Chapter 12: Beneath the Bone Tree
816 Words
War never knocks politely.
It howls.
And this morning, it came riding with the sunrise—ten squadrons of royal guard, black banners waving, wolves armored and merciless.
Kael’s camp stood ready in the valley. Luna stood at his side, dressed in hunter black, her daggers gleaming with wolfsbane oil.
There was no time for words.
Only action.
The first clash hit like thunder.
Luna moved like smoke through the field—fast, lethal, beautiful. She cut through soldiers like shadows through fire. Each move was precise, efficient, honed by years of discipline and vengeance.
She didn’t look for Kael.
She didn’t need to.
He was somewhere nearby—howling, ripping, leading.
But war doesn’t choose favorites.
The silver arrow came from the ridge.
Luna didn’t see it.
She only felt it—
The punch through her side, just below the ribs, hot and wrong and burning.
She stumbled.
A second arrow grazed her thigh.
She fell behind a dead tree, breathing ragged.
Blood soaked her fingers.
The silver sizzled in her flesh.
Everything was blurred.
And then—nothing.
She woke up in a dream.
It was raining ash.
A field of bones stretched to the horizon, white and silent, and in the center a single tree, twisted and massive, its roots clutching the skulls of wolves.
The Bone Tree.
She knew it.
Knew it is like memory.
Kael stood beneath it, younger again, but strong, eyes full of longing.
“You came back,” he said.
She moved toward him slowly, the wind tugging at her hair.
“I never left.”
His hand reached out.
And when she touched it, the mark on her wrist burned gold.
“You remember,” he whispered.
“Yes.”
He pulled her into his arms.
They didn’t speak again.
They didn’t need to.
He kissed her like she’d been stolen from him a thousand times.
And she kissed him like he was her first breath after drowning.
Her dress slipped from her shoulders.
His hands spread across her back, down to her hips.
Their bodies met like storm and flame.
She gasped when he entered her, his thrust slow, aching, as if trying to memorize the feel of her from every life.
The Bone Tree pulsed above them.
Its roots trembled.
Its branches bent toward them.
Kael kissed her mouth, her throat, her chest.
Then, as she reached her climax—eyes wide, breath broken—
he bit her.
Right over the bond mark.
And the world turned to light.
She woke up screaming.
Kael was crouched over her, blood on his hands, face twisted in terror.
“Luna—Luna, breathe!”
Her mouth opened, but no words came.
Only a gasp.
He crushed her into his arms.
“You were gone—you were gone for too long—”
“I saw it,” she whispered.
His arms stiffened.
“The Bone Tree". The bite. Our first life.”
Kael went still.
“It’s real,” she said.
“I know.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead.
“I couldn’t mark you before,” he whispered. “But now…”
He carried her—wounded, weak, half-dreaming—into the woods.
And there, beyond the battlefield, in a clearing untouched by time…
The Bone Tree stood.
Black. Twisted. Eternal.
Kael laid her at its roots.
“I remember what this means,” he said.
“So do I.”
He undressed her slowly, reverently.
Her skin still bore the burn of silver. He kissed each wound.
Then he bared himself.
Their bodies met again—hot, bruised, feverish with need.
He didn’t take her with rage.
He took her with devotion.
She moaned as he filled her, arching into him, eyes locked.
The moon rose above the tree.
And Kael leaned down.
“This time,” he said, “I won’t stop.”
She nodded.
And he bit.
Her cry echoed through the clearing.
Pain bloomed. Then heat. Then bond.
It slammed through her like lightning, like love, like surrender.
They climaxed together—shaking, panting, teeth and nails and blood and soul.
When it was over, the mark on her shoulder glowed.
Not silver.
Not gold.
But red.
Blood-bound.
Fated.
They lay beneath the Bone Tree, still connected, still pulsing.
Kael kissed her hair.
“I belong to you now,” he said. “In every life.”
She smiled against his skin.
“And I’ll fight for you in every war.”
But peace didn’t last.
Not for them.
Not in this world.
From the north, a scout arrived.
Pale. Bleeding.
“Your father rides,” he gasped. “The true king.
And he brings the black wolves.”
Kael stood slowly, fire in his eyes.
Luna rose beside him.
“We fight,” she said.
He turned to her.
“No,” he said.
“We lead.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD