Chapter 15: The Blood Memory
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đź“– Chapter 15: The Blood Memory
Part 1: The Forbidden Rites
The Alpha Hall was silent—eerily so—as I entered its sacred archive chamber.
The elders kept records here that were older than our pack’s name.
I shouldn’t have been able to enter.
But the door creaked open before I touched it.
As if something wanted me inside.
Scrolls. Seals. Runes carved in obsidian.
In the farthest corner: a leather-bound book wrapped in thorned vine.
The Rites of Twin Flame Binding.
I opened it with shaking hands.
> When the soul is split, the blood must decide.
Only the mother may call the halves whole again.
But she must pay in memory, or in life.
Below that, a diagram: a twin circle. One side white, one side black. A boy in the center. A mother between.
Liam.
And me.
I stared at the drawing for too long.
Then I heard it.
A child’s laughter—echoing from the walls.
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đź“– Chapter 15: The Blood Memory
Part 2: Marissa’s Secret
I took the book to the only person who might understand its truth.
Marissa.
She met me in the Moon Garden, the only place where the Grove couldn’t hear us.
“You shouldn’t have found that book,” she said quietly.
“You knew about this,” I whispered.
Her silence was answer enough.
“You were there that night, weren’t you?” I asked.
She looked away. “I held you both.”
“You chose me.”
“I followed orders.”
“Whose?”
She turned, face pale. “Mother’s.”
Our mother—dead for years—had made the call. Chosen which twin would live in light… and which in shadow.
“She said one would bring greatness,” Marissa murmured. “The other would bring ruin.”
My voice cracked. “You thought I was greatness?”
“No,” she said, softly. “You were the mistake.”
I staggered back.
Marissa held out the book.
“If you want to fix this—prepare to lose the only thing left that’s truly yours.”
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đź“– Chapter 15: The Blood Memory
Part 3: The Circle of Cuts
That night, I took the book to the Grove.
Liam lay in the center of the ritual ring, his body glowing faintly, his soul flickering between mine and Lyra’s.
The twin circle had been drawn in ash and blood.
I stepped into it barefoot.
The text said:
“Bleed on the past to reclaim the future.”
I made the first cut across my palm.
Drip.
Then the second, over my heart.
Drip.
The blood sizzled on the stone, forming twin symbols—one for Aurora, one for Lyra.
I cried out, body shaking.
“You can't take both of us,” I yelled into the darkness.
Lyra appeared.
But she looked… afraid.
“He’s not mine anymore,” she whispered. “She took him.”
“Who?”
A shadow formed beside her.
Aurelia.
She smiled.
“I didn’t just want your son,” she hissed. “I want your name. Your face. Your place.”
Lyra looked at me with wide, guilty eyes.
“She lied to me,” she said. “I thought I was avenging us.”
And with that—
Aurelia stepped into the circle.
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đź“– Chapter 15: The Blood Memory
Part 4: All That’s Left
The circle shattered.
The air howled.
Liam floated in midair, crying out.
Aurelia screamed, reaching for him.
“No!” I roared, stepping between them.
Her hands burned my shoulders, but I held firm.
“You don't belong here,” I said.
“I do,” she snarled. “You stole my chance to live.”
“I didn’t choose!” I cried. “But I’ll fight to fix it.”
I pressed my bleeding hand to Liam’s chest.
“Remember me,” I whispered.
His eyes fluttered open.
“Mama?”
The Grove roared.
Aurelia shrieked and dissolved into black wind, flung back into the trees.
Lyra vanished.
And Liam collapsed into my arms—alive.
He saw me. He knew me.
But I could already feel it.
Something inside me was gone.
A part of me… lost forever.
The price had been paid.
But the debt?
Not even close to over.
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🩸 Teaser – Chapter 16: The Girl with My Face
Liam is safe—but strange things begin happening in the packhouse.
Mirrors crack.
People see Aurora in places she hasn’t been.
And worst of all—someone else is wearing her face.
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