KAEL'S POV
The Grand Hall reeked of fear.
I pushed through the massive doors to find every territorial Alpha already gathered—something that hadn't happened in my lifetime. Fifty powerful wolves packed into one room, all radiating tension like a coming storm.
This was bad.
"Blackthorn!" Marcus Nightshade's voice boomed across the chamber. "You're late."
Selene's father stood at the center of the room, his silver hair and cold eyes making him look like a predator carved from ice. The most powerful Alpha in the territories—and the man who'd threatened to destroy my pack if I didn't marry his daughter.
"I came as soon as I received word," I said, moving to take my place among the Alphas.
"Not fast enough." Marcus gestured to the chaos around us. "While you were doing Moon-knows-what, our world started falling apart."
Wolves were shouting over each other. Some argued. Others demanded action. A few looked ready to shift and fight right there.
Alpha Garrett of the Riverwood Pack slammed his fist on the table. "Seventeen of my wolves are dead! They turned feral, attacked their own families, and we had to put them down like rabid dogs!"
"Twenty-three dead in Stonecrest territory," another Alpha called out. "They're still counting bodies."
"The Veil Woods is cursed," someone else shouted. "Dark magic. Ancient magic. We need to evacuate the surrounding packs before—"
"Evacuate?" Marcus cut in, his voice dripping with scorn. "And show weakness to our enemies? Absolutely not."
"Our enemies?" Alpha Chen stepped forward, fury on his face. "Our pack members are dying, Nightshade! This isn't about politics!"
"Everything is about politics," Marcus shot back.
The room erupted again. Alphas yelling, accusing, pointing fingers. The fear underneath their anger was obvious. These were the strongest wolves in our world, and they were terrified.
Because none of us understood what was happening.
My wolf paced inside my mind, restless and wrong. Ever since seeing Aria rise from that grave, something had shifted. The air felt heavier. Magic I couldn't name pressed against my skin.
"Enough!" I let my Alpha voice ring out, cutting through the noise.
The room fell silent. Fifty pairs of eyes turned to me.
"Fighting each other won't stop whatever's happening," I said. "We need information. Facts. Not panic."
"Finally, something intelligent from you," Marcus muttered.
I ignored him. "Where's Lyra? The messenger said she had a vision."
"The Seer is recovering," an elderly wolf said from the corner. "The vision hit her hard. She collapsed, screaming about—"
"I can speak for myself, thank you."
Every head turned.
Lyra Moonshadow stood in the doorway, leaning heavily on a wooden staff. She looked ancient—older than I'd ever seen her. Her face was pale, her hands shaking.
But her eyes... her eyes glowed with silver light that made my breath catch.
The same silver light I'd seen exploding from Aria's grave.
"Lyra," I said carefully. "What did you see?"
The old Seer moved toward the center of the room with slow, deliberate steps. Wolves parted before her like water. Even Marcus looked uneasy.
"I saw the end," Lyra said, her voice carrying an echo that shouldn't exist. "And the beginning. Death and rebirth. Darkness rising and light answering."
"Stop speaking in riddles!" Marcus demanded. "Tell us what's attacking our packs!"
Lyra's head turned toward him, and for a moment, her eyes flashed pure white. Marcus actually stepped back.
"The Void King is waking," Lyra said simply.
The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
"That's impossible," someone whispered. "The Void King is a myth. A story to scare children."
"Myths don't kill seventeen wolves in one night," Alpha Garrett growled.
"The Void King was sealed away a thousand years ago," another Alpha argued. "By the first Lunar Guardian and her mate. Even if the story is true, the seal should hold for—"
"The seal is breaking." Lyra's voice cut through every objection. "I saw it in my vision. Cracks spreading through ancient magic. Darkness leaking into our world like poison. The Void King feeds on pain, on broken bonds, on shattered hearts. And there has been so much pain in our territories these past years."
Her eyes found mine. Held.
I felt like she could see straight into my soul. See every mistake. Every regret. Every night I'd spent drowning in guilt over Aria's death.
Broken bonds, my wolf whispered. Our rejected mate bond.
Ice spread through my chest.
"How do we stop it?" I asked, my voice rough.
Lyra smiled—sad and knowing. "The same way it was stopped before. The Lunar Guardian must rise again. She and her true mate must seal the Void King before he breaks free completely."
"The Lunar Guardian is a legend," Marcus snapped. "We need real solutions, not fairy tales about ancient warriors who—"
"I am many things, Marcus Nightshade," Lyra interrupted, her voice resonating with power that made the walls shake. "But I am not a liar. The Moon Goddess herself spoke to me at dawn. The Guardian has returned."
The room went deadly silent.
"That's impossible," I heard myself say. "The Guardian died a thousand years ago."
"Death is not always the end." Lyra's glowing eyes swept across the gathered Alphas. "Sometimes it is a transformation. Sometimes it is the price paid for power. And sometimes—very rarely—the Moon Goddess offers a second chance to those worthy of it."
My heart hammered against my ribs.
Aria rising from her grave. Silver light. Divine power.
No. It couldn't be.
"Where is this Guardian?" Marcus demanded. "If she's so important, why isn't she here addressing the Council herself?"
Lyra opened her mouth to answer.
The massive doors to the Grand Hall exploded inward.
Not opened. Exploded.
Wood splintered. Hinges screamed. The doors flew off completely, crashing into the walls with the force of a battering ram.
Silver light flooded the chamber—blinding, pure, impossibly bright.
Every wolf in the room staggered backward. Some dropped to their knees. Others shifted partially, unable to control their wolves' reaction to the overwhelming power washing over us.
My Alpha instincts screamed at me to submit. To bow. To kneel.
I'd never felt anything like it.
Through the blazing light, a figure walked into the Grand Hall.
The light began to dim, revealing her inch by inch.
Silver-white hair that seemed to glow from within. Eyes that shone like molten moonlight. A presence that made the air itself tremble with barely contained power.
She wore simple clothes, but a crown of pure light hovered above her head—ethereal and divine.
Every single Alpha in that room felt it: this was no ordinary wolf.
This was something more.
The woman's glowing eyes swept across the assembled Alphas, and I watched grown wolves—leaders who'd ruled for decades—struggle not to bare their throats in submission.
Then those silver eyes found mine.
And the world stopped.
"Hello, Kael," Aria said, her voice carrying divine resonance that vibrated in my bones. "Miss me?"