Chapter 3 Whispers of War

They thought the darkness would consume me.

Instead, I built an empire with it.

My new pack's howls echoed through the valley, feral and defiant. It had been years since the wind did not carry the stench of fear-but hope. Power. Revolution. My people still ached, still fractured by lies, but they believed in one thing now: me.

I stood atop the crumbled altar in the heart of the abandoned village, bone ring pulsing on my finger, Kade at my side. Smoke curled into the night as the first sigils of the Shadow Court were burned into old banners.

A new crest.

A new name.

And soon, a new war.

---

The glow of the fire illuminated their faces: warriors, rogues, the rejected-those who'd lived in darkness, abandoned by the packs they'd known. Now they depended on me, their eyes blazing with a mixture of hope and distrust.

A girl came up, her silver eyes not flinching. "My Queen," she began, voice steady. "We've heard rumors. The Alpha of Midnight Howl is seeking you out. He doesn't believe you perished in the Deadlands. He believes you are something. more now."

I leaned my head to the side, eyes narrowing.

"Let him search," I said, voice cold. "Let him fantasize his fictions. He is too arrogant to accept the truth."

The girl's eyes faltered, uncertainty flickering across her face. "But, my Queen, he has an army at his beck and call. He has the Eastern Wolves backing him. If we act too swiftly, we will-"

"We are not the ones who need to hide anymore," I cut in. "We are the ones who will strike first.".

My pack's growls became cries, a growing swell of anticipation filling the air. These were broken wolves who'd been pursued and cast aside. But with me as leader, they were something greater than survivors. They were fighters.

Kade stepped ahead, his silver eyes burning with a power that matched my own. "We will need more than the abandoned wolves. We must gather the cursed ones, those banished from other packs. Then, and only then, will we have the strength to battle him."

I nodded. "We will go to the forgotten villages first. The abandoned, the unwanted. We will forge alliances."

Who shall we trust?" yelled a warrior at the back.

I looked over my shoulder at my pack. These wolves-my pack-were my new family. They were rejected Alphas, left behind when they most needed them. That was all in the past now. We were creating something new. Something better.

We stand for those who will stand up and fight for tomorrow," I announced. "And we show them that. The Eastern Wolves will never even see it coming."

---

The next morning, we journeyed to the nearest village, a forgotten village on the edge of Midnight Howl's territory. It was one of those villages the outcasts and lowborn lived in, beyond the clutches of the established packs.

As we approached, there was a heavy silence that hung in the air. The village surrounded by decayed fences, houses in various states of disrepair. But it wasn't the broken-down village that caught my eye-it was the odor that hung in the air.

Wolf.

Not just any wolf, but a deadly one.

Kade and I exchanged a look, and wordlessly, we split our group in two. I took the left side of the village; Kade took the right.

The odor led me to the center of the village, where I spotted a man standing with his back to me. He was tall, his figure cloaked in shadow, a hood over most of his face.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He did not turn. "The question is, who are you?"

I stepped forward, my wolf growling in my chest. "I am Lilith Blackthorn. Queen of Shadows."

My announcement made him turn, and I recognized a face both familiar and strange. His hair was dark, his eyes cold-familiar, for I had seen them before in visions. But stranger, for I did not know his name.

"Ronan sent you, didn't he?" I said.

The man's lips curled into a smile, though there was nothing of laughter about it. "You're more than you appear, my Queen. But you're still far from sitting on the throne."

"I did not come here to ask your opinion," I said, stepping forward. "I came here to make you an offer. Join me, and together we can destroy the Midnight Howl. Refuse, and you will find out what happens to those who dare stand in my way."

The man looked at me for a very long time, then finally opened his mouth. "I'm not an idiot. I'll go with you. But only if you show me that you can be a leader."

"Come with me," I replied, holding out my hand.

He shook it. And in an instant, another part of the puzzle was solved.

---

As we strode back to our camp, the man-whose name we later discovered was Kieran-spoke to us of the many packs he had encountered in his journey. He was an outsider, a renegade who owed allegiance to the Eastern Wolves, but not to Ronan's friend.

"The Midnight Howl pack is fractured," Kieran told me. "Ronan is a powerful Alpha, I suppose, but he's losing control. Rumors are in the air, and not every wolf is loyal to him. Some are holding back, waiting for the right moment to rebel."

"So you're telling me there's a chance we can overthrow him from within?" I asked.

Kieran nodded. "Yes. But only if we can take those who are loyal to Ronan's enemies. You'll have to persuade them."

I met Kieran's gaze, absorbing the weight of his words. "Then we'll persuade them. If necessary, with force."

The fire spat and spit in the background as we sat in quiet contemplation, each of us thinking about the war that loomed on the horizon before us.

But I knew one thing for certain: Ronan's reign as Alpha was ticking down. The Queen of Shadows had risen, and her army was spreading.

The wind would carry our message far and wide. It was time for war. The world would know who really ruled the night.

---

The next day, we were already planning our next move. But my thoughts kept drifting back to the prophecy-the enigmatic words the Shadow Queen had told me.

Forge your throne from the ashes of your pain. Gather the forsaken. Strengthen them. Rule them well.

I didn't know exactly what that was supposed to mean, but the pieces were falling into place.

And the waiting was over.

The Shadow Queen had bestowed a crown upon me.

And I would wear it until the last Alpha died at my feet.