The night was too quiet.
Lyra felt it the moment she stepped outside. The air was still, unnaturally heavy, like the forest itself was holding its breath. The moon hung low and swollen, glowing an eerie shade of crimson—a Moonblood night. Kael had warned her about this kind of moon, but she hadn't understood until now how wrong everything felt beneath it.
She wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, shivering. Not from the cold—but from the way her mark pulsed violently beneath her skin, reacting to the strange energy in the air.
Kael appeared beside her without a sound.
His presence was solid, grounding… but tonight he looked different.
Sharper. Wilder. Shadows clung to him like a second skin.
"The Moonblood rises once every ten years," he said, eyes fixed on the red moon. "It brings out the truth in everything. In the forest… in wolves… and in us."
Lyra swallowed. "What truth?"
Kael turned his gaze to her, silver eyes glowing like molten metal.
"The truth you've been feeling," he said softly. "The Oath doesn't just bind power. It binds fate."
Her breath caught.
Before she could respond, a low howl echoed from deep within the forest—long, broken, and unlike any wolf she had ever heard. Kael stiffened instantly, his jaw clenching.
"That wasn't one of ours," he growled. "Darkfangs are moving under the Moonblood."
Lyra's heart slammed against her ribs. "Should we warn the pack?"
Kael shook his head. "No. They already know. But there's something else—something they can't sense."
He stepped closer to her, lowering his voice.
"Your visions. The Moonblood will trigger them. You're going to see something tonight—something dangerous."
Lyra's pulse quickened. "I don't want another vision."
"You don't get to choose," Kael said gently. "But you won't face it alone."
The howling grew louder—closer—echoing through the trees.
Kael's eyes flicked toward the forest.
"They're searching for you. The Seer. The one the prophecy spoke of."
Lyra froze.
"…What prophecy?"
Kael hesitated. Too long.
"Kael," she whispered. "Tell me."
His voice was low, tense.
"'When the Seer rises under the Bloodmoon, the Alpha she is bound to will either save the pack… or destroy it.'"
Lyra's stomach twisted. "Destroy it?"
Kael stepped closer, cupping her face gently but urgently.
"Lyra, listen to me—prophecies are not destiny. You control your power. Not the moon. Not the Oath."
His warmth steadied her… but only for a moment.
Because the ground suddenly trembled.
Lyra gasped as a violent surge of energy shot through her mark, spreading across her body like fire. Her eyes burned, vision blurring, and Kael caught her just as her knees buckled.
"Lyra!" he shouted, panic in his voice.
But she wasn't in the forest anymore.
A vision consumed her.
She saw flames. Wolves fighting shadows.
Kael on his knees, blood staining his chest.
Her own hands glowing silver as cracks of light split the earth open beneath them.
And then—
A voice whispered in her mind, dark and cold.
"The Seer brings the end."
Lyra screamed.
The vision snapped, and she fell forward, panting, shaking uncontrollably. Kael held her tightly, arms wrapped around her as if anchoring her to the world.
"What did you see?" he whispered, breath trembling.
Lyra looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.
"You," she choked. "Kael… I saw you dying."
His eyes hardened—not with fear, but with determination.
"Then we change the future," he said. "Together."
Before she could respond, the forest exploded with movement—shapes sprinting through the trees, dark fur, glowing red eyes.
The Darkfangs had found them.
Kael pushed her behind him, shifting in a blur of silver light, his wolf form erupting with power.
"Lyra," he growled, voice animalistic but clear,
"stay behind me—protect your mark. If they touch you, the prophecy begins."
Lyra's heart thundered.
The prophecy.
The Moonblood.
The vision of Kael dying in her arms.
And the shadows coming closer.
She straightened her spine, fire rising in her veins.
"No," she whispered. "I won't let that happen."
Her mark blazed, brighter than ever—
and the night exploded into battle.