Moonfall's border was no longer quiet.
Drums echoed through the forest—low, rhythmic, warlike—vibrating through every tree. Torches burned red along the distant ridgeline where Bloodmoon warriors marched forward in formation.
The sky had darkened unnaturally fast, clouds spiraling like something above was stirring them.
Evelyn stood beside Ronan as they approached the front line. Hundreds of Moonfall wolves stood ready, armor gleaming under the tense twilight.
Ash jogged to them, breath tight.
"They've set up siege formations. This isn't a warning strike—they're here to break us completely."
Ronan's jaw tightened."They won't."
Evelyn scanned the horizon.Bloodmoon warriors formed rows—organized, disciplined, deadly. But something was wrong.
They were… scared.
Terrified, even.
Their eyes flicked nervously behind them, into the dark trees at their backs. As if expecting something worse than war to appear.
The Shadow Father.
The thought chilled her bones.
Ronan stepped forward, command radiating from him like heat.
"Alpha Caelan!" he shouted across the field. "You brought your entire army to my border. Come face me!"
The Bloodmoon formation shifted.
A path opened.
And Alpha Caelan—towering, cold, armored in obsidian leather—stepped into view.
He was huge.Scarred.A monster carved from steel and rage.
Evelyn stiffened.
His eyes locked on her instantly.
So she stepped closer to Ronan—to hide?No.To stand with him.
Caelan's lip curled.
"So the Shadowborn stands beside an Alpha like a common wolf," he sneered. "How disappointing."
Ronan snarled."You don't get to speak her name."
"I don't need her name," Caelan replied coldly. "I only need her power."
His eyes glinted."And she will come with me willingly."
Evelyn stepped forward before she could stop herself.
"No," she said quietly. "I won't."
A ripple went through the Bloodmoon warriors—fear, not anger.
Caelan's jaw flexed."Your power woke the old one," he said. "Do you know what that means, girl? Do you understand what you carry inside you?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
She didn't know the truth.
Not yet.
Caelan continued, voice low, resonant.
"The Shadow Father is moving. And when he arrives… this land will kneel or burn."His eyes narrowed."But if you come now, he will spare Moonfall."
Lies.She felt it instantly.
Ronan stepped in front of her, voice vibrating with Alpha dominance.
"You will never touch her. And if the Shadow Father comes, I'll rip him apart myself."
The air grew colder.
A warrior from Bloodmoon stumbled backward as if shoved by an invisible force.
Evelyn felt it.
Shadows gathering.
Watching.
Waiting.
Caelan's expression twisted.
"You arrogant boy. You have no idea what you're defying."
Ronan took another step toward him.
"Then teach me."
For a moment, the forest held its breath.
Then Caelan raised his hand—
And Bloodmoon attacked.
The first wave hit like a storm. Wolves shifted in midair. Warriors clashed with shields and claws. Magic crackled as witches released protective wards.
Evelyn stumbled as the ground shook under the charge.
Ronan shifted beside her—massive, black-furred, eyes blazing gold—and launched into the fray with a roar that shook the mountain.
His wolf form ripped through the front line, unstoppable.
Evelyn's heart slammed painfully as she watched him leap, slash, protect—
But the shadows were moving, too.
Not hers.
Not wolves.
Something else.
Something ancient.
She felt it before she saw it.A rumbling under her skin.A pull behind her ribs.A whisper across her spine.
Child… come.
No.
Not now.
Not in the middle of the battle.
A Bloodmoon warrior lunged for her—she lifted her hand instinctively—
And shadows speared upward like black lightning, knocking him backward ten feet.
Gasps erupted from every side.
Moonfall warriors froze.
Bloodmoon warriors scrambled away, shouting.
Ronan—in wolf form—skidded to a halt, staring at her with shock and… fear? No. Awe.
Evelyn shook violently.
"What—what did I just—"
The shadows around her thickened, swirling like a storm ready to erupt.
And then—
The battlefield went silent.
Every wolf froze.Every warrior stopped mid-swing.Even the wind held still.
Because a tear of darkness split open in the center of the field.
Slowly.
Smoothly.
Like reality itself was peeling back.
Evelyn's knees buckled.
He's coming.
Ronan shifted back instantly, running to her, grabbing her just before she collapsed.
"Evie—stay with me—"
But she couldn't breathe.
The tear widened.
And from the crack in the world, a hand of pure shadow reached out.
Not attacking.
Reaching for her.
Caelan fell to one knee, bowing his head.
Moonfall warriors staggered backward.
Ronan pulled her tighter into his chest, blood dripping down his arm from battle wounds.
"You stay away from her!" he roared at the forming figure.
A deep, ancient voice rolled across the field, shaking the earth.
Shadowborn… it is time.
Evelyn screamed as the mark on her shoulder ignited—burning, glowing, pulling her forward with a force that nearly ripped her from Ronan's arms.
Ronan held on with everything he had.
"No," he snarled, voice breaking. "NO. You don't take her!"
The Shadow Father's silhouette stepped out fully—towering, crowned, eyes of dying stars—and the sky darkened overhead.
He lifted his gaze to Ronan.
Not angry.
Not impressed.
Merely acknowledging a small problem in his way.
Little Alpha. You cling well.
Ronan bared his teeth, chest heaving, arms locked around Evelyn.
"She's mine."
A soft pause.
Then—
She was mine first.
The shadows surged.
Evelyn screamed as the ground cracked beneath her.
Ronan roared her name.
The battlefield fractured.
And the Shadow Father reached for his daughter—
As the world fell toward darkness.