind.
For a long time, I stood there, my breath ragged, blood dripping onto the forest floor. My wolf was restless — angry, confused, afraid.
The wind shifted again, carrying with it a scent — faint, ancient, familiar. Not wolf. Not human.
Something older.
A whisper brushed against my mind.
Kael… come to the ruins. The truth waits where the moon first fell.
I looked up. The blood moon was high, burning brighter than ever.
The Shadow Moon bloodline.
A secret war.
And my father's death — not a tragedy, but the first move in a game I never knew existed.
If the Council wanted the heir of shadows erased, they should've buried me deeper.
Because now I wasn't running anymore.
Now, I was hunting.