Chapter 4: The Awakening
891 Words
đź“– Chapter 4: The Awakening
Part 1: Fire in His Blood
Liam’s scream shattered the quiet.
One moment, he was nestled between us—small, sleepy, safe. The next, his body arched like lightning had struck him from the inside.
“Liam!” I grabbed his shoulders, but his skin burned like flame.
Axel was already beside us, eyes glowing, instincts kicking in. “His wolf is surfacing,” he growled. “Too soon. Someone’s triggered it—forcefully.”
My son thrashed in my arms, eyes wide and golden. Not just glowing—bleeding light.
He cried out again, clutching his chest. “It hurts, Mommy! It’s loud! So loud inside!”
Axel cursed under his breath. “They’ve done something to his bloodline. Someone’s tampered with it.”
“What do you mean?” I whispered, panic rising.
“I mean this isn’t natural. His wolf—it's not just waking up early. It’s being dragged out.”
Liam’s tiny hands reached for us, nails sharpening into faint claws. A soft growl built in his throat.
“No, no, baby—stay with me,” I begged, my voice shaking.
But Liam was slipping.
Into instinct.
Into pain.
Into something neither of us could stop.
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đź“– Chapter 4: The Awakening
Part 2: The Bloodbond Ritual
Axel pulled Liam from my arms, holding him like he might fall apart. “There’s only one way to stop this before it consumes him.”
“What are you talking about?” I shouted.
“The bond ritual. He needs anchoring. It’s risky, but it’s better than letting the wolf take full control.”
“But he’s just a boy!”
Axel met my eyes. “He’s not just a boy. He’s ours. That means he’s born of two bloodlines strong enough to rip this world in half. If we don’t help him now, he won’t survive this awakening.”
He knelt in the circle of salt and ash he’d drawn—already prepared.
Like he knew this might happen.
He bit into his wrist and let the blood drip into the dirt, then pulled a dagger from his belt.
“Wait—what are you doing with that?”
“He needs both halves of us. He needs your blood too.”
My hand trembled as I took the blade.
But for my son… I would bleed rivers.
I cut my palm, and together, our blood met in the dirt—smoke rising as it hissed.
Liam stilled.
Then screamed again—louder. Deeper.
Like a wolf finding its lungs for the first time.
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đź“– Chapter 4: The Awakening
Part 3: The Mark Appears
His howl shattered the silence. It echoed like thunder cracking open the world.
Liam collapsed forward into Axel’s chest, panting, shivering… and suddenly silent.
I crawled to them, hands shaking. “Is he—?”
“He’s breathing,” Axel said, his voice low with awe.
I looked down at our son.
There, on his shoulder, glowed a symbol I’d never seen before.
Not a claw.
Not a crescent.
But a spiral of flame wrapped in thorns.
“What is that?” I whispered.
Axel’s face paled. “It’s the mark of the Crimson Fang.”
“The rogue bloodline?”
“No… something worse. They were wiped out decades ago. Or so we thought.”
“Are you saying Liam’s part of that line?”
“No,” Axel said slowly. “I’m saying someone has marked him with it. Someone who wants to claim him.”
The room grew cold.
And in that moment, I realized something terrifying.
Liam hadn’t just been hunted.
He’d been chosen.
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đź“– Chapter 4: The Awakening
Part 4: The Stranger in the Woods
Night fell fast.
We couldn’t stay in the cabin anymore. Axel buried the ritual items and wiped the floors, covering every trace.
I held Liam tight, his head resting on my chest, finally asleep again.
But I couldn’t stop staring at the mark on his shoulder.
That spiral burned itself into my mind.
As we slipped through the forest to find another hideout, the wind picked up—sharp and whispering.
“Do you feel that?” I asked.
Axel sniffed the air. “We’re not alone.”
Before I could respond, a dark figure stepped onto the trail ahead.
Tall. Hooded. His eyes glowing red beneath the shadows.
“I’ve come for the boy,” the stranger said calmly.
“No need for a fight… yet.”
Axel growled, stepping in front of us. “Over my dead body.”
The stranger tilted his head.
“That’s the idea.”
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– Chapter 5: The Rogue Prince
Blood has been spilled. Power awakened.
But now the truth comes slithering out of the shadows—along with the one who marked Liam from the beginning.
He’s not just a rogue.
He’s royalty.
And Liam is the key to reclaiming a throne built on violence and fear.
As Axel faces off with the unthinkable and Aurora’s trust is pushed to its limits, alliances will break, loyalties will be tested…
And Liam?
He might not want to stay with the parents who couldn’t protect him from the darkness inside him.
Chapter 5: The Rogue Prince
When blood calls blood… not even fate can break the chain.
- Writer
