As Charlie nodded and left, Alex turned back to check on Luna, the weight of his thoughts heavy in his chest. But as his gaze landed on the empty bed, his heart stopped. She wasn't there.It had been only a moment—a single moment—and she was gone. His body ran cold, the air seeming to thin around him."Luna?" he called out, his voice sharp with panic as his eyes scanned the room.There was no answer. The air felt heavy, suffocating. His gaze darted wildly, searching for any sign of her. Then his eyes fell on the open window, the curtains billowing softly in the night breeze.She was sitting there, perched on the ledge like a shadowy figure out of a nightmare. Alex's breath hitched as he took in the sight. Luna didn't look like herself—her once ocean blue eyes, normally so vivid and sharp, were pitch black, an endless void that seemed to suck the light from the room."Luna," he said, his voice low and steady, though every fiber of his being screamed with unease.She turned her head slowly to look at him, a chilling smile spreading across her lips. The smile wasn't hers—it was something else, something wrong. For a fraction of a second, her expression shifted, and Alex felt as though something ancient and malevolent was staring back at him - something dark and demonic. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end."Luna, come down from there," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.She didn't respond, only tilted her head slightly, her haunting smile lingering. Then, with a casual motion that sent a bolt of terror through Alex, she leaned backward, falling from the window."LUNA!" Alex roared, his voice filled with raw panic as he lunged toward the window.He reached it just in time to see her plummeting toward the ground below, but instead of crashing, she landed gracefully, unnervingly perfect. Her head turned upward, her black eyes locking with his as she gave him a sly wave, her smile still etched on her face."What the hell?" Alex muttered, the words barely audible as he gripped the windowsill with white-knuckled hands. His breath came in shallow bursts, his chest tight as disbelief rippled through him. This image—her effortless fall, her unnatural composure—seared itself into his memory, destined to haunt him forever.Luna turned away without a word, heading toward the woods, her movements unnaturally smooth and deliberate.Alex didn't think. He didn't hesitate. He leapt from the window, his body twisting mid-air as his midnight black wolf form erupted from within. The height was dizzying, but he landed solidly, his claws digging into the earth as he immediately took off after her.Mind-linking his pack, his voice was sharp and commanding."Charlie, take everyone on duty and secure the perimeter. No one gets in or out. Find her!"Charlie's voice cut through the link, frantic. "What's going on? Alex, where are you?" .There was no need for him to ask who Alex meant by her—the weight of that single word said it all."Just do it!" Alex snapped, his wolf's instincts blazing with urgency.Behind him, Charlie burst into the room he just left few seconds ago, his expression wild with concern but the room was empty. He glanced up at the window, then down at Alex but he vanished into woods quickly. "Alpha, what's happening? Where's Luna? Where are you going ?" . he asked through the link. Alex didn't stop running. "She's headed into the woods," he growled, his tone leaving no room for argument. "We need to find her before something—happens."Charlie's face darkened as he nodded, barking orders to the pack members nearby.But Alex's focus was singular. His wolf pushed harder, his chest heaving with effort as he followed Luna's faint trail into the darkness of the forest. Whatever had taken over her wasn't her. It couldn't be.The memory of Luna's black eyes and that haunting, hollow smile burned in Alex's mind, a chilling reminder of how close she was to slipping through his grasp. The words he had read only moments ago echoed like a cruel prophecy:Neither mortal nor divine, he lingered in the in-between, consumed by the darkness he had embraced. He was no longer a being of light or balance, but a creature of despair, his soul devoured by the very evil he sought to control. - THE SIN OF THE FALLEN ONE.Alex's paws pounded against the damp earth in a rhythmic blur, his sharp eyes scanning the dark forest as he followed Luna's faint scent. The forest was unnaturally silent, the usual symphony of rustling leaves and distant wildlife replaced by an oppressive stillness.His heart thudded in his chest, each beat heavy with dread.He'd seen her smile before—playful, teasing, sometimes infuriating—but tonight, it was none of those things. It was empty. Sinister. It etched itself into his soul like a scar, haunting him with the thought that he might already be too late.The trees closed in around him as he pushed deeper into the woods, his wolf senses straining for any sign of her."Alpha, we've spread out. Any sign of her?" Charlie's voice broke into his mind through the pack link."No. But keep searching," Alex growled, his voice rough with worry. "She can't have gone far.""What's wrong with her?" Timmothy's voice this time, sharp and probing."Alex, what's going on? You've never sounded like this before."Alex's breath hitched as he replied, his voice quieter, almost breaking. "She's not herself. And I don't know what she's capable of right now."The admission stung like a wound he couldn't hide. He hated the vulnerability in his voice, but it was the truth."Listen carefully," Alex ordered, his tone hardening. "If you find her, don't engage. It's an order."He cut the link before anyone could respond, unwilling to let his pack hear the fear cracking through his composure.His steps faltered as a faint sound broke the suffocating silence—a soft voice, barely audible, yet it sent an icy shiver down his spine."Let her go."The whisper was so faint he almost thought he'd imagined it. His wolf instincts snapped to attention, ears twitching, head turning toward the sound. Without hesitation, Alex shifted back to his human form, standing barefoot on the cold forest floor."Show yourself!" he growled, his voice a dangerous mix of authority and desperation.The voice came again, closer this time."Alex..."It was melodic yet unsettling, like a song sung in a language meant to be forgotten. His breath caught as a shadow moved between the trees, stepping into the clearing."Ezra?" Alex's voice wavered with disbelief as he recognized the boy.The boy looked just as he remembered from his memories : small and pale, with a strange aura that seemed both childlike and utterly powerful and ancient. Ezra's calm, dark eyes met Alex's, and his expression remained impassive."Let her go," Ezra repeated, his tone steady, his dark eyes piercing through Alex.Alex's fists clenched. "What do you mean? Where is she? What's happening to her?"Ezra tilted his head, his expression an enigma. He remained silent for a heartbeat too long, the weight of his unspoken words pressing heavily on Alex. Frustration surged through Alex, but before he could voice it, Ezra finally spoke."This is her final trial," Ezra said, his tone measured and deliberate, each word striking like a hammer against stone. "If she fails..." He stopped, his gaze locking onto Alex with an intensity that felt almost otherworldly. "...she will become like me. Like countless others who've lost their way. And when that happens..." He looked away, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "...she'll vanish. Erased. Reduced to what you've seen in those cursed pages."The words hit Alex like a punch to the gut. "What are you talking about, Ezra? What trial? What others?" Alex demanded, his voice sharp, laced with desperation.Ezra opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the heavens erupted. A deafening crack tore through the air as the sky split apart. A bolt of lightning crashed down mere feet from where Ezra stood, illuminating the clearing with a blinding, electric light.Alex staggered back, shielding his eyes as the earth itself seemed to shudder beneath the strike. When he lowered his arm, Ezra stood unmoved, a faint, knowing smile tugging at his lips."Heaven doesn't want me to speak," Ezra murmured, his voice soft yet heavy with meaning. His gaze lifted to the fractured sky, his expression betraying neither fear nor anger—only a resigned acceptance. "Some truths are forbidden until they unfold in their own time."He lowered his gaze back to Alex, pointing skyward. "They call it a grand plan," he continued, his voice edged with bitterness, "but it's nothing more than a cruel game of choices—choices no one should ever have to make. You, Alex, are one of those choices for her."Before Alex could respond, another lightning bolt tore through the sky, striking a tree nearby. The massive trunk split in two with an earsplitting crack, one half crashing to the ground between Alex and Ezra, a fiery barrier searing the air."Who are they to decide her fate?" Alex roared, his voice shaking with fury. "Who are they to control her life?"Ezra's eyes softened, but he didn't answer. Instead, he lifted his hand, pointing past Alex, toward a shadowy cluster of trees."She's there," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.As his form began to dissolve, edges blurring into shadow, Alex surged forward. "Ezra! Wait!"The boy's fading figure offered no reprieve. Instead, his lips moved in silence, as though his final words were meant to remain unspoken."Don't trust what you see."The warning came faintly, but Alex could barely hear it, the words distorted and swallowed by an unseen force.And then, Ezra was gone.The clearing fell into an oppressive silence. The air felt thick, charged with something ancient and foreboding. Alex stood frozen, the boy's cryptic message gnawing at his mind. Slowly, his fists clenched, his jaw tightening as his gaze turned toward the trees Ezra had pointed to.Without hesitation, Alex shifted into his wolf form, his resolve sharpening like a blade. He bolted into the shadows of the forest, his heart pounding with an urgency that matched the thunder still rumbling overhead.The scent of blood reached him before he crossed the pack's borders. It was thick and metallic, sharp enough to make his stomach churn. Beneath it lingered another smell—putrid, vile. His mind raced as he linked to his pack, his thoughts swift and commanding."Stay alert. I'm moving out of the pack's boundaries—send backup. Direction's west."He didn't wait for confirmation. His paws tore through the undergrowth, each stride driven by instinct and dread. The deeper he went, the stronger the scent became, saturating the air until it was almost unbearable.And then he saw it.A mangled wolf's limb lay twisted in the brush, blood pooling around the severed flesh. Alex faltered, his breath catching in his throat. The metallic stench of fresh blood was overwhelming, but beneath it, something darker lingered—a rancid stench he recognized all too well.Rogues.His heart thundered in his chest as he pushed forward, every step bringing him closer to the source of the carnage, every sense on high alert for what lay ahead.Alex crouched low, his wolf instincts surging through him as he inhaled deeply, his nose brushing the earth. The scent of blood, thick and sharp, hit him immediately. But it wasn't just the pack's blood that stained the ground—it was the blood of rogues, too. A mix of pack and enemy, a cruel, unmistakable blend. He couldn't stop to question whose blood it was. Time was slipping through his fingers, and with it, the chance to stop whatever disaster was unfolding. He had to move.His legs burned as he pushed himself faster, eyes scanning the path before him, barely registering the horror scattered along the way.Then, he saw it—more pieces of the carnage. A severed leg, a mangled hand, and other body parts scattered in gruesome disarray, like breadcrumbs leading him deeper into the nightmare. His chest tightened, his heartbeat thudding painfully in his ears. The horror pressed down on him, suffocating him, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't afford to slow down, not when every fiber of his being screamed that this was worse than he could possibly imagine.The smell—death, blood, destruction—was suffocating, drowning out everything else. His wolf growled deep inside, enraged by the onslaught of such brutality. Too much. Too much blood. Too much death. How many had fallen? How many more would?But even as his instincts screamed at him to stop, a part of him—reluctantly, desperately—drifted back to that night when he had found Luna. Covered in blood, surrounded by fallen bodies of rogues. He had assumed it was an isolated event, a glimpse of something darker within her. A darker side he didn't want to believe in. But now, in the silence of the forest, with only the sickening stench of carnage in the air, he couldn't ignore the growing truth. The magnitude of it all hit him. She had told him, hadn't she? "It was me."He had refused to believe it then. His heart had refused to accept it. But now, as the pieces fell into place, he couldn't escape the truth of it.And then, there she was.Luna.She stood amidst the wreckage, a vision of cold detachment. Around her were the lifeless bodies of both rogues and pack wolves, twisted in their final moments of agony. But it was the emptiness in her eyes that froze Alex in place. The warmth, the life that had once been there, was gone. All that remained was an unfeeling void.His stomach churned, nausea creeping up his throat as he saw the bodies stacked around her. Some were rogues, but others—wolves from his own pack—were scattered in the aftermath of whatever madness had taken hold. His eyes locked on the familiar face of Elder Elias. His heart sank, a deep ache settling in his chest.Nearby, a wounded female, barely clinging to life, gasped shallowly, her chest heaving in strained breaths. And then, two children from the pack—his pack's children—hung by their limbs, blood dripping from their broken bodies.Rage tore through Alex, raw and uncontrollable. His wolf howled in fury, clawing at the edges of his mind. Every instinct within him screamed to protect, to fight, to tear through whatever or whoever had caused this—whatever Luna had caused, as his eyes could find her between all this unscathed. He couldn't think. He couldn't feel. He was consumed by the scene before him—the mangled bodies, the destruction, the horror of it all.The only living thing in the immediate vicinity was Luna. Her grip was firm around the body of a half-dead rogue, holding him suspended with terrifying ease. Her face was unreadable, her eyes as dark as the void.The words Ezra had spoken echoed in Alex's mind: "You are one of the choices for her." It was her choice, wasn't it? He could feel the weight of it, the unbearable weight of having to choose between her—his Luna—and the pack, the people he had sworn to protect.Without thought, without hesitation, he moved. His instincts tore through him. He couldn't let this continue. He couldn't let Luna destroy herself—destroy them all.He charged forward, his muscles coiling as he leaped, but before he could reach her, Luna's head snapped toward him. Her eyes flickered for a split second—a coldness, a detachment that made his chest tighten with an almost physical ache. Her gaze met his, unwavering and emotionless, and she evaded his charge with an unnatural fluidity.The rogue she had been holding crashed to the ground with a sickening thud. He was unconscious, but the silence that followed was more terrifying than any battle cry.Alex stood frozen, his heart pounding, his breath catching in his throat as Luna slowly turned to face him. Her eyes, black as the void, met his, and in that moment, everything within him was torn in two. The rage that burned inside him screamed for justice, but the fear—the fear of losing Luna to whatever darkness had claimed her—cut deeper than anything he had ever known.He opened his mouth, but his voice cracked, raw with the weight of his emotions. "Luna... What have you done?"For a fleeting moment, he saw something in her eyes—a flicker of recognition, of something human—but it was gone before he could grasp it. Her lips curled into a faint, unsettling smile, and yet, she said nothing. Her silence pierced him more than any words could.Alex's mind spiraled. Confusion, anger, fear—it all melded together into a single, suffocating truth. He couldn't understand what was happening to her, but he knew one thing: he couldn't let her fall any deeper into this abyss.Without thinking, he lunged once more, desperate to stop her before it was too late.