The mark burned in Selena's mind like fire.
She stood before the tree again at dusk, her fingers grazing the carved crescent with the claw slash. The Order of Shadows, an ancient rogue faction that used dark magic to control, silence, and kill.
> "You've got enemies now," Rhea said. "Real ones."
> "Then it's time I stopped waiting for them to come to me."
Selena set out that night, tracking the faint scent trail only she could detect, a trail laced with magic.
Hours later, she found him: a hooded figure kneeling in the forest, whispering to the dirt. Dark runes glowed around him. She didn't wait.
With a burst of energy, Selena struck. The ground cracked beneath her power. He spun, eyes glowing red—but he was too slow. She pinned him with silver vines of magic, summoned from the moonlight itself.
> "Why are you here?" she demanded.
> "The Moon's Chosen disrupts the Balance," he hissed. "We bring order. We silence chaos."
> "I am not chaos," Selena said softly. "I am justice."
His body turned to smoke, but not before he whispered:
> "He's watching you, too. The Black Alpha. The one fated to end your light."
Her blood ran cold.