Chapter 3 Luna

"You`re awake. Finally."

Luna`s eyes fluttered open. Her head pounded, her frame felt it irresistible to be run over via way of means of a freight train, and the air around her reeked of damp earth and burnt wood. She attempted to move. However, her legs and arms were heavy-certain, and she used something unseen.

The voice isn`t Kaelen`s. It turned colder, sharper, and despatched a shiver down her spine.

"I turned into starting to assume you`d sleep through the primary event," the voice continued, dripping with mockery.

They growled low, their hackles raised; however, none moved closer.

And then she noticed him.

"Kaelen?" she croaked, her throat dry. But something went wrong. The guy's status earlier than her wasn`t pretty right. He looked at Kaelen. However, his smile became too wide, too sharp. His golden eyes burned with malice.

"No," he said, smirking. "Not Kaelen. But close." He stepped closer, crouching so their faces had been inches apart. "The name`s Kieran."

Luna`s coronary heart dropped. "Kieran?" Her gaze darted across the clearing, determined to discover Kaelen. "Where is he? What are you-"

"Looking for him?" Kieran interrupted, his tone nearly playful. He straightened and became, gesturing in the direction of the shadows.

A discern became slumped in opposition to one of the stones, wrists sure through sparkling chains. His head drooped; however, Luna diagnosed him instantly-his silver hair disheveled with blood, his face light and bruised.

"Kaelen!" she screamed, suffering in opposition to her invisible restraints. "Let him go!"

Kaelen stirred, lifting his head weakly. His eyes met hers, full of ache and regret. "Luna... I`m sorry," he said, his voice slightly a whisper.

Kieran set free a laugh, loud and cruel. "Oh, the drama. The poor, tragic hero. It`s nearly too much." He became lower back to Luna, his grin widening. "Did he inform you about me? No? Typical. He by no means should face his failures."

"Kieran," Luna spat, her voice trembling with rage. "What do you need?"

"What do I need?" Kieran repeated, feigning surprise. "Oh, Luna. What I need is simple. I need what changed into stolen from me. My life. My birthright. Him."

"He took the whole thing from me. And now? I`m going to take the whole thing from him."

"No," Luna stated, shaking her head. "This doesn`t make sense. Kaelen might in no way-"

"Never what? Betray you? Lie to you?" Kieran`s voice dripped with venom. "He`s been mendacity to you from the start, Luna. Haven`t you, brother?"

Kaelen flinched, his jaw tightening. "Luna," he stated softly, his voice cracking. "It`s true. I... I didn`t let you know the whole thing."

"Kaelen?" Luna`s chest tightened. "What is he speaking about?"

Kaelen closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping. "Kieran is my twin. My... different half. When we were born, there was a prophecy. One person might upward thrust to greatness. The difference might fall into darkness. Our parents selected me. The solid Kieran out deserted him to die."

Kieran`s laughter rang out, sour and hollow. "But I didn`t die, did I? No, I survived. I thrived. And now, expensive brother, I`m here to pay off the favor."

"You don`t understand," Kaelen stated, his voice desperate. "I didn`t select this. I in no way wanted-"

"Save it!" Kieran snapped, his golden eyes blazing. "You had the whole thing. And you threw it away for her."

Luna`s thoughts raced, her coronary heart pounding in opposition to her ribs. None of this felt real. Kaelen had usually been her anchor, her secure haven. Now, the entirety of the concept she knew changed into unraveling.

"Kieran," she said, forcing her voice to steady. "If it`s Kaelen you want, then permit me to go. This isn`t my fight."

Kieran tilted his head, analyzing her with a predator`s gaze. "Oh, Luna. You nonetheless don`t get it, do you?" He stepped closer, his smile turning cruel. "You`re the motive. He`s weak. The motive is that he failed. You are the fight."

Before she could respond, Kieran got on his heel and strode towards Kaelen. In one fluid motion, he drew a blade- a jagged, obsidian dagger that started to pulse with darkish energy.

"No!" Luna screamed, suffering in opposition to her bindings. "Don`t-"

"You usually had been the favorite," Kieran said, his voice low and menacing. "Let`s see how they love you now."

He plunged the blade into Kaelen`s chest.

"Kaelen!" Luna sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "No, no, no..."

Kaelen`s gaze discovered hers one remaining time. "Luna..." he whispered, his voice slightly audible. "I`m sorry."

And then he changed into gone.

Luna`s grief turned into fast change via way of means of a burning rage. "You bastard!" she spat, evident up at Kieran via her tears. "I`ll kill you!"

"Bold words," Kieran said, wiping the blade easily on his sleeve. "But you`re no longer in a role to make threats, my dear."

He gestured to the werewolves, and they moved as one, remaining around her. The air grew heavy with darkish energy, and the floor under her started to glow with purple runes.

"You see," Kieran said, crouching in front of her again. "This isn`t pretty much revenge. It`s approximately power. And you, Luna, are the key."

"I`ll by no means assist you," she snarled.

*****

"Hold her down!" Kieran barked, his voice slicing through the cavern`s chaos.

Luna thrashed in opposition to the stone altar; her wrists uncooked from the ropes. Kieran stood over her, retaining a crude iron bowl packed with dark, glistening liquid-Kaelen`s blood. Her belly churned at the sight.

"You`re losing your time, Kieran," Luna spat, her voice hoarse, however defiant. "This won`t make you an Alpha. It`ll simply make you a murderer."

Kieran`s lips curled right into a sneer. "Murderer? No, Luna. I`m a god inside the making." He tilted the bowl, letting the blood drip onto her chest. It becomes warm and sticky, soaking her torn shirt. "You and Kaelen had been constantly in my way. Weak, sentimental fools. Now, you`ll each be gone, and I`ll be the best Alpha."

Luna gritted her teeth, straining in opposition to Vark`s grip. "You`re delusional. Kaelen become two times the person you`ll ever be."

Kieran laughed, bloodless and hollow. "Kaelen`s dead. And you`re next."

Kieran leaned closer, his eyes glinting with malice. "Activating the curse, Luna. Your blood, Kaelen`s blood-it`s the key. This ritual will burn away the whole lot you are, and I`ll take what`s left."

The ache intensified, spreading like wildfire via her veins. "Stop it!" she gasped, tears streaming down her face. "You bastard, stop!"

Kieran watched, unblinking, his delight palpable. "Scream all you want. No one`s coming to stop you."

Vark tightened his grip, his claws piercing her skin. "Hurry, Kieran," he growled. "The blood moon`s peaking."

He pressed the blade toward Luna`s throat, drawing a skinny line of blood. "The curse wishes her lifestyle to seal it."

Luna`s imaginative and prescient blurred, the ache eating her. Her frame trembled, her breath ragged. "You... won`t win," she whispered, her voice slightly audible. "I`ll ensure of it."

Kieran chuckled, leaning over her. "Big phrases for a person burning alive. Any ultimate requests?"

Luna`s eyes locked onto his, her ache giving manner to a surge of rage. "Yeah," she rasped. "I`ll come back. And once I do, I`ll damage you."

For a moment, Kieran`s smirk faltered. However, he quickly recovered. "Cute. But you`re now no longer getting back from this." He stepped back, nodding to Vark. "Burn her."

Vark launched her, and different werewolves stepped forward, dragging Luna off the altar. Her legs buckled; however, they held her upright, hauling her towards a pile of wooden stacked towards the cavern wall. The torches flared brighter, casting lengthy shadows as they tossed her onto the pile. Splinters dug into her skin. However, the ache turned into nothing compared to the hearthplace, nevertheless raging inside her.

"Do it," Kieran ordered, his voice without emotion.

One of the werewolves grabbed a torch and thrust it into the wooden. Flames erupted, licking Luna`s clothes, hair, and skin. She screamed again, the sound uncooked and primal, as the hearthplace ate up her. Her flesh blistered, her imaginative and prescient fading to black. Through the agony, she heard Kieran`s voice, remote, however clear.

"Goodbye, Luna. No one will do not forget you."

Her frame convulsed, the curse`s warmth merging with the flames. She couldn`t breathe, couldn`t think. All she felt turned into ache-unbearable, endless. But at that very last moment, something shifted. A bizarre strength pulsed through her间的, deep and unfamiliar, wrapped around her soul. It wasn`t hearthplace or ache- it turned into power, bloodless and sharp, like a blade inside the dark.

Luna`s mind clung to her promise: I`ll come back. I`ll damage you. Her hatred for Kieran burned brighter than the flames, anchoring her to the world. The werewolf's notion is that they have been erasing her. However, they have been wrong. She wasn`t gone. Not yet.

The flames roared higher, decreasing her frame to ash. The werewolves stepped back, their growls quieting as the hearthplace died down. Kieran stood at the threshold of the circle, his fingers crossed, his expression smug.

"Is it done?" Vark asked, his voice low.

Kieran nodded, kicking on the smoldering ashes. "She`s not anything now. Just dust."

Another werewolf, smaller than the others, hesitated. "What approximately the curse? What if it-"

"It`s over," Kieran snapped, his tone final. "The ritual worked. I`m the Alpha now. No one`s getting back from that."

Vark grunted, satisfied, and grew to become to the others. "Clean this up. No traces."

The werewolves moved quickly, scattering the ashes throughout the cavern floor and grinding them into the stone. Kieran watched, eyes scanning the darkness as though bold something to project him. "Pathetic," he muttered, spitting into the ashes. "You have been in no way a threat."

The cavern grew quiet, the simplest sound the faint crackle of demise embers. The werewolves accumulated their weapons, getting ready to leave. Kieran lingered, his gaze constant at the altar, the runes now darkish and lifeless. "Let`s go," he stated finally, turning towards the exit. "We`ve been given paintings to do."

One with the aid of one, the werewolves filed out, their footsteps echoing inside the cavern. The air grew still, the torches flickering weakly. The ritual becomes complete. Luna becomes gone. Or so that they thought.

In the darkness, in which the ashes lay scattered, something stirred. It wasn`t visible, wasn`t tangible-now no longer yet. But it became there, a faint pulse, like a heartbeat inside the void. Luna`s soul, sure with the aid of using her curse, rage, and promise. It lingered, formless but alive and waiting. The werewolves hadn`t destroyed her. They`d awoken something else- something more substantial.

Kieran`s voice echoed in her memory: "No one will keep in mind you." He becomes wrong. She could make him keep in mind. She could make him pay.

The pulse grew stronger, a whisper of energy inside the shadows. Luna wasn`t finished. She becomes hearthplace and ash. However, she becomes additionally vengeance. And vengeance constantly unearths a way.