Kael's POV
The serpent's threat hung in the air like poison.
My wolf snarled inside my chest, demanding I shift and rip the snake's throat out. But I couldn't. Not with Mira standing right behind me, fragile and terrified.
"Raith." I kept my voice level even though rage burned through my veins. "The Heartkeeper just arrived. She's disoriented and frightened. This isn't the time for your temple politics."
The massive serpent's golden eyes fixed on me with ancient hatred. Wolves and serpents had been enemies for centuries—our fire against their ice, our passion against their cold calculation.
"Politics?" The serpent's voice dripped venom. "The Healer's Sigil has awakened after two hundred years and you think I care about politics? She is the key to saving our dying world. She belongs in the Sacred Temple where she can be properly protected and trained."
"She belongs with me," I growled. "She healed me. The bond has already begun."
My pack muttered agreement behind me, twelve sets of eyes glowing with territorial instinct. We were outnumbered by exactly one giant snake, but my wolves were loyal. They'd die for their Luna.
Even if she didn't know she was our Luna yet.
"The bond," Raith hissed mockingly. "You've known her for mere minutes, wolf. Don't pretend your connection is anything more than proximity and desperation."
He wasn't wrong. And that burned worse than the claw wounds had.
"Um, excuse me?" Mira's voice cut through the tension. "Can everyone stop talking about me like I'm not standing right here? I'm a person, not a... a trophy or a sacred object or whatever you all think I am!"
The serpent's attention shifted to her. His hood flared wider, the gold markings seeming to glow brighter.
Then he shifted.
I'd forgotten how unsettling it was to watch serpents transform. Scales became skin in a ripple of dark magic. The massive body compressed, reformed, became human.
Raith stood before us in his male form—tall, golden-eyed, with bronze skin marked by faint scale patterns. And completely naked, like all shifters after transformation.
Mira made a strangled sound. "Does NOBODY wear clothes in this world?"
"Clothes don't survive the shift," Raith said smoothly, completely unbothered by his nakedness. His eyes never left Mira's face. "Heartkeeper, I am Raith, Guardian of the Sacred Temple and Keeper of Ancient Knowledge. You bear the Healer's Sigil, which marks you as the one prophesied to restore the Eternal Spring and save our world from the Fertility Curse."
"The Fertility what now?" Mira looked at me, confusion clear on her face.
I wanted to explain. Wanted to tell her everything. But Raith was faster.
"Our world is dying," he said, his voice softening. "Females are born less and less each generation. Cubs die in the womb. The Eternal Spring—the source of life magic—dried up five generations ago. Without it, we will all fade into extinction within fifty years."
Mira's expression shifted from confusion to horror. "All of you? The entire world?"
"Yes." Raith took a step toward her. "But you can stop it. The Healer's Sigil gives you the power to restore what was lost. To bring life back to a dying world. But you must be trained. Protected. The Sacred Temple has the knowledge—"
"The Sacred Temple is a prison," I interrupted. "They'll lock you away, study you like an experiment, and never let you make your own choices."
Raith's eyes flashed dangerously. "Better a protected prisoner than a dead curiosity. Do you think the other tribes won't come for her, Kael? The eagles, the tigers, the bears—every male in the Wildlands will come to claim her once word spreads. Your little pack can't defend her against the entire Beastworld."
My wolf howled in fury because Raith was right. We were strong, but not that strong.
"Then we ally," I said through gritted teeth. "Wolves and serpents together. We protect her together."
Raith laughed, cold and sharp. "Wolves and serpents haven't allied in three hundred years. Why would I trust you?"
"Because she trusts me." I glanced back at Mira, who looked pale and overwhelmed. "I found her. I was the first. She healed me without hesitation, even though I was a stranger. That means something."
"It means she has a healer's heart," Raith countered. "It doesn't mean she's chosen you."
"STOP!" Mira shouted, her glowing arm flaring so bright we all had to look away. "Both of you, just STOP!"
The light faded. We all stared at her.
She stood there shaking—not from fear, I realized, but from anger. Her honey-brown eyes blazed with fierce determination that made my wolf whimper with want.
"I didn't ask for any of this," she said, her voice trembling but strong. "I died saving children. I woke up in a strange world with weird magic tattoos and now everyone's fighting over me like I'm a prize cow. Well, guess what? I'm not! I'm a person with thoughts and feelings and the right to make my own damn choices!"
Pride swelled in my chest. She was magnificent.
"So here's what's going to happen," Mira continued. "Nobody's claiming me. Nobody's locking me up. And nobody—" she pointed at each of us, "—is fighting each other over me. Got it?"
My pack exchanged glances. Finn, my Beta, looked impressed.
Raith tilted his head, studying her. "Brave. But foolish, Heartkeeper. You don't understand the dangers—"
"Then explain them without threatening to kill each other!" Mira snapped. "I'm a nurse. My job is saving lives and solving problems. If your world is dying, fine. I'll help. But I do it MY way, not as some prisoner or trophy wife."
Silence fell over the clearing.
Then Raith smiled. Actually smiled. "Interesting. Very interesting."
Before anyone could respond, a shadow passed overhead.
Massive wings blotted out the sun.
I looked up and my blood ran cold.
An eagle. No—the Eagle Lord himself. Thorne of the Sky Flight, the most arrogant male in the Beastworld.
He landed in a crouch, wings spread wide, amber eyes locked on Mira with predatory hunger.
"Well, well," Thorne said, his voice carrying that insufferable cocky tone. "The legendary Luna appears and every earthbound beast comes running. How predictable."
He folded his wings and stood to his full height, looking Mira up and down with obvious appreciation.
"But none of you asked the most important question." He smiled, showing teeth. "What does the little healer want? Does she want to be trapped on the ground with wolves and snakes?" His wings spread again, magnificent and terrifying. "Or does she want to fly?"
Mira's eyes went wide as Thorne moved toward her.
I stepped forward to block him.
But I wasn't fast enough.
Thorne grabbed Mira around the waist, his wings snapping open with a sound like thunder.
"NO!" I lunged.
Too late.
Thorne launched into the sky, carrying Mira with him as she screamed.
My wolf roared in fury, in loss, in absolute desperation.
"BRING HER BACK!" I bellowed at the rapidly disappearing figure.
Raith shifted back to serpent form in a blur of dark scales. "If he takes her to the mountains, we'll never get her back. The eagles guard their territory with their lives."
My pack was already shifting, ready to chase.
But we couldn't fly.
And Thorne was fast.
I watched helplessly as the eagle carried my Luna into the clouds.
Then something impossible happened.
Lightning cracked across the clear sky.
Thorne screamed.
And they both started falling.