Chapter5
1454 Words
I didn’t sleep after I walked away from Kael.
Not because I was shaken—but because I wasn’t.
That scared me more.
I should have fallen apart. I should have cried. But I didn’t feel like the girl who once loved him. I felt like a storm waiting for its break.
The old version of me would’ve run.
But I didn’t come back to run.
I came to bury what was left between us.
And maybe—if I could—burn what he built without me.
****
At sunrise, Ryker was already awake, sharpening a knife near the fire. He didn’t ask questions when he saw my face. Just handed me a cup of hot tea.
“You saw him,” he said.
I nodded.
He didn’t look surprised. “Did he know it was you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you want him to?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
But I did.
I wanted him to see what he lost.
Ryker watched me for a long moment, then said, “You don’t need to prove anything to him.”
“I’m not,” I said.
He stared into the flames. “You’re proving something to yourself.”
*****
We spent the morning near the southern edge of the territory, watching from the hills. The Nightfang warriors were organizing again. The courtyard filled with movement—shields, swords, commands yelled across stone walls.
Kael was preparing for a war that hadn’t started yet.
Maybe he knew I was the one bringing it.
Ryker leaned closer to me. “He’s restless.”
“So am I.”
He looked at me, long and quiet. “You could leave. We both could. Right now.”
“I know.”
“We’ve already won in a way,” he said. “You’re alive. You’re stronger. You didn’t break.”
I swallowed.
“But I’m not done,” I said softly. “Not yet.”
****
That evening, I slipped back into the village, cloaked in shadow.
Not for Kael.
Not even for Sariah.
I went for answers.
The council house had been converted into Sariah’s meeting hall. I knew the guard schedules. I remembered the window near the back that stuck when it rained.
It still did.
I climbed through and crouched behind the curtain.
Inside, Sariah stood at the table, flanked by two of her allies. A man I didn’t recognize leaned in, whispering fast.
“Are you sure it’s her?” he asked.
“I saw Kael last night,” Sariah hissed. “He looked like someone punched through his chest. It’s her.”
“Then she’s a problem,” the man said.
“She was always a problem.”
“And you think she’ll try to reclaim her title?”
“She might not have to,” Sariah whispered, lowering her voice. “Kael’s starting to look at me like he knows I don’t belong here.”
My heart pounded in my ears.
“She’s got power behind her,” the man said. “People are whispering. She helped that sick child. Half the market saw her face.”
“She should’ve stayed dead,” Sariah said.
Then something in her face shifted. Colder. Sharper.
“But if she didn’t… maybe it’s time we fix that.”
****
I left without making a sound.
Back at the cave, Ryker sat waiting, his jaw tense.
“They’re planning something,” I said.
“What kind of something?”
“The kind where I stop breathing.”
He stood immediately. “Then we don’t wait. We leave tonight.”
“No.”
“Elara—”
“I need to see Kael again.”
He stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “What for? Closure?”
“No. The truth.”
****
I found Kael training alone in the west field near dusk. He was shirtless, sweat clinging to his skin, blade flashing as he moved.
I watched from the edge, hidden behind a broken post.
His form was flawless.
He’d gotten stronger.
But the pain in his face—underneath all of it—was still raw.
Like a wound that never healed.
“You’re following me now?” I said as I stepped into the light.
Kael turned sharply, blade half-raised.
Then lowered it.
“Elara.”
I walked toward him, slowly. No fear. No hurry.
“I thought I should see you in daylight,” I said. “Just to make sure you’re real.”
“I am.”
“Shame.”
He exhaled, wiped his face with a towel. “Why are you here?”
“You already know.”
“Closure?”
“No,” I said. “Judgment.”
He blinked.
“I want to look at the man who chose comfort over courage. Who let a girl fall alone. Who crowned a snake and called her queen.”
He took a step toward me. “I made a mistake—”
“You made a choice,” I said again. “And you chose wrong.”
Silence stretched between us.
Then he whispered, “Do you hate me?”
I paused.
“No,” I said. “But I don’t love you either.”
That truth seemed to hurt worse than a blade.
****
We sat in silence for a few minutes on the edge of the old fountain near the training yard. The same one we used to sneak to after meetings.
Kael looked down at his hands.
“I never stopped thinking about you.”
“I did,” I said.
He looked at me.
I met his eyes. “You were my mate. My future. And then you became a memory I had to burn out of me one piece at a time.”
“I was scared,” he said. “When I thought you died, I didn’t know how to move forward. I let Sariah control everything because I didn’t know who I was without you.”
I didn’t blink. “Now you get to find out who you are with me alive.”
He reached out then—fingers brushing mine.
Just a little.
Just enough.
I didn’t pull away.
But I didn’t hold on either.
And I think that hurt him more.
****
I left before the sun fully dipped.
Ryker was waiting at the edge of the woods, his posture tight, eyes dark.
“You saw him again,” he said.
“I did.”
“What did he say?”
“That he still thinks about me.”
Ryker looked away. “And do you believe him?”
“Yes.”
He nodded slowly.
“You don’t have to choose anything now,” he said. “But if you stay near him too long, he might make you forget why you left.”
I stepped closer.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Ryker turned. His voice low.
“I don’t want to be second to a man who didn’t fight for you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
But I knew this—Ryker never had to say he loved me.
He proved it in the way he never once let me walk alone.
****
We returned to the cave just before moonrise.
I barely had time to light the fire when the sound hit me.
A scream.
Not just any scream.
A howl.
One of our lookouts.
Ryker was already moving. “Something’s wrong.”
We raced up the slope toward the northern watch post.
A figure stumbled into view—one of our own.
Bleeding.
He fell into Ryker’s arms.
“What happened?” Ryker asked.
The man gasped. “They… ambushed us.”
“Who?”
The man looked at me. Eyes wild.
“They weren’t Nightfang.”
I froze. “Then who—?”
But before he could answer, he went limp.
Dead.
Ryker laid him down, his hands shaking.
“I don’t like this,” he said. “It’s too clean. Too fast.”
I looked at the torn fabric in the man’s hand.
Black. Embroidered.
Not Nightfang.
Then I saw the symbol stitched into the cloth.
A wolf’s fang. Split down the center.
That mark hadn’t been seen in over ten years.
I whispered it aloud.
“Blackveil.”
Ryker’s face turned white.
“No one’s seen them since the Southern War.”
“They were wiped out,” I said.
“No,” Ryker said. “They disappeared. There’s a difference.”
We looked at each other.
And then I knew:
This wasn’t just about Kael.
Or me.
Someone else had been watching.
And now… they were coming for all of us.
- Writer
