Chapter 385 The howl

Chapter 385: Chapter 385 The howl

Talia’s POV

The cheers did not stop.

They rolled through the valley like thunder, and they echoed off the mountains like the voice of the earth itself. I stood beside Kaelen, and I felt the sound vibrating through my chest.

The air itself seemed to tremble with it, and the ground beneath my feet hummed like a plucked string.

I had never heard anything like it.

The sound was so loud that I could feel it in my teeth, and so deep that I could feel it in my bones. It was the sound of a thousand hearts beating as one, and it was the sound of a promise being made.

There were thousands of wolves, from a dozen different packs, howling together as one. For me, it was not just a cheer, it was a declaration.

Kaelen leaned closer, and his voice was low against my ear. "They are waiting for you."

I looked at him, and I felt the confusion flickering in my chest. "Waiting for what?"

He smiled, and I saw the fire in his gray eyes. "For you to lead them."

I saw the pride in Kaelen’s eyes, and I felt the warmth spreading through my chest. He had believed in me from the very beginning, and he had never stopped. He had stood beside me through everything, and he was still standing beside me now.

I looked out at the sea of wolves, and I felt the power rising in my chest.

I did not plan what I was going to do, and I did not think about it. I just let it happen. The magic was already humming beneath my skin, and Lyra was already awake, and the bond between us was already singing.

I raised my head, and I let out a howl.

It was not like the howls of the other wolves, and it was not just a sound, because it carried something deeper. It carried the power of my bloodline, it carried the strength of my ancestors, and it carried the promise that I had made to my mother and to my pack.

I had never howled like this before. I had never let my voice carry so much of myself. But now, standing at the edge of the valley with thousands of wolves watching, I did not hold back. I gave them everything.

The howl rose from my chest, and I felt Lyra howling with me. She was awake, she was alive, and she was not afraid.

The next moment, the packs answered.

It started one by one, then ten by ten, then a hundred by a hundred. The wolves raised their heads, and they howled with me. Their voices joined mine, and the sound grew until it was no longer just a sound: it was a force.

I could feel the magic of the Silvertongues woven through the howl. It was not just a sound anymore, it was a spell. It was a promise, and it was a warning.

The ground shook beneath our feet, and the mountains trembled. I could feel the vibration in my bones, and I could feel the power of the pack flowing through me like a river.

Kaelen howled beside me, and I felt his voice joining mine, and I knew that he was with me. He was always with me.

I looked out at the wolves, and I saw the hope in their eyes. They were not afraid anymore, they were ready.

The howl faded, and the valley fell silent again.

I could hear my own heartbeat in the silence, and I could hear Kaelen’s breathing beside me. The world felt still and full, like a held breath waiting to be released.

But the silence was different now. It was not heavy, it was alive, and it was waiting. I could still feel the echo of the howl in my chest, like the aftertaste of something powerful.

I looked at Kaelen, and I saw the determination in his gray eyes.

"Malachai will hear that," I said, and my voice was steady.

Kaelen nodded, and he looked toward the horizon. "He will."

I followed his gaze. I looked out at the mountains, at the darkening sky, and at the place where the road to the Ashen Lands began.

The sun was setting, and the sky was painted in shades of orange and purple. The mountains were silhouetted against the fading light, and the valley was bathed in the soft glow of twilight.

I could not see Malachai, and I could not hear him. But I knew he was out there, somewhere beyond the mountains, listening.

"Let him hear," I said, and I felt the fire burning in my chest. "Let him know that we are not afraid."

Kaelen reached for my hand, and I felt the warmth of his fingers against mine. "He will know, Talia. And he will remember this moment."

I stood with Kaelen at the border, and I watched the packs settle into their camps.

I could see the fires being lit, and I could hear the voices of the wolves as they talked and laughed and prepared for the night. They were not afraid, and they were ready.

The howl had shaken the mountains, it had shaken the valley, and it had shaken me. But it had also done something else: It had bound us together, it had made us one, and it had made us a pack.

"Kaelen," I said, and my voice was soft. "We are ready."

He looked at me, and I saw the love in his gray eyes. "Yes, my Luna. We are ready."

I squeezed his hand, and I felt the strength in his grip. "Together."

Kaelen squeezed mine back, and I felt the warmth spreading through my chest. "Together."

The night was falling, and the stars were appearing.

The air grew colder, and the sounds of the camps drifted across the valley. The smell of cooking fires and damp earth filled my nose, and I could hear the low murmur of wolves talking around their fires.

But I did not feel the cold, and I did not feel the fear. I only felt the hope.

The war was coming, but we would face it together.