Page 32 of Moonlit Fate

I was the daughter of the alpha, born to lead. Yet a prophecy tethered me to a rogue, a man outside the laws and traditions that had governed my entire life.

We shared a look that spoke volumes without uttering a single word. Our journey was only beginning, cloaked in mystery and fraught with danger. But amidst the fear that gripped the fading night, there was a glimmer of hope.

“What does ‘to calm the raging flood’ mean?” she asked, her voice filled with curiosity. “Do you think the pack’s really in danger?”

“Perhaps,” I said slowly, the cogs of my brain churning. “Maybe it has something to do with that spirit you encountered. Is it possible there’s some connection?”

“Could be.” Seren nodded slowly.

“Then that’s where we start,” I said, more to convince myself than her. “We go to the battleground. If there’s any place heavy with the spirits of our past, it’s there.”

“Today?”

“No time like the present, right?” I suggested, though my bravado couldn’t quite mask the tremor of trepidation.

“All right. Let’s do this,” she said.

Pushing away from the wall, I led the way out of the library. We walked toward the battleground, a site steeped in history and the blood of our ancestors.

The soil beneath my boots yielded with each step, damp and rich from the morning’s rainfall. At least the storm was gone. Seren walked beside me, her silhouette a ghostly presence in the pre-dawn gloom. The battlegrounds were just ahead, and the air carried the solemn whispers of those who had lost their lives.

“Are you sure about this?” Seren trembled slightly. “I mean, it could just be a wild goose chase.”

“If there’s any chance of reaching the spirit again, it’s here.”

We reached the clearing, the site of strife and valor that was now silent and still.

“Nothing’s happening,” Seren said after what felt like an eternity.

“Give it time,” I murmured.

“Maybe the spirit doesn’t want to be found,” Seren mused. “Maybe we should just?—”

“No. We can’t stop now. We need answers.”

We waited, the silence stretching on like the vastness of the forest. As time passed, the initial hope that brought us herediminished, giving way to the cold fingers of doubts that gripped us. But I refused to let it take hold.

“Something has to happen!” I shouted to the universe or anyone who would listen.

Suddenly, the air charged around us.

“Aria.” Seren gripped my arm. “He’s here.”

“Who’s here?” I turned to look, but didn’t see anything. Only Seren, with her otherworldly sight, could see the visitor who had drawn close to the veil separating worlds.

“The spirit.” Her gaze was fixed on a space just beyond the range of mortal vision. Her body tensed, a bowstring pulled taut with nervous energy.

“Ask him,” I said. “Ask about the prophecy.”

Seren nodded, swallowing hard before she spoke into the void. “Is what you told me linked to the prophecy? Are they entwined?”

There was an eerie stillness around us, as if time had frozen. All sounds and movements had ceased. Then Seren’s eyes widened. The spirit had answered.

“It’s all entwined,” she said. “He says there’s a betrayal in the pack, an incoming catastrophe. Something dark and twisted connected to the prophecy.”

A cold shiver danced down the line of my spine, a serpent of dread that wound tightly around me. Betrayal. The word was a poison seeping into me, breeding paranoia with every beat of my pulse. Our pack was my family, my blood. To think one amongst us harbored enough malice to betray...

“Fuck,” I cursed, the taste of anger sharp on my tongue. “We need to know more. We can’t let this fester.”

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