로그인Mia’s POVThe words carved into the earth seemed to burn into my mind long after I looked away.YOU ARE ALREADY TOO LATE.No one spoke.The clearing was unnaturally quiet. The morning breeze stirred the cloaks of the fallen soldiers, but not a single bird dared sing. Even the forest felt as though it were holding its breath.Kael slowly knelt beside one of the bodies.His normally steady hands trembled as he closed the soldier’s lifeless eyes.“He was part of the eastern guard,” he said quietly. “Captain Rowan.”His jaw tightened.“He was one of our best.”Brin looked around uneasily.“There aren’t any wounds.”I frowned.He was right.The soldiers looked as though they had simply… collapsed.Liora crouched beside another body, glowing runes circling her fingertips.After several moments, she pulled her hand away sharply.“They’re not dead from steel.”“What killed them?” I asked.She hesitated.“Their life force was drained.”A cold shiver ran down my spine.“The Shadow King?”“I don
Mia’s POVNobody moved.The silence the Shadow King left behind felt heavier than the mountain itself.It pressed against my chest, making every breath harder than the last.The sanctuary, once glowing with peaceful silver light, seemed dimmer now. Flowers that had bloomed for centuries lay blackened where the darkness had touched them. Even the air felt colder.The Heart rested in my trembling hands.Its soft glow had faded into an uneasy pulse.Once.Twice.Then again.Like it had its own heartbeat.I couldn’t stop hearing his voice.“The dreams.”“The memories that aren’t yours.”“You and I… are connected.”“No,” I whispered.Brin stepped closer.“Mia?”“I’m fine.”The lie tasted bitter.I wasn’t fine.Nothing about this was fine.Because somewhere deep inside me…A tiny part of me believed him.“We’re leaving.”Kael’s sharp voice shattered the silence.Every head turned toward him.“We ride for the capital immediately.”Liora’s eyes narrowed.“No.”His jaw tightened.“No?”She step
Mia’s POVThe words hung in the air.“The Shadow King doesn’t send that horn unless he’s leading the attack himself.”For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.The Shadow King.The name that had haunted every prophecy.The name that had destroyed kingdoms.The name that had been searching for me.Was here.Not somewhere far away.Not preparing.Not waiting.Here.The mountain trembled again.Dust fell from the ceiling of the sanctuary, scattering across the glowing grass like gray snow.The peaceful valley that had felt untouched by time…Was breaking.“He can’t enter this place,” Kael said.His voice was firm.But his eyes betrayed him.“He shouldn’t even know how to find it.”Liora looked at the crystal in my hand.Her expression changed.“The Heart.”Everyone turned toward her.“What about it?” Brin asked.“The moment Mia awakened it, the sanctuary awakened too.”She swallowed.“The Heart didn’t just reveal itself to us.”“It revealed itself to him.”My grip tightened around the cryst
Mia’s POVFor one heartbeat…No one moved.The messenger remained on one knee, blood dripping from torn armor onto the silver grass beneath him.“The capital…” Kael repeated, his voice barely above a whisper.His entire body had gone rigid.“Who leads the attack?”The messenger lowered his head.“We… we never saw him.”A chill settled over the valley.“The Shadow Legion appeared inside the city itself.”“Inside?” Brin frowned. “That’s impossible. The capital’s wards would never allow shadow magic through.”“They didn’t break the wards.”The messenger swallowed painfully.“They opened.”Silence crashed over us.“They opened?” Liora echoed.“They… responded to someone.”I felt my stomach twist.Someone…Not something.A traitor.Kael’s jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might shatter.“Opened from the inside.”The messenger nodded.“The palace guard is fighting house to house.”“The eastern district has already fallen.”“The Moon Archives are burning.”“And…”He hesitated.“The
Mia’s POVThe crystal hovered inches from my hands.It wasn’t forcing itself toward me.It was… waiting.Waiting for permission.Waiting for a choice.The tiny silver wolf sleeping inside looked peaceful, curled into itself as though nothing in the world could disturb its dreams. Yet every instinct I possessed screamed that this tiny crystal carried enough power to reshape the fate of every wolf alive.No one moved.Even the breeze had stopped.“Don’t touch it.”Kael’s voice broke the silence.His tone wasn’t fearful.It was cautious.“The Heart has never awakened before.”Liora, still weak from her vision, slowly pushed herself upright with Brin’s help. Her face was pale, but her silver eyes remained fixed on the crystal.“It chose her.”“It hasn’t touched me yet,” I whispered.“It doesn’t have to.”She met my gaze.“It already has.”The crystal pulsed once.Soft.Gentle.As if agreeing.My wolf stirred.Go.I swallowed hard.“What if this is a mistake?”Brin stepped beside me.“I’ve
Mia’s POVThe silence after the storm felt… wrong.Not peaceful.Not comforting.Wrong.I stood in the center of the restored bridge, my fingers still tingling from the magic that had poured through me. The air smelled of rain and ancient stone, but beneath it lingered another scent—something sweet and unfamiliar, like flowers blooming under moonlight.The Guardian was gone.The silver wolves had vanished.Only the glowing path remained.No one spoke.Not Brin.Not Liora.Not even Kael.For the first time since entering the Sacred Trials, every one of us seemed afraid to move.Then the bridge trembled.A low rumble echoed beneath our feet.The silver runes lining the stone brightened until they looked like rivers of liquid moonlight flowing toward the mountain ahead.“They’re showing us the way,” Liora whispered.Before anyone could respond, the mountain itself began to change.The cliff face split apart with a deafening crack.Ancient vines withered into dust.Massive slabs of rock s
Mia’s POV Morning came too quickly.I barely slept.Everytime I closed my eyes, I was back at the overlook, standing beside Loren with the city lights below us and his voice is too steady, too honest, saying things I had been trying hard not to think about.When something happens, you are the firs
Alpha Bladens POV Viana still doesn't say anything.Her gaze lowers— not in uncertainty, but in thoughts. Like she is weighing something that doesn’t want to be spoken aloud. Her fingers shift slightly at her side, barely noticeable, but enough.Enough to stretch the moment longer than it should b
Alpha Bladen POV I wake up already knowing something is wrong.It isn’t the pain.The pai. Has always been there—constant, dull, buried beneath everything else like something waiting its turn. I’ve learned to exist around it. To ignore it when I need to.This is different.This feels like…. absenc
Loren POV“It was you,” he whispered again.The words did not sound loud, but they seemed to travel further than they should have, settling heavily in the air and in the cell.No one moved at that moment.Mia stood beside me,her posture straight but tense, as though something inside her had locked i







