Chapter 3 3

The dawn came quietly, but the forest did not rest. Birds did not sing. Wolves did not howl. The land held its breath. Selene stood in the clearing behind the cabin, her bare feet sinking into the cold grass as she faced the rising sun. Her wolf was close to the surface- too close. It made her skin itch, her blood simmer. For the first time in her life, she felt... unstable.

Andrew and Andy stood a few feet away, their arms crossed as they watched her warily.

"You're not controlling the wolf anymore," Andrew said. "She's controlling you."

Selene clenched her fists. "I can feel her. She's angry. Restless."

"She's awakening," Andy murmured. "And she doesn't want to be caged."

Andrew stepped forward, tossing her a short blade. "Then stop caging her. Let her fight."

Selene caught the blade, her eyes narrowing. "You want me to spar?"

Andy cracked a half-smile. "Think of it more like survival training."

"You mean don't die?"

"Exactly."

She turned the blade in her hand, testing the weight. "And what happens if my wolf takes over?"

Andrew smiled grimly. "Then we see what she's made of."

They started slow.

Andrew lunged, and Selene blocked instinctively. Andy swept low, but she jumped over his leg with a growl. Sweat beaded on her skin as her wolf pushed harder, clawing for control.

Andrew spun her into a hold-arm locked against her throat.

"Come on," he whispered. "Let her out."

Selene snarled, eyes flashing silver.

Her pulse surged.

Something inside her snapped.

With a roar, she slammed Andrew backward, sending him crashing into a tree. Andy charged her next, but Selene moved like lightning, disarming him in seconds. She wasn't thinking anymore. She wasn't human. She was power and instinct and fury in motion.

Then her bones cracked.

Her body twisted.

She shifted-not fully, not like a normal wolf-but into something... else.

Silver fur rippled up her arms, claws extended from her fingers, and her eyes burned with golden fire.

The brothers froze.

Andy took a cautious step back. "Selene?"

She blinked at him, teeth bared, her breath coming in short, ragged bursts. She saw them-Andrew bruised, Andy cautious-and the red haze lifted.

She fell to her knees, shifting back with a sob.

Andrew was at her side in seconds, wrapping her in a coat.

"I didn't mean to-" she gasped. "I wasn't trying to hurt-"

"You didn't hurt us," he said quietly. "But you could have."

Andy knelt beside her, his voice low. "You're not just Solari. You're something more. You've got hybrid blood, Selene."

She shook her head. "That's not possible."

Andy glanced at Andrew, then back at her. "It is if your mother wasn't fully wolf."

Andrew added, "The Moon Temple... that vision wasn't just a memory. It was a calling. Your bloodline might be connected to the Moon Goddess herself."

Selene stared between them. "So what does that make me?"

Andy met her eyes. "A goddess reborn. Or a weapon unleashed."

Later that night, Selene lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

The mark on her collarbone glowed faintly in the dark-no longer just a bond. It pulsed with energy, wild and ancient.

Outside, wolves howled-different from before. It wasn't a mourning song.

It was a summons.

She threw off the blankets and rushed to the window.

In the distance, past the treeline, a dozen figures stood cloaked in silver.

Eyes glowing red.

Marks burned into their flesh.

Andy appeared behind her. "They're here."

Selene turned to him, her voice barely a whisper. "The Blood Priests?"

He nodded. "They found you."

Andrew joined them, already dressed in armor. "This isn't just an attack. It's a test. They want to see what you are."

Selene's heart thundered. "Then let's show them."

The forest erupted into chaos.

Flames licked the trees.

Blades clashed in the night.

Selene moved through the battle like a storm-fluid, untouchable. The wolf inside her didn't just fight; it commanded. And the Blood Priests... they bled like any other.

But when she reached the final priest-tall, robed in red-he didn't draw a weapon.

He smiled.

And spoke in a tongue older than the land itself.

Selene faltered.

The words echoed in her bones, awakening something inside her chest. Her mark burned. Her vision blurred.

And then-

The world went white.

Selene opened her eyes.

She stood once again in the Moon Temple, alone.

But this time, she was not the only soul there.

A woman stood in the center of the temple, cloaked in moonlight.

Her hair silver. Her eyes endless.

"Daughter of blood," the woman said, her voice ringing like wind over water. "You stand at the edge of destiny."

Selene's throat tightened. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "I am what you may become."

Selene whispered, "The Moon Goddess."

"You are of me. And yet not. You carry my blood and that of man. You are both fury and mercy."

Tears welled in Selene's eyes. "Why me?"

The goddess stepped closer. "Because balance cannot be born. It must be forged."

She raised a hand to Selene's chest, and light poured into her.

The vision ended.

Selene collapsed in the forest clearing, gasping.

The Blood Priests were gone.

Dead or vanished.

Andy cradled her, shouting her name.

Andrew pressed a hand to her mark.

It no longer glowed.

It shined.

Etched not just with the mark of the mates...

...but with the sigil of the goddess.

The wind was sharp as it cut through the trees, tousling Selene's hair as she lay on the forest floor. Her breath came in slow, steady pulls now, and the chaos of the vision began to ebb like the tide.

Andy's arms were still wrapped around her, holding her like he feared she'd vanish.

Andrew knelt at her other side, his face carved from worry and something deeper-something more primal.

"Selene," Andy murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Talk to me. Say something."

"I saw her," Selene rasped. Her throat was dry, her limbs weak, but her eyes burned with clarity. "The Moon Goddess. She spoke to me."

Andrew's brows drew together. "What did she say?"

Selene sat up slowly, the world tilting slightly before righting itself. "That I'm of her blood. That I'm meant to forge balance, not just restore it. She called me the daughter of blood."

Andy exhaled a low breath. "That's not just a vision. That's a declaration."

"A warning too," Selene added. "She said I carry both fury and mercy... and that both will be tested."

Andrew helped her to her feet. "Then we need to prepare. Because if the goddess has chosen you, there will be others who want to unmake you."

They returned to the cabin as dawn broke fully over the treetops. The scent of blood still lingered in the air from the battle, but the Blood Priests were gone-leaving only ash and ruin in their wake.

Inside, the fire was dying down, and the tension crackled in the silence. Andy paced near the hearth, while Andrew stood guard at the window.

Selene sat on the edge of the table, the goddess's words still echoing in her head.

"Choose your king... or awaken your god."

But what if she was becoming both?

"I don't think this is just about me choosing between the two of you," Selene said suddenly, voice firmer now. "I think it's about who I become because of that choice. Or maybe... who I become despite it."

Andy turned. "You're saying it's not about love?"

"It is," she admitted, meeting his eyes. "But it's not just about that. It's about identity. Legacy. Fate."

Andrew crossed the room to her. "So where does that leave us?"

Selene stood and faced them both. "In the eye of the storm. And whether I choose one of you, both of you, or neither, the world won't wait. The priests will come again. And I have to be ready when they do."

Andy stepped closer, pain flashing in his expression. "And are you?"

Selene didn't answer right away. Her hand brushed over the glowing mark on her collarbone.

"No," she whispered. "But I will be."

That night, Selene stood outside alone again, this time by choice. The wind had picked up, sending whispers through the trees.

Her body still felt raw from the transformation, but her spirit was steadier now-solid like the mountains beyond the valley.

Andrew appeared first, then Andy a moment later, the two of them standing on either side of her like shadows forged from moonlight and fire.

"We'll train you," Andy said.

"Protect you," Andrew added.

"Even if you don't choose us," Andy continued, "we'll stand with you."

Selene's throat tightened. "I don't want to be the reason you two destroy each other."

Andrew looked at his brother. "Maybe we've already done enough of that ourselves."

Andy gave a bitter laugh. "Maybe."

But then he looked at Selene.

"And maybe... you're the only one who can fix it."

The three of them stood in silence for a long moment. Not as mates. Not as warriors.

Just as people caught in the tangle of fate, blood, and something far more dangerous-hope.

Back in the ruins of the battlefield, far beyond the valley, a shadow moved.

Tall. Cloaked. Unseen by the mortal eye.

The last of the Blood Priests knelt before a burning altar, the air thick with incense and rot.

"She awakens," he whispered.

Behind him, a dozen figures stepped from the dark, their faces hidden, their eyes glowing crimson.

The priest smiled.

"The daughter of blood will fall. And when she does... the god beneath the moon will rise."