Chapter 8 Whispers of war

The mark still burned on Avelyn's shoulder, not in pain anymore, but in power. Restless. Alive.

As the morning sun filtered through the high windows of Damien's chambers, she sat up slowly beneath silk sheets, the echo of the Tribunal's ritual still humming in her veins. The bond hadn't just returned, it had evolved. Twined through the golden threads of connection was now a third line, crimson and bright like blood, like war, like prophecy turned hostile.

Damien hadn't left her side since.

At the far end of the room, he stood in silence, sharpening his blade with slow, deliberate strokes. When Kade entered, tension followed him like a cloak.

"They're gathering," Kade said grimly.

Damien didn't look up. "Who?"

"Everyone. Rivals, allies, the cautious, the power-hungry. Even the Shadowfangs sent a raven."

Damien sheathed the blade in one fluid motion. Avelyn stood, wrapping a fur cloak over her shoulders. "They're not coming for peace."

Kade nodded. "No. They're coming for blood. Or a reason to spill it. Your mark, Avelyn-it didn't just return. It changed. And that frightens them."

"They think the Moonborn returned for me," she murmured.

"They're right," Damien said softly. "You didn't just survive the bond. You altered it. They fear what else you might break."

"Let them fear," she replied, but her voice wavered slightly.

Damien caught it.

He crossed to her. "We need to be united now, more than ever."

But before she could respond, a wave of dizziness slammed into her. Her knees buckled.

Damien caught her instantly, arms steady and strong.

"Avelyn?"

Her vision darkened. Her lungs struggled to draw breath. Then...

In the Vision

Ash blanketed the world like snow. The ruins of the Bloodthorne estate smoldered in the distance, banners in flame, stone shattered. Trees stood twisted and blackened.

And then a voice, as old as moonlight.

"Daughter of twilight..."

Avelyn turned slowly.

A woman emerged from the shadows, made of light and sorrow. Eyes like galaxies. A presence that made the ground itself bow.

"The bond came too soon," the Moonborn whispered. "Too soon, and without sacrifice."

Avelyn tried to speak, but the goddess continued.

"The crimson thread is not power. It is prophecy's debt. You bent fate. And now fate will demand its price."

Avelyn's heart thundered. "What price?"

"To unchain the future... something must die."

"What dies?" Avelyn asked again, desperate.

But the Moonborn was already fading into starlight.

"Choose well, Luna. Or lose everything."

Back in the Real World

Avelyn gasped, lungs seizing as she came to.

Damien was holding her tightly, kneeling beside her on the stone floor.

Her fingers gripped his tunic. "I saw her. The Moonborn."

Silence fell over the room like ash.

"She said the crimson thread is a warning. The bond sealed before the price was paid."

"What price?" Damien asked, already pale.

"I don't know. But she said something must die."

Kade's knuckles whitened on the doorframe.

"Then we can't wait," Damien said. "If the cost is to be decided, I won't let anyone else decide it for us."

Later That Day – The Meeting Hall

The stone hall pulsed with energy. Delegates from neighboring packs filled the space. Warriors lined the walls. At the front stood Damien and Avelyn, facing judgment, fate, and bloodlines that had long waited for weakness to pounce.

"I stand not just as Alpha," Damien began, voice hard, eyes steady, "but as a man who's seen the gods test fateand still chose to fight it."

A murmur ran through the crowd.

"You know the prophecy," he continued. "You've feared it. That if I find my Luna, I will fall. But I say this: if fate wants my end, it'll have to earn it."

Applause from his warriors. Silence from the visiting Alphas.

"And what of her?" a voice snapped. Alpha Rayden. "She's a rogue. A mistake. And now, she bears the Moonborn's curse."

Avelyn stepped forward, voice steady. "I didn't choose the mark. But I chose to stay. I faced the Trial. You tried to break the bond, and it returned brighter. Stronger. That's not a curse. It's proof."

Rayden's voice sliced the air. "Then you should know what the crimson thread means. It means the bond came before its time. The Moonborn demands balance. A life for a life."

"The Luna must die, or the world burns"

Damien's voice was iron. "Not hers."

Rayden's eyes narrowed. "Then whose?"

No answer came.

But the question lingered like a blade against the throat of fate.

That Night – The Watchtower Ruins

Avelyn sat alone beneath the stars, fingers curled around a stone etched with faded runes. The air was too quiet. Even the wind held its breath.

She didn't hear Damien approach-until he was beside her.

"I had to," she said softly.

Damien looked over. "Had to what?"

"Fake it. Pretend I could walk away from this. From you."

His throat bobbed. "You mean when you told the council you would consider stepping down as Luna?"

She nodded.

"I thought it would lessen the threat," she added. "Make the packs feel less provoked. But it felt like tearing something out of me."

Damien's voice was hoarse. "You think I wanted to do nothing? To agree with the Tribunal when they asked if we'd consider... rejection?"

She met his eyes.

"You agreed because it kept me alive."

"I agreed," he said slowly, "because if I didn't, they would've turned on you. And if keeping you alive meant breaking the bond, I was willing to do it."

She reached for him, gripping his hand tightly. "But you didn't break it."

"No." He swallowed. "Because I couldn't. Even when I tried, the mark stayed. Even when I lied to them, told them I'd never take you as Luna, I still wake every night feeling you in my chest."

She let out a shaky breath.

"I told them I didn't love you," he added. "That this was duty. Strategy. Nothing more."

Her eyes stung.

"And I said the same," she whispered.

A beat passed.

"Liar," they said at the same time.

And then, finally, he leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I'm in love with you, Avelyn," he murmured. "And if the price is death... then I'll die fighting."

Tears slid down her cheeks. "You won't die. I won't let you."

"And if fate says one of us must?"

"Then fate's going to lose," she said.

She reached for his hand, squeezing it tight.

We'll find another way."

"And if there isn't one?"

She looked at the moon.

"Then we make one."

War was coming.

And neither was willing to surrender.

She reached for his hand, squeezing it tight.