INTO THE SHADOWLANDS
Shadowlands weren't on any map.
They existed in whispers. Places where the veil between realms thinned, where magic decayed and mutated. No pack claimed them. No wolf who entered ever returned.
And now, Luna Morgan was walking directly into them.
Her cloak clung to her shoulders as the wind howled through dead trees. Kael walked beside her, blade strapped across his back, every sense on high alert. Behind them, a small but loyal company of wolves padded silently: Rae, the stealth-scout; Nyla, a battle-hardened shifter with elemental magic; and Brin, the young healer who refused to stay behind.
"We should turn back," Rae whispered as they stepped into the mists. "This place is cursed."
Luna glanced back once. "So was I. Until I survived it."
No one argued again.
The forest grew silent. The usual sounds—birds, insects, even the wind disappeared. In their place came echoes. Snatches of old conversations. Laughter. Screams.
"It's the fog," Kael murmured. "It's not real."
But the terror in Brin's wide eyes said otherwise.
After hours of walking, they reached a clearing where the trees bent away from a circle of charred earth. Luna felt it before she saw it—a pulse, like a heartbeat in the ground.
"What is this?" Nyla asked, drawing her sword.
Luna knelt, fingers brushing the black soil.
"A gate," she whispered. "A wound in the world."
As she touched it, her wolf surged. Not in fear. In recognition.
"I've been here," Luna said slowly, eyes wide. "In dreams."
Suddenly the ground beneath her cracked.
Hands blackened, clawed, inhuman—burst through the soil.
Kael was first to react, blade flashing.
The pack fell into motion. Rae leapt into the trees, raining arrows down. Nyla summoned a wave of flame to push the creatures back.
Luna stood in the center, the epicenter of the rising darkness.
And then, she shifted.
For the first time in years, she let the change take her willingly.
Her wolf exploded forth—taller, sleeker, glowing with veins of silver light. Her eyes blazed like twin moons.
She howled.
The creatures faltered.
Luna lunged.
Kael fought beside her in human form, cutting down the monsters as they surged.
It was over in minutes. The earth fell still again.
Luna shifted back, panting. Her hands were stained black.
Brin rushed to her side. "Luna, your arm—"
A long gash oozed dark energy, not blood.
Kael looked at it grimly. "That's shadow rot. It spreads."
Luna pressed her palm to it and whispered the Moon Goddess's chant. Light flared. The wound hissed, then sealed.
Brin stared. "You healed it yourself."
Luna met Kael's eyes. "It means I'm getting stronger. But it also means what lies ahead is worse."
They set camp near an abandoned temple half buried in moss and bone. Brin warded the perimeter. Rae took the first watch. Luna sat before the fire with Kael.
He handed her a flask. "You should rest."
"I can't," she murmured. "Asher is here. I can feel him."
Kael was quiet.
"I thought I hated him," Luna said. "But now I wonder… if rejecting me was the only way he could protect me."
Kael's jaw clenched. "He still abandoned you."
"He's bound. The vision showed it. Something has him in chains."
Kael stared into the fire. "Then we find him. And we end it."
The next day, the temple cracked open as if summoned by Luna's blood.
Inside, they found a tomb.
And inside the tomb—a prophecy.
Scrawled on the walls in old Lupin:
> When Moonblood awakens, so shall the Eclipse. Two souls split by shadow must reunite to destroy or to rule. If she chooses vengeance, the world burns. If she chooses love… the world still burns.
Kael read the words aloud.
Luna turned away.
"I don't like this prophecy," Brin muttered.
"Prophecies rarely ask for permission," Luna said. "But they always offer a choice."
And she wasn't ready to make one yet.
As they moved deeper into the temple, the air thickened.
A chamber opened before them—walls painted in blood, bones lining the floor.
And on the far side…
Asher.
Chained to a throne of black obsidian, his eyes dull, body emaciated. But alive.
Luna stepped forward, heart in her throat.
He looked up.
His voice cracked. "Luna?"
Kael raised his blade.
"Wait!" Luna said.
Asher's head lolled. "They're coming. You shouldn't have come here."
Too late.
The walls shook.
Creatures poured in. This time, not twisted corpses—but living things. Shadow-walkers. Warlocks. Wolves bearing sigils of the fallen Nightfangs.
And among them, a woman cloaked in red silk, eyes like onyx.
"The Moonblood," she purred. "Finally. We've waited centuries."
Luna stepped in front of her team. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled. "Call me Morrigan. And you… are my offering."
Black fire erupted.
The battle for the soul of the Shadowlands had begun.