Chapter 87

Chapter 87
Evelyn

For a long moment, I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t think.

It was him.
The man who taught me everything I knew about power, balance, and restraint, the man who swore he’d protect me when no one else dared was standing in the middle of a summoning field, calling down the kind of darkness that only existed in the oldest, ugliest parts of legend.

“Aleric,” I whispered, his name tasting like ash.

Trevor’s hand was already on my shoulder, grounding me. His voice was calm, but there was steel beneath it. “You know him?”

I nodded, numb. “I trusted him. Before you. Before the pack. Before everything.”

Julia crossed her arms, disbelief painting her features. “You mean that guy trained you? The same guy who’s now raising hell on our border?”

“Yes,” I said quietly. “He… disappeared after the Council exiled me. I thought he was dead.”

Maya, who’d been silent until now, leaned forward. “He wasn’t. He was recruiting.”

I turned to her sharply. “You knew?”

“I suspected,” she admitted, her expression hard. “After I left, I kept hearing rumors about a shadow movement, wolves who believed the Goddess’s design was flawed. I never had proof. Not until now.”

Trevor’s jaw tightened. “You think he’s leading them?”

Maya nodded. “He’s not just leading them, Trevor. He made them.”

The words sank in like cold water.

The room spun, memories slamming into me like waves.

Aleric’s voice teaching me to focus. His hand guiding mine as I learned to channel moonlight through my palms. His laughter when I misfired and nearly burned through a training wall.

“You’re too soft,” he’d said once, smiling. “But someday, that heart of yours will either save the world… or end it.”

I shivered.

Trevor’s voice cut through the silence. “We’re not waiting. Rowan, prepare the patrols. Jason, double the border security. Julia, keep the medics on standby.”

“And me?” Maya asked.

“You’re coming with us,” Trevor said flatly.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You’re trusting me again that fast?”

“I’m not trusting you,” he said, his gaze flicking to me. “Evelyn is.”

Maya looked at me, a mix of gratitude and guilt flickering in her eyes. “Then let’s finish what I helped start.”



The house was quiet. The kind of quiet that felt alive, as if the walls themselves were listening.

I stood by the window, watching the moonlight pour through the trees. It should have been beautiful. Instead, it felt like a threat.

Trevor came up behind me, his presence a heat I’d memorized. His hands slid around my waist, fingers resting gently against the curve of my stomach.

“You’re thinking too loud,” he murmured against my ear.

I tried to smile. “Can you blame me?”

“No,” he said, his lips brushing my neck. “But you don’t have to carry it alone.”

I turned to face him, searching his eyes. There was so much in them; exhaustion, fear, love. The kind of love that didn’t flinch even when the world broke.

“Do you ever wish I wasn’t Crescent-born?” I asked quietly. “That maybe, if I were normal, you wouldn’t have to fight every demon in creation just to keep me breathing?”

He frowned. “Normal? Evelyn, there’s nothing ‘normal’ about the woman I fell in love with. You’re extraordinary. Even if it kills me sometimes.”

I laughed softly, though my throat was tight. “That’s not comforting.”

“Wasn’t meant to be.” He smiled faintly, my favorite smile, the one that always cracked through the armor.

He leaned in, his mouth finding mine in a kiss that started gentle but deepened fast. Desperation edged every movement. His hands slid to my back, pulling me closer until the world narrowed to the feel of his heartbeat against mine, the warmth of his breath, the way he whispered my name like it was both prayer and curse.

When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested against mine. “I almost lost you today,” he said hoarsely. “And I can’t...” He stopped, swallowing hard. “I can’t do that again.”

“You won’t,” I whispered. “Because I’m not letting go.”

His hands trembled slightly against my skin. “You say that now…”

“And I’ll keep saying it,” I interrupted, pressing a finger to his lips. “Until you finally believe it.”

He smiled, a real one this time. “Bossy.”

“Alpha.”

We both laughed quietly, the sound soft but real, cutting through the heaviness like light through fog.

Hours later at the war room. 

The maps were spread across the table, every inch of parchment marked with red ink and silver glyphs. Aleric’s field had expanded, the runes now covered nearly half the northern forest.

Rowan pointed at the symbols glowing faintly on the screen. “He’s creating a convergence. If he completes the circle, he’ll open whatever the Temple was guarding.”

Maya frowned. “He’ll need a Crescent-born to fuel it.”

My stomach twisted. “You mean..."

Trevor’s expression turned lethal. “He means you.”

Julia slammed her hand on the table. “Then we stop him before he gets close enough!”

“We can’t attack blindly,” Jason warned. “He’s expecting us.”

“Then we make him underestimate us,” Trevor said. “We’ll split the teams. Maya and Julia will draw the Veilwalker scouts away from the border. Rowan and Jason will set up a counter-circle, something to trap his energy flow when he activates the runes.”

Maya raised an eyebrow. “And you two?”

Trevor’s gaze cut to me. “We go for him.”

My heart stuttered. “Trevor...”

“It’s the only way,” he said quietly. “He’ll come for you. I’ll make sure he regrets it.”

The conviction in his voice sent a shiver down my spine. Not from fear, from the absolute, unshakable promise in it.

Rowan glanced between us. “If you’re going to face him, you’ll need protection. Magical and physical. Take my wards. They’re old, but they’ll hold.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Julia leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “So… no pressure. Just stop the most powerful traitor in history while half the forest tries to eat us alive. Sounds doable.”

Despite the tension, Maya snorted. “You really are Trevor’s sister.”

Julia grinned. “Unfortunately.”

Trevor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I feel deeply insulted and weirdly proud.”



Midnight at the northern border. 

The air was alive with silver light.

Every rune pulsed in sync with the moon above, feeding off its glow. The forest hummed, every tree trembling with unseen power.

We stood at the edge of it all; me, Trevor, Maya, Julia, Rowan, Jason. The last line between the world we knew and the one Aleric wanted to build.

Trevor squeezed my hand once before letting go. “Stay behind me when the circle activates.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You do remember who I am, right?”

“I do,” he said. “That’s why I’m worried.”

I smiled faintly, though my heart was pounding. “I’ll try not to terrify you too much.”

He leaned close, his voice barely a whisper. “Too late.”

Maya rolled her eyes. “You two can flirt after we survive this.”

Julia snickered. “Assuming they don’t start a moonquake first.”

Jason’s comm crackled. “We’ve got movement, northwest quadrant.”

And then the forest exploded in light.

The runes blazed, the air thickening with power. At the center of the glowing circle, Aleric lifted his hands, eyes burning with an unnatural silver fire.

He looked straight at me.

And smiled.

“Evelyn,” his voice boomed, echoing across the trees. “My brightest student. I told you one day you’d save the world… or end it.”

Trevor’s growl ripped through the clearing. “You won’t touch her.”

Aleric laughed, a sound too cold, too knowing. “I already have.”

The ground split open like the world had drawn a blade through itself. Light and ash poured out together, and the smell of burning stone filled the air.

Trevor pulled me behind him instinctively as shards of energy tore through the clearing. The runes flared white, then crimson, writhing as if alive.

Aleric stood inside the chaos, untouched. His cloak billowed in the updraft of power, and his eyes, Moon Goddess help me... were no longer human. They shimmered silver and black, rotating like eclipse rings.

“Do you feel it, Evelyn?” he called. “That pulse inside your chest? That’s not fear. That’s destiny.”

Trevor’s growl shook the air. “You lost the right to speak her name.”

Aleric only smiled. “And yet she still listens.”

Before I could answer, he lifted a hand. The runes around us snapped to life, weaving into sigils that spiraled outward. The circle rose, a cage of light and sound, locking me inside before I could move.

“Trevor!” I screamed.

He slammed into the barrier, sparks flying where his palms met the invisible wall. “Evelyn!”

The shock jolted through my bones. I could feel him through the rage, panic, love, blazing like a wildfire. I pressed my palm to the barrier opposite his, and for a second the energy thinned, a single thread of light bridging us.

“I’ll break it,” he said, voice rough. “Hold on.”

Aleric turned toward him lazily. “Alpha Trevor Blackwood. You’re exactly as predictable as I expected, fierce, loyal, tragically mortal.”

My heart hammered. “Don’t touch him!”

He didn’t look at me. “He can’t save you this time, my little Crescent-Born. He’s the weakness written into your prophecy.”

The words hit harder than the magic.

Trevor lunged, claws bursting from his fingers as he struck at the barrier again. The light flared, throwing him backward into the dirt.

“Stop!” I shouted, slamming my hands against the wall. The sigils burned beneath my skin, searing pain up my arms but the circle trembled.

Aleric’s smile faltered. “Still defiant.”

“Always,” I hissed, and reached inward to the pulse of the twins, to the sliver of silver power that lived in my blood.

I let it burn.

Light erupted from my chest, white-hot and furious. The barrier cracked like glass, splintering outward in a shower of sparks.

Trevor was on his feet before the shards finished falling, grabbing me and pulling me behind him again. His eyes burned gold, the wolf inside him close to the surface.

Aleric’s laughter echoed through the clearing. “Perfect. The bond completes the circle.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Trevor snapped.

Aleric spread his hands. “Two souls bound by devotion, carrying twin heirs of mixed blood. You’ve already forged the key I need.”

The air froze.

He looked directly at my stomach.

Trevor stepped forward, voice deadly calm. “You so much as look at them again, and I’ll rip your heart out.”

“Promises,” Aleric murmured. “But destiny doesn’t wait for wolves to make threats.”

The runes around us surged again. Energy arced toward me, but Trevor moved faster, throwing himself in front of me. The blast hit him full in the chest.

The world went white.

I screamed his name, catching him before he hit the ground. His body convulsed once, power rippling through him, and then he went limp.

“Trevor!”

I pressed my hand to his cheek... very cold. The bond flickered, faint but not gone. I clung to it, pouring every ounce of strength I had into that fragile thread.

Aleric’s voice drifted through the smoke. “Don’t fight it, Evelyn. Let him go, and you’ll awaken fully. The power will be yours.”

I lifted my head, fury slicing through the fear. “You think I’d trade him for power?”

His smile returned, sad, almost pitying. “That’s why you’ll fail. Love blinds. Love binds. It always ends the same.”

The runes brightened again, and the wind roared.

Then a new sound cut through it, deep and guttural. A snarl that wasn’t human.

Trevor’s eyes snapped open. Gold light spilled from them, brighter than before. He rose, slow and unsteady, but alive.

“You talk too much,” he rasped.

Aleric’s expression flickered. “Impossible.”

Trevor stepped forward, power coiling off him like heat. “You wanted a prophecy? Here’s mine. You won’t live to see another moon.”

The ground shook. The runes shattered. The circle collapsed inward, and Aleric staggered as his magic broke.

I reached him first.

Energy gathered in my palms, silver fire and I threw it, every ounce of fury and heartbreak and love behind it. It struck Aleric square in the chest.

He screamed.

The sound wasn’t human. It tore through the forest, through the clouds, through my soul.

When the light faded, he was gone. Only the scorched sigils remained, smoking in the dirt.

I collapsed against Trevor, shaking. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. “It’s over,” he whispered.

But it wasn’t.

Maya and Julia ran into the clearing, followed by Rowan and Jason.

“Is he dead?” Julia demanded.

I looked at the empty circle, the burned earth still glowing faintly. “No,” I said quietly. “He escaped.”

Maya cursed under her breath. “Then we’re out of time. He’ll regroup.”

Trevor’s arm tightened around me. “Let him. Next time, we’ll be ready.”

Rowan knelt to examine the ashes. “He left something behind.”

He brushed away the soot, revealing a fragment of parchment burned at the edges. A single symbol glowed faintly on it, an eclipse surrounded by twin crescents.

Maya leaned over his shoulder. “That’s the mark of the Veilwalker Heir.”

Julia frowned. “Meaning?”

“It means Aleric isn’t the first,” Rowan said grimly. “He’s part of a bloodline. Whoever created the Veilwalkers didn’t die. Their heir lives and Aleric was just the opening move.”

The air went silent.

Trevor looked down at me, his expression hardening. “Then we hunt the bloodline.”

Hours later at the Packhouse Infirmary

Trevor sat on the edge of the bed while I lay half-reclined, exhaustion pressing down on me like stone. The medics had cleared him, no internal damage, just magical backlash but he hadn’t left my side for a second.

He brushed his fingers over my wrist, tracing the pulse there. “Still racing,” he murmured.

“Still alive,” I whispered.

He smiled faintly. “That’s enough for me.”

We sat in silence for a while. The scent of herbs hung in the air, sharp and clean. Outside, the forest was eerily quiet, the aftermath of too much power released too fast.

“Trevor?” I said softly.

“Hmm?”

“When you jumped in front of me…” My voice wavered. “You could have died.”

He looked at me then, eyes dark and steady. “It wouldn’t be the first time I risked dying for you.”

I laughed through a tear. “That’s not funny.”

“It’s not meant to be.”

I turned my hand in his until our fingers laced. “You can’t keep doing that.”

“Yes, I can.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

He leaned closer until our foreheads touched. “Then don’t give me a reason to.”

His lips brushed mine; soft, deliberate, the kind of kiss that said 'we’re still here.'

The door opened quietly, and Julia peeked in. “Sorry to interrupt the mush-fest, but you’ll want to see this.”

Trevor groaned. “Can it wait?”

“Not really.”

Maya appeared behind her, holding the fragment Rowan had recovered. “We translated the rest of the sigil. It’s not just a mark, it’s a location.”

Trevor straightened. “Where?”

“The Valley of Echoes,” she said. “That’s where the Heir will surface next.”

Julia exhaled. “Fantastic. Because we definitely needed another cursed valley on our schedule.”

Despite myself, I smiled. “We’ll face it together.”

Trevor squeezed my hand. “Always.”

The words felt more convincing, an oath more than a promise.

Outside, thunder rolled over the mountains, and the scent of rain carried on the wind. 

Somewhere out there, Aleric was bleeding and plotting, and whoever he served was waiting for us to make our next move.

But for one heartbeat, just one, I let myself believe in peace.

Trevor’s fingers brushed my cheek. “Get some rest, love. Tomorrow we start the hunt.”

“Tomorrow,” I echoed.

I closed my eyes, and the bond hummed. 

But even in sleep, I could feel it.

The Architect wasn’t finished.
And the war for the twins had just begun.