Chapter 9 Warrior from the past

Avelyn woke to the sound of whispers.

They came not from outside, but from somewhere deeper, beneath her skin, beneath her soul. A familiar melody threaded through them, the voice of the Moonborn. Not a warning this time. A message.

The war is not over.

She sat upright in the bed, Damien's bed now, theirs, her breath catching in her throat. The room was quiet, bathed in amber morning light. The sheets still smelled of ash, earth, and him. But the peace was uneasy. Something stirred beyond the pack walls, something ancient and unfinished.

A soft knock came at the door.

Kade.

"Sorry to intrude," he said, stepping in without waiting. His dark eyes were uncharacteristically grim. "We have a visitor at the border. Says he's here for Avelyn."

She stiffened. "Who?"

Kade hesitated. "He won't give a name. But he carries a crescent scar across his throat. Says he's from... the Moonfire Valley."

The words hit her like a shockwave. She hadn't heard that name in years. Not since the fragmented memories first began, of a firelit temple, a pack long perished, and a promise whispered in the dark. Moonfire Valley was supposed to be gone. Lost in the wars. She swung her legs over the bed and stood.

"Take me to him," she said.

By the time they reached the edge of the territory, Damien was already there, his arms folded, eyes narrowed as he stared down the stranger. The man was tall, broad-shouldered, with silver hair tied at his neck and old battle leathers laced with symbols Avelyn hadn't seen since her visions. Her heart seized.

He looked at her and smiled, slow and sad.

"You've grown."

Damien's gaze snapped to her. "You know him?"

Avelyn stepped forward, emotions storming behind her eyes. "I don't know how... but I do."

The stranger bowed deeply. "My name is Thorne. I served under your father, Avelyn. You were just a child when the Temple fell. I thought you had died with the rest of us."

Damien tensed beside her. "What temple?"

"The Temple of the Moonborn," Thorne answered. "Where the first Luna was crowned. Avelyn is its last heir."

The truth unraveled like a thread yanked from a tapestry.

Avelyn saw it all. Not in dreams now, but as memory. She had once been a child of prophecy, born beneath an eclipse. Her parents had hidden her from those who sought to kill her bloodline. A bloodline blessed and cursed by the Moonborn themselves.

Thorne stepped closer. "The curse was not meant for you, Alpha," he said to Damien. "It was meant to test the one strong enough to love her. To protect the Moonborn's legacy, not fear it."

Avelyn shook her head slowly, her hands trembling. "Why now? Why come back now?"

"Because there's another prophecy. One you haven't seen yet."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a worn scroll sealed in red wax. Damien took it from him, his jaw tight. He broke the seal, unrolled the parchment, and read in silence.

Avelyn watched his eyes go dark. His hands tightened.

"She's the key," he whispered. "But the price..."

Thorne nodded. "To seal the bond, to awaken the true power of the Luna bloodline, a sacrifice must be made. One that turns fate's wheel in her favor."

Avelyn stepped closer. "What kind of sacrifice?"

Thorne looked at Damien. "Not you. Not blood. Choice. When the time comes, you must choose her, not as Alpha. Not as protector. But as a man. You must step away from power... or lose her."

The words cut deeper than any wound Damien had ever suffered.

He turned away, staring into the trees. "If I give up the pack, I leave it vulnerable. We just rebuilt everything. I won't put them at risk again."

Avelyn reached for his hand. "And if you don't, I may be the one who vanishes this time."

The air between them thickened with pain. They had broken the curse, yes. But this... this was a reckoning of the heart.

That night, the pack celebrated their survival. Bonfires lit the grounds, music drifted into the trees, and laughter rang from the youngest pups to the eldest warriors. But Avelyn felt the weight of the future pressing in on her chest like a stone.

She stood at the edge of the forest, staring at the sky, when Thorne joined her.

"I see the bond between you two," he said gently. "But love is not just surviving together. It's choosing each other, even when the world doesn't."

She turned to him. "I don't want him to lose his pack."

"Then teach him that he won't," Thorne said. "He'll only lose the illusion that he has to carry it all alone."

When she returned to the lodge, Damien was on the balcony, staring into the night. She stepped behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You don't have to choose tonight," she whispered.

He didn't speak at first.

"I'm scared," he said finally.

It broke something in her. The confession. The crack in his armor.

"I know."

"If I lose you"

"You won't. But if you try to hold both the future and the past, something will fall through your fingers."

Damien turned to face her, cupping her face in his hands. "Then teach me how to hold on to the right things."

And in that moment, a strange peace settled between them.

The storm was not over. The next choice would be the hardest of all. But they would face it together.

Some curses weren't broken in a single battle. Some were unwound thread by thread, through love, through sacrifice, through faith.

And Avelyn knew, deep in her bones, that the final test was coming.

But for now... he was hers.

And she was his.