Chapter 1 1

Scene 1: The Cursed Forest that is outside Silverpine Pack

There was moonlight dripping through the broken canopy like it was blood coming out of an old wound.

The forest was silent. It was so silent that even the wind dared not speak. Alpha Kael Thorne is standing at the edge of the cliff, where the trees were twisted like gnarled hands which reached out for forgotten gods. His boots were drenched in dried mud, his coat was heavy with dew. The full moon loomed above, but his eyes were pale gray and dulled. It reflected nothing.

Kael had not felt its pull in years.

Seven winters had passed since the fire. Seven years since Liora. Since his wolf went silent.

He did not blink as the wind blew the scent of pine and ash across his face.

Behind him came soft, hesitant footsteps. It belongs to the only wolf in the pack who still dared approach him.

"Alpha." Elder Maelin's voice had the weight of age. "The stones are glowing again."

Kael did not turn. "They have glowed before."

"Not like this one, the markings, the runes that have not burned in centuries past are now alive. The Moonborn Prophecy is stirring."

"I don't care," Kael murmured. "That prophecy died with her."

Maelin stepped in beside him. His white hair was glistening in the moonlight. "You think your mate was the end of the prophecy? She was just a spark, not a flame."

Kael's jaw clenched. "I buried the flame in the same pit where I lost my wolf."

"Perhaps your wolf is waiting for you to rise again."

"Don't speak of him," Kael snapped. "He is gone, a hollowed shell is all that is left."

Maelin did not flinch. "A hollow shell can still echo, Alpha. And sometimes, echoes carry the truth."

Kael's fists clenched at his sides. "Do you know what it is like to hear nothing? No whisper. No growl. Just silence."

"I know your grief," Maelin said softly. "I know the taste of ashes which you get in your mouth every time you breathe, but I also know this, that your mate would not want you to waste your soul chasing after shadows."

Kael laughed bitterly- "Shadows are all that I have left."

A howl broke the air. It was sharp, urgent.

Maelin and Kael turned at once.

"That is the sound of the patrol," Kael muttered.

Maelin narrowed his eyes toward the eastern treeline. "Something is wrong. Did you notice that it was Drex's voice?"

Kael did not wait, he was already moving.

Scene 2: The Eastern Border of the Silver Pine Territory.

The patrol circle was making so much noise that Kael stormed into the clearing. Wolves shifted back into human form, their blood-stained claws and faces were tight with alarm. At the center of this group lay a figure that was crumpled, burned, and unconscious.

Kael stopped immediately in his tracks the moment he perceived the scent.

The scent hit him like it was a storm.

Fire, burnt but not destroyed, rebirths. Wild, radiant, it was all familiar.

The familiar scent of moonflowers after the rain.

"No". His voice broke out, but no one answered him.

Drex stepped forward, he was still panting. She just appeared outside the eastern border. Collapsed. No one had seen her before.

"She smells like the forest after a heavy flash of lightning," muttered Siva, one of the younger guards. "But there is no sign of any fight.

"She is a rogue," someone whispered behind them.

"No," Kael said hoarsely; he quickly pushed past all of them.

He noticed that the girl's skin was blistered at the shoulders, soot clinged to her silver-blonde hair. Her dress was torn and blackened at the sides like it had been scorched by a fire that razed her from within. Her lips were pale, but her face looked somewhat. It appeared delicate. She has a high cheekbone on which there is a scar which is just below her left eye.

Kael dropped to his knees, his hands were trembling as he proceeded to touch her. Something about her felt like it was talking to him from another life.

"Don't touch her, Alpha," Drex said cautiously. We don't know who.

Kael's fingers brushed her arm.

A jolt struck him so hard that he gasped.

Thump.

His heart lurched.

Thump-thump.

All this was a growl that rumbled from deep in his chest. It was low, primal, and alive.

His eyes widened, while his hands shook vigorously.

And then he heard the voice from deep within him. It was a familiar one that had been buried for seven years.

"She is ours."

Kael reeled back, his breath was ragged at that moment.

My wolf- he whispered, this is what he never expected to hear at that moment, so he stared down at his own hands as if they were not really his own.

The girl stirred at that moment, a faint whimper escaping her lips.

"Did you hear that?" Siva asked no one in particular, but he was glancing around as he spoke.

Kael did not answer his question, rather his gaze was locked on the girl's face as her eyes fluttered open. They were deep violet, ancient and haunted eyes.

She blinked once, and then she whispered, but her voice was barely audible.

"Kael." She called his name.

This prompted immediate gasps from everyone that heard her tiny words.

Kael's heart stopped at that moment.

He leaned closer to her, now stunned. "How do you know my name?"

But Aeryn's eyes had already closed again.

Drex stepped forward. All of this shook him as well as the others. What the hell is going on?

Kael stood slowly, his body was still humming with power.

He turned toward the others, his eyes had gold flickering in the irises. Some of the others blinked repeatedly at this spark because it was the first spark of color in seven years.

"Get her to the healer," he said. "I will not entertain any questions or hesitations. She will stay under my protection."

Siva hesitated. "But Alpha, what if she is dangerous?"

Kael's growl silenced him.

"She is mine."

Maelin arrived some moments later. His breath was sharp. He stared at Kael's glowing eyes and let out a long, shaky breath.

"Your wolf..."

Kael could not look away from the girl throughout the exchange, his eyes were still on her as he spoke."

Maelin's eyes were filled with something that had not been there in years. He now had hope.

"She might be the one whom the prophecy spoke of."

Kael shook his head. "My guts tells me that she is more than that."

Finally, he turned away from the girl, facing the forest again, the moon at his back.

"She is the one who woke me."

As the patrol began to move, Kael felt a crackle of heat behind him.

He turned just in time to see a faint brand that appeared on the girl's back. It was an ancient sigil which glowed faintly through the fabric she wore, but it was shaped like a crescent moon that was surrounded by flame.

And in the trees beyond, something was watching all that happened. The thing was hidden by the shadow.

Its eyes were burning red as it smiled.