Chapter 86

Chapter 86
Trevor

The first thing I felt was her.

The feeling of Evelyn’s hand on my chest, the soft warmth of her breath against my neck, the faint tremor in her heartbeat syncing with mine. For a long moment, I didn’t open my eyes. I just listened to her, to the silence that followed chaos, to the knowledge that somehow, against every impossible law of power and fate, she’d found me in the dark.

When I finally blinked awake, the chamber was dim, its runes still glowing faintly along the walls. The air hummed with residual magic, the kind that didn’t vanish when the danger ended. The kind that lingered.

She stirred beside me, her eyes fluttering open, silver flecks glinting in the moonlight filtering through the cracked ceiling.

“Hey,” I whispered, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.

“Hey yourself,” she murmured, voice hoarse but soft. “You scared me.”

I managed a tired smile. “You scared me first. Barging into an ancient death trap pregnant with twins? Not exactly the low-risk option.”

“Like you’d have survived if I hadn’t,” she shot back, a faint smile breaking through the exhaustion.

I chuckled, then winced. Every muscle screamed in protest. The temple had left its mark. “You’re not wrong,” I said. “You never are. It’s infuriating.”

Her hand found mine, her thumb tracing slow circles over my knuckles. The simple contact anchored me. The hum of her power still flickered under her skin.

“Did you see it too?” she asked quietly.

“The shadow? The light? The way it whispered your name?” I nodded. “Yeah. It called you its key.”

Her brow furrowed. “Key to what?”

I shook my head. “That’s what we have to find out.”

She looked away, gaze distant. “Linda thinks we woke something ancient.”

“My mother’s right,” I admitted, dragging myself upright. “That temple wasn’t a tomb. It was a seal. And when we broke it..."

“Something got out,” she finished, her voice trembling.

I met her eyes. “Or someone.”

For a moment, we just sat there — two wolves in a place that shouldn’t exist, clutching the edges of a truth neither of us understood.

Then Evelyn shifted closer, her hand sliding up my chest to my jaw. “We’ll figure it out,” she said softly. “Together.”

That word, together hit deeper than any magic could.

I caught her hand, kissed her wrist, then her palm, then her mouth. The world blurred away until there was only her. The taste of her, the steady rhythm of her heart, the heat of her body pressing into mine.

For the first time in days, the fear quieted.

She pulled back just enough to whisper, “I thought I lost you.”

“You won’t,” I said, resting my forehead against hers. “Not now, not ever.”

The light above us dimmed to nothing, and the air changed; cooler, gentler, almost reverent. Maybe even the temple knew better than to interrupt this.

We stayed like that for a while, long enough for exhaustion to settle into calm. Then, reluctantly, I forced myself to move.

“We have to go,” I said. “The others will be waiting.”

Evelyn nodded, though she lingered a second longer before taking my hand and helping me to my feet. Together, we followed the faint glow that led out of the chamber.



At the base of the cliffs

Jason’s scent hit me first; sharp, electric, and familiar. He stood near the rover, sword still drawn, with Maya and Julia beside him.

The sight of my sister sent a rush of relief through me I hadn’t known I needed.

“Trevor!” Julia’s voice broke as she ran forward, flinging her arms around me. “Moon above, you’re alive!”

I laughed, the sound rough but real. “Barely.”

Maya followed behind her, slower, quieter. Her eyes bright violet now met mine briefly before flicking to Evelyn. “You found her,” she said softly. “And you didn’t die doing it. Impressive.”

“Nice to see you too,” I muttered.

Evelyn smiled faintly at Maya. “You’re here.”

Maya shrugged, glancing away. “Julia called me. Said you were both missing. I wasn’t about to let my mess stay unsupervised.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Your mess?”

She sighed. “You’ll understand soon enough.”

That didn’t sound promising.

Julia stepped between us, her usual light humor dimmed by worry. “You need to see what’s happening at the borders, Trevor. The northern patrols reported symbols, the same kind from the temple burned into the ground.”

Evelyn’s hand tightened around mine. “They’re spreading.”

Maya nodded. “And not just here. Other packs are reporting signs too. Someone’s drawing power from what you two unleashed.”

My stomach sank. “The architect.”

Maya’s gaze met mine. “Exactly.”

Julia frowned. “Architect?”

“The one behind everything,” I said quietly. “The threats, the symbols, the attacks — it’s all connected to the temple. And now they know Evelyn’s alive.”

Julia’s face paled. “Then we’re in more danger than before.”

Evelyn looked at me, calm but resolute. “Then we prepare.”

Later, Back at the Packhouse

The council room was chaos. Reports piled on the table, warriors shouting over one another, the air thick with fear.

I stood at the head of the table, Evelyn beside me, my mother opposite. Jason, Julia, and Maya flanked us the same group that had walked through hell together, now facing a new one.

Rowan arrived last, eyes stormy. “I’ve analyzed the symbols appearing near the borders. They’re summoning marks designed to drain lunar energy.”

Evelyn stiffened. “That’s Crescent-born magic.”

Rowan nodded grimly. “Someone’s using your bloodline’s power to open something.”

Maya’s eyes darkened. “Or someone.”

My mother spoke for the first time since we’d returned, her voice cool and cutting. “We’re past speculation. Whoever this architect is, they’ve had decades to prepare. They’ve infiltrated networks across packs, maybe even among the elders. We find them, or we burn with the rest.”

Her gaze landed on Evelyn, and I saw the briefest flicker of something. “The temple marked you. They’ll come for you first.”

Evelyn lifted her chin. “Then let them try.”

I glanced at her, pride flooding my chest. “They’ll have to go through me first.”

Julia groaned quietly. “You two really need to work on not sounding like prophecy posters.”

That broke the tension, just a little.

Still, the room hummed with the weight of what we’d unleashed.

Rowan leaned over the table, tapping a map. “The northern forest. That’s where the energy converges. If we’re going to find this architect, that’s where we start.”

“Then we go tonight,” I said.

My mother frowned. “You can’t just...”

“I’m not waiting,” I snapped. “We’ve spent months reacting. It’s time we take the fight to whoever’s behind this.”

Maya’s expression softened, the faintest smile tugging at her mouth. “Now there’s the Alpha I remember.”

Julia elbowed her. “Don’t encourage him.”

Evelyn reached for my hand beneath the table, her fingers slipping between mine. “We’ll end this, Trevor.”

I turned to her. “Together.”

She smiled. “Always.”

For a second, the war outside didn’t matter. The council, the prophecy, the threat — it all faded under the weight of that one word.

Then Jason’s voice broke the silence. “We’ve got movement at the border. You’ll want to see this.”

Minutes later

The screen flickered to life, showing live drone footage from the forest. The ground glowed faintly with strange silver runes, the same pattern that had filled the temple floor.

Only this time, the runes were forming into a circle.

At its center stood a figure in a black cloak, hands raised to the moonlight. The hood slipped back just enough to reveal a face;  piercing, pale, and far too familiar.

Evelyn gasped softly beside me.

Julia whispered, “Who is that?”

Evelyn’s voice was a whisper of disbelief. “It can’t be…”

My heart went cold.

Because the face on that screen, the one calling the ancient power into the open — wasn’t a stranger.

It was Aleric, Evelyn’s former mentor. The man who’d trained her to harness her gift before betraying her years ago.

The architect had a name.

And now, he had her scent.