Chapter 10 Echoes of the Past

The silver glow faded slowly, leaving behind stunned silence. The raiders had vanished as quickly as they came, retreating into the woods as if terrified by the light that burst from Aiden’s chest.

Now the clearing stood empty except for the Silver Moon Pack, staring at him like he was no longer one of them.

Aiden staggered, his breath shallow. The mark still throbbed faintly beneath his skin, a soft luminescence that refused to die.

Selena stepped forward first, her expression unreadable. “Everyone back to your posts,” she ordered sharply.

The pack hesitated. No one wanted to turn their back on the glowing Omega.

“That’s an order!” she snapped.

Reluctantly, they dispersed, their whispers following like smoke.

When the last wolf was gone, Selena turned to him. Her voice was quiet now, but heavy. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Aiden whispered hoarsely. “It just… happened.”

She studied him, eyes softening with something like awe—or fear. “Your mark… it’s not a curse. It’s a call.”

“A call?”

“Yes.” She hesitated, glancing toward the dark line of trees. “There’s something I need to show you.”

They moved deep into the forest, to a part of the territory Aiden had never seen before. The air grew colder, the light dimmer. Massive stones jutted from the earth, engraved with symbols that shimmered faintly under the moonlight.

Selena stopped before one—an ancient obelisk covered in runes. She brushed her fingers across the markings. “These were carved by the first wolves of our line. The ones who served under the Silver Moon itself.”

Aiden stared at the runes. They pulsed faintly—silver, like the mark on his chest. “What do they say?”

Selena’s voice dropped, almost reverent. “They tell of a prophecy… of the Loyal Beast.”

He frowned. “The what?”

She turned to him slowly. “A wolf born lowest, yet destined to rise higher than any Alpha. A creature bound by purity and pain, who carries the light of the Moon in his heart. They called him the Loyal Beast—the protector who would awaken when darkness threatened the Luna’s soul.”

Aiden’s chest tightened. “That can’t be me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m nothing,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’m an Omega. I can’t even stand without shaking.”

Selena stepped closer, her gaze steady. “And yet you stood. You faced Damian. You faced humiliation, pain, betrayal—and you didn’t turn cruel.”

He shook his head. “I didn’t fight back.”

“Sometimes,” she said softly, “refusing to break is the fight.”

Her hand hovered over his chest, near the mark. “This power doesn’t choose strength. It chooses heart.”

Aiden looked down at the faint silver glow, his thoughts spinning. “But why me?”

“Because fate doesn’t care about ranks,” Selena whispered. “It cares about who stays true when the world demands surrender.”

Her words struck deep—deeper than he wanted to admit.

He looked up at her, searching for something in her eyes. “Do you really believe in all this prophecy stuff?”

Selena’s gaze drifted to the glowing runes. “I didn’t. Not until I saw you glow like moonfire.”

For a moment, neither spoke. The air between them shimmered with something fragile, unspoken.

But then, the ground beneath the obelisk trembled.

Aiden stumbled back as a crack split through the ancient stone, spilling light across the clearing. From the fracture came a whisper—not in words, but in feeling. A deep, echoing pulse that brushed against Aiden’s mind.

He froze, eyes wide. “Selena… do you feel that?”

She looked around, tense. “No. What do you hear?”

Aiden’s voice was barely a breath. “A voice. It’s saying my name.”

The glow on his chest flared brighter, resonating with the obelisk’s light. The whisper became clearer now—almost like a memory trying to surface.

Loyal one… the moon remembers you.

Pain lanced through his body. He clutched his chest, gasping as flashes of unknown memories burned through his mind—wolves bathed in silver light, a Luna crowned in flame, a war that split the heavens.

“Aiden!” Selena grabbed his shoulders. “What’s happening?”

He fell to his knees, shaking. “It’s… it’s too much—”

The light exploded outward, knocking them both back. When it faded, the runes were still again—silent and dark.

Selena scrambled toward him. “Aiden!”

He looked up slowly, eyes filled with silver light. For a second, he didn’t look like himself at all. His voice was calm, distant.

“It’s coming back.”

Selena froze. “What is?”

He blinked, and the glow vanished from his eyes. His voice returned to normal, trembling. “I don’t know. But something’s waking… and it knows me.”

Behind them, hidden in the shadows, a figure watched—Damian, his crimson eyes glinting.

“So,” he murmured to himself, a cruel smile curving his lips. “The prophecy wasn’t just a story.”

He turned away, his expression darkening. “Then it’s time the pack learned what happens to prophecies before they come true.”