Silence followed the flame.
Not the peaceful kind.
The dangerous kind—where the world holds its breath, waiting to see if it must kneel… or run.
Kaelen stared up at the figure standing in the remnants of the Temple of the Bonded Flame. Elara—but not Elara. Her hair shimmered with threads of ember gold. Her eyes weren't just glowing—they burned. One silver, one gold.
The mark of the Bonded Flame was seared across her collarbone: an unbroken circle with a wolf on one side, fire on the other.
And when she spoke, her voice split the air.
"I am what the gods buried."
"I am what the Alphas forgot."
"I am Elara Flamebound… and I remember the truth."
Aiden stood frozen beyond the veil, unable to cross. The magic around the temple now surged like a heartbeat—alive and aware.
"Kaelen," he whispered, "what did she do?"
Kaelen didn't respond.
Because deep down, he already knew.
Hundreds of years ago, Kaelen and Elara had been chosen together.
Not as mates. Not even as warriors.
But as anchors—two souls strong enough to bind the warring powers of moon and fire. Two souls meant to keep the gods asleep by holding their power in balance.
They succeeded.
But at a cost.
Elara burned herself out.
Kaelen betrayed her memory by taking the Oath alone.
Now, she was awake.
And the balance was shifting.
"Elara," Kaelen said, rising slowly, "you don't have to carry this alone."
She tilted her head. "But I always did, didn't I? Even when you wore the Alpha's crown. Even when you looked into my eyes and said the words."
Kaelen winced. "That wasn't me. Not the real me."
Her expression softened—briefly. "I know."
Then hardened again. "But the world doesn't need a divided Alpha. It needs truth."
She raised her hand toward the sky.
The third moon pulsed.
And from the shadows of the horizon, a wind rose.
A voice carried on it.
"She calls."
"The gods stir."
In distant lands—beyond the wolf kingdoms, beyond even the Hollow—a tremor rolled across the heavens.
Priests in gold dropped to their knees.
Ancient creatures lifted their heads.
In the Vault of the Forgotten, the chained god Fenrox—brother of the moon goddess—opened one golden eye.
"She has awakened."
Back in the temple ruins, Aiden slammed his fist into the barrier.
"Elara! Don't do this! You don't know what's coming!"
But she turned slowly to him.
"I do," she said. "I've seen it."
She stepped toward Kaelen. "I remember how it ends."
He swallowed. "Then change it."
She paused.
Then lifted her hand—and placed it over Kaelen's heart.
A blinding wave of heat surged between them, and both dropped to their knees.
They were pulled inward—into a shared memory.
A battlefield.
Night sky aflame.
Elara screamed, surrounded by burning wolves.
Kaelen stood over her, bloodied and furious.
"You were supposed to choose me!" he shouted.
"I did!" she cried. "And I lost myself for it."
In this vision—he walked away.
And she offered her soul to the gods to save him.
That was the true origin of the Oath.
Not an agreement.
But a sacrifice.
The memory shattered.
Kaelen and Elara awoke in unison, gasping.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I tried to forget," she whispered. "But the flame remembers."
Kaelen took her hand. "Then let's face it together this time."
But Elara pulled back.
"I don't think we can."
The ground quaked.
Stone cracked beneath their feet.
From the ruins, a dark mist poured upward—not from Elara, but beneath her.
Kaelen's eyes widened. "What is that?"
Elara stepped back in horror.
"I… I didn't summon this."
A voice boomed from the earth.
"You bear the flame, but you are not its master."
A figure emerged.
Cloaked in black iron. A crown of obsidian thorns. And eyes of burning crimson.
Kaelen felt his blood freeze.
"Elara," he said, "run."
She didn't move.
Because the figure turned toward her—and knelt.
"Flamebound," the figure said, "you have returned. The Bound Court awaits your command."
Elara looked at Kaelen in shock. "I never summoned them."
"They were bound to the flame," he said grimly. "Not to your will."
The Court of the Bound—an ancient order of forgotten kings and queens, mages and monsters, once sealed beneath the world for trying to overthrow the gods.
Now they had found their queen.