The stars above shimmered like scattered shards of memory, and the cold breath of the wind swept across the hilltop where Kael stood, staring down into the trees. Three wolves lingered just beyond the edge of the forest, their eyes glowing with unearthly light.
They did not move. They watched him with a quiet, unsettling intensity—as though they were waiting for him to choose.
Kael felt the pull again, deep in his bones. It wasn't just curiosity this time. It was something more ancient, more instinctive. Like gravity. Like fate.
He stepped forward.
As his feet carried him down the slope and into the trees, the forest seemed to fold around him. Shadows danced between the trunks, and the wind whispered in voices too old to name. The wolves remained still until he crossed the threshold of the treeline—then they turned, one by one, and disappeared into the dark.
Kael followed without hesitation.
They ran for what felt like hours. The forest changed as they moved—trees grew older, thicker, the ground softer and more alive. Time lost meaning. Kael's breath came steady, his legs strong despite the distance. He should have been exhausted, but instead he felt exhilarated. Each stride was a release, a shedding of the limitations he had always believed were his.
The wolves didn't slow. They moved as one, silent and swift, their silver and ash coats glimmering with moonlight that filtered through the canopy.
Eventually, the forest opened into a wide hollow, hidden deep within the heart of Eldoria's wilderness. A circle of towering oaks surrounded the clearing, their roots knotted and twisted, forming natural archways between them. Bioluminescent moss covered the ground, glowing a pale blue that lit the area like moonlight on snow.
At the center of the hollow, a fire burned—no wood, no smoke, just cold, azure flame licking the air. Around it stood a group of people.
Shifters.
Kael stopped at the edge of the clearing, his breath catching in his throat.
They were a mix of men and women, young and old, each marked by something unmistakable—feral grace, eyes that gleamed like predators, a stillness that belied the power beneath their skin. Some sat cross-legged on stones, some leaned against the trees, and a few stood watchfully, arms crossed, as if waiting for a sign.
And then, one of the wolves stepped forward.
Kael watched in awe as it shimmered—its body seeming to blur, then fold inward like mist drawn into the wind. In its place stood a tall woman with silver-streaked hair and eyes the color of stormclouds. She wore dark leathers and bore the same rune upon her collarbone that Kael carried on his palm.
She looked him over without a word. The silence stretched, heavy and unblinking.
Then she nodded.
"Welcome," she said, her voice low and commanding. "You've felt the call."
Kael nodded, unable to speak.
"I am Thalia, alpha of the Silent Pack. These are your kin—those who walk between the world of men and the wild. You've been brought here because the old blood has stirred within you."
Kael swallowed hard. "I don't understand what I am. What any of this means."
Thalia studied him for a long moment. "You are Moonbound. One of the last. We have watched you for some time, Kael. You were marked from birth."
One of the others—a wiry man with a jagged scar across his jaw—snorted softly. "He's late to awaken. Most of us changed in childhood."
"Late," Thalia echoed, "but not broken." She turned to Kael. "You stood before the altar. You heard the voice of the wild. That is no small thing."
Kael's head spun. "Why now? Why me?"
An older man stepped forward. His face was weathered, his hair bone white. His eyes—wolf's eyes—glinted beneath the firelight. "Because something stirs in the world, boy. Something darker than we've seen in generations. The balance is shifting."
"The balance?" Kael asked.
Thalia gestured to the forest around them. "This world exists in harmony—between the wild and the civilized, the old and the new. The Moonbound were once its guardians. But we've grown few in number. Hidden. We survive, but we no longer protect. And now, something ancient has awoken in the dark corners of the land. We've felt it. A sickness in the ley-lines. A hunger in the wind."
Kael felt a cold knot tighten in his chest. "What kind of sickness?"
"A shadow," the old man murmured. "Spreading like rot. Something that does not belong."
Thalia's gaze sharpened. "And now, you awaken—just as it begins to return. That is no coincidence."
Kael stepped closer to the fire, its blue light casting strange patterns across his face. "What do I need to do?"
A ripple of quiet passed through the gathered shifters.
"First," Thalia said, "you must learn who you are. The strength inside you is not easily controlled. The change is coming—and when it does, it will break you or remake you."
Kael remained in the hollow that night. The Silent Pack gave him space, though he felt their eyes on him at every turn. He slept little, watching the flames, listening to the forest hum around him.
Sometime past midnight, a figure approached.
It was the younger of the wolves—dark-haired, with amber eyes and a cautious smile.
"I'm Riven," he said, crouching beside Kael. "You did well tonight. Most don't make it through the forest alone."
"I didn't feel alone," Kael murmured. "I felt… watched."
"You were," Riven said. "Thalia sent us to find you, but the forest let you in before we did. That's rare."
Kael turned toward him. "What's it like? The change?"
Riven hesitated. "Hard. Painful. Beautiful. The first time, it feels like your body is tearing itself apart. But after… you see the world differently. Everything sharper. Louder. Closer."
Kael nodded. "When?"
Riven's expression turned somber. "Soon. The next full moon is in three nights."
As dawn broke across the hidden hollow, Kael sat in silence, watching the light creep through the trees. The fire still burned—low and steady—its blue flames dancing like spirits.
He didn't know what the next days would bring, or what he would become.
But the voices in the wind no longer frightened him.
The wolf within had stirred. The world was changing.
And Kael was ready to face it.