The forest remained unnaturally still long after Malachar vanished.
No wind.
No sound.
Just a heavy silence pressing against every breath.
Leila stood motionless, her gaze fixed on the space he had disappeared from.
To open the way…
Those words wouldn't leave her mind.
The Unease
Marcus shifted uneasily.
"Okay… I think we can all agree that sounded really bad."
No one laughed.
Because it was.
Dominic's eyes scanned the forest, every instinct alert.
"He wasn't bluffing."
Kael wasn't there to confirm it.
But they didn't need him.
They could feel it.
Something was coming.
The Weight of Truth
Leila turned slowly.
"What if he's right?"
Her voice wasn't weak.
But it wasn't steady either.
Dominic frowned.
"About what?"
She hesitated.
Then said it.
"What if the First Bloodline… isn't meant to protect us?"
Silence followed.
Marcus shook his head.
"Nah, I don't like that theory at all."
But Dominic didn't dismiss it.
Because deep down—
He had felt it too.
Seeking Answers
"We need answers," Leila said firmly.
Dominic nodded.
"And I know where to get them."
Marcus raised a brow.
"You've been holding out on us?"
Dominic ignored him.
"There's someone who knows more about the old bloodlines than anyone alive."
Leila's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who?"
Dominic's voice dropped.
"Someone I swore I'd never go back to."
The Hidden Path
They moved quickly through the forest, putting distance between themselves and the разрушed mountain.
The Alpha Killers followed silently, more controlled now, more aware.
Not just weapons anymore.
Something closer to guardians.
As they traveled deeper—
The forest began to change.
The trees grew older.
Taller.
Their trunks twisted with age, their roots spreading like veins across the ground.
The air felt heavier here.
Ancient.
Watching.
Marcus whispered.
"…Why does this place feel like it knows me?"
Dominic didn't slow.
"Because it remembers everything."
The Forgotten Sanctuary
After hours of movement—
They arrived.
A massive clearing hidden deep within the forest.
At its center stood a structure unlike anything Leila had seen.
Not a building.
Not ruins.
Something in between.
Stone pillars rose from the earth, covered in carvings that seemed to move if you looked at them too long.
Symbols.
Old.
Powerful.
Leila stepped forward slowly.
"…What is this place?"
Dominic's expression hardened.
"A place that should've stayed buried."
The Guardian Appears
"You shouldn't have come back."
The voice came from everywhere.
And nowhere.
Leila turned sharply.
A figure stepped out from between the pillars.
Old.
But not weak.
His presence was overwhelming in a different way—not explosive like Dominic, not consuming like Leila's power.
But steady.
Endless.
His eyes landed on Dominic.
"You finally ran out of places to hide."
Dominic didn't react.
"I need answers."
The old man's gaze shifted to Leila.
And everything changed.
His calm expression—
Cracked.
"…Impossible."
Recognition
Leila froze under his stare.
"What?"
He stepped closer.
Slow.
Careful.
Like approaching something dangerous.
"No…"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"It can't be you."
Dominic stepped between them slightly.
"Explain."
The old man didn't look at him.
His eyes were locked on Leila.
"You carry it."
Leila's chest tightened.
"I know about the First Bloodline."
The old man shook his head slowly.
"No."
His voice sharpened.
"You don't."
The Truth Begins
The air grew heavier.
Even the Alpha Killers tensed.
The old man exhaled slowly.
"The First Bloodline…"
He paused.
As if choosing his words carefully.
"…is not a gift."
Leila felt her stomach drop.
"It is not power meant to lead wolves."
Another step closer.
"It is not meant to unite."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Then what is it?"
The old man's gaze darkened.
"It is a key."
The Gate
Leila's heart pounded.
"A key to what?"
The old man's eyes lifted slightly—
As if remembering something ancient.
Something terrifying.
"Long before wolves ruled these lands…"
His voice echoed with weight.
"There were things that did not belong to this world."
Marcus swallowed.
"…I really don't like where this is going."
The old man continued.
"They were sealed away."
A pause.
"Not destroyed."
Leila's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Sealed… by who?"
The answer came slowly.
"By the first of your kind."
The Role of the Bloodline
The old man looked directly at her.
"The First Bloodline was created for one purpose."
Leila's pulse thundered.
"…What purpose?"
His voice was quiet.
Final.
"To open that seal again."
The Realization
Everything clicked.
The beast.
The resistance.
The power she couldn't control.
Malachar's words.
To open the way.
Leila staggered slightly.
"No…"
Dominic caught her arm.
"That's not happening."
But the old man shook his head.
"It already is."
The Final Truth
Leila's voice trembled.
"Then why do I have it?"
The old man's gaze softened—
Just slightly.
"Because you were never meant to be just a wolf."
Silence.
Heavy.
Crushing.
Dominic's voice dropped dangerously.
"Explain. Now."
The old man looked between them.
Then said the one thing that changed everything.
"You were born from the seal itself."
The World Shifts
Leila's breath stopped.
"…What?"
The ground beneath her felt unstable.
Like reality itself had tilted.
"I don't understand."
"You will," the old man said quietly.
"But not here."
His gaze turned toward the forest.
Toward something unseen.
"Because it's already waking up."
The Beginning of the End
A low rumble echoed through the ground.
Not from the mountain.
Not from the forest.
From something deeper.
Older.
Watching.
Leila felt it.
That same presence.
But now—
It felt closer.
Dominic stepped forward, his entire body tense.
"…What did we just start?"
The old man didn't answer immediately.
Because the truth—
Was worse than anything they expected.