The wind tore through the forest like a living thing, carrying with it the howl of something ancient and broken.
Lyra froze mid-step, her hand still pressed against the old witch's runes.
"That sound…" she whispered.
The witch's cloudy eyes turned toward the horizon. "It begins."
Lyra's blood ran cold. She didn't have to ask what the woman meant. She could already feel it — a violent tremor in the mark on her skin, the unmistakable surge of power that wasn't hers.
Kian.
He was losing control again, but this time it wasn't anger or pain.
It was the curse itself, taking hold.
"Where is he?" Lyra demanded, her voice hoarse.
The witch looked at her with something that might have been pity. "He is where he has always been, child — at the edge between man and beast."
Then the witch raised a trembling hand and pointed eastward, toward the mountains where the moonlight burned crimson.
Lyra didn't hesitate. She turned and ran.
The stronghold had become chaos.
Wolves were scattering, howling, unable to understand why the air itself seemed to burn.
Rowan pushed through the crowd, shouting orders. "Get the young ones to the caverns! Now!"
At the center of the yard, Kian knelt, his hands clawing at the ground as the golden light around him flared into something darker. His back arched; his breath came in ragged gasps.
"Alpha!" Rowan shouted, rushing forward. "You have to fight it! Don't let the moon take you!"
Kian looked up — but his eyes weren't gold anymore. They were molten red.
"I can't—" he rasped. "She's— it's—"
His voice dissolved into a growl as bones shifted beneath his skin. The sound that followed wasn't human.
Rowan stumbled back as Kian's wolf burst free, larger and darker than it had ever been, its eyes burning with the light of the Blood Moon.
The beast threw back its head and howled — a sound that made even the earth tremble.
Lyra heard it miles away. The sound ripped through the trees, through her chest, through her bones.
She faltered, clutching the nearest tree for balance. The mark on her chest flared white-hot, and her vision blurred.
"Kian…" she whispered.
The bond surged open, unfiltered. And suddenly, she wasn't in the forest anymore.
She was inside him.
Through his eyes, she saw everything — the blood-stained courtyard, the terrified faces of his pack, the crimson sky above. She could feel the raw power flooding his veins, the loss of control, the fear that he might destroy everything he had sworn to protect.
Lyra, his mind roared, half human, half beast. Run!
But she couldn't. The link between them yanked tighter, dragging her forward. Her magic reacted instinctively, glowing bright as moonfire.
"I'm coming to you," she whispered aloud.
The witch's voice echoed faintly behind her, almost swallowed by the wind. "If you go, you may not return the same."
Lyra didn't stop. "Then I won't come back at all."
The forest blurred as she ran, her magic guiding her through the darkness. The closer she got, the stronger the bond became — pulsing, pulling, burning.
And then she saw him.
The once-golden Alpha now stood as a creature of nightmare and sorrow, fur black as shadow, eyes like molten flame. His breath came in heavy gusts that shook the air, his claws digging deep trenches into the earth.
Around him, his wolves crouched in fear, unwilling to move closer.
"Kian," she breathed.
The great beast turned toward her, its eyes locking onto hers. For a heartbeat, it froze. The growl died in its throat.
Lyra stepped forward slowly, one hand raised. "It's me."
The wind stilled. The moonlight brightened, silver bleeding through red.
The wolf snarled once, low and broken — then lunged.
Lyra didn't run. She closed her eyes and let her power flow.
Silver light erupted from her palms, meeting the beast's fury head-on. The impact knocked her backward, but she didn't fall — she held.
"Remember who you are!" she shouted, her voice shaking. "You're not this thing! You're my bond!"
The wolf froze mid-snarl, its eyes flickering gold for a single heartbeat.
Lyra took a trembling step closer. "Kian, please."
The light around her grew, wrapping both of them in a halo of moonfire and shadow.
For a moment, the world held its breath.
Then, slowly — painfully — the beast lowered its head. Its massive body shuddered, shrinking, twisting, until Kian collapsed to the ground, half-human once more, his body trembling, his skin slick with sweat.
Lyra knelt beside him, gasping for breath. "You idiot," she whispered, tears streaking her face. "You almost killed your own pack."
He opened his eyes weakly — gold again, but dim. "I told you to run."
"And I told you I don't listen."
For the first time in what felt like centuries, a faint smile ghosted across his lips.
The bond pulsed once more, but softer now, steady.
Lyra exhaled shakily. "We need to talk to the witch again. There has to be a way that doesn't end in death."
Kian's gaze met hers, weary but sure. "If there is… we'll find it. Together."
The wind shifted, carrying the scent of rain — and something darker beneath it. The curse was still awake. Watching. Waiting.
But for the first time, they were facing it side by side.