Ash from the shadow hound drifts down like black snow, mixing with the dust my Moonfire chains left behind. The forest smells like burned night and wolf blood.
My knees still feel weak.
Aiden is the first to straighten fully, jaw tight, eyes burning silver as he crushes the scrap of my shirt in his fist.
"Serene," he says quietly.
Not loud.
Not a shout.
Not a growl.
That makes it worse.
Kai fidgets, kicking at a rock. "Alpha… maybe she didn't know the witch would drop a demon dog on us. Maybe it was just—"
"Serene knows better than to deal with unknown magic," Aiden cuts in, voice sharp. "She's not stupid. She made a choice."
I look at the crumpled fabric in his hand.
My scent.
Used as bait.
"It doesn't matter why she did it," I say softly. "We can't go back now. If we turn around, he wins."
He.
The Shadow King.
My father.
The thought makes my stomach twist.
Aiden looks at me then.
His expression softens just a little. "You're shaking."
"I'm not made of stone," I mutter.
He steps closer, fingers brushing my wrist where golden lines still glow faintly under my skin.
"Scared?" he asks quietly.
"Yes," I say. "Are you?"
"Yes."
The honesty catches me off guard.
"But I'm angrier," he adds. "That helps."
"Not sure that's healthy."
He huffs something close to a humorless laugh.
Kai wipes sweat off his forehead. "Uh, hate to interrupt the marital emotional processing, but… more of those things could show up."
Ethan nods grimly. "If that hound was a 'Seeker' like you said, there might be others hunting closer now that they've locked onto her magic signature."
"That's why we keep moving," Aiden decides.
He looks up at the looming mountains, their peaks cutting into the heavy gray sky like blades.
"The Moon Temple isn't far," he says. "We get there before nightfall."
"And if we don't?" I ask.
He glances back at the spot where the Seeker died.
His eyes harden.
"Then the night eats us."
Lovely.
We Climb
We move uphill, the forest slowly thinning as the ground becomes rockier.
The path narrows, turning from dirt to stone ledges, forcing single-file movement. The air thins, colder and sharper, like each breath comes with a question: How badly do you want to live?
My legs complain with every step.
The golden marks across my skin burn sometimes, then cool, then twinge like someone is plucking invisible strings under my flesh.
Aiden keeps stealing glances at me every few minutes.
"I can walk," I mutter.
"I know," he says. "I'm watching in case you fall."
"That's not romantic."
"I wasn't trying to be."
He reaches out anyway and takes my hand.
Just in case.
My chest tightens.
"Better," I whisper.
We climb in silence for a while.
Eventually, the trees disappear altogether, replaced by jagged stone and patches of scrubby grass. The world feels bigger up here. Colder. More ancient.
"This is where we shift," Aiden says finally. "Wolves are faster on this terrain. Ethan, Kai—you flank us."
They both nod.
Aiden looks at me.
"You're not shifting," he adds quickly, before I can speak. "You're riding."
I blink. "What, like a backpack?"
His lips twitch. "Something like that."
I open my mouth to argue—
but my body answers for me.
My knees wobble.
The mountain tilts for a second.
Aiden is there before I hit the ground, catching my elbows.
"Yeah," he murmurs. "You're riding."
I sigh. "Fine. But if you throw me off a cliff, I'm haunting you."
"Try it," he says softly. "I'd still keep you close."
The bond pulses warm.
My heart does something stupid and jumpy.
He steps back, cracks his neck, rolls his shoulders—
And shifts.
Bones stretch, fur bursts from skin, his human shape dissolving into the massive, dark wolf I've come to know too well.
Black fur, silver eyes, raw power.
The Alpha King.
He lowers himself to the ground.
Kai whistles. "Royal transportation. Fancy."
Ethan elbows him. "Focus."
I swing my leg over Aiden's back, bury my hands into his thick fur, and hold on.
He glances back once, as if checking I'm secured.
"I'm ready," I whisper.
He runs.
Running Toward the Moon
Winds whips past my face, cold and sharp, making my eyes water. Rocks blur beneath us. The mountain seems to open a path for him—he leaps from stone to stone as if he was born here.
Which, maybe he was.
Every time my grip falters, his muscles shift and correct, steadying me.
Trust feels like this, I think.
Riding a wolf who could kill you with one movement
and knowing he never will.
Kai and Ethan run as wolves at our sides—smaller, lighter, quick as shadows, scanning left and right.
We run for what feels like forever.
When the sky starts to darken again, Aiden finally slows.
We reach a narrow ridge overlooking a valley.
At first, it looks… empty.
Just more rock, more mist, more dull grass and gray stone.
Then Aiden shifts back, breathing hard, and stands beside me at the edge.
"Close your eyes," he says.
I blink. "Why?"
"Because it only appears in moon-sight."
"Moon—what?"
He sighs. "Just do it, witch."
I scowl, but close my eyes anyway.
He steps behind me, hands settling lightly on my shoulders.
"Breathe," he murmurs near my ear. "Feel the bond. Feel the mark. Focus on the place that feels… quietest."
Quietest.
Everything inside me is loud.
Fear, power, my father's voice echoing, my mother's warning, the guilt about Serene, Aiden's heartbeat under my fingers earlier—
But under all of that…
Is a small, silent point.
Somewhere behind my ribs.
Where the bond hums without screaming.
I focus there.
Something shifts.
The mark on my palm warms.
"Now open your eyes," Aiden whispers.
I do.
The valley is no longer empty.
Where there was just rock—
There is a temple.
The Moon Temple
It rises from the valley floor like it grew out of the mountain itself.
White stone that seems to glow softly with its own inner light. Pillars carved with wolves, moons, and symbols I don't recognize. Staircases leading up to a huge arched doorway, its entrance framed by silver vines.
Threads of light run along the stone, like veins through marble.
"It's beautiful," I whisper.
"It's old," Aiden says. "Older than our packs. Older than his realm."
"You've been here before?"
He nods, gaze distant. "Once. Years ago. When my wolf wouldn't listen to me."
"What did you ask for?"
"Control," he says. "The Moon answered."
There's something heavy in his voice. Something he's not saying.
I don't push it.
Not now.
"We walk from here," he says. "No shifting past the threshold."
We descend into the valley together, every step making my magic stir.
The closer we get, the stronger the pressure becomes.
Not crushing—
testing.
"Do you feel that?" I murmur.
"Sanctuary magic," Aiden replies. "It's… judging you."
"Comforting."
We stop just in front of the first step.
An invisible wall presses against my skin, cool and probing.
Aiden steps forward—and passes through easily.
Of course.
The Moon loves her wolves.
He turns back, holds out his hand.
"Come on."
I lift my foot.
The moment my boot touches the first step—
The world screams.
The invisible wall slams into me like a wave.
I'm thrown backward, pain ripping through my chest.
"LIYANA!" Aiden shouts.
I hit the ground hard, breath knocked out of me.
My mark ignites in agony.
It feels like something is clawing at my blood.
Pulling.
Rejecting.
Aiden grabs me and hauls me into his arms.
"What happened?" he demands, eyes wild. "What did it do?"
I gasp, clutching my burning wrist.
"It… pushed me out."
Kai and Ethan stare from the side, stunned.
"Temple doesn't like her?" Kai says weakly. "That's… bad."
"Sanctuaries don't reject people," Ethan mutters. "Not unless—"
Aiden snarls, "Finish that sentence and I'll rip your throat out."
My vision blurs.
Voices echo.
Not here.
Not here.
Not ours.
"Two bloods war inside you," a faint feminine voice whispers in my mind.
"Moon and Shadow.
You cannot enter while you are split."
I suck in a sharp breath.
"The temple… it's talking," I choke out.
Aiden holds me tighter. "What is it saying?"
"That I'm… divided. Moon and Shadow."
"Then it can accept the Moon side," Aiden growls. "And ignore the other."
"It can't," I whisper. "I'm both."
A memory flashes—
My mother's voice in the dream.
"You must choose which side you feed."
Choose.
The bond pulses.
Aiden's heartbeat thuds strong against my side.
Moon.
Wolf.
Pack.
Home.
Then the Shadow King's voice:
"You were born to replace me."
Dark.
Cold.
Heavy.
"Liyana," Aiden whispers, voice rough. "Stay here. I'll talk to the Temple. I'll—"
"No."
I pull away from his grip slightly.
Shock flashes across his face.
"I have to do this," I say. "You can't argue with a Temple. But maybe I can."
His jaw tightens.
"I don't like this."
"That makes two of us."
I stand, legs shaky, and face the invisible barrier again.
The Temple magic presses against my skin, testing, weighing, waiting.
"I'm not pure," I whisper quietly. "I'm not just Moon. I'm not just Shadow."
The air hums.
"I'm something he made. Something she touched. Something in between. Something wrong."
Aiden growls softly, behind me. "You're not wrong. You're yours."
I close my eyes.
"And I'm his mate," I say softly.
The bond flares—
hot
bright
steady.
It's not my father's power now.
It's Aiden.
The warmth of his hands.
The sound of his voice.
The way he threw himself against a portal just to hold my ankle.
The way he said I worship her like it was a confession.
"I choose," I whisper.
The wind picks up.
"I choose the Moon.
I choose this bond.
I choose me."
My mark glows—
not golden this time.
Silver.
For a moment, Shadow and Moon collide inside me—
It hurts.
Then—
The pain breaks open into light.
The barrier shatters silently.
Not into shards.
Into rain.
Cool, silver light falls over my skin like water.
I gasp.
The Temple accepts me.
Aiden sucks in a breath.
"Liyana," he whispers, voice thick.
I take the first step.
This time—the ground doesn't throw me back.
It welcomes.
I reach the top of the stairs and glance back.
"Are you coming, Alpha King?"
His lips twitch.
"Always."
He joins me, fingers brushing mine as we cross the entrance together.
The moment we step under the archway, the world changes.
Everything is quieter.
Calmer.
My veins stop burning.
My head clears.
The constant, suffocating presence of the Shadow King's magic…
Fades.
For the first time in days, I can breathe without fear sitting on my chest.
"It's… peaceful," I whisper.
"For now," Aiden says.
His eyes scan the courtyard—the marble floor, the moon-carved fountain, the silent pillars.
"Temples don't invite people without purpose."
I swallow.
"What purpose would it have for me?"
Before he can answer—
A voice echoes from deep inside the Temple.
Not the Moon Goddess.
Not my father.
Something older.
Something neutral.
"The Shadow Heir has entered the Moon's house."
A pause.
The air tightens.
"Let the prophecy begin."
Aiden and I lock eyes.
My heart drops.
Right as the massive Temple doors slam shut behind us
with a final, echoing boom.
We're in.
We're safe.
We're trapped.
And fate has just moved its first piece.