CHAPTER FIVE
1053 Words
I didn’t breathe. Not when I saw him.
Kai.
Bruised. Bleeding. His head bowed. Chains shackled him to a post carved with runes that glowed a sickly green. His shirt was ripped, his face hollow, but he was alive.
And he was in pain.
I surged forward without thinking.
Lucien caught me instantly, one hand over my mouth, the other wrapping around my waist, yanking me back into the shadows.
“Are you insane?” he hissed into my ear. “They’ll kill him if they know we’re here.”
Tears burned my eyes as I struggled against him. “He’s right there,” I whispered. “We can’t just watch.”
Lucien let go, eyes scanning the clearing below. “There are at least six witches in that circle. All blood-bound. And that…” He pointed to the glowing rune under Kai’s feet. “That’s a soul seal. The second we step past the barrier, it’ll activate.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’ll burn him from the inside out.”
My knees buckled.
Lucien caught me before I hit the ground and gently lowered me to sit behind the stone wall. “Hey,” he said, voice lower now, calmer. “We’re going to get him out. I swear it.”
“How?” I asked, shaking. “Magic? You said you don’t use it.”
“I don’t,” he said. “But you do.”
I blinked. “What?”
Lucien placed his palm gently against my chest, over my heart. “Whatever’s inside you—it’s ancient. It flared during the ritual. I felt it. You may not be trained, but that power is yours. And tonight, you’re going to use it.”
“Lucien, I don’t know how—”
“You don’t need to know. You just need to feel. I’ll guide you.”
His hand moved to my temple, warm and grounding. “Close your eyes.”
I obeyed.
“Picture your brother,” he said. “Not how he looks now. Picture him whole. Strong. Happy. That version of him—that truth—is still alive in the bond you share. Focus on it.”
I took a deep breath. The world faded.
I saw Kai—laughing as he chased me through the forest years ago. I saw him braiding my hair on rainy nights. I saw him singing badly while washing dishes, his voice cracking. I saw love.
And something inside me snapped open.
Magic.
Bright, raw, and furious.
I gasped as golden light rushed through my limbs. My skin glowed faintly. The bond between me and Lucien pulsed. His eyes widened as he stepped back.
“You’re glowing,” he muttered. “Like a damn goddess.”
I rose to my feet, heart pounding.
“Then let’s burn them down.”
We moved fast.
Lucien shifted first—his bones cracking, fur exploding from his skin. His beast form was even more terrifying in person. A huge black wolf with red eyes, claws like daggers, and a snarl that made the ground tremble.
He launched into the clearing, tearing through two witches before they even raised a hand.
The others screamed.
But I was already moving. Light surged around me like a shield. I stepped past the rune barrier—and it didn’t react. The magic inside me pulsed louder, stronger. The soul seal cracked beneath my feet.
One witch shrieked and pointed. “It’s her! The marked one!”
Too late.
My hands lifted. I didn’t know the spell. But I didn’t need to. My blood knew.
Golden fire shot from my fingers, blasting through the circle. Runes shattered. The witches scattered, screaming as the power tore through their false magic.
Lucien—bloody, massive, glorious—stood protectively in front of Kai, snarling.
I ran to my brother.
He looked up—eyes glassy. “Aria?” he rasped.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered. “I’m here.”
I knelt and touched the cuffs holding him.
They hissed against my skin, but the moment I focused, the locks clicked open. The shackles fell.
Kai collapsed into my arms, sobbing. “I thought I was dead.”
I held him tighter. “You’re not. Not while I’m alive.”
Lucien shifted back into human form—naked, of course, except for blood and dirt smeared down his arms. He didn’t care. He walked over, eyes scanning us both.
“We need to leave. Now.”
I nodded.
Together, we carried Kai back through the woods, Lucien leading the way, his blade dripping blood and magic behind him.
Hours later, back at the estate, Kai slept in a secured room with a healer watching over him. Lucien stood beside me on the balcony, watching the sunrise bleed into the sky.
“You saved him,” I said softly.
“No,” he replied, voice low. “You did.”
I glanced at him. “That power… it felt like fire. Like I could break the world open.”
He nodded. “It’s older than wolf magic. I don’t know what you are yet, Aria. But whatever it is, the world’s going to want you. Some will want to worship you. Others will want to cage you.”
“And you?” I asked.
He looked at me, eyes glowing. “I want to stand beside you when you burn it all down.”
My breath caught.
His voice softened. “You’re not just mine anymore. I’m yours.”
I didn’t answer. I stepped closer.
He didn’t kiss me—not yet. But his hand brushed mine, and the silence between us said all the things we weren’t ready to admit.
Yet.
I didn’t remember falling asleep, yet I woke up wrapped in silk sheets, the scent of pine and smoke lingering around me. For a moment, I thought it had all been a dream—that the mysterious black-suited men, the blood, the biting pain, the golden-eyed stranger—none of it had happened. But then I moved, and my body screamed with soreness. My shoulder still throbbed, though the wound had been carefully bandaged. My wrists bore faint bruises, a reminder of the struggle I had long given up in that alley.
- Writer
