The fortress walls felt different in the days that followed the Blood Moon.
There was still silence at dawn, still the regular clatter of warrior training and murmured strategy meetings but under it all, an energy thrummed. Unseen. Unnamed. Like the earth itself was holding its breath.
Alera could feel it in her bones.
Something had changed in her.
She stood before the grand mirror in her chamber, staring at the woman reflected there. Her skin shimmered faintly in the moonlight, as if kissed by stardust. Her eyes had darkened not just in color, but in depth. Like they held galaxies. Her senses were sharper. Her hearing extended beyond stone walls. Her wolf… it didn't just stir inside her anymore. It lived there. Awake. Watching.
Alive in a way it had never been before.
"Alera," a voice called from behind the door. It was soft, almost hesitant.
She opened the door to find Elira, one of the elder seers from Kael's inner circle. Wrinkled hands, snow-white braids, and eyes that shimmered with silver mist.
"It's time," Elira said simply.
"For what?"
"The Awakening."
Alera frowned. "Didn't that already happen?"
Elira shook her head. "What you experienced was the beginning. A spark. Now, you must walk the path and claim the flame. If you don't... others will seek to extinguish it before it fully burns."
Alera didn't argue. She followed.
They traveled deep beneath the fortress, past guard stations and sealed tunnels, into a part of the castle she didn't know existed. The air grew colder, heavier, scented with ancient stone and forgotten magic.
Finally, Elira stopped before a massive door black wood veined with silver, carved with symbols Alera didn't recognize but instinctively understood.
"This chamber was sealed by the first Luna Queen," Elira said. "It opens only for those destined to awaken the blood of the ancients."
Alera stepped forward.
The moment her fingers touched the door, it groaned open with a gust of wind that smelled of moonlight and wild roses.
Inside was a circular chamber, lit only by a glowing pool at its center. The water pulsed with light, like it had a heartbeat.
"Elira... what is this place?"
"It is called the Heart of the Moon. It shows you who you truly are."
Alera took a shaky breath and stepped into the room. The door sealed shut behind her.
She approached the pool slowly, her reflection shifting with each step. Her hair darkened into ink-black strands. Her eyes turned silver-gold. Her skin radiated soft light. But that wasn't what caught her breath—it was the crown of flame resting on her reflection's head.
"Luna... Queen…" she whispered.
And then the water surged upward, surrounding her, dragging her in.
She didn't scream. She couldn't.
The world dissolved into white fire.
Visions.
They struck like lightning.
She saw a woman fierce and beautiful, with Kael's eyes and her own face standing atop a battlefield, her hands wreathed in golden flame, wolves howling behind her.
She saw betrayal a familiar hand driving a blade into her side.
She saw Kael, bloodied and roaring, falling to his knees beside her.
And she saw the world forests burning, shadows rising, the sky weeping blood.
"No," she gasped. "This can't be."
But the vision shifted.
Now she stood in the same field but alive. Her power a storm. Her army united. Kael beside her, not broken, but whole.
A choice. That's what it was.
Two paths. One led to ruin. The other to rebirth.
Her voice echoed through the void.
"Choose, Alera. What kind of queen will you be?"
She woke on the stone floor, heart racing, soaked in moonlight that poured from the ceiling like liquid silver. Around her, the chamber pulsed in approval.
The Awakening was complete.
Kael waited at the top of the stairs, eyes wild with worry until he saw her.
"You're glowing," he breathed.
"I am," she said, smiling faintly. "And it wasn't a dream. There's a war coming. I saw it."
Kael's expression darkened. "Then we prepare."
She stepped closer, lifting his hand to her cheek.
"I won't let you fall. Not in this life. Not in any vision. I choose the path where we win."
His arms wrapped around her instantly, fierce and grounding.
"And I'll burn the world for that future."
But peace didn't last long.
That night, a scout arrived from the eastern border, wounded and panting.
"They've moved," he gasped. "The Crimson Pack. They've allied with the Nightfangs. Thousands. All heading this way."
Alera's wolf snarled.
Kael's aura surged.
"Then we meet them at the pass," he said. "We stop them before they cross into sacred territory."
Elira stepped forward then, her face grave.
"No. She must go."
Everyone turned to the elder seer.
"What?" Kael growled.
Elira met his gaze. "You are the sword, Kael. But Alera… she is the light. And only the light can enter the Veiled Pass."
Kael's voice was cold. "You would send my mate alone into the mouth of danger?"
"She won't be alone," Alera said quietly.
Kael turned to her, eyes pleading. "You don't have to do this."
"But I do," she said. "If I'm to be more than your mate… if I'm to be queen… then let me lead. Let me protect you for once."
There was silence.
Then, slowly, Kael stepped back and bowed his head.
"Then go," he said. "And come back to me."
As Alera rode into the darkness, flanked by a dozen of the fiercest female warriors in the kingdom, the Blood Moon rose again behind her.
But this time, it was not a warning.
It was a promise.