The moon hung low over Blackwood Estate, casting a silver glow across the training grounds where the pack had gathered. The air thrummed with tension—part exhaustion, part anticipation, part the unspoken fear that something far bigger than they understood was beginning to unfold.
Seraphina Vale felt it in her bones.
Her powers—which she still struggled to fully control—flickered beneath her skin like a humming wire. Every time she exhaled, she felt a soft pulse, golden and warm, pushing against her ribs as if asking to be released.
Lucien sensed it too.
He stood across from her, arms crossed, broad shoulders tense, jaw set in that way that meant he was worried but refusing to say it out loud. His dark eyes never left her. They were searching… tracking… protecting.
Or maybe watching her the way a man watches something he loves but fears losing again.
"Your energy keeps spiking," Lucien said quietly. "If you don't learn to control the bursts, they'll burn you out from the inside."
Sera rolled her eyes, though her chest tightened at his concern. "I'm not a child, Lucien."
"No," he murmured, stepping closer, "you're the woman with a power that could tip the balance in this entire war."
A flicker of heat shot down her spine at the tone in his voice—low, possessive, fierce. Her wolf trembled beneath her skin, responding instinctively to him.
But she didn't let him see it.
She turned away. "Let's just train."
Lucien nodded once, then motioned for the pack members to clear the space.
Evelyn sauntered over, leaning in to whisper, "Girl, if he stares any harder at you, the moon might file a restraining order."
Sera snorted. "He does not stare."
"Sweetheart," Evelyn tapped her chin, "you're glowing again. And not the sexy glow—the supernatural one."
Sera's stomach dropped. "Damn it."
"I'll help suppress it," Evelyn said, resting a hand on Sera's arm, channeling her stabilizing talent. "But seriously—Kieran Voss stirring up trouble, Lucien burning holes in your face, your magic waking up? You're living inside a telenovela."
Sera didn't even get to respond—because the air changed.
A ripple of ice ran across the training grounds.
Lucien stiffened.
Evelyn stepped back.
And every pack member instantly shifted their stance, protective and alert.
"Do you feel that?" one of them murmured.
"Oh, hell yes," Evelyn said, voice sharp now.
Sera felt it too. A prickle at the back of her mind. A wrongness.
"Kieran," Lucien growled.
But Sera shook her head. "No. Not him. This is… different."
The ground beneath their feet vibrated once—soft, but unmistakable.
Then again, stronger.
Lucien moved instantly, pulling Sera behind him with a protective snarl.
Evelyn raised her hands, threads of magic curling around her fingertips.
Pack members shifted partially, claws out, eyes glowing.
"What the hell is this?" Sera whispered.
The earth cracked.
A sudden burst of golden energy erupted from beneath the training field—so strong Sera staggered back, gripping Lucien's arm.
"That's you," Evelyn gasped. "Sera… that energy is coming from you."
"No." Sera shook her head, panic rising. "I'm not doing this—I'm not calling anything—"
The ground split wider.
Then every piece of shattered dirt and stone rose into the air, floating in a slow spiral around Sera like she had become the center of gravity itself.
Lucien grabbed her shoulders. "Look at me. Breathe."
Sera tried. She really did. But fear was a living thing inside her chest, clawing upward.
"I can't stop it—Lucien, I can't—"
"Look. At. Me." His voice snapped through her panic. Dominant. Grounding. Alpha.
Her eyes met his, and just for a moment, the chaos quieted.
Then—
A figure appeared.
Not stepping out of shadows.
Not walking from the trees.
But forming directly out of the golden light erupting from the cracked earth.
Tall.
Shadowed.
Armored in marks that shimmered like runes.
His face obscured, features shifting as if unfinished.
Evelyn took a step back. "Oh… okay. That's new."
"Behind me," Lucien ordered Sera.
But Sera's wolf surged—hard—pushing her forward, not backward. As if drawn to the figure.
As if recognizing it.
"Lucien," she whispered. "I… I know this energy. It feels like the fragments Evelyn showed me… but stronger."
The figure lifted its head.
The glow around him dimmed enough to reveal sharp eyes—golden, but fractured with streaks of black, as if two energies warred within him.
"Seraphina Vale," the figure spoke, voice layered, echoing. "The Core responds to you."
Lucien growled, stepping directly between them. "She is under my protection. Speak your purpose and get off my land."
The figure tilted its head, not threatened in the slightest. "I am not here to harm. I am the Keeper of the Bound Fragments."
Evelyn blinked. "Excuse me, what?"
Sera's heart slammed painfully in her chest. "The fragments… from the ancient prophecy?"
"Yes," the figure said. "And your power is awakening them."
Lucien shifted closer. "If you take one step toward her—"
The figure raised a hand calmly.
"Alpha Blackwood. You misjudge me. I am not aligned with Kieran Voss."
That stopped Sera cold.
Lucien didn't relax even a fraction. "Then why are you here?"
The Keeper's eyes—fractured gold—settled on Sera.
"Because Kieran has already taken one of the Bound Fragments. And if he acquires more… he will no longer be a rival."
Sera swallowed hard. "What will he become?"
The Keeper stepped forward.
Everything in the air tightened—magic, tension, fear.
"A god."
Silence slammed down like a hammer.
Evelyn whispered, "Oh. Shit."
Lucien's jaw clenched so hard Sera heard the crack. "He won't get that power. I'll rip him apart before he reaches it."
"You misunderstand," the Keeper said. "He does not need all of them."
He pointed at Sera.
"He needs only the one inside her."
Sera's blood ran cold.
Lucien's growl shook the trees.
"No one," he said, voice lethal, "is touching her."
"She will not survive," the Keeper said, "unless she completes the awakening."
Sera's voice barely came out. "Awakening of what?"
"The ancient blood," he said. "Your blood."
Evelyn gasped. "Sera—your power—it's not just magic. It's a lineage."
Sera's knees weakened. "No… no, that can't be—"
But deep inside her, the wolf answered.
Yes.
The Keeper touched two fingers to his temple. "Prepare yourselves. Kieran hunts what he does not yet understand. And when he learns the truth of what you carry, Seraphina Vale… he will stop at nothing to claim it."
Lucien stepped forward, voice a razor. "Let him try."
But the Keeper looked past Lucien, directly into Sera's trembling golden eyes.
"He already is."
A single pulse of golden light burst from the figure—
And he vanished.
Leaving silence.
Fear.
And a truth none of them were ready to face.
Sera sank to the ground, trembling as the weight of it crashed over her.
Lucien caught her instantly, arms locking around her waist, pulling her against his chest. "Sera, breathe. I'm here."
Her voice broke. "There's something inside me… something Kieran wants."
"And he will never touch it," Lucien swore, hand cupping the back of her head.
Evelyn knelt beside them, eyes shining with worry. "Sera… this changes everything."
The night wind blew through the training grounds, cold and sharp, carrying with it the whisper of war.
A war centered on her.
A war she no longer knew how to escape.