The Fifth Howl

Chapter 8 The Mark

I woke up because someone was staring at me.

Not in the creepy Seraphina-watching-me-sleep-to-mock-my-dreams way. In the heavy, warm way that made Lyra stretch and purr.

Four someones.

Kade was in the armchair by the window, fully dressed again, black uniform perfect, like he hadn't slept. His grey eyes were on me. Shadows pooled at his feet, and they were definitely, absolutely wrapped around the edge of my blanket nest.

Jaxon was lying on the floor right next to the nest, on his stomach, chin in his hands, amber eyes bright. He was shirtless. The fire marks on his back - tribal swirls that used to be orange - were glowing violet at the edges, pulsing with my breathing.

Rhys was leaning against the doorframe, book closed on his lap. He wasn't reading. He was watching me breathe.

Silas was closest. He was sitting on the floor with his back against the nest, close enough that I could reach out and touch his silver hair. He was asleep, but his hand was resting palm-up next to my blanket, like an offering.

"What... what time is it?" I mumbled, voice hoarse.

Jaxon grinned. "Morning. You snore."

"I do not!"

"You do. Little god snores. It's cute."

Kade stood abruptly. "You all need to get out. She needs to change. And the Council's envoy arrives at noon."

"Envoy?" I sat up, clutching the blanket. Kade's shirt was still huge on me, slipping off one shoulder again. All four eyes dropped to that shoulder.

Rhys cleared his throat, ears pink. "Elder Thorne sent a messenger at dawn. The High Council is sending an Inquisitor. Not a councilman. An Inquisitor of the White Temple."

Silas woke up at that word, eyes snapping open.

"White Temple?" I asked. "Like the priests who-"

"Who split Lyra," Silas finished quietly, looking at me over his shoulder. His silver eyes were worried. "They are not wolves. They are something older. They don't have wolves. They have... silence."

The room went cold.

Jaxon sat up, all jokes gone. "They can't take her. The White Temple takes anomalies and they never come back. My cousin-"

"They will not take her," Kade cut in, sharp. "We are Quad. We have right of asylum claim."

Rhys shook his head. "Right of asylum only works if we can prove the Tether is complete. It's not. It's only... resonance. If the Inquisitor proves she's a vessel and not a true Fifth, they can nullify her."

Nullify. The word they used for wolfless pups who went feral. Put down.

My claws shot out without thinking, shredding the blanket. "I'm not going back to being blank."

"Hey, hey, no," Jaxon was instantly in the nest with me, grabbing my hands before I hurt myself, fire warm against my cold claws. "No one is nullifying anyone. We'll figure it out. Rhys is just being Rhys. Scary-smart and scary-pessimistic."

Rhys ignored him and walked over, kneeling by the nest. He reached out slowly, telegraphing every move, and gently touched my temple with two fingers.

"May I?" he asked. "I want to show you, not tell you."

I nodded.

The second his skin touched mine, the world tilted.

I wasn't in the Tower anymore.

I was in my own head, but it was a place now. A huge, dark forest under a violet eclipse. In the middle, a giant white wolf - Lyra - chained to a stone altar with four chains made of shadow, fire, mind, and soul.

Each chain led out into the darkness, where four smaller wolves sat, howling, trying to get to her.

One shadow wolf with grey eyes - Kade.

One fire wolf with amber eyes - Jaxon.

One mind wolf with blue eyes - Rhys.

One soul wolf with silver eyes - Silas.

And me. I was standing in the middle, human, small, with my hands on Lyra's muzzle.

"Do you see?" Rhys's voice echoed in the forest. He was standing next to me here too, his mind-form glowing blue. "We are not complete. The chains are still there. The ritual that split her is still active. To break it..."

"To break it we need to..." I looked at the chains.

"Mark," Lyra said, her huge voice rumbling the trees. "You must mark them as I marked you, little light. And they must mark you. A true Tether needs five marks. Body, soul, mind, shadow, fire. Five becoming one again."

I snapped back to the Tower with a gasp.

Rhys's fingers were still on my temple, but now his own marks - delicate silver swirls behind his ears - were glowing bright violet. His eyes were wide.

"What did you see?" Kade demanded.

"I saw the chains," I whispered. "We have to... we have to mark each other."

Silence.

The kind of silence that follows a bomb.

Jaxon choked. "Mark? Like... bite mark mark? Like Luna mark?"

Silas looked like he might faint, but in a happy way.

Kade's shadows slammed into the ceiling. "Absolutely not. She is nineteen, she just manifested, she has not even had a heat, she cannot-"

"She has to," Rhys said quietly, but his ears were red. "The Inquisitor will test the Tether. If there is no mark, they will declare it false and take her. A mark is proof of a god-bond. They cannot touch a marked Fifth. It's ancient law, even older than the Temple."

I looked down at my hands. My claws were gone, but my veins glowed faintly violet.

"How... how do you mark?" I asked, voice small.

Four boys looked at each other.

Jaxon, ever helpful: "Usually the Alpha bites the Luna's neck, she bites back if she accepts, exchange of blood, wolf recognizes... it's kinda hot, not gonna lie, a little biting-"

"I will do it," Silas said suddenly.

Everyone stared at him.

He turned, kneeling in front of me, his silver hair falling forward. He gently pushed it back, exposing his pale neck. His pulse was fluttering like a bird.

"I am Soul," he whispered. "I should be first. If it hurts you, I can take the pain. If the Temple says it's wrong, let them punish me first."

My heart broke.

Before I could answer, Kade growled, low and dangerous, and grabbed Silas by the shoulder, pulling him back.

"No. If anyone marks first, it will be me. I am the strongest. If it kills her, it will kill me, not you."

"It will not kill her!" Rhys snapped, standing up. "Goddess, you two are acting like she's going to die from a bite! It's a bond mark, not an execution!"

"Then you do it, Mind-boy!" Jaxon shouted.

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you're the only one of us who reads the Kama Sutra of Wolf Bonds for fun!"

"I DO NOT READ-"

I started laughing. I couldn't help it. Four god-heirs, the most feared boys in the continent, arguing about who gets to bite me like boys fighting over who gets the last bread roll.

Lyra was laughing too, howling with joy.

Choose, little light. But choose with heart, not fear.

I looked at Silas, offering his neck.

At Jaxon, burning for me.

At Rhys, trying to be logical while his hands shook.

At Kade, who would take death for me even though he pretended not to care.

I reached out.

My hand hovered...