The hecate

The night run

Melvin.

The way her hand gripped the sword told me she wasn’t someone playing at war. Her hair, woven into fierce braids that fell wild down her back, lit up the mist I had created.

Her eyes locked on mine, sharp and unyielding, as if they could strip away pretense and cut deeper than the blade she carried. There was no softness in her stance, no hesitation. She was danger.

I don't know why I am so drawn to her. Whatever it is__It has to be connected to the HECATE.

And I'm going to find out what it is.

Before I single handedly broke into VALLEY, I paced to and from Walter's chamber__ thinking ‘Should I talk to him about it? Or should I do this on my own?’

Then another thought intruded, like it had a mind of its own, ‘You need his help. He might be a pain, but nonetheless__no one is going to give his life, without hesitation to a prince disproved of his right to rule.’

Ten minutes passed, and I was still speculating at his doorstep until he appeared behind me without a sound, like he had suddenly become a witch and could teleport.

My weakened hand began to drip with sweat. I cleared my throat. “ Walter!!” I scratched my head. “ What are you doing here dude?”

He scoffed, without any curve around his mouth.

“Your heavy footsteps are hard to ignore.”

No one would think he was my little brother.

I'm not scared of him. Just terrified of the situation.

“ Well, I'm delighted that my presence is hard to ignore,” I smirked. The look on his face, which gave me the signal that I was losing his time, made me take a deep breath. “ It doesn't matter. Just forget you ever saw me.”

An uneasy stillness filled the space.

His eyes were cold and shrunk. “ Alright.”

He then turned away and matched into his chamber. His leather wear creaked loudly as he followed.

The Hecate being my master is the only way that I can unlock my bound power__ whatever it is.

Now I await nightfall.

**************

The bone-chilling air has worsened, and the moon, which was as full of life as a wealthy man's, made it more comforting.

I sat on the wooden stool in the middle of the bonfire, staring into the crackles, ceasing to blink __ waiting for them to arrive. My heavy breath made the fire rise.

Around me, the night felt endless. The trees stood tall and bare, their branches stretching out like crooked arms. The ground was soft with fallen leaves, damp from the cold.

Shadows bent and swayed whenever the fire snapped. The smoke carried the sharp smell of pine, and the air itself felt heavy, biting at my skin. Even the wind moved slowly, brushing past as though it had something to say.

Connor had never liked me. I had always wondered why, and would even intentionally hit my leg on a stump when I was younger, just to feel something different from the pain of never having a true friend.

The minute I came out of my mother__ I had been humiliated. Cast to live within the shadows of my little brother.

I could lie to myself and actually believe that this strange woman who spiked my interest was my mate__ which I had no interest in looking for, until I regained my honor. Or she's just part of this new chapter in my life, to help me reach my goal.

A branch was faintly stepped on along the opening to the hedges, it recalled me from my thoughts.

Then appeared Connor, his face twisted and his shoulders as high as ever. Then followed Zelda and Jae walking side by side. They had always been by his side for as long as I could remember.

Followed were Willow's light footsteps, but still proclaiming. Still dressed in the same wear.

She scowled, her eyes tracing the fire, then the stools__ then finally set on me.

The hush was sharp waiting to be broken.

“I thought this was a run. Not a ritual.” Connor snapped. The others were glaring at me as they surrounded me like a goat being laid a trap for.

I gently raised up my arm.

A curve formed on the sides of my lip. “ I could've lied.” Her eyebrows furrowed, Connor's nose creased. “ But… I didn't. Loosen up, you cold-blooded clans!! Have a seat, then we commence.”

Their eyes glanced at every inch of the space before taking a seat. It felt like I could hear their untrusting thoughts towards me. She sat facing me. Her eyes were glued to mine.

“ Why are we here Melvin?” Connor asked, sitting beside me.

“ Shut up!! I'll get to it.”

“ No you shut up, you invited us. I will not stand by this insult.”

“ Well, I didn't force you to come here.”

The others sighed heavily until she cut us off.

“ Hecate.” We kept quiet all at once and turned our heads towards her. “ Why are you hunting her?”

My chest flushed.

“ You know about her?” I asked.

“ I'm a coastal wolf, not an infant human.”

“ I'm surprised too, by the way,” Connor added.

Zelda grunted, dragging her palms down her face. “ The story of the Erebos territory has been carried down by thousands of generations of wolves for ages… so of course she knows about it.”

“ Oh right.”

“ I did not think of that,” Connor added.

Her voice was heightened by a pitch as she rubbed her neck.

“ You still haven't answered my question.. Melvin.”

My heart skipped a beat.

A woman I find intriguing calling my name is a rare scene.

I peered more intensely into her eyes.

“ Hunting is a bit too harsh. I would say looking.”

“ Why would you want to do that? Even speaking about this could be considered treason for all I know.” He argued.

“ That's a bit too exaggerated.”

“ Why are you looking for her Melvin!!” He raised his voice. “ Rumours say your grandfather vanished looking for her or heaven knows what. So how stupid could you be?!”

The silence weighed like a stone.

“ I need her to erase his stupidity.” My gaze hardened but I trembled in my shoes. “ I know coming to you is a daft idea, but it's even after going to my people for help.”

“ Why is that?” She asked softly.

“ Because they'll blab it all to my little brother.”

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. Mine would too.

“ What exactly would she do to help you?” He chuckled confusedly. “ I mean she's a ruthless young woman withholding powers of millennia of past hecates…and it's not like she would just be outside our village carelessly living her life.”

Jae let out a loud sigh.

He rarely talks which makes perfect sense.

“ The Hecate also withholds the power to unlock bound souls.”

I nodded, “ And in my defense, she will train me to use that power.”

“ So, master and pupil, is that the relationship you're aiming for?” She exclaimed.

“ Yes.”

She bit her lower lip, with a soft smirk __ hinting disbelief. “ You have this whole sob story, yet you have amazing powers. What could you possibly have left?”

I could feel my eyes getting lighter.

“ We'll find out,” I muttered, keeping my eyes on hers.

She inhaled and swallowed heavily. “ I'm in.” She declared out of the blue. Sending shocks through my veins.

“ What??” We all exclaimed in unison.

Their jaws dropped.

She glanced at our faces like she was being told off.

“ You haven't even joined our pack yet!” Zelda said.

“ I never said I wanted to, and aren't you all in the same pack anyway?”

“ We are not!” I started to tap my foot on the ground. “ SAGA VALLEY. We are one but in two different territories. Divided by a magical border cast by the witches.”

“ Yes, but Saga is bigger. Which is why they don't only have alphas, but ultimas.” Connor added, rolling his eyes.

A quick giggle escaped her mouth. “ Well, I'm definitely joining Saga.” I flashed a big, bright smile right through my razor-sharp teeth while the others didn't let out a breath. “ I'm kidding…. I have my own pack, I don't belong on land. Wherever this hunt leads you, I could find my family.”

Before they could let out a relief. “ What happened?” I asked.

“ You don't need to know.”

Didn't I seem sincere enough?

She faced the others. “ Are you in?”

They each made eye contact with a mild boss, before they finally faced me.

Connor pierced my skin with his stare. “ We're doing this for Willow.”

My eyes swamped with thanks, silently hoping they could see it as I bowed my head. And they all did the same.

Connor’s voice was the first to break the night, low and rough, dragging the others with him. Zelda followed, her howl sharper, like it could cut the air in two. Willow’s was softer, trembling at first, but it stretched long enough to echo. Then Jae—deep, steady, unshaken—lifted his head and let it pour out.

I didn’t wait. My own voice tore from me, louder than I expected, carrying everything I couldn’t say. For a moment, we weren’t just wolves standing under the moon. We were something larger, tied together by a sound only we understood.

And then, like we always do—I don’t know why we ran. The forest pulled us in, the trees swallowing our shapes as if they had been waiting.

I suddenly lost sight of Willow.

Keeping my eyes on her, I couldn't prepare myself for that.

I stopped to look around.

The shadows moved before I even realized she was there. A wolf stepped out, dark as if the night itself had given her shape. Her coat swallowed the light, her eyes burning faint in the black, and for a second I thought she was just one of the normal shadow wolves from the HECATEs territory.

No wonder I found her interesting.

But then she staggered. The way her paws scraped the ground, the way her body trembled, I knew something was wrong. My chest pulled tight, and before I could think, I was already moving toward her.

“Willow!” My voice cracked in the trees, useless, too late. She collapsed, her form slipping away, and in the space of a breath, the wolf was gone. What was left was her—Willow—weak in my arms.

Even in her sleep she still managed to look intimidating. Her skin was pale against the night, her breath shallow, and the truth I didn’t want to believe sat heavy in me.

I held her tighter, afraid she’d vanish again.