Silence fell so violently it felt like a second impact.
Evelyn stood frozen, breath trembling, Ronan struggling to rise behind her, and the Shadow Father's darkness curling through the air like living smoke.
Light… or shadow.
The words didn't just echo.
They carved themselves into her bones.
Evelyn swallowed hard, forcing her voice through a throat that felt too tight.
"I don't— I don't understand what you're asking me to choose."
The Shadow Father moved closer, his form shifting like a storm cloud searching for shape.
"You understand enough."
"No," Ronan snarled, forcing himself upright despite the tremor shuddering down his spine. "She doesn't choose anything. You don't get to touch her fate."
The ancient figure didn't spare him a glance.
"Your fate is irrelevant, wolf."
Ronan lunged. Shadows pinned him to the wall, lifting him off the ground as he growled, claws scraping against the stone. He fought like fire—wild, furious, unstoppable—but shadows wrapped around him like chains forged from night itself.
Evelyn stumbled toward him instinctively.
"Let him go!"
The Shadow Father turned slowly, his presence bending the air.
"Child… your wolf is alive only because I tolerate his existence."
"Like hell you do," Ronan hissed, eyes flashing silver beneath the weight of the shadows crushing his chest.
"Ronan—stop," Evelyn pleaded, grabbing his arm even as the shadows held him in place. "You can't fight him."
"I'll tear him apart," Ronan growled, "before I let him take you."
The Shadow Father's head tilted.
"Take her? No. I do not wish to take the Shadowborn. She is not an object. She is a force. A destiny. A promise."
His gaze sharpened.
"She is the balance between worlds. And balance must choose its anchor."
Evelyn shook her head, voice cracking.
"I didn't ask for any of this."
The shadows around her pulsed.
"You were born for this."
"And what if I don't want it?"
Her question landed like a blade.
For the first time, the Shadow Father hesitated.
"You cannot reject what you are."
Ronan strained against the darkness until blood ran down his wrists.
"She doesn't owe you anything," he spat.
The Shadow Father finally turned to him, the temperature in the room dropping instantly.
"You speak as though you are her equal."
"I am."
"You are not."
The shadows constricted around Ronan so sharply he hissed in pain, dropping to one knee. Evelyn spun and placed herself in front of him so fast the shadows recoiled from her.
"Stop hurting him!"
Her voice cracked with something raw—something fierce enough that the darkness itself stilled.
The Shadow Father regarded her quietly.
"You protect him."
Evelyn trembled. "Of course I do."
"You choose him."
Her breath shook.
She didn't answer.
She didn't have to.
Her body already had.
The Shadow Father's expression shifted in a way she couldn't decipher.
"Light… or shadow," he repeated softly. "Wolf… or destiny."
Ronan forced himself upright again, his voice low and rough.
"Evie. Listen to me."He grabbed her hand, gripping it with desperate strength."I don't care what he says. Don't choose for me. Don't ever choose for me."
Her heart twisted painfully.
Ronan swallowed hard, eyes burning into hers.
"If you want to walk into the shadows… I'll find you there. If you want the light… I'll break the world until it reaches you."His breath trembled."But don't let him make you pick sides when you are both."
Her eyes widened.
Ronan rarely said anything so vulnerable.But right now?He was cracked open.
The Shadow Father didn't move.
He only watched.
Waiting.
Evelyn's hand tightened around Ronan's.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to be."
Ronan's thumb brushed her knuckles, grounding her.
"You're Evelyn," he said softly. "You're enough."
Something inside her shattered—quietly, painfully—and the shadows around the room flickered as though echoing her heartbeat.
The Shadow Father's gaze sharpened.
"You cannot stay balanced forever, child. Power demands shape. Form. Allegiance."
"I'm not ready."
"Your readiness is irrelevant. The world will force your choice."
Evelyn's eyes filled with fear she refused to let fall as tears.
"What if I choose wrong?"
Ronan answered before the Shadow Father could.
"Then we fix it," he said."Together."
The Shadow Father's form rippled.
A strange, ancient sadness threaded through his next words.
"You cannot walk both paths, Evelyn."
"Why not?" she shot back, surprising even herself. "Why can't I choose myself?"
The question struck the room like lightning.
The shadows convulsed.
The candles relit.
The walls trembled.
The Shadow Father's form flickered, unraveling at the edges.
"Insolent child…"
Ronan stepped in front of her instantly, even while shaking.
But the Shadow Father didn't strike.Instead, his voice lowered, turning almost mournful.
"You will choose soon. Not because I demand it. Not because prophecy requires it. But because power has begun to awaken inside you… and once fully awakened, it will not stay muted."
He lifted a hand of swirling night.
The mark on Evelyn's shoulder flared in response, glowing fiercely through her skin.
She gasped, clutching the spot as heat burned beneath the surface.
Ronan grabbed her waist, steadying her.
"Evie—!"
Her knees buckled, breath ripping from her lungs.
The Shadow Father whispered:
"When the third moon rises, your fate will come for you."
The shadows collapsed inward like a sucked breath—And the Shadow Father vanished.
Evelyn sagged forward, barely catching herself on Ronan's chest.
Ronan held her tightly, shaking from fear and fury.
"Evie… Evie, look at me."His voice fractured as he cupped her face."Are you okay?"
Her breathing came in thin, shaky bursts.The glowing mark dimmed slowly… painfully.
"I don't want to choose," she whispered, eyes glossy with terror.
Ronan pressed his forehead to hers, voice trembling.
"Then you won't. Not alone. Not ever."
Her fingers curled into his shirt.
She finally let a tear fall.
"Ronan… I'm scared."
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her in.
"Good," he whispered into her hair."So am I."
They stayed there—holding each other in the ruins of the room, surrounded by shadows that felt too alive and moonlight that felt too thin.
Because the world had just changed.
And neither of them knew what hunted them next.