"Don't move!" Alpha Magnus's voice boomed down the hallway.
Heavy boots thundered toward them like an army moving to war.
Aria knelt beside Caleb, her hands pressed against his wounded chest. Silver light poured from her fingers, but the wound was deep. Too deep.
"I can't heal this fast enough," she whispered desperately.
"Then run," Caleb gasped, his golden eyes getting dim. "Before they see you like this."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to." Blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth. "They'll kill you for this."
Liana backed against the wall, still holding the bloody knife. Her honey-colored eyes darted between Aria and the coming footsteps.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," she muttered. "You were supposed to die, not him."
"Shut up," Caden growled, grabbing bandages from his pack. "Help us stop the bleeding."
"Why would I help? This is perfect." Liana's voice turned cold again. "An omega standing over a dying Alpha child with magic in her hands. They'll kill her on the spot."
The footsteps were getting closer. Voices bounced off the stone walls. Angry shouts calling for blood.
"There has to be another way out," Aria said desperately.
"There is."
Everyone turned. Luna Seraphina stepped out of the dark like a ghost. Her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears, but her voice was steady as rock.
"Mother?" Caden breathed. "How did you—"
"I followed Liana's smell. I knew she was planning something." Seraphina's eyes fixed on the knife in Liana's hand. "I just didn't know what."
"Luna, I can explain—" Liana started.
"Explain later. Right now, we save my son." Seraphina knelt beside Caleb and put her hands over Aria's. "Combine your power with mine."
"I don't know how."
"Trust me." Seraphina's touch was warm and steady. "Let your light flow into mine."
Aria closed her eyes and let the silver energy shoot from her hands. It mixed with Seraphina's golden glow, forming something new. Something stronger. Caleb's wound began to close. Slowly, but it was working.
"Incredible," Seraphina whispered. "I've never seen healing power like this."
"Is that what killed the previous Luna?" Aria asked suddenly. "Someone like me?"
Seraphina's hands froze. "What did you say?"
"The Guardian told me about another Luna who died strangely. Someone connected to the Moon Wolf legend."
"We don't have time for this," Caden interrupted. "Dad's almost here."
But Seraphina was looking at Aria with shocked recognition. "Your eyes," she breathed. "They're the exact same shade of violet."
"Whose eyes?"
"Lydia's. The Luna before me."
The footsteps stopped just around the turn.
Magnus's voice carried clearly down the hall. "Search every room. Find them."
"This way," Seraphina whispered quickly. She pressed a hidden stone in the wall, and a secret tunnel opened. "Quickly."
They lifted Caleb between them and stumbled into the tight tunnel. Seraphina sealed the entrance just as Magnus and his guards turned the corner.
The tunnel was dark and cramped. Their footsteps echoed weirdly as they moved deeper underground. Caleb was getting heavy with each step.
"How much further?" Aria panted.
"Almost there." Seraphina led them down a spiral stairs carved into living rock. "This leads to the old Luna chambers. No one's been down here in twenty years."
They exited into a circular room lit by glowing crystals embedded in the walls. Ancient tapestries covered the stone, and a pool of clear water mirrored the crystal light like stars.
"Welcome to the heart of the castle," Seraphina said softly. "This is where the Luna's real power comes from."
They laid Caleb on a bed of soft furs near the pool. His breathing was steady now, but still weak.
"Tell me about Lydia," Aria said as she continued fixing him. "What really happened to her?"
Seraphina sat heavy in an ornate chair. For the first time, she looked every one of her forty-three years.
"Lydia was Magnus's first mate. She had violet eyes just like yours, and power that made the earth itself shake."
"Moon Wolf power?"
"Yes. But she was different from you. Angrier. More ready to use force to get her way." Seraphina looked into the glowing pool. "The pack feared her. Some called her a witch. Others whispered that she would destroy the old ways and leave chaos behind."
"So they killed her?"
"We don't know who did it. One morning, she was found dead in her rooms. No wounds, no poison, no sign of fight. She just... stopped breathing."
A chill ran down Aria's spine. "That's not natural."
"No. It's not." Seraphina's voice dropped to a whisper. "But the weirdest part was what happened next. All the flowers in her yard wilted overnight. The pool here went black for a month. And every wolf in the pack had the same nightmare for weeks."
"What kind of nightmare?"
"Violet eyes watching them from the darkness. A voice promising revenge."
Caleb stirred on the furs, his golden eyes fluttering open. "Did someone say revenge?"
"Rest," Aria said gently. "You lost a lot of blood."
"Not as much as I'm going to lose when Dad finds out what happened." Caleb tried to sit up and winced. "Liana set you up perfectly. Made it look like you hit me."
"Why would she do that?" Caden asked.
"Because she's not working alone," Seraphina said grimly. "Someone else is pulling her strings. Someone who wants Aria gone."
"Who?"
Before Seraphina could answer, a new voice echoed through the room. Cold and mocking and filled with ancient hate.
"Hello, little Moon Wolf. I've been waiting so long to meet you."
They spun around, but the chamber was empty. The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"Who's there?" Aria demanded, silver light burning around her hands.
"Don't you know me? Look closer."
The pool began to glow brighter. The water swirled like a whirlpool, and pictures formed in its depths. A woman with long dark hair and violet eyes. Beautiful but scary. Her smile was sharp as broken glass.
"Lydia," Seraphina breathed.
"Hello, Seraphina. Thank you for taking such good care of my pack." The dead Luna's voice dripped with false sweetness. "Though I notice you've let them get soft. Weak. Pathetic."
"You're dead," Caden said simply. "Ghosts aren't real."
"Death is just another kind of sleep, little Alpha. And I've been having such interesting dreams."
The water showed more images.
Liana creeping through dark halls. Magnus arguing with someone in dark. Pack members whispering in secret talks.
"I've been very busy," Lydia added. "Planting seeds. Watering grudges. Watching my beautiful revenge grow."
"What do you want?" Aria asked.
"What I've always wanted. What was stolen from me." The violet eyes in the pool fixed on Aria with burning hate. "I want my life back. My power. My pack."
"You can't have them. You're dead."
"Am I?" Lydia laughed, and the sound made the crystals crack. "Tell me, little sister, what happens when a Moon Wolf dies before her time? Where does all that power go?"
The room began to shake. Dust rained from the roof. The pool water started to rise, spilling over the edges like a tide.
"It waits," Lydia whispered. "It watches. And when another Moon Wolf finally appears..."
The water reached Aria's feet. It was ice cold and thick like blood.
"It comes home."
Aria felt something grab her ankle. Something with freezing fingers and desperate power. She looked down and screamed.
A hand made of water and shade was pulling her toward the pool. And in its depths, Lydia's violet eyes were getting closer. Hungrier. Ready to drag Aria down into the darkness and take everything she had.