CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE TRUTH WRITTEN IN HER BLOOD
1126 Words
he howl was still echoing in Seraphina’s bones when Kael finally spoke.
It wasn’t the sound itself that terrified her it was what followed.
The way the forest went unnaturally silent.
The way even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
And the way Kael looked at her.
Not as an Alpha surveying a threat.
Not as a warrior preparing for battle.
But as a man standing at the edge of something he could no longer control.
“What was that?” Seraphina asked again, her voice steadier than she felt.
Kael’s jaw tightened. His gaze flicked toward the shattered doorway, then back to her. The glow in his eyes hadn’t faded it had deepened, sharpened, like molten gold restrained behind iron.
“Not here,” he said.
“Kael”
“I said not here.”
Alpha command wasn’t in his tone this time.
Fear was.
Seraphina wrapped her arms around herself as the air around them shifted. The bond between them pulsed tight, restless, almost frantic like it was urging them to move.
To hide.
To prepare.
Kael turned sharply, issuing rapid orders as Blackthorn warriors re-entered the ruined hall.
“Double the perimeter. Iron wards at the cliffs. No one leaves the territory.”
One of the warriors hesitated. “Alpha… that sound”
“Was not a question,” Kael snapped.
The warrior bowed and retreated.
Kael reached for Seraphina’s wrist. She flinched not away, but in surprise. His grip wasn’t rough. It was grounding.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere warded.”
She followed him through the inner corridors of the stronghold, their footsteps echoing against stone walls etched with ancient runes. The deeper they went, the heavier the air became charged with old magic and memory.
Seraphina’s chest tightened.
This place remembers.
They stopped before a sealed chamber carved directly into the mountain rock. Kael pressed his palm to the door. The runes flared briefly, then parted with a low groan.
Inside, the room was circular, bare except for a stone platform at its center. Moonlight filtered down through a narrow opening in the ceiling, illuminating sigils burned deep into the floor.
Seraphina stepped inside and felt it immediately.
Power.
It coiled around her ankles like smoke, warm and alive.
“This place…” she whispered. “It reacts to me.”
Kael closed the door behind them. “That’s why we’re here.”
She turned to him slowly. “You knew.”
“I suspected,” he corrected. “I hoped I was wrong.”
Her heart thudded. “Suspected what?”
Kael exhaled, the sound heavy. He stepped closer, then stopped—like he was afraid of crossing some invisible line.
“What you are,” he said carefully, “was erased from our histories.”
“That’s comforting,” she muttered bitterly.
“This isn’t sarcasm,” he said. “This is survival.”
The bond stirred, urging honesty. Pressuring him.
Kael closed his eyes briefly, then opened them.
“Before packs,” he began, “before Alpha hierarchies and territorial law, there were catalysts.”
Seraphina’s skin prickled.
“They weren’t rulers,” he continued. “They weren’t warriors. They were… balance. Their blood stabilized power. Prevented collapse. Without them, the world fractured into dominance and submission.”
She swallowed. “And you’re saying…”
“You carry that bloodline.”
The words landed like a blow.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s not possible.”
“It is,” Kael said softly. “And tonight proved it.”
Seraphina shook her head, pacing the edge of the chamber. “You’re telling me the world reacts to me. That packs would kill for me. That something ancient is waking up because of me.”
“Yes.”
Her laugh was sharp and brittle. “So what am I supposed to do? Apologize?”
Kael took a step toward her. “You’re supposed to survive.”
She spun to face him. “By hiding?”
“By choosing,” he countered.
She stared at him. “Choosing what?”
Kael’s voice dropped. “Choosing who stands beside you.”
The bond surged violently, heat flooding her chest. She staggered back as silver light flickered faintly beneath her skin.
Kael cursed under his breath. “It’s accelerating.”
“What is?”
“The awakening.”
Fear crawled up her spine. “You said it was erased. Why?”
“Because catalysts were uncontrollable,” he admitted. “Because they didn’t submit. Because councils feared what couldn’t be ruled.”
Seraphina’s hands curled into fists. “So they wiped us out.”
“Yes.”
Silence fell.
Her voice came out hoarse. “And now?”
Kael didn’t hesitate. “Now they’ll come for you.”
The chamber trembled faintly, as if the mountain itself was listening.
Seraphina felt it then the pull. Not toward Kael.
Toward the forest.
Toward the thing that had howled her name without words.
“It’s calling me,” she whispered.
Kael stiffened. “Don’t listen.”
“I can’t not hear it.”
He reached for her. “Seraphina”
She gasped as the bond flared, pain slicing through her veins like fire. She cried out, collapsing to one knee as symbols burned bright beneath her skin.
Kael was at her side instantly, holding her, anchoring her.
“Stay with me,” he growled. “Fight it.”
“I don’t know how!” she cried.
The power surged again stronger this time. Images flooded her mind: ancient stones, blood-soaked earth, wolves bowing not in submission, but in recognition.
She saw herself standing at the center of it all.
Not as prey.
As judgment.
Kael’s voice broke through the vision. “Look at me.”
She did.
His eyes burned not with dominance, but devotion.
“You are not alone,” he said fiercely. “Not now. Not ever.”
Her breathing slowed slightly.
The trembling stopped.
For a moment, the power receded.
Kael rested his forehead against hers, voice low. “Whatever you are becoming… we face it together.”
The bond settled temporary, fragile.
Then the wards shattered.
The chamber exploded with light as an ancient force slammed against the mountain, power roaring through the runes like fire through dry grass.
Kael spun, shifting mid-motion as the ground cracked beneath them.
Outside, the forest screamed.
Seraphina felt it fully now no denial left.
The ancient presence had arrived.
And it wasn’t here to kill her.
It was here to kneel.
As the mountain split and an ancient power bowed to her blood,
Seraphina realized the terrifying truth
she was never meant to be claimed by an Alpha…
she was meant to stand above them all.
- Writer
