Epilogue

The wind had changed.

Selene stood at the highest peak of the Forgotten Pack’s stronghold, overlooking the valley that stretched into the horizon. Below, the wolves were celebrating—a new era had begun, one free from the gods, one where they ruled themselves.

But up here, away from the laughter, away from the cheers of victory, she felt it.

The shift.

Something was wrong.

Alec leaned against the stone railing beside her, his golden eyes flickering toward the darkened sky. “You feel it too.”

Selene exhaled. “I thought it was just me.”

Lucian, standing at her other side, was silent, his emerald gaze fixed on the forest below. His posture was too still, too tense.

Because he felt it too.

Something was waking.

Selene clenched her jaw, the back of her neck prickling. For weeks, she had convinced herself that this was the end of the war. That they had defeated the gods, rewritten fate, won their freedom.

But now—

The air was too still, the night too quiet.

And that silence whispered of something waiting in the dark.

Alec exhaled sharply. “Tell me I’m wrong, but…” He hesitated, then looked at her, his smirk gone. “Did we actually win?”

Selene turned to him, her silver eyes burning. “We killed the gods.”

Lucian’s voice was quiet, careful. “But we didn’t kill the ones that came before them.”

Selene stilled.

The Forsaken Ones.

The ancient beings the gods had overthrown to claim the heavens for themselves. The ones who had been sealed away, forgotten, erased from time itself.

Selene’s chest tightened.

“Do you think they’re still out there?” she whispered.

Lucian’s emerald gaze darkened. “I don’t think they ever left.”

Alec cursed under his breath. “Perfect. Just what we needed—bigger, scarier gods to deal with.”

Selene’s breath was steady, but her pulse wasn’t.

Because deep in her bones, she already knew the truth.

The world was never meant to be empty.

Power demanded balance.

The gods had ruled for centuries, and now, with them gone—something else had taken notice.

Something older.

Something watching.

Selene turned back to the valley, watching the last embers of celebration flicker in the night.

They had won the war.

But the real battle was only just beginning.

And this time—

She wasn’t sure if she would survive it.