CHAPTER 5: Blood and Secrets
1142 Words
Kamari’s Pov;
The whole manor felt different the next morning. Quiet, but not peaceful. The kind of quiet that meant something bad was coming.
I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt his lips again rough, desperate, wrong. And I hated that part of me wanted it all over again.
When I finally got up, Rheya’s door was still shut. She hadn’t come down for breakfast. Finley sat at the table alone, his expression tight.
“She’s angry,” he said when he saw me. “You know why.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I said quietly.
He gave me a look that wasn’t cruel but wasn’t forgiving either.
“Maybe not. But it did.”
I looked down.
“Is she going to tell the council?”
He sighed, rubbing his face.
“I don’t know, Kamari. Rheya’s loyal, but she’s scared. You should talk to her before someone else does.”
I nodded, but the truth was I didn’t know what I’d even say.
When I finally got the courage to knock, she wasn’t in her room. The bed was untouched. Her scent was faint too faint.
I went looking.
Outside, the woods felt too still. The wind carried the wrong kind of silence. My gut twisted. I picked up my pace, calling her name.
“Rheya!”
No answer.
Then a sound soft, pained.
I followed it, heart pounding. The scent of blood hit me before I saw her.
She was slumped against a tree, blood staining her shirt, her hands trembling.
“Rheya!” I dropped beside her, trying not to panic. “What happened?”
Her eyes fluttered open. “Silas,” she whispered. “He.. he’s working with the rogues.”
My chest went cold.
“What?”
She coughed, blood smearing her lips.
“I heard him. He said he was going to burn the pack from the inside… and that you were the spark.”
“No.” I shook my head hard. “No, that doesn’t make sense”
“He’s the one who killed Father,” she said weakly. “Not the rogues. It was him. He confessed.”
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“Rheya, stop talking. You need…”
She grabbed my wrist. Her hand was cold, slick with blood.
“Tell Reis.”
“I will, I swear…”
Her grip loosened. Her eyes stared past me, unblinking.
I froze.
“Rheya?”
Nothing.
The forest blurred. Everything inside me cracked. For a long time, I couldn’t move. The only sound was the wind and the faint hum of my heartbeat in my ears.
When I finally stood, my hands were shaking. Her blood was on my skin.
I didn’t even realize I was running until I reached the manor.
Reis was there before I spoke. He must've felt it. He looked at me, saw the blood, and something inside him broke.
“Where?”
“The forest,” I said, barely breathing. “Silas did it.”
He didn’t wait. He shifted bones snapping, his wolf bursting free, silver and huge. The sound that left him wasn’t human.
I ran after him even though I knew I shouldn’t. The forest blurred around me. All I could hear was the growl of his wolf and the pounding in my chest.
When I found him, Silas was already on the ground, blood pooling under him, barely alive. Reis stood over him, his eyes glowing like fire.
“You killed my father,”
Reis said. His voice wasn’t calm anymore. It was pure fury.
Silas coughed a laugh.
“He deserved it. He covered up what your father did to my sister.”
Reis froze.
I frowned, not understanding.
“What is he talking about?”
Silas smiled through the blood.
“Ask him.”
Reis’s hands trembled. For a second, I saw guilt flicker in his eyes.
“Enough,”
Reis said, and his claws slashed fast, final.
The forest went silent again.
He shifted back, blood streaking his chest, his breath shaking.
I stepped closer, but he didn’t look at me.
“What did he mean?”
I asked quietly.
He didn’t answer. Just turned away, his shoulders tense.
“Reis.”
His voice was low.
“Some truths do more harm than lies, Kamari.”
I hated when he did that when he decided what I could or couldn’t handle.
“That’s not fair.”
“Life stopped being fair the day you lost your family,”
he said, almost breaking.
That made me pause.
Then Finley’s scent hit the air. He ran into the clearing, panting, eyes wide.
“The rogues, they're in the south field. They broke the barrier.”
Reis snapped to attention.
“How many?”
“Too many,” Finley said. “They’re after her.” His eyes flicked to me.
Me.
Before I could react, the sound of howling tore through the trees closer than before.
Reis cursed under his breath.
“Finley, get her back to the manor.”
“I’m not leaving you…”
“That’s an order!”
Finley grabbed my arm, pulling me along. The forest blurred again, trees whipping past. I could smell the rogues now blood, sweat, and rot.
Then one jumped out from the side, slamming into Finley.
“Go!” he yelled, shoving me forward. “Run, Kamari!”
I didn’t want to. I couldn’t. But then another rogue came, teeth snapping. Finley fought hard, his claws ripping through flesh. But there were too many.
I screamed his name, but one of the rogues grabbed me, throwing me down. My head hit the ground hard.
Everything spun.
The last thing I saw before the world went black again was Finley falling blood everywhere, his body still trying to protect me even as it gave out.
When I woke, it was night. I was in my bed again, my whole body aching.
Rheya was gone. Finley was gone. Silas was dead.
The manor felt empty.
Reis stood by the window, shirt stained, eyes hollow. He didn’t turn when I spoke.
“Where’s Finley?”
Silence.
“Reis…”
He looked back finally, and that’s when I knew.
He didn’t have to say it.
I broke.
He caught me when I fell forward, holding me even though his own hands were shaking.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he whispered into my hair. “I was supposed to keep you safe.”
But the truth hung there between us heavy, real.
He couldn’t protect me from the pack. Or from fate. Or from himself.
And somewhere deep inside, I knew this was only the beginning.
Because Rheya’s last words kept echoing in my head, you were the spark.
Whatever was coming… it was already burning.
- Writer
