Chapter 10 - THE BROTHER IN THE SHADOWSNobody moved.
Adrien stared at the stranger.
His face.
His voice.
Even his scent.
It was impossible.
"Who are you?"
The young man smiled.
"You really don't remember me?"
Adrien shook his head.
"I should."
"You were seven."
The young man stepped closer.
"You promised you'd protect me."
Adrien's heart lurched.
A memory surfaced.
A little boy hiding beneath the stairs.
Adrien kneeling beside him.
"Don't be scared. I'll protect you."
Then fire.
Screaming.
Their father dragging Adrien away.
The boy disappeared.
Adrien looked at Celeste.
"You knew."
"I always knew."
"You lied to me."
Celeste's expression softened.
"I lied to everyone."
The young man laughed.
"My name is Lucien."
Nora stared.
"You're our brother."
Lucien nodded.
"But you forgot me."
"No."
Adrien stepped closer.
"I was made to forget."
Lucien's smile disappeared.
"Yes."
"Who did it?"
Lucien looked toward the dying Alpha King.
"He did."
The king closed his eyes.
"I had no choice."
Adrien turned.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
The king whispered:
"The prophecy predicted three heirs."
Adrien froze.
"Three?"
The king looked at Nora.
"The silver heir."
Then Adrien.
"The black heir."
Finally Lucien.
"The shadow heir."
Lucien smiled.
"I was supposed to die."
"Why?"
"Because the prophecy said I would become the vessel of the First Wolf."
The creature on the battlefield lowered its head.
Adrien suddenly understood.
"You."
Lucien nodded.
"I became the vessel."
Nora stepped forward.
"Then you're the one controlling it."
"No."
Lucien's smile faded.
"I'm the one keeping it asleep."
Everyone looked toward the creature.
Lucien whispered:
"Every battle. Every Alpha it killed. Every territory it destroyed."
He pointed toward his own chest.
"I was absorbing its hunger."
Adrien stared.
"Then why attack us?"
"Because Morrison opened the Gate."
Lucien's voice cracked.
"And now I can't hold it anymore."
The ground shook.
The black storm split open.
Something began descending.
The creature looked upward.
Lucien dropped to his knees.
"It's coming."
Adrien grabbed Nora's hand.
"What do we do?"
Lucien looked at them.
"The three heirs must stand together."
Adrien shook his head.
"What happens if we fail?"
Lucien smiled sadly.
"The world ends."
Nora stepped between them.
"We won't fail."
Lucien looked at her.
"You sound like Mother."
Nora smiled through tears.
"Where is she?"
Lucien looked away.
"She died protecting us."
Silence.
Adrien closed his eyes.
Another memory returned.
His mother holding all three children.
Her voice.
"When the darkness comes, do not fight each other."
She had known.
She had always known.
Adrien opened his eyes.
"Nora."
She stepped beside him.
"Lucien."
The brothers stood together.
Silver.
Black.
Shadow.
The storm screamed.
The ancient creature descended.
Its body covered half the sky.
Every wolf on the battlefield dropped to the ground.
Adrien felt his black wolf awaken.
Nora's silver power erupted.
Lucien's shadow spread across the ground.
The three energies collided.
The creature screamed.
And then...
Something unexpected happened.
The black wolf inside Adrien spoke.
Not in anger.
Not in hunger.
In a human voice.
His father's voice.
"Run."
Adrien froze.
"Father?"
The voice repeated.
"Run."
Nora looked at him.
"What did you hear?"
Adrien stared at the sky.
"The prophecy wasn't about stopping the First Wolf."
Lucien stood.
"Then what was it about?"
Adrien looked at both of them.
"It was about waking something else."
The creature above them suddenly split open.
A second pair of eyes appeared inside its chest.
Silver eyes.
Just like Nora's.
Then a woman's voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Children."
Nora stopped breathing.
Adrien's blood went cold.
Lucien whispered:
"Mother?"
The voice laughed softly.
"No."
The clouds parted.
A woman stepped out of the darkness.
She wore the crystal necklace.
The same necklace Celeste had stolen.
The same necklace Nora had worn.
But now it hung from the neck of someone none of them had ever seen.
Adrien raised his sword.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled.
"You have been fighting the wrong enemy."
Her eyes turned silver.
"The true war has just begun."
Behind her, the sky opened.
Thousands of ancient wolves appeared.
And every single one of them bowed to Nora.
Nora stared in terror.
One wolf stepped forward.
"The Queen has returned."
Adrien looked at his sister.
Nora whispered:
"I never asked to be a queen."
The woman smiled.
"None of us did."
Then she looked directly at Adrien.
"But you, Alpha..."
She raised one hand.
"You were never meant to protect her."
She pointed at Nora.
"You were meant to kill her."
May you like
Adrien's sword fell from his hand.
And somewhere deep inside him, his black wolf began to howl.
