Chapter 45
1283 Words
The Mark in the Trees
Hailey
The forest swallows them whole.
One moment Kael, Asher, and Zane are standing beside the SUV.
The next, three massive wolves disappear between the towering pines, leaving only Rider and me standing beside the abandoned fuel station.
The silence that follows settles heavily across the clearing.
It creeps beneath my skin.
The old station suddenly feels far too small against the endless forest surrounding us. Rusted fuel pumps stand like forgotten ghosts beneath the fading sunlight while the mountains loom above the treeline, dark and watchful against the evening sky.
Everything feels wrong.
The forest should be alive.
Birds should be calling to one another.
Leaves should rustle.
Small animals should be moving through the undergrowth.
Instead, there is nothing.
Only silence.
And the uncomfortable feeling that something is watching us from beyond the trees.
I wrap my arms around myself and glance toward Rider.
Or rather, his wolf.
The giant charcoal wolf sits beside the SUV like a guardian carved from stone.
His golden eyes never stop moving.
Scanning.
Watching.
Protecting.
I sigh dramatically.
"I should be helping."
One ear flicks in my direction.
That is apparently all the response I get.
"I'm serious."
The wolf remains completely unimpressed.
I narrow my eyes.
"You know I can fight."
He gives me a look.
An actual look.
The kind that somehow manages to say absolutely not without speaking a single word.
My frustration rises immediately.
Not because he's wrong.
Because everyone keeps making decisions for me.
For most of my life, I was the girl without a wolf.
The girl who needed protecting.
The girl who was left behind.
Now I have Selene.
Now I have power.
Yet somehow nothing has changed.
Everyone still wants me safely out of the way while they handle the dangerous parts.
A wave of warmth brushes against my consciousness.
Selene.
The silver wolf appears within my mind, her luminous fur glowing beneath an endless moonlit sky.
She watches me quietly.
You are angry.
I huff.
Very observant.
To my surprise, amusement flickers through our connection.
You wish to run beside them.
Yes.
The answer comes instantly.
Then let me.
For several moments, Selene says nothing.
Then she slowly lowers herself onto her haunches.
Not yet.
The words sting more than I want them to.
Why?
Her silver eyes lift toward the mountains in the distance.
Because something is awake here.
A chill runs down my spine.
Kael
Fenrir moves silently through the forest.
The scent should be here.
It should be everywhere.
Yet the deeper we travel, the more impossible the situation becomes.
Nothing.
No footprints.
No broken branches.
No scent trail.
Nothing.
Every instinct I possess tells me something stood in this forest.
Something watched Hailey.
Something wanted to be seen.
And then it simply vanished.
Beside me, Asher pauses near an ancient pine tree.
His wolf stiffens.
Immediately, I stop.
Zane circles back through the undergrowth.
The playful energy usually surrounding him is completely gone.
All three of us focus on the same thing.
The tree.
At first, I see nothing unusual.
Then the setting sun catches the bark.
My stomach tightens.
Symbols.
Ancient carvings stretch across the trunk, partially hidden beneath decades of moss and growth.
Even from several metres away, I know these aren't clan markings.
These symbols are older.
Far older.
Asher
I shift back into human form immediately.
My heart is already racing.
Carefully, I brush away the moss covering the bark.
More symbols emerge.
Ancient circles.
Moon phases.
Stars.
Runes.
The language is so old that only fragments survive in modern records.
Yet I recognise enough to understand one thing.
This shouldn't exist.
These markings disappeared centuries ago.
Destroyed alongside countless Silvermoon records during the Great Sundering.
Or so everyone believed.
I continue clearing away the moss.
Then my breath catches.
At the centre of the carving sits a crown.
Not just any crown.
The Silvermoon Crown.
The original symbol.
The first royal seal.
The symbol that appeared within the prophecy.
The same symbol discovered amongst the ruins where Hailey was found.
My pulse pounds.
"We need to show her this."
Hailey
The bond reacts before I see them.
Relief suddenly floods through me.
Strong.
Immediate.
Powerful.
Not mine.
Theirs.
I spin toward the treeline.
Three wolves emerge from the shadows.
The tension wrapped around my chest all evening breaks instantly.
Before I realise what I'm doing, I'm already moving.
The distance between us disappears.
The moment Kael shifts back into human form, I throw my arms around him.
For one brief second, he freezes.
Then his arms close around me.
Strong.
Protective.
Certain.
The bond explodes between us.
Relief.
Fear.
Possessiveness.
Affection.
The emotions hit so hard they nearly steal my breath.
For a moment, neither of us moves.
Neither of us speaks.
I hadn't realised how frightened I was until now.
Slowly, Kael rests his forehead against mine.
"You should be furious with me."
The corner of my mouth lifts.
"Why?"
"Because I left you behind."
I laugh softly.
"Trust me. I am."
To my surprise, he laughs too.
The sound is low and warm and entirely too attractive.
Behind him, Zane makes a dramatic choking noise.
"Oh good. The emotional staring has started."
I pull away immediately.
My face burns.
Zane grins.
"Don't stop on my account."
Asher looks equally amused.
Even Rider's wolf appears suspiciously entertained.
Traitors.
Every single one of them.
Hailey
The mood shifts when Asher shows us the photographs.
The moment I see the symbol, every trace of humour vanishes.
Recognition slams into me.
The crown.
The moon.
The circles.
I've seen it before.
Not in a book.
Not in a story.
In my dreams.
The ruins.
The ancient altar.
The place Garrick found me.
The place my parents left me.
My pulse begins racing.
"I know this symbol."
The clearing falls silent.
Kael immediately turns toward me.
"Where?"
"The ruins."
The words barely leave my mouth before the atmosphere changes completely.
Because suddenly every piece begins connecting.
The prophecy.
The ruins.
The Crescent Vault.
The figure in the forest.
They were never separate mysteries.
They are all part of the same story.
My story.
Hailey
Night falls quickly in the mountains.
The brothers build a fire beside the SUV while darkness swallows the surrounding forest.
For the first time all day, I find myself sitting between them.
Rider beside me.
Zane stretched across a camping chair.
Asher studying the symbols on his tablet.
Kael watching the darkness beyond the firelight.
The warmth surrounding me feels unfamiliar.
Comforting.
Safe.
For most of my life, I never had this.
Never had people who chose me.
Who worried about me.
Who would walk into danger without hesitation if it meant keeping me safe.
Emotion tightens unexpectedly in my chest.
Perhaps sensing it, Rider reaches over and gently squeezes my hand.
The gesture is small.
Simple.
Yet it says more than words ever could.
The bond hums warmly.
Home.
The realization hits me so suddenly it almost hurts.
These men have become my home.
Then Selene rises.
The warmth disappears.
Fear crashes through our connection.
Ancient.
Primal.
Terrifying.
I sit upright immediately.
The brothers notice at once.
Every conversation stops.
Every pair of eyes turns toward me.
Selene?
The silver wolf stands rigid inside my mind.
Staring toward the mountains.
Toward the darkness.
Toward something I cannot see.
When she finally speaks, her voice sounds ancient.
Haunted.
The door is opening.
Ice floods my veins.
What door?
For the first time since meeting her, I hear genuine fear in her voice.
Wake them.
My heart stops.
Why?
Selene's ears flatten.
A growl rumbles through our bond.
Because something is coming.
- Writer
