: Bloodlines

ancient clearing, her heart pounding as she recalled the visions that had haunted her dreams.

r surfaces etched with runes that pulsed faintly under the moonlight. Elara approached th

ame spot centuries ago. The woman raised her arms, and the runes glowe

ing," a voice

en, his expression a

pered. "An ancestor, I

ught to be extinct. If you're her descend

e stone. "But why now?

Riven said. "The Rift is opening, a

d across a massive table. Red markers dotted various locations-pac

yes scanning the map

vergence. The Moonblood heir and the Riftwal

d. "And if the

owed. "Then they w

t, retrieving a vial filled

said. "A weapon from the old wars.

ed. "That's danger

mirked.

and Elara gathered allies-wolves and humans alike-who w

cient texts detailing the Moonblood ritua

" Jenna said. "One that can

her hands trembling.

. "Between you and your

. The connection between them was undeniab

of Lucien's forces gathering at the borders. The air was thick with an

he village under the cover of darkness. H

ssence," Varek warned. "It's a pois

tened. "Then we

rm the ritual. If it grants me the power

learing. Elara and Riven stood at the center, surrounded by the

oped Elara and Riven. Their energies intertwine

echoed through the forest.

attle ha

e first sha

d into the wind, a silence settled-brief and heavy. Th

ark silently. His sleek, dark wolf form melted into his human one with ease. "They've moved," he said,

or from the broken Ashridge Pack-snarled under

he Forsaken's last emergence. "Lucien is unearthing forbidd

e the numbers," he muttered to Jenna, who was scribbling a protective si

, her fingers trembling slightly d

grim. "If they don't, we n

l. Her heartbeat thudded loud in her ears, and her body still ti

that?" she

ed around hers. "You're not jus

n stormed in, his shirt torn, his jaw clenched. "We've

narrowed. "He

standing slowly.

ed to her.

, a sharp crack echoed thro

m.

under. It wa

second moon, Lucien stood before his army. Wolves-dozens of them-lined the slopes

ormed the uni

t the valley. "Let them. They

ayer. The one who had fed him every movement of the pack in secret.

t you?" Lu

iled slowly.

trike. We wait. Let them grow tired, paranoid.

lage, Ember pul

e than you've been told. The Moonbloods were peacekeepers,

t?" Elar

alm of the ancients," Ember whispered.

ath caught.

kills you under the full moon, h

ked out the window toward the for

ts a ne

a fire pit, he taught them old strategies-silent signals

fight to protect. We fight so the next

ve charms. "Wear these at all times. They won't stop

nder the moonlight. "If

Riven int

ything happens to me, you protect he

," Rive

's scent had lingered in the wind earlier. And more unsett

nt of b

the stones once more. Her hand rested on the c

ancestors she had never met, to th

. "Give me the courage to pr

wisting in ways it hadn't for centuries. Whatever

fate

the distant drums beat once more-tha

would decide