Chapter 24

*Dax*

The old temple lay half-buried beneath the roots of an ancient tree. What remained of it was stone and silence, covered in moss and moonlight. A place forgotten by time—but not by those who remembered the old ways.

I walked alone. No guards. No Kael. Just the weight of too many questions.

I didn’t want anyone to know what I was searching for. And I didn’t want anyone with me for this. It had to be me. My heart. My choices.

The path narrowed the deeper I went, swallowed by vines and thorns. The air was thick with memory, damp and electric. The further I walked, the more I felt it—that old magic humming low in the earth like a heartbeat.

She met me in the hollow.

The priestess was older than anyone I had ever seen. Her long silver hair was braided with bones, feathers, and rings of obsidian. Her eyes were clouded with age, but when she looked at me, it was like she saw through flesh and blood straight into the soul beneath.

"You have your mother's eyes," she said as I approached. "But you are the spitting image of your father."

That shocked me. I blinked, unsettled.

"You knew him?"

"I bled beside him," she replied. "In the final days. He believed in the balance. In the old blood. In her."

Her.

Lyriana.

"Tell me what happened," I said, voice tight. "Please."

She nodded slowly and motioned to sit. We did, the wind moving like breath through the broken bones of the temple.

My skin felt tight, and my wolf was on edge. My entire being knew there was no coming back from today. That truth had weight, and it was about to crush me.

"Lyriana was the only Moonfire bearer of her time," the priestess began, voice low and even. "Her power was unmatched—not only in battle but in spirit. She stood for harmony between nature and the wolf. Between all beings, regardless of station. She fought against the injustices of our world and segregation. Your father was one of her sworn protectors. As was I."

I swallowed hard, fighting the trembling in my hands. The ground beneath me felt fragile, like glass ready to crack.

"My mother shared some of what she believed to be true," I said. "But I don’t understand… If Lyriana was so powerful, how did they lose? How was the most powerful line wiped out like they were weak? Why didn’t she use her power when it mattered most?"

The priestess looked up toward the shattered canopy above, where a sliver of moonlight streamed through.

"She was pregnant. With Aria. Her body was a vessel not only for her own strength but for the child she carried. She feared the battlefield would claim them both if she unleashed the full force of her Moonfire. So she sealed it. Wrapped it in her blood, in her womb, in protection, and in love. That is the gift Aria carries now—not just power, but purpose."

I sat back like the words had struck me across the chest.

She didn’t die a coward.

She didn’t die weak.

She died a mother.

A rightful queen.

And now her daughter walked the same path. A path carved from sacrifice and ancient prophecy. A path I might be standing in the middle of without even realizing it.

"If she returns… If she’s crowned," I asked, barely above a whisper, "what happens to Kael?"

The priestess’s lips curved slightly. "That is not for me to say. But balance always finds its way."

I clenched my jaw. I wanted to deny it. Wanted to defend the boy I’d grown up with. The man I served. But doubt coiled in my stomach like a living thing.

Could they rule together?

Could Aria forgive what was done—not just by Kael, but by the blood he carries?

Would she even want to?

The worst part is... I’m not sure I want her to.

I’ve felt her. Not just heard stories or whispered rumours. I’ve felt her presence, seen the way the forest bends toward her name. How even the wolves speak of her with reverence.

And something inside me is shifting. Something I never expected.

Not loyalty.

Not duty.

Something personal.

What kind of ruler would she make?

One worth following.

One worth everything.

I stood and bowed my head. The priestess placed a hand over my heart.

"You have a role to play, Dax. One written long before you were born. You were not just Kael’s shield. You are hers, too."

Her words followed me all the way back to the castle. They didn’t echo—they haunted.

On the road back, I found myself imagining something strange.

A glimpse.

Not a memory. Not a dream.

A vision.

Aria standing beside a throne—strong, radiant, her silver eyes sharp with power. But it wasn’t Kael beside her.

It was me.

The image vanished as quickly as it came, like moonlight through mist. I shook my head. Told myself it was nothing. Just the weight of everything I’d heard clouding my thoughts.

But part of me didn’t believe that. My wolf liked that vision far too much.

When I arrived at the gates, one of my scouts waited just inside. He looked winded and pale, his hair damp from mist and sweat.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Rumors, sir. Across the northern packs. And in the east. People are whispering the name Nightshade. They say she lives. That the forest has awakened to protect her. That her following is growing. That she is not alone but surrounded by all manners of beings and creatures."

I closed my eyes. My heart pounded.

"And the scouts?"

"Same as before. The trees won’t let them through. It’s like the forest itself has turned against us."

Not against us.

Just against Kael.

Because it knows.

And so do I.

I straightened, voice cold and firm. "Keep it quiet. Contain the rumours as best you can. Keep it from the council until after the summit. If this explodes too soon, it could tear the kingdom apart."

The scout nodded and darted off.

I stood there a moment longer, staring out over the distant tree line. A storm was coming—not of wind or rain, but of truth.

Aria is coming.

And nothing will ever be the same again.