The rain came in sheets, washing over Thornfang Hollow like a restless tide, its rhythm steady and unforgiving. The storm had rolled in just before midnight, draping the city in heavy clouds and distant thunder, as if the skies themselves anticipated the darkness creeping from its hidden corners.
Elena Virel stood at her apartment window, her arms folded across her chest. She had barely slept. Below, the streets were deserted—only the reflection of dim streetlights wavered in the puddles. A part of her longed for stillness, for the comfort of the mundane. But those days were gone. Her life, and Thornfang Hollow, had irrevocably changed.
Behind her, Kael leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching her silently. There was something unspoken between them, a tension wrapped in heat and uncertainty. Battle had forged their bond, but it was the stillness after that frightened Elena more.
"She won't wait long," he said finally. "Shadowfang doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Elena turned to face him. "Let her wait. They refused to answer our calls for weeks. Now that we have the Blood Moon Stone, suddenly they're interested?"
Kael shrugged, his eyes sharp as ever. "Power draws attention. Always."
There was a knock at the door. Three quick raps. Elena already knew who it was. She opened it to find Lila, drenched and breathless, water dripping from her rain-slick jacket.
"They're at the theatre," she said, voice low. "Marcus. Selene. And some others I didn't recognize."
"They came in force?" Kael asked, stepping forward.
Lila nodded. "They want a show of strength. Or intimidation."
Elena turned to grab her jacket. "Let's give them both."
The old Crescent Theatre stood like a decaying monument to Thornfang Hollow's forgotten past. Once a place of music and grandeur, now it was little more than broken chandeliers and velvet seats eaten by dust. The perfect place for wolves to gather and bare their teeth beneath false civility.
Inside, the Shadowfangs had made themselves comfortable. Marcus stood center stage, tall and silver-haired, the kind of man whose presence did not require theatrics. His daughter Selene flanked him—lethal, elegant, unreadable. Other figures moved in the shadows of the theatre's aisles, silent sentinels.
Elena walked in first, her stride steady. Kael and Lila followed behind like war-drawn wings.
"Elena Virel," Marcus said, his voice echoing slightly in the hollow space. "The city's new Moonborn."
"Not new," Elena replied. "Just awakened."
Selene tilted her head. "And now you come to us, asking for alliances. Why now?"
"Because the city is fracturing," Elena said. "And you know it."
Marcus didn't deny it. "We've heard whispers. Silverclaws gathering allies. Rituals performed in the ruins of the East. But you expect us to believe you've come into possession of the Blood Moon Stone?"
Elena didn't flinch. She pulled the velvet pouch from beneath her coat and opened it, revealing the softly glowing gem.
The moment the stone was exposed, the air in the room shifted. Wolves in the shadows stirred. Even Marcus stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"I don't expect belief," Elena said, her voice unwavering. "I expect understanding. This stone has returned, and with it comes the responsibility to protect Thornfang Hollow."
"And what makes you think that responsibility belongs to you?" Selene asked, eyes glinting.
Kael took a step forward, tension crackling off him. "She didn't take the stone. It came to her. That means something."
Lila added, "It bonded to her. She hears it. Feels it. That's not something you can fake."
Marcus studied Elena long and hard before he finally nodded. "Maybe. But our allegiance doesn't come free. We don't bend the knee to symbols."
"I'm not asking you to kneel," Elena said. "I'm asking you to stand beside us."
A long silence followed. Then Marcus spoke again. "There's an old rite. Blood-for-blood allegiance. If you want the Shadowfangs' backing, you'll need to bind yourself to us—by blood and by vow."
Selene stepped forward, eyes unreadable. "That means you'd be one of us. Family."
Kael shifted beside Elena, his jaw tight. She could feel his unspoken protest.
"And if I say no?" Elena asked, gaze locked with Selene's.
"Then you stand alone when the Silverclaws come," Marcus said. "And they will come. In numbers that will blacken the sky."
The blood rite was simple. Ancient. A dagger, a cut across the palm, a vow spoken in the old tongue. Elena stood in the center of a circle of Shadowfang elders, her hand bleeding freely as her voice echoed through the theatre.
"I vow to protect this city, to unite its people, to wield the Blood Moon Stone not for power, but for balance. I vow, by blood and by shadow, to stand with those who stand with me."
Selene stepped forward, her own hand marked by the same blade. "Then we are bound."
Their blood mingled. And the stone pulsed.
The air shifted. Something deeper stirred. In that moment, Elena felt a wave of emotion—visions of cities burning, wolves crying out, a woman cloaked in moonlight whispering a name she didn't recognize.
The rite had connected more than two families. It had opened a door.
Afterward, Elena stood alone in the ruins of the theatre's upper balcony, watching the storm ease over the city. Kael joined her, his presence a calming shadow.
"You didn't tell me you'd say yes," he said quietly.
"I didn't know I would."
"You didn't have to do it."
She turned to him. "I did. If this city's going to stand a chance, I have to stop thinking like a lone wolf. We need them."
He nodded slowly. Then, softer, "Just… don't lose yourself in all of this."
"I won't," she said, touching his hand lightly. "Because I have people who remind me who I am."
Back in her apartment that night, the Blood Moon Stone glowed faintly on the table beside her bed. She watched it for a long time before sleep took her.
And in her dreams, the woman from the vision returned—silver-eyed, crowned in starlight, her voice a whisper through the fog:
"They will come from within, Elena. Trust the wolf. But beware the one you love."
Elena woke with a gasp, drenched in sweat, the stone cold and silent.
And somewhere far across the city, in the darkness beyond the Hollow's heart, a new figure stepped into the night—watching, waiting, smiling.
The storm had only just begun.