The day had slipped away in a haze of unrest, and now night pressed in, clouded, heavy, thick with the promise of rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance, low and brooding, as if the skies themselves sensed the storm building within the walls of the Silverclaw Fortress.
Alpha Kaelion sat alone in his study, a large leather-bound book open before him, though his golden eyes were unfocused. He hadn't turned a page in minutes. His thoughts were far from the ink and parchment, drifting instead to blood-drained bodies, faceless voices in his dreams, and the unknown threat festering within his pack.
A sharp knock broke his thoughts.
"Alpha," Beta Darian voice came from behind the door.
"Enter," Alpha Kaelion answered, closing the book with a dull thud.
Darian stepped in, posture respectful yet urgent. "The Seer is here."
Kaelion's eyes sharpened. "Where is she?"
"I left her in the waiting room."
Alpha Kaelion stood, his presence commanding even in stillness. "Let's not keep her waiting."
Together, they moved through the lit corridors of the fortress. Guards bowed as they passed.
The waiting room doors opened in silence.
Inside stood Velmira, the Seer. A slender, ageless woman wrapped in midnight-blue robes. Her eyes were pale and clouded, yet she saw more than any living wolf in the Silverclaw Pack. Braids of dark hair laced with silver threads hung down her shoulders. The air around her shimmered faintly, like heat rising from stone.
"Alpha," she said, bowing her head.
Alpha Kaelion nodded and gestured for her to sit. She unrolled a mystic mat on the floor and settled upon it with unnatural grace.
"You seem troubled to summon me so urgently," she murmured, placing crystals, stones and pendulum before her. "Restlessness clings to you."
"That's why I called for you," Alpha Kaelion replied.
Beta Darian remained by the door, his presence like a shadow.
Velmira's gaze met the Alpha's. "The balance is shifting. The blood spilled is only the beginning. Something has awakened… and it is hungry."
Alpha Kaelion's jaw clenched. "I need names."
Velmira smiled faintly. "Names come through visions. Visions come through blood."
His eyes narrowed. "Speak plainly."
"I need one of the bodies you found. A piece. An offering. Only then can the veil lift."
Kaelion exchanged a glance with Darian, then turned back to her.
"You'll have it."
Velmira rose, gathering her tools.
"I shall take my leave now ."
"Wait," Alpha Kaelion said, his voice like thunder. Velmira paused.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"My dreams," Alpha Kaelion muttered, voice low. "They haunt me. Every night, I see shadows. Flames. A faceless voice calling me, and I wake up… empty."
Velmira tilted her head, studying him with those pale, knowing eyes.
"Come closer." She said.
Alpha Kaelion stepped forward without hesitation.
"Place your hands on mine," she instructed, extending her slender palms.
Alpha Kaelion obeyed, his large hands settling over hers.
Velmira closed her eyes. The air shifted.
A faint hum vibrated in the room. Her body tensed, then shuddered. Her eyes rolled back, and a hiss escaped her lips, like wind escaping a sealed tomb.
Alpha Kaelion's jaw tightened. "What did you see?" He asks.
Velmira's voice dropped, barely above a whisper.
"She's near… your flame. The one the moon has chosen for you. Your fated mate. But if you find her too late…" she paused, voice trembling slightly,
"…everything you've built will burn."
Alpha Kaelion's heart faltered, but his face remained hard as steel.
Without another word, Velmira snapped out of the trance and began packing her tools in swift, urgent motions.
"Velmira" he called again, voice sharp.
"Where is she? Why can't I scent her? Why hasn't the bond revealed itself?"
The Seer paused, her back to him.
"Because fate does not serve the impatient, Alpha," she said softly.
"And not all mates are revealed through scent alone. Some… are hidden by the moon for a reason."
Kaelion's eyes narrowed. "What reason?"
Velmira slowly turned, her expression unreadable.
"To protect her. And to test you."
"Test me?" he asks.
"You are not just her mate, Alpha. You are her reckoning. If you meet her unprepared, you will destroy her… or she will destroy you."
A heavy silence fell between them.
"The next full moon draws near," she added. "If you don't find her by then, the power inside her, inside both of you, may awaken on its own… violently."
Alpha Kaelion felt a chill, not from fear, but from inevitability.
Velmira took one final look at him.
"The storm has already begun. Whether you rise or fall in it, Alpha, depends on what you do next."
And with that, she slipped through the door, vanishing into the corridor like smoke.
Alpha Kaelion stood there, the room colder than before.
____
The next day.
Beta Darian waited till nightfall. Night settling over Silverclaw like a thick cloak, the fortress quiet except for the occasional howl in the distance. Inside the walls, Beta Darian moved with purpose, his footsteps echoing through the stone halls.
Turning a corner, he found the two guards he had summoned, Rael and Vynn, already waiting. Both stood tall in black leathers, alert and silent.
"Let's go," Darian ordered curtly, his voice low but firm.
Without a word, the guards fell into step behind him as they made their way to the Pack Hospital, where the latest victim's body had been sent for autopsy. The building, one of the biggest facility in the fortress grounds, quiet, dimly lit, and heavy with the sterile scent of herbs and antiseptic.
Inside, the Head Doctor, Zoa, waited, just as Darian had arranged.
"Beta," Zoa greeted with a respectful bow as Darian entered, the guards following behind him.
"Is it ready?" Beta Darian asked, his expression unreadable.
"Yes, Beta. I've been expecting you. Come with me," the doctor replied, turning swiftly.
Beta Darian motioned to the guards. "Go with him."
Rael and Vynn bowed and followed Zoa down a narrow hallway. Moments later, they returned, carefully carrying out the body, wrapped tightly in ceremonial linen and bound with protective warding cloth.
"We'll take our leave now," Beta Darian said, eyes sweeping over the hallway. As he signaled the guards to head out.
As he turned to go, he paused and looked back at the doctor.
"Zoa… you remember, we were never here."
"Of course," Zoa replied calmly. "The body is officially still under review. No one will see it."
"Good." Beta Darian gave a single nod. "Later."
"Yes, Beta," Zoa said, bowing once more as Beta Darian disappeared into the shadows with the guards.
No traces. No questions. Only silence.
___
Rael and Vynn stood at sides of the vehicle they came in. The body carefully placed at the boot of the car.
They took their leave immediately Beta Darian arrived at the car. The journey to Velmira's place was silent and quiet.
They arrived at Velmira's Sanctum, tucked away in the fortress's oldest wing. The doors creaked open as if expecting them. The air was thick with incense, candles flickering in unnatural colors.
Velmira stood in the center, already waiting, her eyes clouded but sharp.
"You brought it," she said.
Beta Darian nodded. "From the hospital. Untouched since autopsy. The markings are still fresh."
"Place it before the altar," Velmira instructed.
Rael and Vynn obeyed, carefully setting the body down before stepping back with slight bows. Velmira approached, her fingers already crackling with ethereal energy.
"Leave us," she said.
Beta Darian nodded to the guards. "Wait outside."
As they exited, Velmira's hands uncovered the body, staring at it. "Let's see what the dead have to say…" she murmured.
She turned to Beta Darian. You've done well. I will get to the Alpha when it's time. She said.
You may leave.
Darian gave a respectful nod. "As you wish."
He turned and stepped out, the heavy doors closing behind him with a whisper of finality.
What secrets the dead would reveal..... Only Velmira now knew.