Episode 4: The Royal Elders' Secret

The royal elders arrived at sunrise.

Seven ancient werewolves dressed in white entered the great hall, each carrying a silver staff engraved with forbidden runes.

Their leader, Elder Varek, looked at Mara as though she were a disease.

"Give us the child," he demanded.

Mara held her son tighter.

"No."

Varek raised his staff.

Every guard in the hall fell to their knees.

"You misunderstand your position, girl. That creature is the source of every curse in our blood. If he regains his full power, every Alpha in existence will lose control of his pack."

Ronan stepped between them.

"She and the child are under my protection."

Varek laughed.

"You are an Alpha, Ronan. Your wolf exists because the First Wolf allowed it. If he commands you to tear out your own heart, you will obey."

"I would rather die."

"Then you will."

The elder struck his staff against the floor.

A wave of silver light swept through the hall, and Ronan collapsed. His wolf screamed inside him as black veins spread across his arms.

Mara tried to reach him, but two warriors seized her.

Her baby began to cry.

The entire castle shook.

Varek smiled.

"There it is. The power we feared."

He approached the child with a silver dagger.

Mara struggled against the guards.

"Don't touch him!"

The baby suddenly stopped crying.

Every elder froze.

Then the newborn turned toward Varek.

"Traitor."

The word came from a mouth too small to speak.

Varek's face went white.

The baby lifted one hand, and the elder's silver staff shattered.

For a moment, the entire hall seemed to hold its breath.

Then Varek fell to his knees.

"My lord, please. I served your mother."

The baby tilted his head.

"You helped them kill her."

Mara stared at the elder.

"What does he mean?"

Varek said nothing.

The baby began to glow, and images appeared in the air above them.

A secret chamber.

A woman chained to a stone altar.

Seven elders standing around her.

And a dark figure holding a blade against her throat.

Mara recognized the woman.

It was the woman from the ancient painting.

Her previous self.

But the dark figure was not an elder.

It was Ronan.

Mara turned toward him in horror.

"You killed me?"

Ronan struggled to his feet, looking devastated.

"I don't remember that."

The baby laughed softly.

"Of course you don't. They erased your memories, too."

Varek used the confusion to escape with three elders. The remaining guards released Mara, and she rushed to Ronan.

He shook his head.

"I swear to you, Mara. I have never seen that chamber."

But she could no longer trust him.

Because the image had revealed something else.

Before the woman died, she had whispered a final command to the First Wolf.

Destroy the world if you must. But never let them discover what sleeps beneath the throne.

That evening, Mara searched the ancient scriptures and found a hidden passage beneath the library.

It led to a chamber buried beneath the castle.

At its center stood a stone throne covered in chains.

Something was breathing beneath it.

Mara approached slowly.

A voice emerged from the darkness.

"At last," it whispered.

"Your son has returned."

The chains began to break.

"And now, little mother, I can finally come home."

Episode 5: The Monster Beneath the Throne... Coming soon