Chapter 3
946 Words
Seraphina stared at Caelum like she was seeing the ghost of a life she hadn’t lived.
He wasn’t Darian—he didn’t look like him, smell like him, or radiate that carefully cloaked malice. Caelum’s aura pulsed with wildness, but not danger. He stood tall and rooted, like a tree grown from ancient earth. And yet, the way he looked at her—like he was holding his breath—was something she recognized all too well.
Recognition.
Bond.
She stepped back instinctively. “This isn’t happening.”
Rheon stepped between them. “It’s rare, but not unheard of. A second bond.”
“I haven’t even touched him,” she snapped. “That’s not how it works.”
“Maybe not in your old world,” Rheon said, “but you’re not in that world anymore.”
Caelum hadn’t moved. “I didn’t ask for this.”
“Neither did I,” she murmured.
The bond crackled between them like a low hum—present, insistent, and terrifying. Seraphina felt the pull not in her flesh but in her soul. Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, curious and unsure. It hadn’t responded this way to anyone in years—not since Darian.
Darian.
The thought of him sent an icy spike through her chest. Would he feel this? Would he know she was alive?
“Does he know?” she asked Rheon.
“If he hasn’t felt it yet,” Rheon said, “he will soon. The moment your power fully ignites, the old bond will break.”
“And when it does?”
“He’ll come for you.”
Caelum frowned. “Who is ‘he’?”
Seraphina turned her gaze on him. “My first mate. My killer.”
Caelum’s eyes narrowed. “He’s still alive?”
“Unfortunately.”
Rheon stepped forward. “We need to move. This place isn’t as hidden as it once was. Caelum—your pack is still in the ridge?”
“Yes,” Caelum replied, eyes still on Seraphina. “They’ve felt...shifts in the ether. Animals running. Trees bleeding. Something is waking. I thought it was just another eclipse cycle, but now—” His voice dropped. “It’s her.”
Seraphina sighed. “Stop talking about me like I’m a myth.”
“You are a myth,” Caelum said softly.
Something stirred in the distance—branches cracking, a low howl piercing the early light.
Rheon stiffened. “We need to run.”
Seraphina squared her shoulders. “No.”
“What?”
“I’m tired of running,” she said. “They killed me once. I won’t spend my second life hiding.”
Caelum gave a low chuckle. “She’s got fire.”
Rheon growled. “You have no idea.”
Still, he didn’t argue. He knew better.
“Then what’s the plan?” Caelum asked.
Seraphina glanced between them, then up at the moon—still lingering in the sky like a sentinel.
“We draw them out,” she said. “Not all. Just one.”
Rheon’s eyes narrowed. “You mean him.”
“Yes.”
“Are you ready to see Darian again?”
“No,” she said honestly. “But I want to.”
She needed to look into his eyes and see if he felt regret. Needed to hear him explain why he threw her to the flames. Needed to confront the man who claimed to love her and turned into the monster she feared.
And she needed to show him that she hadn’t come back to beg for forgiveness.
She’d come to burn his empire down.
Later That Night
They moved to Caelum’s territory, hidden deep within ancient caves layered with protective sigils and silver-veined stone. His people were small in number but fiercely loyal. And the moment they saw Seraphina, they knelt.
Not out of fear. Out of recognition.
“She’s the Phoenix Wolf,” an old seer whispered, bowing low.
Seraphina flinched. “Why do they call me that?”
Rheon looked at her. “Because they saw your pyre. And they saw the sky burn red as your soul refused to leave.”
“You weren’t just reborn,” Caelum added. “You resurrected yourself.”
Seraphina touched her chest. “Then why do I still feel broken?”
“Because what was stolen hasn’t been returned yet,” Rheon said. “Your children. Your memories. Your full power.”
“And when will I get it all back?”
Caelum’s eyes gleamed. “Then the world should tremble.”
As she lay awake in the stone chamber that night, Seraphina couldn’t sleep. Her body ached. Her thoughts spun. And then—
A whisper in the dark.
“You’re awake.”
She sat up.
Caelum stood at the doorway. “You okay?”
“No.”
He stepped in, slowly. “You don’t have to carry it alone.”
“I do,” she said. “Because I’m the reason they’re gone.”
“You were murdered, Seraphina.”
“I trusted him.”
“You won’t trust me,” Caelum said, voice low.
“I don’t know you.”
“Then let me change that.”
She looked up at him. “Why are you even here?”
He hesitated. Then stepped closer. “Because when the moon first whispered your name to me, I thought it was madness. But when I saw you—just saw you—I knew. I was born to follow you.”
“Don’t worship me,” she whispered.
“I’m not.
I’m standing with you.”
And then, unexpectedly, she didn’t feel so cold.
- Writer
