Chapter 49 Dark Ritual
Fire exploded against stone as Tiara landed hard on the cliff’s edge, her boots scraping sparks from ancient rock. Her wolf surged awake inside her, a violent snarl ripping through her chest without permission. She dropped into a crouch, palm pressed to the ground, senses flaring wide. The night screamed wrong. Power pulsed through the soil like a corrupted heartbeat, thick and poisonous, rolling across the land in waves that made her vision blur. Somewhere far beyond the treeline, something ancient had begun to move and it was calling blood.
Tiara sucked in a breath that tasted of ash and iron. Her wolf paced, claws scraping the inside of her ribs, hackles raised in raw fury. Dark magic, it warned, feral and urgent. Not the wild, sacred power of the Moon Goddess but something twisted, stolen, screaming to be fed. She lifted her head, silver eyes glowing faintly as she locked onto the direction of the pulse. NightFang territory. Her jaw tightened. “They’ve started,” she whispered, already moving.
Miles away, Damien slammed his fist onto the war table, maps rattling under the impact. The candles lining the chamber flickered violently, flames bending toward the same malignant surge Tiara felt. “He’s performing it now,” Damien said, voice tight, controlled only by force of will. His spies’ reports had hinted at forbidden rites, but this, this magnitude was worse. He straightened, dark eyes calculating, already building strategies faster than the air could carry commands.
His omega hesitated. “If we counter now, Alpha, we reveal everything. Our alliances. Our true numbers.”
Damien’s lips thinned. He saw Tiara’s face in his mind determined, blazing, reckless with courage. “If we wait,” he replied coldly, “NightFang grows stronger. And Tiara pays the price.”
Deep within NightFang’s territory, the ground split open in a jagged circle carved with glowing runes. The NightFang leader stood at its center, arms raised, blood streaking his bare chest in deliberate symbols. Wolves ringed the pit, their bodies trembling as blackened energy seeped into their veins. Their howls twisted into shrieks of agony and ecstasy, eyes burning an unnatural crimson. Bones cracked, muscles bulged, shadows clinging to their forms like living armor.
“Drink,” the leader commanded, voice echoing unnaturally. “Drink and become more than wolves. Become weapons.”
The ritual roared to life.
Tiara staggered as the energy slammed into her like a physical blow. She dropped to one knee, fingers digging into dirt as her wolf snapped, snarled, fought to break free. Images flooded her mind, wolves screaming, blood-soaked moons, chains made of magic wrapping around her throat. She growled aloud, teeth bared, fighting for control. “Not you,” she hissed, forcing the surge back. “Not tonight.”
She rose, shaking but unbroken. Her Alpha aura flared instinctively, silver light pushing against the darkness pressing in. Nearby birds scattered into the night, sensing the clash of powers beyond their understanding. Tiara closed her eyes briefly, grounding herself, listening to the rhythm of her heart. The Moon Goddess had chosen her for a reason. She would not falter now.
Damien paced the chamber like a caged predator, issuing orders in clipped, precise commands. “Move the western scouts. Quietly. No banners. No howls.” He stopped, gaze lifting to the open window where the moon glowed faintly behind creeping clouds. Fear twisted low in his gut, fear he refused to name. “We strike carefully,” he continued. “We disrupt, not destroy. Not yet.”
His advisor stepped closer, lowering his voice. “And Tiara?”
Damien’s jaw tightened. “She feels it already,” he said. “And she won’t run.”
As if summoned by his words, Tiara lifted her face to the sky, a low, dangerous growl vibrating from her chest. The ritual’s energy surged again, stronger, fouler, rippling across the land like a war drum. Her wolf slammed against her control, furious, ready to tear apart anything in reach. Tiara welcomed the fury but tempered it with iron discipline.
“They think this weakens me,” she murmured, eyes blazing silver in the darkness. “They’re wrong.”
The ground beneath her feet trembled as the ritual reached its peak. Power thundered outward, warping the air, bending trees, sending shivers through every living creature bound to the moon. Tiara’s wolf threw back its head inside her, a savage, defiant growl ripping free from her throat as the energy washed over her and somewhere in the shadows, the NightFang leader smiled, belie
ving the hunt had finally begun.