CHAPTER ONE: Ashes of the Alpha
The wind was silent in the Hollowwood that night—too silent. Not even the owls dared to cry. No rustling in the trees. No whispers in the grass. Just the heavy breath of something that should have been dead.
Kael crouched low in the underbrush, eyes locked on the distant flicker of torches dancing beneath the tree line. His once-proud silver fur was gone, replaced by coarse human skin streaked with dirt and blood. The moon above, full and gleaming, mocked him with its brightness. It should have stirred the wolf inside him. It should have filled him with the strength of his ancestors.
But the curse still held.
He was human now—weak, slower, vulnerable. And yet he watched. He always watched. Because the monsters hadn't stopped hunting. And he hadn't stopped grieving.
Not after twelve years.
Not after they took her.
A branch snapped nearby. Kael's hand reached instinctively for the dagger strapped to his thigh. Not a weapon of his kind, but it was all he had left. All that separated him from the beasts that once followed his command and now wore the black insignia of the betrayer.
Theron.
The name made Kael's jaw tighten. The pain of betrayal hadn't dulled with time. If anything, it had fermented—aged into something darker. Something unholy.
He rose slowly, stalking toward the campfire that flickered just beyond the pines. Four figures stood there, cloaked in black and silver. Vampires, probably scouts. Their crimson eyes reflected the firelight like dying embers, soulless and cold. They laughed, muttering in low tones about the "stray wolf" seen near the borders. One of them kicked a bag on the ground—a child-sized shape that didn't move.
Kael's pulse thundered.
The fire roared suddenly higher, and one of the vampires stepped forward to examine the bag. A girl. No older than eight. Thin wrists bound. A gag soaked in tears.
Kael didn't think. He didn't breathe.
His dagger was out before he moved, cutting through the dark like silver lightning. The first vampire never saw it coming—his throat opened with a hiss before he collapsed. The second turned, eyes wide, mouth opening for a warning cry that never came. Kael slammed him into a tree, breaking the neck with a sickening twist.
The third lunged, claws extended—but Kael moved like a ghost. No roar. No sound. Just pain. Blood. Death.
The fourth ran.
Kael let him.
The child didn't speak. She couldn't—not for hours. But Kael stayed by her side, feeding the small fire he made with dry twigs and fallen leaves. She huddled close, still gagged, watching him with those wide, broken eyes.
She looked just like her.
Not in face. No. His mate had eyes like stormclouds, dark and defiant even in death. But something in the girl's silence, her trembling hands and refusal to cry... it tore through him like a blade to the gut.
He removed the gag slowly.
"What's your name?" he asked, voice hoarse from days without speech.
The girl looked up at him.
"They called me… Number Nine," she whispered.
Kael's eyes narrowed. A chill crept down his spine.
That wasn't a name.
It was a mark.
---
They traveled through the forest for days, skirting the old roads, avoiding outposts where the wolves once ruled. Now those same roads were patrolled by humans and vampires alike—united under the Black Sigil, the unholy mark of Theron's reign.
Kael kept his distance from the girl, only speaking when necessary. He told her nothing of who he was. Nothing of what he had lost. And yet, she followed him.
Each night she curled beside the fire, too afraid to sleep unless he stayed awake. She never asked for food, never complained about the cold. She simply endured. And each time she flinched at a broken twig or distant howl, Kael burned a little more inside.
She was like him.
Broken. Left behind.
One night, the girl finally asked.
"Why do you smell like a wolf… but walk like a man?"
Kael didn't answer at first. He stared into the fire, watching the flames dance and spit like angry spirits.
"I was born a wolf," he said quietly. "I led a pack that ruled these forests for generations. My people… we protected the balance between fang and blood. Between man and moon. We were peacekeepers. Warriors. Until one of us… broke the oath."
She tilted her head. "The Black Sigil?"
Kael nodded once. "Theron. My beta. He envied what he didn't understand. He struck a deal with the vampire lords. Promised them territory in exchange for power. When I refused, he turned my pack against me."
"What happened?"
Kael's fists clenched. The fire flared, throwing long shadows across his face.
"He killed my mate. Burned our sacred grounds. Took everything I loved. Then he cursed me—ripped my wolf from my soul. Said I didn't deserve to lead, didn't deserve the moon."
The girl didn't speak.
She just stared at him, eyes glistening.
"Do you want to kill him?" she whispered.
Kael looked at her.
"No," he said.
She blinked.
"I want to watch him suffer."
---
By the time they reached the outskirts of Hollowdeep, a ruined wolf settlement, Kael sensed they were being followed. Shadows shifted just a little too late. Birds flew off just a little too early.
He kept the girl close, watching from the hollowed ruins of what once was a proud village. There were bones here. Not buried—just left. Scattered like discarded history. Some were still clawed. Others burned.
He remembered the screams.
The smell of his mate's blood.
Her final breath against his chest.
Run, Kael… run... and make them pay…
That voice haunted him every night.
And now, here, it echoed.
"You were never meant to live, Alpha," came a voice from behind the ruined well.
Kael turned.
A man stepped out—no, not a man.
A werewolf.
One of his own.
Or what used to be.
The creature's fur was blackened, matted with blood and rot. His eyes burned red, a twisted version of what the moon should give. And on his neck, carved into flesh, was the Black Sigil.
Kael's heart twisted.
"Garreth," he said, voice low. "You were my brother."
Garreth smiled with broken teeth. "And you were a fool. We could've had everything, Kael. No more hiding in the woods. No more peacekeeping. We could've ruled!"
"You were supposed to protect the balance."
"We are the balance now!" Garreth roared. "The age of man is done. The wolves rise, Kael. With blood. With fire."
Kael stepped in front of the girl, dagger drawn.
"I'm not here for war."
"But war's here for you, Alpha."
Garreth lunged.
And the ruins howled once more.
---