CHAPTER 2 — The Monster Remembered
The silence lasted only a heartbeat.
Then panic erupted.
"The beast is broken!"
"No..."
"The boy bewitched it!"
Archers instantly raised their bows.
The king shouted,
"Shoot them both!"
Before anyone released an arrow...
The Black Wolf exploded into motion.
Not toward Elias...
Toward the soldiers.
Its massive body moved faster than anyone believed possible.
One swipe shattered ten spears.
Another roar knocked armored guards to the ground.
Yet...
It never killed a single person.
It only protected the frightened farm boy.
Elias stood frozen.
The monster slowly nudged him toward its enormous chest, shielding him like a mother shielding her child.
Confused memories flashed through his mind.
A snowy forest...
Golden eyes...
Warm black fur...
A lullaby his mother used to sing.
Suddenly...
The old village healer forced her way through the crowd.
Tears streamed down her wrinkled face.
"I remember now!"
"Fifteen years ago..."
"There were twins."
The crowd gasped.
"The Queen secretly gave birth to two sons."
"But the royal advisor feared a prophecy."
The prophecy said:
"The younger prince would unite the throne and the beast, ending the king's bloodline forever."
To stop destiny...
The advisor ordered the infant murdered.
A loyal servant couldn't do it.
Instead...
She carried the baby deep into the forbidden forest...
Where the Black Wolf found him.
Everyone believed the child had died.
Instead...
The monster raised him.
Until one stormy night...
Woodcutters discovered the lost child wandering alone near a farmhouse.
A poor widow adopted him.
She named him Elias.
She never knew who he truly was.
The Black Wolf never stopped searching.
Every full moon...
Villagers reported hearing terrible howls from the mountains.
It wasn't hunting.
It was calling...
For the child it had lost.
The beast slowly looked into Elias's eyes.
Then gently placed its enormous paw over his heart.
Beneath the dirt and worn shirt...
A strange silver birthmark began glowing.
The same royal crest carved above the king's throne.
The crowd stared in horror.
The queen collapsed to her knees.
"My son..."
The king's face turned white.
Only one man looked terrified.
The royal advisor.
Because he knew...
If Elias remembered the truth...
May you like
Every lie that built the kingdom...
Would fall.
