Chapter 8: blood and moonfire
572 Words
Lyria’s POV)
The air split with the sound of claws on stone.
Kael was already in motion — faster than I could blink. His blade flashed, catching the moonlight as it cut through the first creature. A spray of silver sparks followed, not blood — magic.
“What are they?” I shouted, backing up as another lunged from the left.
“Not wolves,” he growled, twisting his blade free. “Shades. Someone sent them.”
The word chilled me. Sent. Which meant someone knew we were here. Someone powerful enough to control shadows.
Another shade came at me. I reacted on instinct, grabbing the dagger from my boot and slashing. The blade hummed — and silver light burst from it. The shade shrieked and dissolved into smoke.
Kael froze mid-swing. His eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”
I didn’t even know how to answer — the dagger had never done that before. “It’s mine!” I shouted, ducking under another strike.
He cursed under his breath, cutting down the last two shades in quick, brutal arcs. The forest went quiet again — too quiet.
My heart hammered as I looked at him, chest heaving. His silver eyes glowed faintly in the dark, wolf and man overlapping for just a breath. His aura was still wild, dangerous — but it didn’t scare me anymore. It pulled me in.
He stepped toward me slowly. “Lyria…”
“What?”
He lifted my hand — the one holding the dagger. His fingers brushed against my skin, sending a shiver through me. “That light,” he said softly, “it wasn’t the weapon. It was you.”
I laughed, breathless. “That’s impossible.”
He didn’t smile. “I’ve seen impossible things, but never that.” His gaze held mine, fierce and searching. “You’re not human. And you’re not just wolf either.”
Something in me recoiled, but not from fear — from recognition. Memories stirred — flashes of fire, a crescent mark glowing on my wrist, voices calling my name in languages I didn’t know.
“Kael…” I whispered. “What if I’ve been lying to myself my whole life?”
He took a step closer — too close — his breath warm against my cheek. “Then I’ll be the one to tell you the truth.”
We stood there, suspended between silence and storm. I could feel the air hum between us, that dangerous spark growing — unspoken, undeniable.
But before I could say anything, a sharp whistle echoed through the woods.
Kael spun, tension snapping back into place. “They found us,” he said.
“Who?”
His jaw tightened. “My pack.”
He looked at me — really looked — and I saw the war in his eyes. Duty and something deeper, something he didn’t want to name.
“From now on,” he said, voice low, “you stay close. No secrets. No running.”
“And if I don’t?” I challenged.
He leaned in, his whisper brushing my ear. “Then I’ll find you, even in your dreams.”
And just like that — the Alpha turned away, calling his wolves from the shadows. But even as I followed him into the night, one truth burned in my chest:
I wasn’t afraid of the monsters anymore.
I was afraid of what Kael was turning me into.
- Writer
