The howl shook the castle to its foundations.
Lyra's breath froze in her lungs as the echo coiled through the stone corridors—ancient, hungry, and far too familiar. Rylan dragged her behind him, one arm braced protectively across her front, as torches guttered and guards shouted down the hall.
"South wing breach!"
"Shields—NOW!"
"Something just tore through the ward lines!"
Another thunderous snarl rattled the doors.
Lyra clutched Rylan's cloak.
"I know that sound," she whispered. "I heard it when I was a child."
Rylan's head snapped toward her, muscles coiled, eyes burning molten gold.
"You remember more?"
"It hunted my mother," Lyra breathed. "It—"
She stopped.
Because suddenly she felt it.
A tug in her blood.
A call beneath her heartbeat.
A pull that wasn't the Moonbound bond—
But older. Darker.
Something that recognized her.
Rylan grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"Lyra—whatever you feel, fight it. Do you hear me? Don't answer it."
"I'm not trying to," she whispered. "It's answering me."
His expression twisted.
"Damn it."
The door splintered.
Rylan shoved her behind him just as Kade stormed in, sword drawn, armor half-buckled, expression a mix of fury and fear.
"Rylan!" Kade barked. "Tell me you didn't feel that aura—"
"I felt it," Rylan snarled. "Keep your distance."
"I'm trying to keep her alive!"
"You're not touching her," Rylan shot back.
"This is bigger than your obsession—"
"ENOUGH!" Queen Isolde's voice cracked like ice as she swept into the room, guards swarming her flanks. Her gaze sliced to Lyra. "Child, listen to me carefully. The creature outside—tell me if it feels familiar."
Lyra's throat tightened.
"Yes."
Kade swore violently.
"That means it's tied to her bloodline."
"No," Isolde whispered. "It means it's tied to her destiny."
The castle shuddered again.
A crash.
Screams.
A wet ripping sound.
Something was tearing through the guards like paper.
Lyra stumbled back, heart hammering.
"Why is it here? What does it want?"
Rylan turned, gripping her shoulders.
"It wants you. It wants what's inside you."
"I don't have anything inside me!"
He held her face, breath harsh against her lips.
"You have no idea what you are."
She shoved him, shaking.
"Then tell me!"
He backed her against the wall, eyes blazing, voice low and desperate.
"I can't. Not yet. If you know too soon, it will awaken."
"What will?"
He exhaled shakily.
"The side of you that isn't wolf."
Her pulse stopped.
"…Not wolf?"
Her voice was barely sound.
Rylan froze, jaw locking.
Isolde shot him a warning look.
Kade cursed under his breath.
The door groaned—
Then tore off its hinges.
A blast of icy wind rushed into the chamber as the monstrous presence stepped into view—still cloaked in shadow, but its silver eyes burned through the darkness like twin moons.
"Hide her!" Isolde shouted.
Guards lunged.
They were flung aside like feathers.
"Rylan—RUN!" Kade roared.
But Rylan didn't run.
He grabbed Lyra, pulled her against him—
And kissed her.
Not gently.
Not carefully.
Desperately.
Like it was the last moment he would ever have her.
Lyra gasped against his mouth, her hands gripping his shoulders as the bond exploded between them—heat, fire, something wild and forbidden igniting in every nerve.
His lips moved with raw hunger.
His thumb stroked her throat.
His breath tangled with hers.
Her body arched into him, helpless against the pull.
The world outside went silent.
For a moment, there was only him.
Rylan broke away first, breathing hard, forehead pressed to hers.
"I needed… to feel you," he rasped. "To anchor you. And to remind myself what I'll lose if I fail."
"Rylan—"
But the creature's howl ripped the air behind them.
Rylan spun, shielding her again.
"Stay behind me."
Lyra grabbed his wrist.
"What if it's calling me because it wants something I can give?"
He looked at her, horror in his eyes.
"Exactly. And if you give it even a fraction—it will own you."
The creature stepped fully into view.
Lyra stopped breathing.
It wasn't a wolf.
Not anymore.
Its body was the size of a stallion.
Fur black as a moonless pit.
Smoke writhing from its spine like living shadows.
And its silver eyes—those impossible, burning silver eyes—locked onto her with a chilling intelligence.
Rylan's voice was a whisper of dread.
"Shadowborne."
Isolde's gasp sliced the air.
"That bloodline was extinguished centuries ago."
"No," Kade breathed. "One must have survived."
Lyra trembled.
"What is it?"
Rylan didn't look at her.
He couldn't.
"It's a creature born from corrupted lunar magic," he whispered. "A hunter made to track ancient bloodlines. The kind that your mother descended from."
"So it really is hunting me."
Rylan swallowed hard.
"It's not just hunting you, Lyra."
He turned then—slowly—and the devastation in his eyes made her knees weaken.
"It's bound to you."
Her heart stuttered.
"No… no, that's impossible—"
"It tracked you across kingdoms," Rylan said. "It felt your blood awaken when the Moonbound mark appeared. And now—"
The creature took one more step.
Every shadow in the room slithered toward Lyra.
"—it's coming to claim what's its."
Lyra stepped back.
Rylan grabbed her hand.
The creature's gaze fixed on where their fingers intertwined.
Then it spoke.
Not aloud.
Inside her mind.
"Daughter of the Lost Moon…
You belong to me."
Lyra screamed.
Rylan jerked her behind him—
Too late.
Shadow tendrils exploded from the creature, latching around Lyra's wrists, dragging her forward with violent force.
"LYRA!" Rylan roared, shifting mid-lunge, his wolf bursting through bone and skin in a blaze of gold.
Kade shifted too.
Guards attacked.
Isolde chanted a warding spell—
Nothing stopped it.
The monster's shadows wrapped around Lyra's throat, pulling her off her feet.
Her vision blurred.
Her heartbeat staggered.
And in the monster's eyes—
she saw something she didn't understand.
Recognition.
Claim.
Hunger.
Then—
its voice again, inside her skull:
"Awaken."
Her mark ignited, searing bright gold.
Rylan howled her name, feral and breaking.
And Lyra felt something inside her snap open—
—something powerful
—something ancient
—something that should not exist
White light exploded from her chest.
The monster recoiled.
Everyone fell to their knees.
Lyra hit the floor, gasping, the mark blistering with light.
Rylan crawled toward her, half-shifted, bleeding, desperate—
But he stopped.
Frozen.
Because the mark on Lyra's wrist wasn't gold anymore.
It had turned white.
Glowing like the full moon.
And the monster whispered one last thing before vanishing into the shadows:
"At last…
the Ascendant has awakened."
Lyra collapsed.
Rylan screamed her name.
And the world went dark.