The wind shifted. Something in the air changed. A heavy silence dropped over the forest path like a blanket.
Eleanor—froze.
Brina stood behind her, trembling. Sarak, Elyndra's slave girl , gripped the hem of her cloak. Elyndra herself stepped in front of her, arms tight around her waist. Her golden eyes scanned the shadows.
Aedric growled low under his breath. "They're back."
From the thick trees, they came—giant black wolves with glowing red eyes. One by one, they slunk out of the shadows, their massive paws making no sound on the dirt. Ten… twelve… fifteen of them. Too many.
They didn't attack.
They circled.
Around Eleanor. Around Elyndra. Around Brina, Sarak, and Aedric.
Just like before.
But this time, they weren't just hunting. They were watching. Tasting fear.
Aedric stepped forward, his voice sharp. "Daria, stay behind the slaves."
"I can handle them," Eleanor said, steel in her voice.
"No. You're not only wolfless—but stupid." His voice was hard, but there was something else in it. Worry.
Let the ones with wolf powers handle this," he added, already shifting.
A crack of bone, a shimmer of fur. Aedric transformed mid-motion, his wolf form huge and silver-gray.
Elyndra's body trembled, but she wasn't about to be outdone. "Don't get in my way," she hissed, and shifted too—sleek golden fur shining as her body stretched and grew.
The two wolves leapt forward, attacking from both sides. Claws slashed. Teeth snapped. But the black wolves didn't bleed. Didn't fall.
They just kept circling.
Eleanor's eyes narrowed.
Something was wrong.
She stepped forward, ignoring Brina's shout behind her.
This was her chance. Her sub-quest. The MoonCore system had guided her here for a reason.
She called Stormbite with her will.
The invisible sword slid into her hand, humming with dark light only she could see.
She focused on the nearest wolf.
It didn't see her coming.
With a powerful swing, she sliced through its neck.
It didn't bleed.
It shattered.
Like smoke torn apart by wind.
And then—so did the others.
One by one, the giant black wolves vanished in swirls of dark air, as if they'd never been real.
Just like that, the clearing was empty.
Silence fell.
Only the sound of Eleanor's breathing remained.
Then came the system voice in her head.
[MoonCore: Sub Quest Completed]
+50 Points Rewarded
Elyndra and Aedric shifted back into human form, panting and confused.
Aedric's eyes locked onto her. "How did you do that?"
"I just did," Eleanor replied, brushing imaginary dust from her dress.
But Elyndra's eyes were sharper than his. Jealous. Furious.
"You were holding something," she said, stepping forward. "I saw it. You were holding something! Are you stronger than me?"
Eleanor blinked. "Maybe my wolf is waking up."
"That's impossible!" Elyndra snapped, voice cracking. "You can't awaken a wolf. You're wolfless!"
Eleanor stared at her. "Why is it impossible? Why not me?"
Something flickered in Elyndra's eyes. Something like fear.
Before anyone could say more, Aedric stepped between them. "Enough. We need to warn the village. If someone is creating illusions that can kill… Hermose is in danger."
Elyndra still glared at Eleanor, but said nothing more.
Later That Day — The Council Hall
The great council room of Hermose was filled with tension. Elders in long robes stood near the stone fire pit, whispering among themselves. Alpha Korran sat at the head, his face carved from stone. Symone Orrin stood beside him, arms folded.
Aedric and Elyndra stood at the front, reporting everything.
"The wolves weren't real," Elyndra said. "They didn't bleed. They weren't alive."
"They felt alive," Aedric added. "They could harm us. But they vanished like smoke when hit."
One of the elders leaned forward. "Illusions? That's not ordinary magic. That's forbidden. That's—"
"Dark magic," another elder finished. "No one in Hermose practices such arts. Not anymore."
A shiver passed through the room.
Then Symone spoke.
"What if… the Lycan Queen is coming for us?"
The room fell silent.
One of the younger elders shook his head. "She's dead. That's what the rumors say."
"She's not a rumor," another elder said, voice low. "She was real. She never lost a battle. Her pack conquered three regions in one year."
"She's not a ghost story," someone muttered.
Then Aedric dropped the real bomb.
"I heard it myself in Auralis. The Moonfang Empire is in mourning. The Lycan Queen has passed."
Gasps.
Murmurs.
"She's really gone?" someone whispered.
Alpha Korran stood slowly. "If someone is using dark magic in our lands, we must prepare. I want the guards doubled. The seers awakened. We must find the source of this power—before it finds us."
He turned and left, his cloak swaying behind him.
Outside the hall, Eleanor—was hiding in the shadows, listening. But she moved too late.
Korran caught her.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the hallway before anyone could see.
His voice was sharp. "What are you doing at the pack house?"
"I was with Elyndra," she said, quickly.
He frowned. "Since when do you and Elyndra get along?"
Eleanor hesitated. But then… something strange happened. Her heart pounded. The way Korran looked at her… The anger in his eyes wasn't just Alpha anger. It was personal. Painful.
Was Daria in love with him?
Eleanor shoved the feeling aside. She had learned not to trust her heart—not after Nathaniel.
She narrowed her eyes instead. "Why did you dump me—or did I…?"
Korran flinched.
Then he looked away, jaw clenched. "Why would you open old wounds?"
"You chose Aedric," he said, his voice low and bitter. "You slept with him. Don't you remember?"
Eleanor stared.
"What?"
"I chose you," Korran said, stepping closer. "Even when you were a wolfless Omega. I chose you. But you turned around and gave yourself to my brother."
Her mind raced.
That didn't sound like Daria.
Not the real Daria.
Something was wrong. She didn't believe it.
He looked at her one last time. "You've changed, Daria."
Then he walked away.
And Eleanor's knees buckled.
A sharp pain ripped through her skull.
A memory flashed.
Not hers.
A scream.
A knife.
A hand.
Blue eyes.
Her heart stopped.
She saw it.
The real Daria's final moment.
She was killed in the forest.
She was stabbed—Multiply times.
By the man with the blue eyes.
The blue eyes she had seen last night.
Then came the voice in her head again.
[MoonCore: Congratulations]
You have completed your first Main Quest.
Level Up: Level 1 | Points: 70
New Power Unlocked: Telekinesis
New Quest: Find Daria's Killer. Kill Him. Reward: Unlock Level 5
Eleanor gasped.
Her hands shook.
The truth hit her like a storm.
She wasn't just living in someone's body.
She was living in someone's unfinished story.
Someone who was murdered.
And the killer… was still here.
Watching her.