Chapter 7 The Wolves Are Coming
The howl echoed across the Shadowlands; long, ancient, terrifying. Then another answered, and another, and another. Within seconds, the night exploded with sound. Hundreds of wolves, maybe thousands, all howling at once.
Vincent stood frozen. The words of the silver-eyed being repeated inside his head.
"Your bloodline has been found".
The giant guardian looked toward the distant forest. Its expression had become grim. The corrupted alpha no longer looked amused.
For the first time since arriving, genuine concern flashed across its twisted face, that alone terrified Vincent.
If both creatures feared what was coming, then whatever was out there was worse, much worse.
The howls grew louder, closer. The black wolf immediately moved beside Vincent, protective. Its crimson eyes scanned the darkness. Every ordinary rogue in the clearing did the same. Some growled, others whimpered, several looked ready to flee.
The tension became unbearable. Then the first wolf appeared. A silver blur shot through the trees. It landed at the edge of the clearing.
Vincent blinked. The newcomer wasn't corrupted.
Its silver fur gleamed beneath the moonlight. Ancient scars covered its body. Its golden eyes swept across the clearing. Then locked onto Vincent.
The wolf froze. Its eyes widened; Shock, disbelief, recognition. The giant guardian immediately stepped forward.
"Leave."
The command rolled across the clearing. The silver wolf ignored it. More wolves emerged from the forest; Ten, twenty, thirty, all different sizes, different colors, different ages. Yet every one of them carried the same golden eyes.
Vincent's stomach tightened. They weren't rogues, they weren't corrupted, and they definitely weren't ordinary.
The silver-eyed being inside the temple spoke softly.
"They have come." The guardian's chains rattled. "They were not supposed to find him yet."
The voice chuckled. "Yet they did." The clearing continued filling with wolves.
Soon there were over a hundred. None crossed into the temple grounds, none attacked. They simply watched Vincent, like followers waiting for orders.
The atmosphere became suffocating. Vincent had never seen anything like it.
Not even during Silverfang gatherings.
This wasn't a pack, It was something else. Something older.
The lead silver wolf slowly lowered itself, submission. The movement triggered a chain reaction. One by one, then ten by ten, then all at once.
Every silver wolf bowed. The entire forest dropped to the ground.
Vincent's eyes widened. "What are they doing?" Nobody answered. The silver-eyed being seemed entertained.
The guardian looked exhausted. As though watching a nightmare unfold. The lead silver wolf finally spoke.
Unlike the corrupted alpha, its voice sounded calm, respectful, ancient.
"My king."
Vincent froze. The clearing became silent. The words echoed through his head.
My king.
"No."
The response escaped before he could stop it. The silver wolf lifted its gaze. Emotion shimmered inside its golden eyes; Hope, actual hope.
"We searched for centuries."
Vincent took a step backward. "You've got the wrong person."
The wolf didn't move. "Your scent says otherwise." The same thing the guardian had said.
The same thing everything in the Shadowlands seemed to know. Everything except Vincent.
The silver wolf lowered its head further. "The bloodline has returned." The surrounding wolves immediately repeated the gesture.
Vincent looked toward the guardian; waiting, hoping, needing answers.
The giant wolf remained silent. That silence felt worse than any explanation. Because it meant the silver wolf wasn't wrong.
The corrupted alpha suddenly laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. The silver wolves immediately growled.
Hostility erupted across the clearing. The corrupted pack gathered together. The silver wolves moved as one. Two ancient factions staring each other down.
Vincent stood between them, confused, overwhelmed. And somehow at the center of everything, the corrupted alpha grinned.
"Look at them."
Its eyes swept across the newcomers. "A thousand years of hiding." The silver wolf's expression hardened.
"We survived, barely." The insult landed. Several silver wolves snarled.
The guardian suddenly spoke.
"Enough."
Instant silence followed. The authority in its voice was absolute. The silver wolves obeyed, the corrupted wolves obeyed.
Even the silver-eyed being stopped speaking, the guardian turned toward Vincent.
For the first time, its expression softened. "You need to leave."
Vincent blinked.
"What?"
The guardian looked toward the forest. "They have found you."
Its gaze shifted toward the temple. "And it has awakened." The heartbeat answered immediately.
BOOM!
The throne pulsed with silver light. The runes on Vincent's skin brightened, several wolves flinched.
The guardian's eyes darkened. "You are no longer safe here."
The corrupted alpha laughed again.
"Safe?" It looked genuinely amused.
"There is nowhere safe now."
The words sent a chill through Vincent. The silver wolf nodded reluctantly.
"It speaks the truth."
Vincent stared. "What exactly is happening?"
Nobody answered immediately. Then the lead silver wolf finally spoke.
"Every bloodline on the continent felt it."
The heartbeat echoed.
BOOM!
"The moment the throne awakened." Another heartbeat.
BOOM!
"The moment your blood awakened." Vincent's chest tightened, the silver wolf continued.
"Every Alpha knows something has changed." The corrupted alpha smiled.
"And soon they will know why."
The guardian looked furious, the silver-eyed being sounded delighted.
Vincent felt trapped. Every answer created more questions. The silver wolf stepped forward.
"My king"
"I'm not your king."
The interruption came instantly. The wolf didn't appear offended, only patient.
"As you wish."
The response somehow made Vincent even more uncomfortable. The wolf continued.
"Vincent."
Hearing his actual name felt strange, normal, human. A small reminder of the person he used to be.
The wolf's golden eyes sharpened.
"You must come with us."
The guardian immediately growled.
"No."
The silver wolf met its gaze. "We can protect him."
"You couldn't protect the last one." Silence, a heavy silence.
The lead silver wolf froze. Pain flashed across its face. The surrounding wolves lowered their heads.
The guardian instantly looked regretful, as though it hadn't meant to say it. Vincent caught the exchange, the last one.
Not the last Omega, someone else, someone important, someone dead. The silver-eyed being laughed softly.
"There it is." The guardian's eyes narrowed, the voice continued. "The guilt."
The silver wolf clenched its jaw, the tension became unbearable. Then the corrupted alpha interrupted.
"You're wasting time."
Every head turned toward it, the corrupted beast looked toward the northern horizon, its smile vanished.
Something rare happened, fear entered its eyes, real fear.
The guardian noticed.
"What is it?"
The corrupted alpha didn't answer immediately. Its nose twitched, then it cursed.
The single word shocked everyone, because it sounded genuinely afraid. The guardian turned toward the same horizon.
A second later, its expression changed. Vincent had never seen terror on the ancient wolf before, now he did.
The silver wolves immediately stood, every single one; alert, ready.
The forest became silent, completely silent. Even insects stopped making noise.
Vincent felt it too. Something was coming, something massive, something powerful.
The silver-eyed being inside the temple suddenly stopped laughing.
The heartbeat paused. For the first time since awakening. Everything stopped.
Then a distant roar echoed across the continent, not a wolf, not a beast, something far larger.
The sound alone made Vincent's blood run cold. The silver wolf whispered one word, a name, a name that instantly drained the color from every face; the guardian, he corrupted alpha, every wolf.
All of them looked horrified. Vincent barely heard it, but he heard enough, enough to know this was bad, very bad.
The name echoed across the clearing.
"Fenrir."
Then the mountain range on the horizon exploded, and something enormous began to rise.
