Chapter Five: Blood In The Snow
910 Words
Snow began falling before dawn.
The Crescent Fang pack didn’t usually see snow this early, but nothing about this season was normal. Not the trials. Not the mate bond. Not the gold-eyed hybrid in my healer’s chamber who may or may not be the monster everyone was whispering about.
I hadn’t slept.
I stood at the ridge where the patrol had been slaughtered , crimson stains painted across the white ground like symbols from a forgotten prophecy.
The survivor, a scout named Tomas, was barely alive when I found him.
“It wasn’t a wolf,” he’d gasped, fingers clawing the air.
“Not human either… it looked like him
“Golden eyes ,fire in its mouth…”
Then he’d passed out, trembling.
And all I could hear was my father’s voice echoing in the back of my mind.
You’ve chosen wrong. And you will pay.
When I returned to the compound, Kieran was sitting up in the healer’s bed, face pale, lips dry. Marella stood beside him, arms crossed.
“He needs rest,” she said. “And answers.”
He looked up at me, eyes searching mine. “You think I did it.”
“I don’t know what to think,” I said honestly.
“You think I snuck out, murdered half a patrol, and crawled back into your bed?”
“I think there’s something inside you,” I said, stepping closer, “that even you don’t understand.”
He flinched.
“Do you feel it?” I asked. “Whatever’s changing?”
He nodded slowly. “It’s like there’s something beneath my skin, clawing its way up. Not wolf. Not vampire. Something older.”
“Older?” I repeated.
He looked up at me with eyes full of fear for the first time. “Something… I think I was never supposed to survive.”
Later that day, the council summoned me.
Not to the Hall of Blood this time. To the catacombs.
That was how I knew it was serious.
When I arrived, only one elder was present. The oldest. The one they called Whisper.
He didn’t speak often ,but when he did, even the Alphas listened.
“I know what your mate is,” he said.
“He’s not a threat,” I replied.
“You don’t know that.”
“He took the oath.”
“And something still changed.”
I didn’t answer.
Whisper turned and motioned toward the carved wall behind him. A mural. One I’d never noticed before. It depicted a creature with a wolf’s body,but serpent eyes and glowing veins.
“This was the first cursed union,” Whisper said. “A mating that created a species we hunted to extinction. They called them the Hollowborn. Born of broken bonds. Creatures of dual blood and no soul.”
“He’s not hollow,” I growled. “He’s more alive than most of your pack.”
He is prophecy,the elder said. And prophecy always demands blood.
When I returned to Kieran, he was sitting in the courtyard, snow dusting his shoulders, shirt unbuttoned, head tilted back as if trying to remember who he used to be.
“I think I dreamed of fire last night,” he said without looking at me.
“There was an attack.”
“I know.”
His voice was calm. Too calm.
“You didn’t do it,” I said.
He turned now. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
He smiled faintly. Then you trust me more than I trust myself.
I walked to him, kneeling in front of where he sat on the frozen stone.
Whatever’s inside you, I said, “it’s not stronger than what we are.”
And what are we, Caleb?
“Bonded.”
He studied me.
“Do you know what I see when I look at you?” he whispered.
I shook my head.
“Someone who was always meant to break rules. Someone who will either lead a new world or die trying.”
That night, a knock came at my door. It wasn’t a guard. It wasn’t Rylan.
It was my father.
He didn’t wait for an invitation. He walked in like he still ruled me. Like I hadn’t taken the oath. Like he didn’t care if I ever did.
“You will end this,” he said. Tonight.
“No.”
I didn’t raise you to lie with men. I didn’t raise you to spit on your bloodline.
No, I repeated, louder now.
You will kill him before the prophecy fulfills itself.
I stood. “I’m not killing my mate.”
You don’t know what he is!
“I don’t need to,” I said. “I chose him.”
He paused at that.
“You’ve never chosen anything,” he said coldly. “You’ve just inherited it.”
Then he left.
But I could feel the warning in his footsteps.
This war was coming.
And it wasn’t just about power.
It was about what Kieran was becoming.
That same night, I found Kieran at the border staring into the woods like he could hear something calling him.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t turn.
Then, softly, he said: I think someone’s hunting me.
“What?”
He exhaled. “And I think I deserve it.”
The snow had only just begun to fall, but I could already feel the blood beneath it ,warm, ancient, and ready to rise again.
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