On the night of Alpha Darius's birth, something didn't seem right. The Northclaw park usually buzzed with sounds at night. Crickets chirped, owls hooted, and distant wolves howled through the trees. But that night, the forest felt different; it was eerily quiet, as if the land was holding its breath.
Inside the stone den, at the center of the territory, the luna lay on the cold ground, her breath slipping away. Blood stained the fur beneath her, and the smell unsettled the elders. They gathered in a circle around her, whispering among themselves, afraid to voice their worries. Each of them thought the same thing: the pup wouldn't survive.
He was too small and weak. His heartbeat fluttered and was unsteady beneath his little chest, as if it might stop at any moment. A child born into the Alpha lineage should have arrived screaming, strong, and already showing signs of dominance. This one barely cried at all.
One elder shook his head, looking disappointed. "The power in him is unstable."
"Too much," another whispered. "It will destroy him." Queen Luna heard it all and slowly turned her head. Her golden eyes remained sharp and fierce despite the pain overwhelming her body. She growled in warning, and the den fell silent. The elders exchanged glances and bowed their heads. No one dared to speak again.
"He shall live. He will survive," she said, her voice shaky but firm.
The elders were surprised by her confidence.
"But, but, my queen—" She didn't let them finish.
She took her son closer, her hands trembling, and pressed her palm against his chest. A faint glow appeared beneath her skin, spreading outwards like light trapped under ice. The air grew thick, heavy enough to make a laborious act out of breathing.
They could all feel it.
Breath of life.
A power passed down through her bloodline, never to be used. One that didn't heal wounds or strengthen bodies. It did something far worse.
It gave life.
The glow moved from her into the child. His tiny body jerked; his breathing evened out, and his heartbeat grew stronger. Simultaneously, the queen's strength deserted her like sand sifting through spread fingers. Her shoulders slumped, and her head fell back.
When the light vanished, she didn't move anymore.
With this, the little pup howled loudly in disdain and filled the den with his loud, angry cry.
The elders stared aghast.
The child had lived.
But the Alpha Queen was nowhere to be found. She remained motionless.
The pup finally let out a loud, sharp, and angry cry, filling the den.
The elders stared, totally horrified.
"The child is alive!" one of the elders shouted. He had lived, Luna, and was gone. She sacrificed her life for her little pup.
Nineteen years later, Darius was being summoned like a problem that wouldn't go away.
He stood inside the main lodge, hands in his pockets, posture lazy on purpose. Across from him, Uncle Lucas stared him down with the same hard look he'd worn for years.
Lucas was his father's younger brother. After Darius's father lost his mind and disappeared into the wild, Lucas took charge of the pack, of the territory, and of Darius. Not as a parent, but as a guardian.
Lucas dropped a folded letter onto the table. "Your second master sent this."
Darius looked at the letter. "Let me guess. I'm 'too much responsibility.'"
"He says he can't continue your training," Lucas said. "Claims scheduling conflicts and resource issues."
Darius sneered. "That's pathetic."
Lucas frowned. "He didn't want to refuse you outright. Didn't want it to look like a disrespect to the pack. But the truth is simple: you don't take your training seriously."
The both of them went silent for a while, then Darius shrugged. "Maybe I don't need another master."
Lucas stepped closer. "You are human," he said sharply. "And you carry a wolf inside you. That makes you unstable by default. You don't get to decide when you're done learning."
Darius met his eyes, unconcerned. "I'm still alive."
"That's not the same thing as being ready," Lucas shouted, visibly annoyed by his lack of interest.
Darius turned and walked out before the lecture could continue.
An hour later, he jumped off a cliff for fun.
"Darius!" someone yelled from behind him. "Are you out of your damn mind?"
He didn't answer.
The ground disappeared under his feet. The wind tore past him as he fell, laughter ripped out of his chest.
He hit the ground as a massive silver wolf.
The impact sent him rolling. He stopped, shook once, and then the wolf collapsed inward. Fur faded. Bones pulled back into place. Seconds later, Darius lay in the dirt again, now as a human, breathing heavily. I
He stood, dirt smeared across his face, and grinned up at the cliff.
"Relax," he called. "I've survived worse."
The pack members stared down at him, stunned.
Beta Ronan folded his arms. "That drop kills rogues."
"Good thing I'm not a rogue," Darius said.
"You're the Alpha," Ronan shot back. "You don't get to be reckless."
Darius shrugged. "Didn't die."
That was always his answer.
The Northclaw pack watched him carefully. Some admired him. Some feared him. Most did both. They wanted an Alpha who planned, who trained, who carried responsibility like it mattered.
Instead, they had Darius—reckless, smiling, brushing off danger like it was nothing.
What they didn't see was the effort it took to keep it that way.
They didn't see the way the ground reacted when his temper slipped. Or how shadows bent when his emotions ran too high. They didn't hear the whispers that crept in during full moons.
Three powers lived inside him.
One tied to blood.
One tied to the wolf.
And one that never should have existed.
The power his mother died to give him.
That night, Darius stood alone at the edge of Northclaw Park. The forest beyond the border smelled wrong—sharp, metallic.
Pain hit his chest without warning.
He dropped to one knee, fingers digging into the dirt. "Not now," he muttered.
The mark on his shoulder burned, heat spreading fast. Power pressed against his control, restless and dangerous.
The forest went silent.
Then a howl broke the quiet.
It didn't belong to Northclaw.
And it wasn't friendly.
Darius rose slowly. His eyes lit silver as his body started to change again—human giving way to wolf.
For once, he didn't smile.
"So that's how this starts," he said.
The moon slid out from behind the clouds.
And deep in the forest, something old woke up—drawn to the Alpha who should have died the night he was born.