Marked by Moon

*Chapte

Unrav

is what is left behind when devotion rots."

*possibility*. The Red Wolf may appear as a curse or as divinity. Perhaps... we did not know which you were." The slap echoed through the chamber. Seraphina stood trembling, hand still outstretched, her breath ragged. The Oracle did not flinch. "You felt that pain because something ancient chose someone else," she said softly. "The moon is rewriting the lines." "No," Seraphina whispered again, tears stinging. "No. I am *the one*. I have trained for this. Bled for this. Every rite. Every offering. Every moment of my life. *Mine*." The Oracle's voice was nearly kind. "And still... it was not your soul the bond called home." --- Seraphina didn't remember leaving the court. One moment she was standing in shattered silence. The next, she was sprinting through the training grounds in the east wing, her heart pounding like hooves on stone. She burst into the sparring circle where the Crescent warriors were practicing drills. "Where is he?" she barked. They turned, stunned. "My lady-?" "Where is Kael Thorne?" she screamed. Silence. Then, one of the younger sentries stepped forward, hesitant. "He... he left last night, Princess. Before dawn. Rode east." "Alone?" A nod. "He followed the Moonstone Path." Her blood turned to ice. "Did anyone see who he met?" More silence. Then- "A girl." --- She found her father near the council chambers, in full ceremonial regalia, preparing for a council address. She didn't knock. "The bond has shifted," she said. "He's with someone else." Alpha Rhoan turned slowly, his face unreadable. "I know." Those two words struck harder than the Oracle's. "You knew," she said coldly. "And you said nothing?" "What would you have had me say? That prophecy is a fickle bitch? That fate favors the wild?" Seraphina's throat closed. "You let him *leave* me." "I let him *choose*," Rhoan replied. "Because that is what we all must do when the moon calls." "You could have stopped it!" "Would you have me bind the Lycan King in chain