Chapter 79

Chapter 79
Noland's POV

The stars vanished first.

One moment, the sky still held a faint scatter of light — weak, distant, but there. The next, it was gone, swallowed whole like someone had dragged a curtain across the heavens.

No moon.
No stars.
No glow.

Just darkness.

Not natural darkness either — not the kind that comes with nightfall. This one pressed. It wrapped around the land like wet cloth, heavy and suffocating, muting sound and swallowing distance. Even the forest seemed to recoil, branches creaking softly as if trying to pull away from something unseen.

A hush fell over Hollow Creek.

Then the fear began.

“Daddy,” Tiara whispered, clutching my shirt. Her fingers trembled violently. “I can’t feel the sky.”

My chest tightened painfully.

“What do you mean, Snowflake?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

She pressed her small hand to her chest, right over her heart. “It’s gone. It’s like… like when you cover your ears and everything goes quiet. The stars aren’t talking anymore.”

Around us, wolves froze mid-step. Some dropped what they were carrying. Others instinctively crouched, ears flat, tails low.

Murmurs rippled through the pack.

“No moon…”
“This isn’t natural.”
“Starless Night…”

The words hit like a blade.

Older wolves paled. Even Rhett, standing near the shattered watchtower, leaned heavily on his staff, eyes wide with recognition.

“Gods preserve us,” he breathed. “The Starless Night was never meant to return.”

Lucien appeared beside me, his presence a sharp anchor in the suffocating dark. His silver eyes burned brighter than usual, casting faint light around him.

“Pack!” he barked. “Form up! Stay close!”

I scooped Tiara into my arms as her breathing turned ragged. She buried her face against my neck.

“I don’t like it,” she whimpered. “It feels wrong.”

“I know,” I murmured fiercely. “I’ve got you.”

The darkness shifted.

Not moved — breathed.

A low hum vibrated through the ground, so faint it was almost imagined. Wolves began to whine, claws scraping against stone and dirt.

Mara grabbed Eli’s arm. “Tell me this isn’t happening.”

Eli swallowed hard. “It’s happening.”

Bren’s voice shook. “My mother used to tell stories about this. She said when the stars hide… the Watchers walk openly.”

A scream pierced the dark from the outer edge of the territory.

Then another.

Lucien snarled. “They’re testing the perimeter.”

“Lucien,” I said tightly. “We can’t hold the outer ring in this.”

He nodded once. “I know.”

He raised his voice, power threading through it. “Full retreat! Central bunker! Move now!”

Some wolves hesitated ..instinct screaming to fight, to hold ground — but this wasn’t a battle meant to be won in the open.

I tightened my grip on Tiara and ran.

The darkness distorted distance. Paths I knew by heart felt twisted, longer, unfamiliar. Shapes loomed and vanished at the edge of my vision. Wolves bumped into one another, hands gripping fur, shoulders, anything solid.

“Stay together!” I shouted. “No one breaks formation!”

Tiara whimpered louder. “Daddy… something’s touching the ground. I can feel it.”

Lucien ran ahead of us, his body radiating power. He slammed his claws into the earth, silver fire erupting outward in a wide arc.

Sigils flared — ugly, blackened markings burned into the soil — and screamed as Lucien’s power tore through them.

Light exploded briefly, carving a path through the dark.

“Move!” he roared.

We surged forward.

Behind us, the darkness closed again, swallowing the burned sigils like they’d never existed.

Rhett stumbled, nearly falling. Roland caught him just in time.

“This is coordinated,” Rhett rasped. “They’re herding us.”

“I know,” Lucien growled. “Let them try.”

A voice drifted through the dark.

Smooth.
Amused.
Everywhere.

“Such discipline,” Joe murmured. “Such loyalty. It’s almost admirable.”

My blood turned to ice.

“Joe!” Lucien snarled. “Show yourself, coward!”

Laughter echoed, soft and mocking. “Why? You already know where I am.”

The darkness tightened.

Tiara gasped sharply in my arms, her body arching. “Daddy—!”

I dropped to one knee instantly. “Tiara? Snowflake, look at me.”

Her eyes were wide, unfocused. “He’s talking inside my head.”

Lucien spun back toward us. “Joe, don’t you dare—”

“Give us the child,” Joe said calmly. “And I spare your pack.”

Every wolf froze.

The words hung in the air, heavy as a death sentence.

“You take her,” I growled, standing slowly, “and there won’t be enough of you left to regret it.”

Joe chuckled. “Bold words. But you’re surrounded, Alpha.”

Lucien stepped to my side, power crackling violently. “You will never touch her.”

“Never?” Joe echoed. “You’ve already failed once.”

I felt Tiara’s grip tighten desperately. “Daddy… please don’t let go.”

“I won’t,” I whispered fiercely. “Never.”

The bunker entrance loomed ahead — reinforced stone, warded walls — but the darkness crawled faster now, tendrils licking at the edges of the clearing.

Lucien turned to the pack. “Inside. Now.”

Some wolves hesitated — looking at Tiara, at me — fear warring with instinct.

Mara’s voice rang out sharp and furious. “MOVE! Do you want her taken because you froze?”

That did it.

The pack surged into motion, funneling toward the bunker. Roland and Luke took up the rear, weapons raised, eyes scanning the dark.

Lucien stayed with me.

“Can you feel the bond?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” I said. “But it’s… stretched.”

He nodded grimly. “Same.”

We were halfway to the bunker when Tiara suddenly went rigid.

“Daddy,” she whispered, voice distant. “They’re already here.”

Her eyes snapped open.

They glowed white.

Not silver.
Not gold.

White — like starlight stripped of warmth.

The darkness recoiled.

Joe’s laughter stopped.

Lucien swore under his breath. “Oracle preserve us…”

The ground trembled.

Sigils ignited all around us — not just on the soil, but on trees, stones, wolves. Old marks, hidden deep, awakened all at once.

Rhett shouted, “The gate is opening!”

I tightened my hold on Tiara, terror and awe crashing together in my chest.

“Snowflake,” I whispered urgently. “Look at me. Stay with me.”

Her gaze flickered back to mine, tears streaming down her glowing cheeks. “I don’t want to go, Daddy.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” I said fiercely. “Do you hear me?”

Lucien placed a hand over mine, grounding us both. “We hold the line. Together.”

Joe’s voice echoed one last time, closer now.

“Welcome to the true beginning.”

The bunker doors slammed shut behind us.

And the night swallowed Hollow Creek whole.