Kira's POV
I wake to someone roughly shaking my shoulder.
Get up. Training starts now. No delays.
A Council warrior stands over me female, mid-thirties, crescent shaped scar bisecting her left cheek.
Who are you?
Commander Vera. Combat instructor. She tosses training clothes at me. Five minutes. Don't be late.
Outside, dawn barely breaks. Vera waits with arms crossed, evaluating me with a predator's gaze.
Cassius says you need control. I'm here to teach you how to fight without exploding and killing everyone.
Why would you help me?
I'm following orders. But her eyes suggest something else. Something hidden. Show me your power. Don't hold back.
Through the bond, Kieran worries. I'm okay. Just training.
Be extremely careful.
Always.
I raise my hand experimentally. Silver light flickers weakly.
That's it? Cassius said you destroyed an entire forest.
I lost control then.
Let's make absolutely sure that doesn't happen again. She throws a stone at my head with real force.
I duck awkwardly. What
Teaching you. Power responds strongest to genuine emotion. You need to trigger it intentionally, not wait for accidents. Another stone hits my shoulder hard enough to bruise.
Stop that!
Make me.
Silver surges instinctively. A shield materializes solid light blocking the next stone.
Vera smiles with approval. Much better. But you're still reacting defensively. You need to act offensively.
She rushes me with trained precision. Her fist connects solidly with my ribs.
Pain explodes. The Void Wolf won't care about your hesitation, she hisses close to my ear.
She knows about the Void Wolf.
Another punch. I block this time, grabbing her wrist.
Power flows automatically into her. She jerks back, gasping.
You just drained my energy. She looks genuinely impressed. Most moonmarked wolves have one specialized power. You're showing multiple distinct abilities. Exactly like the ancient legends.
She takes a fighting stance. Now attack me properly.
I can't
I work for Cassius. The man actively planning to betray you and kill your mate.
I freeze completely. You know about that?
I heard him last night. Same as you did. I don't agree with using you as disposable bait. It's fundamentally wrong. She meets my eyes with unexpected intensity. I can't help you escape openly. But I can help you survive what's coming. Now attack me with everything.
I attack.
Silver power erupts from my center. Vera dodges with inhuman grace, throwing ice daggers wait, ice?
You're moonmarked too?
Why else would I train you? I've been hiding my mark for years, secretly helping marked wolves through Torin's network. More ice materializes. Now prove you can learn.
I create a light platform, dodging her attacks.
Excellent instincts! Now
An alarm blares across the entire camp. Loud. Urgent.
Vera goes pale. No. Not this soon. It can't be.
What's happening?
Wolves run past in organized chaos. Shouts. Screams echoing from somewhere distant.
Through the bond, Kieran's absolute panic hits me like a physical blow.
Then I feel it myself. A presence. Massive. Ancient. Fundamentally wrong.
The very air freezes solid. The ground trembles.
It's here, Vera whispers, her face bloodless. The Void Wolf. The seal broke days early.
A howl echoes across the landscape. Deep. Bone vibrating. Pure concentrated terror made sound.
Every single moonmarked wolf in the camp screams simultaneously, grabbing their marks.
I collapse as silver fire burns my shoulder like a brand.
Danger. Death. Run. The mark screams warnings.
Evacuate immediately! Full retreat! Vera pulls me up forcefully.
The forest ahead explodes into splinters.
Trees are ripped from the ground by invisible force. Tents flying. Warriors scattering like leaves.
Through the destruction, it appears.
The Void Wolf.
Thirty feet tall. Made of living shadow and darkness. Red eyes burning with ancient hunger. Covered in light absorbing armor. Teeth like swords.
Looking directly at me.
Moon Child. Its voice echoes in my skull. I've waited a thousand years to devour you and your power.
It charges with world ending speed.
Vera throws an ice wall desperately. The Wolf crashes through it like paper.
I throw my strongest light shield. Its claws shatter it instantly.
RUN!
We run.
Behind us, total destruction. Warriors attack with everything fire, ice, lightning, weapons.
Nothing stops it. Nothing even slows it down.
It hunts only me. Ignoring everyone else. Single minded purpose.
We burst into an open field, nowhere left to hide.
The Void Wolf follows inevitably.
Kira! Kieran's voice cuts through my panic.
He stands across the field with Bloodmoon warriors, twenty moonmarked wolves, even Lydia.
They all came.
Get behind me now! Kieran shifts to massive wolf form.
No! It specifically wants me! If I
The Void Wolf's claw catches my back.
Agony explodes. Silver blood pours. I scream.
Through our bond, Kieran feels my pain as his own. He roars with rage.
KIRA!
He charges suicidally. The creature swats him into a tree with contemptuous ease. Bone cracks audibly.
Through the bond struggling to breathe. Multiple ribs broken. Internal bleeding.
No. Power builds inside me.
The Wolf looms overhead. Your power. Surrender it willingly. Then I grant you quick death instead of prolonged agony.
Never.
It raises its claw for the killing blow.
My moon mark explodes with power.
But this time feels different. New.
Power doesn't just come from within me.
It flows from every moonmarked wolf present.
I feel the mall twenty refugees, Vera, two other Council wolves hiding their marks.
Their unique powers flowing into me like rivers joining an ocean. Fire. Ice. Lightning. Sound. Healing. Everything combining.
I stand, glowing every color imaginable.
My turn, monster.
The Wolf stumbles backward. Impossible you can't channel
Watch me.
I throw both hands forward.
Every borrowed power simultaneously.
The combined blast hits its chest, driving it backward, leaving a crater.
It bleeds. Black ichor instead of blood.
You can hurt me. But you cannot kill me. I am eternal darkness given form
You talk too much, I interrupt.
I hit it again. And again. Relentless.
It roars, trying desperately to regenerate.
Retreat! I need more time to recover!
It turns to flee.
I prepare to finish it completely
My power sputters. Flickers. Dies.
Used too much. Drew too heavily from everyone.
I buckle, completely drained.
The Wolf sees my weakness. Grins with too many teeth.
Not yet strong enough, Moon Child. But soon you will be. It starts backing away. Next time we meet, I'll be ready. And you'll have no one left to protect.
It vanishes into living shadows.
I collapse completely.
Kieran pulls me against him despite his serious injuries.
I've got you. You're safe.
It's not dead. It'll come back stronger.
But you hurt it badly. You drove it away when nothing else could.
Marcus approaches cautiously. You connected us. All of us. We felt our individual powers flowing through you like you were a conduit.
I didn't mean to.
That's your unique gift as Moon Child, Elena says, treating wounds with shaking hands. Connection. The ability to channel and combine all moon power simultaneously. The last Moon Child did it too. That's how she sealed the Void Wolf originally.
Then that's exactly what I need to do.
Cassius appears through the smoke and destruction, covered in dust. His entire camp destroyed.
Remarkable performance. You actually drove it away. He smiles coldly. Of course, you realize what this means?
What?
The creature knows you exist now. Knows you can genuinely hurt it. It won't wait or hesitate anymore. He leans closer. It's coming for you again. Very soon. Next time, it won't retreat.
Let it come. I'll be ready.
Bold words for someone who can barely stand upright. We continue intensive training immediately. But now we're working against a deadline. His smile widens cruelly. Weeks at absolute best.
And your plan to use me as bait?
His expression doesn't change. Still the plan. But I'll make sure you're strong enough to survive the initial encounter. Can't have my weapon breaking before the final battle.
He walks away casually.
Kieran's arms tighten protectively. We're leaving this place. Now.
Where would we go? It'll follow me anywhere.
Then we fight somewhere we actually choose. On our terms.
Vera approaches, pressing something wrapped in cloth into my hands.
What's this?
She unwraps an ancient leatherbound book, pages yellowed with age.
Records from the last Moon Child. Her personal journals. Everything she learned. She presses it firmly into my hands. I stole this from Cassius's private collection. Use it wisely.
Why help me at all?
Because you're our only hope against extinction. So don't fail us.
I open to the first page carefully.
My name is Selene Moonshadow. I am the last Moon Child before you. If you're reading this, the seal has broken. I'm truly sorry. I thought a thousand years would be enough time.
My hands shake.
To truly destroy the Void Wolf permanently, you must embrace the full power. Every ability. Every connection. Every sacrifice required.
Sacrifice is underlined three times. Emphasized.
And if you succeed where I failed, know this absolute truth: the price of saving the world is always your own life. A Moon Child who destroys the Void Wolf completely does not survive the victory. Ever.
No more entries after that.
She didn't survive.
I close the book with trembling hands.
Kieran reads my expression. What did it say?
I can't tell him. Can't say that killing the Wolf means dying.
That our newly completed bond will be shattered.
That I have mere weeks to save the world.
Then say goodbye forever to everything I love.
It said I can win, I lie through our bond. That's all that matters.
Through our connection, he feels my deception. But doesn't call me out.
He just holds me tighter than before.
Whatever happens, we face it together.
Together, I echo emptily.
Even though I'll face the final battle completely alone.
Even though I won't survive it.
Even though loving him makes everything infinitely harder.
Because that's what Moon Children do.
We save the world.
No matter the cost.
No matter how much it destroys us.