The moon hung low and full in the sky, casting the Keep in a silver glow that felt too peaceful for the chaos brewing inside it.
Selene paced her chamber, the moonstone around her neck pulsing with heat that made her skin itch. It wasn't just magic—it was warning. Her instincts, sharper than ever since the summit, whispered that something wasn't right.
Someone was still hiding.
Someone close.
She glanced toward her door. Cian was on guard outside, his wolf senses on high alert. Daxon had posted two of his most loyal warriors at the stairwell. Vaughn had retired for the night—or so he claimed.
And yet, she couldn't rest.
She stared into the mirror.
Her reflection blinked back, regal and powerful in her dark silver gown, her eyes glowing faintly with Luna energy. But behind the strength… was fear. And guilt.
What if I'm wrong? she thought.
What if Vaughn isn't the one being tricked… but the one doing the tricking?
A loud knock shook the door. Not the secret knock.
Her heart stilled.
"Selene!" Cian's voice thundered, followed by the sharp ring of steel. "Get back!"
The door burst open as Cian was hurled inside—blood streaming down his side, claws out, eyes feral. Behind him, two cloaked figures charged into the room, blades aimed at her chest.
Selene didn't think. She moved.
The pendant flashed, creating a barrier of silver-blue light that blocked the first strike. Cian roared and tackled the closest attacker, smashing them through the window. Glass exploded outward, raining down like shards of moonlight.
The second attacker came at Selene with a dagger etched in obsidian symbols—runes of death magic.
But Selene had changed.
She ducked, grabbed the attacker's wrist, and whispered an incantation in the old tongue –words that rose unbidden, as if passed through her bloodline.
The pendant burned white-hot, and the dagger shattered in their hand. The attacker screamed, and Selene slammed her palm into their chest. A burst of light knocked them flat, unconscious.
Daxon appeared in the hallway, covered in blood, dragging a third body behind him.
"Three," he growled. "There were three."
Cian climbed back through the broken window, panting, his side torn but healing fast.
"They weren't rogues," he said. "They fought too clean. Too trained."
Daxon stepped over the unconscious body and pulled the mask away.
Selene's breath caught.
It was one of Vaughn's top sentries.
She turned to the desk, yanked open Bram's folder again—and there it was, tucked beneath a bloodstained map: a name written in faded ink.
Torin Vale – Vaughn's Beta.
"No," she whispered. "No, it can't be him…"
But it was.
Cian narrowed his eyes. "We find Vaughn. Now."
They stormed the west wing together.
The Keep's halls echoed with the sounds of their footsteps. Every omega and servant scattered as the trio passed—Selene glowing like a blade drawn from its sheath, the two Alphas flanking her like shadows ready to kill.
They reached Vaughn's quarters. The door was ajar.
Selene pushed it open slowly.
The room was silent.
Too silent.
And cold.
Papers were scattered across the desk. Books pulled from shelves. And Vaughn… gone.
On the wall, carved in blood, were the words:
"The Luna's time is ending."
Selene froze.
"This wasn't a betrayal," Daxon said darkly. "This was a setup."
Cian moved toward the desk. "These symbols… they're not just threats. They're summoning runes."
"Summoning what?" Selene asked, heart racing.
Before Cian could answer, the pendant flared, and a burst of pain lanced through Selene's head.
A vision.
She stood in a forest she didn't know, barefoot, the trees whispering with unnatural voices. The moon was red. The sky cracked with lightning.
Before her stood a cloaked figure.
Behind him, a creature—giant, skeletal, made of shadow and silver bone—loomed. It had no eyes. No mouth.
And yet it watched her.
"Do you know me, Luna?" the cloaked figure asked.
Selene's breath fogged in the freezing air. "No."
"But I know you," he whispered. "I am what your mother feared. What the prophecy failed to warn you of."
"Who are you?"
He pulled back his hood.
Vaughn.
But his eyes… were no longer his. They were black voids filled with stars. Endless and empty.
"I've served the Goddess longer than you've been alive," he said. "And now, she serves me."
The creature stepped forward, and Selene's soul screamed.
She fell backward—out of the vision—and crashed onto the floor of Vaughn's chambers.
Cian caught her before her head struck the wood.
"Selene!" Daxon was beside her, hands on her face. "What happened?"
She gasped. "It's Vaughn. He's… not Vaughn anymore."
They helped her up, her skin ice-cold from the vision.
"He's summoning something," she whispered. "Something not from this world."
Cian cursed. "A voidbeast. There were whispers about them in old prophecy tomes–creatures that can't be killed. Only sealed."
Daxon's voice was deadly calm. "And he wants to bind it to Selene."
"To replace the Goddess," she said. "To rewrite fate itself."
Cian stood slowly. "Then we end this now."
That night, Selene sat at the edge of the courtyard temple, where the moonlight touched only half the stone. She could feel the veil between realms weakening. Vaughn's magic had poisoned the air.
And she knew what she had to do.
"I need to summon the spirit of the first Luna," she told them both. "My ancestor. She sealed a voidbeast before. If her blood lives in me, her memories might too."
"It's dangerous," Cian warned.
"You could lose yourself," Daxon added.
Selene gave a soft smile. "I already lost who I was. Now I need to find who I'm meant to be."
The ritual began just past midnight.
Selene stood barefoot in the sacred circle, her hands glowing, the moonstone pendant levitating above her chest. Ancient glyphs carved into the ground pulsed with power.
She chanted.
The wind howled.
A ring of fire burst around the circle.
Then…
A figure appeared in the center.
White robes. Silver hair. Violet eyes.
The spirit of the first Luna.
"You are not ready," the spirit said, voice like bells and thunder.
"I must be."
The spirit touched Selene's forehead—and suddenly, memories not her own flashed across her vision.
Battles. Blood. Darkness. Death.
And a name.
The Chosen Breaker.
Selene gasped. "That's me."
"No," the spirit whispered. "That's who you will become–if you survive the night."
As the vision faded, Selene stumbled backward.
The moonstone shattered.
A beam of silver light shot into the sky.
And in the distance… a scream.
Not human. Not wolf. Not even beast.
It was the void coming through.
She turned—and her blood ran cold.
On the temple steps stood Vaughn.
But not Vaughn.
His body crackled with dark energy. Veins black as coal spread across his skin. His eyes were endless pits.
"You've ruined everything," he hissed. "I gave you every warning. Every chance. But now…"
He raised his hand.
A bolt of black lightning flew—straight toward Cian.
Selene screamed.
Cian turned, too late.
The magic struck him in the chest and sent him flying, crashing into the stone altar with a sickening crack.
"CIAN!"
Selene dropped to her knees beside him, cradling his head. Blood poured from his mouth, and his wolf eyes fluttered weakly.
"No, no, stay with me…"
His hand gripped hers.
"Run," he whispered. "Don't let him…"
Then his eyes rolled back.
And everything inside Selene broke.
She looked up –tears, fury, and ancient fire burning behind her eyes.
Vaughn smiled. "Now you'll finally understand."
And the void behind him began to open.