Lyra's POV
By midday, the fog still hadn't lifted.
It clung to the trees like breath frozen in the air, muting every sound, swallowing every scent. Even the usual forest chatter birds, leaves, wind had gone silent.
Ellie and I followed the trail the creature had left. It wasn't much: a smear of dark blood, a few broken branches, and the faint, sickly trace of burnt silver that made my throat tighten with every inhale.
Ellie's bow was ready, her jaw set. "You're sure you saw its eyes? They weren't normal."
"Amber and black," I said quietly. "It looked like something was eating it from the inside."
"Corruption?"
I nodded once. "Or possession."
We stopped near a shallow ravine where the ground dipped sharply. Blood glistened faintly along the edge, and when I crouched, my hand brushed something cold and metallic.
A pendant.
Worn smooth, but unmistakable the insignia of the Silverfang Alpha line. The crescent wolf, carved in obsidian.
My stomach twisted.
Ellie leaned closer. "What is that?"
"It's… nothing," I said too quickly, slipping it into my pocket.
"Lila."
I met her eyes sharp, unyielding. She'd been my friend long enough to hear the truth behind every lie I told.
But before she could press, a sound tore through the forest distant, low, and familiar
A howl.
My heart stumbled.
Not just any howl. His.
Kaelan.
The bond surged, alive and burning, pulling at every part of me that had tried to stay hidden.
Ellie's eyes widened. "That's"
"Don't," I whispered. "Not here."
We started moving again, faster now, urgency replacing fear. The fog thickened, but I could feel his presence cutting through it like lightning splitting a storm.
When we reached the Riverbend clearing, Luna Serah was already waiting. Her calm face was unreadable, but her eyes those pale, knowing eyes seemed to hold centuries of secrets.
"You found something," she said softly.
I hesitated. "We found a trail."
"And?"
I swallowed. "It leads back toward the Silver Peaks."
Her expression didn't change, but the faintest flicker of recognition crossed her gaze. "Then it begins again."
My pulse jumped. "You know what this is."
"I know enough to fear it," she said, voice quiet but heavy. "And to know it will not stop at our borders."
Before I could ask more, the air shifted the scent of pine and smoke and storm rushing toward us like a promise and a threat all at once.
Kaelan.
The Luna's gaze slid past me toward the trees. "Your Alpha comes," she murmured.
Ellie stiffened beside me. "He's here?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't. My throat felt too tight.
The bond thrummed hard enough to hurt. Every step he took drew him closer and every part of me wanted to run and stay all at once.
Because whatever had begun in the mist… he was walking straight into it.
Kaelan's POV
The Riverbend border appeared through the fog like a memory I'd been trying to outrun.
The guards recognized me instantly, lowering their weapons and bowing. Still, I could sense the unease behind their obedience Ironclaw's Alpha arriving unannounced was never a good sign.
I didn't stop for explanations. I followed the bond.
Every heartbeat dragged me closer to her. I could feel Lyra before I saw her that electric pull humming beneath my skin, sharp and steady, like the edge of a blade.
When I entered the clearing, the first thing I saw was her.
She stood beside the Riverbend Luna, her hair tangled from the wind, eyes wide and storm-dark. For a heartbeat, the world went quiet. The fog, the forest, the weight of the pack all of it fell away.
"Kaelan," she breathed, my name a whisper that felt like both a warning and a relief.
I wanted to go to her. But the Luna's calm, commanding gaze anchored me in place.
"Alpha Draven," she said, her tone neither warm nor hostile just measured. "Your presence was not requested."
"No," I admitted, stepping forward. "But it was needed."
Her head tilted slightly. "You felt it too, then.
"I felt her," I said simply. "And the thing that followed her here."
Something flickered behind her eyes recognition, and something like sorrow. "It's begun," she murmured.
Lyra's voice was quiet. "You knew this was coming."
The Luna turned to her, expression softening. "Child, the darkness that took your family was never destroyed. Only delayed. You cannot outrun blood."
Lyra's breath caught, and I took a step closer, my wolf reacting to the tremor in her pulse. "What do you mean?" I demanded.
Serah's eyes met mine. "What do you know of the Silverfang massacre, Alpha?"
"Enough," I said tightly. "That the attackers were rogue mercenaries hired by traitors inside the pack."
She shook her head slowly. "That's what you were meant to believe."
The fog thickened then, curling around our feet like smoke. I could feel the power in her words, ancient and knowing.
"There are things older than packs," the Luna said quietly. "Older than Alphas and bloodlines. The Silverfangs were keepers of something sacred and cursed. Someone wanted it destroyed. Someone still does."
Lyra's eyes flashed with a mix of fury and confusion. "My parents"
"died protecting what they were never meant to hold," Serah finished softly
The air went still.
I felt the bond flare sharply pain, fear, defiance all from her. I wanted to reach out, but she stepped back, her expression hardening.
"No," she whispered. "No more secrets. Not again."
Before I could speak, Ellie burst through the treeline, breathless. "Luna! We found another body near the eastern ridge. Same markings."
My pulse kicked hard. "Markings?"
Ellie's voice trembled. "Burnt silver across the chest… and a symbol carved into the skin."
Lyra's eyes locked with mine. "The crescent wolf."
The emblem of Silverfang.
I felt the ground shift beneath everything we knew. This wasn't random. It wasn't coincidence.
It was a message.
And it was addressed to her.