Dr. Camilla Harts — New York City, 3:13 AM
The artifact was humming again.
It wasn't audible to anyone else in the dark-paneled lab, not even the Warden who escorted her in, yawning through his third espresso. But Camilla could feel it — a low, bone-deep resonance that vibrated behind her teeth and beneath her ribs.
She approached the containment case, slowly.
It sat like a forgotten god on the obsidian pedestal: smooth, matte grey, shaped like a broken tusk. Veins of gold shimmered faintly beneath the surface — but not like any metal she knew. This was lunar alloy. Old. Possibly pre-human.
Possibly not from this world at all.
She adjusted her gloves, activated her internal scan visor, and whispered:
"Show me your secrets."
---
The Discovery
She'd been pulled back to New York by the American Crescent Council—a coalition of scholars, wolfblood historians, and the occasional excommunicated witch. A rogue excavation team had unearthed this tusk-shaped stone in upstate New York, buried beneath a collapsed Mohawk ceremonial site.
The moment she saw the photos, she knew.
It bore the same carvings—spiral moons, fang glyphs, and hybrid form inscriptions—as the lunar pillar Adunni had uncovered in Rome. But the real shock came when she ran a heat scan.
The Roman pillar had sung under moonlight. So did this.
But this one… also reacted to Adunni's name.
Camilla ran the data again. No mistake.
She wasn't just linked to one site—she was tied to all of them.
---
Lore Connections
Cross-referencing ancient pre-colonial African wolfblood myths (from Yoruba moon priestess scrolls) and the Roman lunar cultic texts, Camilla uncovered a chilling truth:
"There were once Seven Pillars of the Hybrid Moon—gifts scattered across the world to guard the prophecy of the Bound and the Unbound. Only when all are known, can the First Song be sung again."
Each artifact contained a fraction of a divine howl—a resonance that could either restore balance to the supernatural world or fracture it irreparably.
Rome held one.
Now New York held another.
And if two had surfaced...
Where were the other five?
---
Camilla's Revelation
Back in her hotel, Camilla scribbled in her worn leather journal—the same one Adunni once teased her for always carrying, calling it her "grim grimoire."
But this wasn't folklore anymore.
It was real. Active. Dangerous.
The artifact in New York contained:
The same lunar alloy DNA as the Roman relic
Whispered names in languages she'd never studied, but understood in her dreams
A glyph that translated roughly to:
"The Girl Whose Blood Sings Twice"
Adunni.
Not just a hybrid… but the prophesied keystone.
She isn't just part of the prophecy, Camilla thought, heart thudding, She is the prophecy incarnate.
If the other relics were found…
If Darius got to one first…
He could either summon the First Song twisted into his own dark version, or destroy the keystone altogether, breaking Adunni's soul before she even ascended.
But worse?
If the artifacts called to each other... they could wake the sleeping Unbound.
Camilla looked out her hotel window, down into the city that never slept. She pulled out her encrypted phone and recorded a quick, low-voiced message.
"Adunni. Luca. If you get this, don't wait for me. There are more artifacts. I'm going west. There's a Navajo site in Arizona that just went dark. It could be ano I'm right, the relics are waking each other up."
"And you're the only one who can hear the song before it becomes a scream."
_ _ _ _
Luca's Study, Mooncrest Estate — Late Night
The fire had burned low.
The grand hearth of Luca's private study crackled softly, casting amber light across dark stone walls and gilded bookshelves. Rain tapped softly against the high, arched windows. It was the kind of night that whispered secrets… or unraveled them.
Adunni sat curled in the massive leather armchair, Luca pacing nearby with his shirt unbuttoned at the throat, sleeves rolled to the elbows. Tension radiated off his tall frame like heat off scorched earth.
The voice message from Camilla replayed again, the room silent except for the low rasp of her warning.
"If I'm right, the relics are waking each other up. And you're the only one who can hear the song before it becomes a scream."
A beat of static. Then silence.
Adunni's fingers tightened on the ceramic mug in her lap. "She sounds scared, and she never gets scared"
They were no longer just reacting to Darius. The world was reacting to Adunni.
Adunni rose, wrapping her arms around herself. "Seven relics. The Girl Whose Blood Sings Twice…" Her voice trembled slightly. "Why me, Luca? Why is it always me?"
He turned then. Slowly. Deliberately.
And for once, Luca DeLuca—ancient, restrained, the iron-hearted Alpha—looked at her not like a warrior, or even a protector.
But like a man at war with fate.
"Because you were born at the exact moment of a hybrid eclipse," he said, voice low. "Because your grandmother was marked before she died. Because your wolf didn't come alone—it came with a fire that doesn't belong to our bloodline." He stepped closer. "Because you scare even the oldest among us without trying."
She shook her head. "That's not an answer. That's a myth wrapped in fear."
"No," he said gently. "That's your power wrapped in denial."
Adunni looked up at him, stormlight flickering across her cheekbones. "And you, Luca? Are you afraid of me too?"
Silence fell between them.
And then he crossed the room in two steps, took her face in his hands, and kissed her—not hard or rough, but like something ancient aching to remember gentleness. Like he needed her to believe he didn't fear her. That he never had.
When he pulled back, his eyes were dark with heat and something more fragile beneath. "I'm afraid for you. Not of you."
She leaned into his chest, heart hammering. "I've started hearing things. In my sleep. Not words… but songs. They echo in my bones. It feels like something is looking for me. Or waiting for me to find it."
He held her tighter. "That's the call of the First Song. Camilla told me it's older than any pack. Older than Luna herself. It only sings to one."
"And if I answer?"
His jaw clenched. "Then the war begins early."
---
Choosing the Next Step
They sat in silence for a long moment. The storm outside had turned gentle again—like the sky was listening.
Adunni finally said, "We need to find the third artifact before Darius does."
"I'll send for Camilla's contact in Arizona."
"No," she said, raising her eyes to meet his. "We'll go."
Luca studied her. "It could be a trap."
"I'm not a girl anymore, Luca. And I'm not your responsibility. I'm your equal in this war."
His breath hitched. Just a moment. Just enough to show how her words cut through every instinct to shield her.
"Then we go," he said quietly. "Together."