This was a warm season for everyone, but at that moment the only thing Mingi felt was the shiver run down his spine and the cold. His grandfather's study was a tomb of secrets—shelves stacked with leather-bound sheets, forgotten maps, silver-capped scrolls, books passed down from his one of his oldest ancestors ,and strange amulets glinting in the shadows.
Mingi's grandfather watched him from the high-backed chair, fingers steepled.
"You've seen the drawings. Isn't it the exact way you met her?" he murmured. "Then you know... the bond between you and the she-wolf is no accident."
Mingi swallowed hard. "You think it's fate or something?"
His grandfather's eyes gleamed with a distant memory. "I ain't gon say shyt son."
Silence pulsed between them and Mingi gave him an intense stare with one of his brows raised, before the old man leaned forward, voice lowering to a near whisper.
"Long ago—longer than the bloodlines remember—there was a Moonborn. A boy like you. Human, but touched by the celestial. He met a she-wolf… and fell."
Mingi listened, heart tightening.
"They loved against nature," Grandpa continued. "Against every rule. She was pledged to another, and he... was destined for something else entirely. Their love was powerful, but fragile. When the council learned of it, they chose violence."
"Please tell me they have a happy end"
His grandfather's voice dropped. "He tried to save her. The Moonborn tore through packs, kingdoms. The stars themselves dimmed that night. But he was too late. She was burned on sacred stone, her soul cursed to the Beyond. He followed her into madness—and silence."
The air seemed to thin. Mingi felt the echo of a past pain not his own. He opened his mouth as if trying to speak but closed it again in agony.
"But I'm not him," Mingi whispered.
Lucien's gaze sharpened. "Aren't you?"
He stood and opened a glass cabinet, retrieving a small talisman—a crescent set in silver, strung on weathered leather. He pressed it into Mingi's hand.
"Wolves don't always honor love, son. They have deep respect for power. They honor blood, power, and legacy. If they come for you—this might buy you time. No more."
Mingi stared at it. "You don't trust Cassian either."
"Cassian believes he's rewriting prophecy. He thinks he's a god. But he's not a god. He meddled once. A life was lost. He's meddling again."
"You're saying he's using me?"
His grandfather didn't answer.
Footsteps thundered outside. Elias's voice broke the quiet.
"I knew it!" he barked, entering without knocking. "I knew you'd run here."
Mingi stood, spine stiff. "Grandfather asked me to listen."
Elias scowled. "Grandfather's been feeding ghosts to the weak-minded for decades."
Grandpa said nothing, only raised an eyebrow. "Better ghosts than cages."
"Shut it old man. For once do something that won't ruin a child of your family" Elias snapped, turning to Mingi. "Downstairs. Now!."
The walk to the grand chamber was silent and tense. The entire Hart family had gathered—his mother, pale and trembling; his father, arms folded, a silent mountain. The family elders watched him like he was diseased.
Elias stood at the head of the long table.
"Mingi," his mother said softly. "Please... what's going on? Where did I go wrong? I tried the best I could to keep you away from those werewolves and make sure that damn prophecy didn't come true"
"What prophecy mother?" Mingi asked. But everyone was silent
"Fine then. I'm remembering who I am," he said. "Not who you told me I had to be."
Cassian stood at the edge of the room, silent but watchful.
His father cleared his throat. "You've been led astray. This wolf girl—she's poison. We raised you to think, not feel. You're ready for succession. This is not the time to fall into some mystical dream."
"She isn't just a dream," Mingi snapped.
"Enough!" Elias shouted. "We're not letting this turn into a curse again. Just like last time—"
"Last time?" Mingi narrowed his eyes.
His mother shook her head. "Please don't bring that up…"
But Mingi pressed, voice cold. "What last time?"
His grandfather finally spoke again, slow and sharp. "They're talking about your uncle."
Gasps.
Mingi froze. "I had an uncle?"
Elias looked away. "He was a mistake."
Grandpa's eyes didn't leave Mingi. "He fell in love with a wolf too. He died for it. But not before the bond tried to claim him. He was born under the same moon you were."
Mingi felt the air leave the room.
"You hid this from me?" he breathed.
"We protected you!" his mother cried. "We just wanted a different life for you. Not... not this!"
Cassian finally stepped forward, folding his arms. "How noble. But maybe the boy wants truth more than comfort."
"Stay out of this," Elias growled."How did you even get in here. These damn werewolves!"
"I can't," Cassian said calmly. "Not when you're about to destroy everything he could become."
The fire in the hearth dimmed. The room fell into a long, choking silence.
Then Mingi took a breath—and broke it.
"I need a break. I need some time to think about all of this. What more are you guys keeping from me."
His mother sobbed.
His father's face hardened.
Cassian smiled faintly, as if victory was finally slipping into his hands.
But Grandpa's gaze didn't ease. It only darkened.
He stood slowly and looked at Mingi, not with pride... but sorrow.
"Then you must understand something, boy," he said softly. "Fate doesn't give. It demands."
The hearth roared behind them.
And then, in the distance, a horn blew—once, long and shrill.
The security bell.
A guard rushed in, panting, dirt on his face. "Sir—we've found something."
Mingi stepped forward. "What is it?"
The man hesitated, then held out a torn banner—a sigil burned into it.
A symbol that did not belong to Selene's pack, or even the Greek wolves.
Cassian stepped closer, face suddenly drained of color.
Mingi looked down at the symbol—an inverted moon swallowing a star.
Grandpa paled. "No... it can't be."
"What is that?" Mingi asked.
The guard trembled. "It was nailed to the gates... with a message."
He handed
Mingi a scroll.
Mingi unrolled it slowly.
There were the words written in blood:
"Don't let the curse of the moonborns continue."