Moonbound

Kael's words barely registered before the forest exploded into motion.

Every wolf in the clearing lowered itself into a hunting stance.

Not toward Kael.

Toward Emily.

Her pulse thundered in her ears.

She took an involuntary step backward until her shoulders met the rough bark of the oak. There was nowhere left to run.

The enormous black Alpha moved first.

He wasn't rushing.

He didn't need to.

Every step carried absolute confidence, as though the forest itself belonged to him.

His crimson eyes never left Emily.

"So," he said, his voice deep enough to vibrate through the ground beneath her feet, "after all these centuries... the Moon Goddess chooses a human."

Kael's claws extended fully with a sharp scrape.

"Don't come any closer, Magnus."

The Alpha smiled.

It wasn't a pleasant smile.

"You dare challenge me?"

"I dare protect what's mine."

A murmur rippled through the surrounding wolves.

Several exchanged uneasy glances.

Magnus laughed, a sound completely devoid of humor.

"Mine?"

His eyes flicked to Emily again.

"She doesn't even know what you are."

Emily swallowed hard.

"What... what are you talking about?"

Neither man answered.

Magnus continued pacing slowly.

"There are three sacred laws every werewolf is born knowing." He held up one clawed finger.

"Never reveal ourselves to humans."

A second claw.

"Never abandon your pack."

A third.

"And never interfere with the Moon Goddess's choice."

He stopped walking.

"You've broken all three."

Kael stood his ground.

"I'll break every law ever written before I let you touch her."

The clearing fell silent.

Magnus's expression darkened.

"So be it."

Without warning, he lunged.

The impact sounded like two trucks colliding.

Kael met him head-on, driving Magnus sideways into a massive pine. The tree splintered under the force, crashing into several others.

The surrounding wolves scattered.

Emily screamed.

The two wolves tore into one another with terrifying speed.

Claws flashed.

Teeth snapped.

Chunks of earth flew into the air as they rolled across the clearing.

Magnus was bigger.

Older.

Stronger.

But Kael fought with something Magnus didn't possess.

Desperation.

He wasn't fighting to win.

He was fighting to keep Emily alive.

Magnus slammed him into a boulder so hard it shattered.

Kael coughed blood.

Before Magnus could strike again, a female voice echoed through the forest.

"Enough!"

Every wolf froze instantly.

Even Magnus.

From between the trees emerged a woman dressed in a long midnight-blue cloak.

She looked no older than thirty, though something about her eyes suggested she had witnessed centuries.

Silver hair flowed almost to her waist.

Around her neck hung a crescent moon carved from glowing crystal.

The wolves immediately bowed their heads.

Even Magnus lowered one knee.

"Elder Selene," he said stiffly.

She ignored him.

Her gaze settled on Emily.

The world seemed to disappear around them.

Selene walked forward until she stood only a few feet away.

Then she reached out and gently placed two fingers against Emily's forehead.

The instant she touched her...

Images flooded Emily's mind.

A moonlit battlefield.

Thousands of wolves.

A woman with silver eyes standing atop a cliff.

A child wrapped in a blanket marked with the same crescent moon pendant Selene wore.

The child...

Had Emily's face.

Emily gasped and stumbled backward.

"What... was that?"

Selene's expression softened with unmistakable sadness.

"The truth."

Kael slowly climbed to his feet despite the blood running down his side.

"Don't tell her."

"I must."

Magnus watched silently, a victorious smile slowly forming.

Selene turned back to Emily.

"You believe you were born in Black Hollow."

Emily nodded uncertainly.

"You weren't."

The words landed like a blow.

"You were brought there as an infant."

Emily's breath caught.

"My parents..."

"The people who raised you loved you."

Selene smiled gently.

"But they were never your birth parents."

Emily's legs weakened.

"No..."

"They found you on their doorstep during the Blood Moon twenty-five years ago."

Kael closed his eyes.

He already knew.

"They were instructed," Selene continued, "to raise you as their own and never speak of the night they found you."

Emily looked from Selene to Kael.

"You knew?"

Kael didn't answer immediately.

Finally, he whispered, "I knew someone had survived."

"Survived what?"

Selene's gaze drifted toward the dark mountains towering above the forest.

"A massacre."

Lightning split the sky.

Thunder rolled through the valley.

"Twenty-five years ago," Selene said quietly, "an entire bloodline was wiped from existence."

Magnus folded his arms.

"Or so we believed."

Selene looked back at Emily.

"You are not simply Kael's destined mate."

She paused, letting the silence settle over the clearing.

"You are the last living heir of the Moonblood Line."

Every wolf in the clearing inhaled sharply.

Even Magnus's confident expression faltered.

Emily stared at them, completely bewildered.

"I don't even know what that means."

Selene's voice was barely above a whisper.

"It means that if the legends are true..."

She looked toward the full moon rising through the clouds.

"...the fate of every werewolf pack now rests in your hands."