Chapter 40 Forest Secret
POV: LUNA
I had four hours until the challenge. Four hours to prepare. To train. To get my head together.
Instead, I was doing something possibly stupider. Going back to the forbidden forest. Alone.
Nova would kill me if she knew. Ryder would be furious. We'd literally just established the never-alone rule after rogue attacks.
But I needed answers. The rogue pattern pointed to the Moon Circle. The seal my ancestors created was there. And those glowing runes I'd found weeks ago held information I needed to understand.
If I was going to face Darius tonight. If I was going to survive whatever convergence was coming. I needed every advantage I could get.
The forest was quiet. Too quiet. Like it was holding its breath. Waiting.
I moved carefully. Staying alert. My wolf senses on high. Looking for shadows that moved wrong. For presences that didn't belong.
The Moon Circle clearing appeared ahead. Empty. Peaceful. Deceptive.
I'd been here before. Found the runes. Had the vision of my ancestors. But I hadn't explored thoroughly. Hadn't looked for more.
The stone circle itself was ancient. Older than Silverwood. Older than modern wolf packs. The stones were weathered. Covered in moss and time.
But underneath the moss. Underneath centuries of growth. There were carvings. Symbols. Runes.
I approached the nearest stone. Brushed away the moss carefully. Revealed the carved surface beneath.
My mark pulsed. Responding. Recognizing.
The runes were similar to the ones I'd seen before. But different. More complex. More detailed. Like they told a story the simpler runes couldn't convey.
I touched one. My fingers tracing the carved lines.
The reaction was immediate. The rune glowed. Faint silver light spreading from where my skin made contact. The glow jumped to the next rune. Then the next. Creating a chain of light around the entire stone.
My mark burned. Hot. Active. Connected to whatever magic these carvings held.
I moved to the next stone. Touched it. Same reaction. Glowing runes. Spreading light. My mark responding like it recognized something fundamental. Something tied to my bloodline.
Stone by stone, I touched each one. Each time, the runes glowed brighter. The light intensifying. The connection strengthening.
By the time I reached the last stone, the entire circle blazed with silver light. Bright enough to hurt my eyes. Bright enough to be seen from campus if anyone was looking.
The ground beneath my feet vibrated. A low hum. Like the earth itself was resonating with power.
Then the vision hit. Harder than before. More intense. More real.
I was standing in the same clearing. But different. Ancient. Before the stones were weathered. Before the forest grew wild.
A woman stood in the center. The same one from my previous vision. The first Eclipse wolf. My ancestor from centuries ago.
But this time I could hear her. Understand her words.
"The seal must hold," she said. Speaking to others I couldn't see. "What lies beneath cannot be allowed to rise. Not now. Not ever. Our bloodline will guard this place. Generation after generation. Until the end of time itself."
She raised her hands. Spoke words in that ancient language. Drew symbols in the air that glowed and solidified.
The symbols descended. Merged with the stones. Became the carvings I was touching now.
"Our mark will recognize the seal," she continued. "Our descendants will know this place. Will understand the weight of what we've done. And when the time comes. When the darkness tries to break free. They will be ready."
The vision shifted. Showed me other Eclipse wolves through history. Each one coming to this circle. Each one reinforcing the seal. Adding their power. Their blood. Their sacrifice.
I saw my grandmother. Younger. Standing where I stood now. Performing the same ritual. Speaking the same words. Strengthening the seal before whatever killed her could break through.
Then I was back. Standing in the present. The glowing runes fading. The vision releasing me.
But something was different. Something inside me had changed.
I felt the power. Really felt it. Not just my mark burning or my wolf rising. Something deeper. Older. Connected to every Eclipse wolf who'd stood here before me.
Latent abilities awakening. Powers I didn't know I had. Magic I'd never been taught. All of it suddenly accessible. Available. Mine to command if I could figure out how.
The surge was overwhelming. Too much energy. Too much information. Too much everything flooding my system at once.
I stumbled. Dizzy. The world spinning. My vision blurring.
I tried to steady myself. To breathe through it. To control the power instead of letting it control me.
But it was too much. Too intense. Like trying to drink from a fire hose. Drowning in sensation and magic and ancestral memory.
I dropped to my knees. Gasping. My mark burning so hot I thought it might scar. My entire body vibrating with power I couldn't contain.
This was what my ancestors felt. What they learned to harness. What made them guardians instead of just powerful wolves.
But they'd had training. Time. Guidance. I had none of that. Just raw power and no idea how to use it.
"You shouldn't be here."
A voice. Familiar. Close.
I looked up through blurred vision. A figure stood at the edge of the clearing. Silhouetted against the trees. Blocking the path back to campus.
I couldn't make out details. Couldn't tell who it was. My vision was too unfocused. My senses too overwhelmed.
But my mark recognized something. Pulsed with warning. Danger. Threat. Enemy.
"The seal called to you," the figure said. Moving closer. "Just as it called to your grandmother. Your great-grandmother. Every Eclipse woman who thought she could control what was never meant to be controlled."
"Who are you?"
"Someone who understands what you're too young to grasp. That some doors should stay locked. Some powers should remain buried. And some bloodlines should have died out long ago."
The figure stepped forward. Into the fading silver light. Features becoming clear.
My blood went cold. Because I recognized them. Knew them. Had seen them around campus. Had trusted them.
The spy. The shadow. The hidden enemy orchestrating everything.
And they were standing between me and escape. Blocking my path. Trapping me in the same place my grandmother had died.
"You can't leave," they said calmly. "Not until we discuss your future. Or lack thereof."