Bound by Fate

Lira's POV

The ruins of the old ward stones crackled weakly, their magic burned out during Lunara's burst. Ash coated the ground where rogues had fallen—no bodies, no trace. Just silence and soot.

"She didn't just repel them," Sera murmured as she sifted through the rubble. "She erased them from existence."

Lunara rested peacefully against my chest, wrapped in a light shawl enchanted with protective runes. Her breathing was soft, her presence radiant. I could still feel the hum of her power beneath her skin—wild, sleeping, but ever-present.

"We need help," I said, eyes locked on the broken sigils. "Real magical help. Not just witches and wolves. Someone who understands... this."

Kaelen nodded. "I sent word to the High Enclave of Witches. . And I'm taking a small team to the old mountains. There's an Oracle in hiding—she trained my mother once. She might agree to see us."

Sera looked up sharply. "The Oracle of Varyn?"

"She owes our family a favour," Kaelen said simply.

We spent the next few days reinforcing what we could. Sera and her witches coven worked day and night to rebuild the outer wards, blending old blood magics with newer moonlight spells that hummed with raw power. The border now shimmered with silver mist—subtle, but deadly.

In the quiet moments, I held Lunara close and whispered the same promise into her ear every night: You will be safe. You will be strong. And no one will take you from me.

Kaelen's POV

The path to the Oracle was long, carved into snow-covered cliffs and echoing with ancient whispers. My beta, Rowan flanked me, silent and alert.

We reached her just before dawn.

She was waiting.

"Alpha Kaelen," the Oracle rasped, blind eyes glowing silver, as though the moon had nested inside her skull. "Your daughter has awakened the deep bloodlines."

"She's more than we expected," I admitted.

"She is the Moon's echo. But power like hers draws predators. You will need mentors... and protection."

"And you?" I asked. "Will you help?"

"I will send one of my students to the child. But you must understand—she is not just a child anymore. She is a key. And others seek to possess her."

I didn't ask what she meant. I already knew.

Back at the Pack – Lira's POV

The sky cracked with a single bolt of red lightning the moment the letter arrived.

It bore the seal of the Council of Alphas.

Kaelen returned two days later, worn but determined. I handed him the parchment without a word. His jaw tightened as he read it.

"They're calling a Summit," he said bitterly. "But this isn't a diplomatic invitation. This is a show of power."

"They want her," I said, voice cold. "They want Lunara."

Sera entered the room. "Then we'll remind them... she's not theirs to claim."

Kaelen met my eyes. "We train. We build. We protect her. Because war isn't coming anymore, Lira—"

"It's already begun."

Lira's POV

The Oracle's student arrived under a crescent moon, cloaked in twilight and shadow. She called herself Selene, and her presence chilled the air, though her smile was kind.

"She holds the old blood," Selene said quietly as she cradled Lunara for the first time. "Not just wolf or witch, but something... primordial. She hears the stars."

I didn't understand it then. But I would.

Training began immediately. Each night under Selene's guidance, I was taught to sense the echoes of Lunara's energy—how to soothe her storms before they burst, how to direct my own gifts to anchor her.

But no amount of training could have prepared me for what came next.

Elsewhere – The Council of Alphas Summit

Kaelen stood tall, flanked by his most loyal betas. The stone chamber in the heart of neutral territory buzzed with voices from every pack across the lands. Alphas from the south, east, and beyond—all older men with ambition burning behind their eyes.

And at the head of the table sat Alpha Theron, the Council's new leader—young, sharp, and power-hungry.

"You've brought a force into this world you cannot control," Theron said, voice echoing. "We've all felt the shift. The child is a threat."

"She's a baby," Kaelen growled. "A gift from the Moon Goddess herself."

Theron's lips curled into a sneer. "Gifts become weapons. We demand she be brought under Council protection. Raised by neutral hands. Or there will be consequences."

Kaelen didn't blink. "Come for her, and you'll see just how protective I can be."

Murmurs rose like smoke. War wasn't being whispered anymore—it was promised.

Back in the Pack – Lira's POV

Lunara cried once during meditation—and the moon above fractured. A visible crack split the clouds, as if the sky itself flinched. Selene gasped, grabbing my hand.

"She commanded the moonlight," Selene breathed. "That's not supposed to be possible."

Later that evening, the flowers in the nursery bloomed and withered in the same breath as Lunara cooed, her tiny hands glowing with soft lavender light.

"She's not just wild magic," I whispered, heart pounding. "She is magic."

And yet, she laughed like any baby. She curled into my chest, warm and small and innocent.

Selene warned me that as Lunara grew, so would her visions—and her power could blur the veil between present and future, life and death. She would need anchors. Us.

But I couldn't help the chill down my spine when Lunara woke from a nap, eyes glowing silver, and whispered a word no new-born infant should ever speak:

"War."