Chapter 4 The Ritual Circle
1104 Words
Seraphina’s POV
“Wake her up.”
The voice was rough and unfamiliar.
Cold slapped my face a second later.
Salt water ran into my mouth.
I gasped and opened my eyes.
Pain flared everywhere at once.
“Easy,” the same voice said.
“Don’t pass out yet.”
I blinked hard and focused.
The wooden deck beneath me.
Chains biting into my wrists.
The sea rolled gently around us.
Stars stretched endlessly overhead.
A ship creaked as it cut through water.
My stomach turned.
We were far from land.
“Dante,” I said hoarsely.
My head snapped left.
He hung beside me, chained to a mast.
His head was down.
Blood dried along his jaw.
“Dominic,” I said louder.
To my right, he stirred.
His eyes opened slowly.
Gold flared for a second.
Then dulled again.
“I’m here,” Dominic said.
His voice was rough but steady.
“You hurt?”
I tested my shoulders.
“Still alive,” I answered.
Boots crossed the deck.
A man stepped into view.
Tall.
Broad.
One eye was cloudy and dead.
“Well,” he said casually.
“Good morning, little gods.”
His mouth twisted in a smile.
It didn’t reach his eye.
“My name’s Viktor.”
I stared at him.
He wore a captain’s coat, worn and salt-stiff.
Old scars crossed his neck and jaw.
Power clung to him wrong.
Like something borrowed and never returned.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Viktor leaned against a post.
“Middle of nowhere,” he replied.
“No pack territory.”
“No Council eyes.”
Dante lifted his head slowly.
His gaze locked on Viktor.
“What do you want?” he asked.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Viktor smiled wider.
“You,” he said simply.
“All three of you.”
He nodded at my chest.
“Especially that mark.”
My skin prickled.
The triad mark glowed faint beneath my shirt.
It pulsed in time with my heart.
The bond stirred uneasily.
Dominic felt it too.
“You pulled us from Valente,” Dominic said.
“Why?”
Viktor’s smile faded.
“Because your father is a blunt fool,” he said.
“And I prefer precision.”
He motioned with his hand.
Crew members stepped out from the shadows.
All wolves.
All branded with broken moons.
Rogues.
They unlocked our chains carefully.
Silver burned as it slid free.
I hissed but didn’t cry out.
Dante rolled his shoulders slowly.
Dominic flexed his hands, claws flashing.
“Don’t try anything,” Viktor warned.
His eyes flicked to the sea.
“You jump, you drown.”
He turned and walked toward the hatch.
“Come.”
We followed because we had no choice.
The hold below deck was massive.
Old wood soaked in power.
Runes carved deep into every surface.
They glowed low and steady.
A circle sat at the center.
Perfect.
Ancient.
Waiting.
My breath caught.
“This is a ritual ship,” Dante said quietly.
Viktor nodded.
“Was,” he corrected.
“Now it’s a grave.”
His tone hardened.
“What ritual?” I asked.
Viktor stopped at the edge of the circle.
“The triad ascension,” he said.
“The one the Council erased.”
His eyes burned.
Dominic laughed once.
Sharp and humorless.
“Of course they did,” he said.
Viktor looked at him.
“They burned the last triad alive,” he replied.
“I watched.”
Silence dropped heavily.
The bond tightened painfully.
Dante’s jaw clenched.
I felt his anger spike.
It mirrored my own.
“You want us to finish it,” I said.
Viktor nodded.
“You already started it,” he replied.
“The bond chose you.”
“You’re just late.”
“And if we refuse?” Dante asked.
Viktor shrugged.
“Then the Council finds you first,” he said.
“Or Valente does.”
“Either way, you die.”
The circle pulsed brighter.
The bond pulled like a tide.
My feet moved before I decided.
I stepped into the circle.
The power hit hard.
Heat rushed through my veins.
Not pain.
Recognition.
The runes answered me.
Welcome.
Dante swore under his breath.
He stepped in next.
Black and silver light flared around him.
The bond surged.
Dominic followed without hesitation.
Gold light joined the others.
The circle closed.
The ship creaked louder.
The sea responded.
Something old listened.
Viktor began to chant.
Low.
Rough.
Words that scraped against my skull.
I understood none of them.
The power built fast.
Too fast.
My knees buckled.
Dante caught me instantly.
Dominic’s hand closed over mine.
The bond snapped tight.
No space left.
No secrets.
No walls.
Everything is shared.
Light gathered between us.
Small at first.
Then warm.
Then alive.
It pulsed like a heartbeat.
“What is that?” Dominic whispered.
Fear edged his voice.
Viktor stopped chanting.
His face went pale.
“No,” he breathed.
The light condensed.
Shaped itself.
A small body formed.
Bare feet touched the circle.
Soft and solid.
A child stood before us.
A girl.
Six or seven at most.
White gold hair.
Eyes like stars.
She looked up at me.
Her smile was shy.
Curious.
Safe.
“Hi,” she said.
My knees hit the floor.
My breath left me in a sob.
“Who are you?” I whispered.
She tilted her head.
“Luna,” she replied.
She turned to Dante.
Then to Dominic.
Her eyes lit up brighter.
“My dads,” she said happily.
The bond exploded.
Dante dropped to his knees too.
His hand shook as he reached out.
Dominic froze completely.
Tears slid down his face silently.
None of us could speak.
Viktor fell backward.
“It worked,” he whispered.
“By the moon, it worked.”
His voice trembled.
“We were wrong.”
Luna stepped closer.
She took my hand first.
Warm.
Real.
Then Dante’s.
Then Dominic’s.
The bond settled into something new.
Bigger.
Deeper.
Whole.
Four heartbeats now.
The ship groaned violently.
The runes flared red.
The sea roared outside.
Something moved beneath us.
Something massive.
Viktor staggered to his feet.
His face twisted in fear.
“The First heard it,” he said.
His voice shoo
k badly.
“We woke it.”
“What is the First?” Dante asked.
The ship lurched hard.
Luna clutched my hand tighter.
Viktor backed away slowly.
“God,” he whispered.
The floor cracked.
The circle shattered.
And from below, a voice rose, ancient and furious.
“Give me the child.”
- Writer
