Chapter 4: What Answers Cost
1186 Words
The alarms didn’t stop.
They pulsed through the underground compound like a heartbeat gone wrong...red lights flashing, metal doors sliding shut somewhere deep below the earth. Voices echoed over the intercom, sharp and clipped, overlapping with hurried footsteps.
Eva barely heard any of it.
She was too focused on the way Kael had gone utterly still.
His arms were still around her, but not possessively now...not protectively. They were rigid, like he was afraid to move even a fraction.
“You just told the entire city exactly who you are.”
The words settled into her bones.
“I didn’t mean to,” Eva said, her voice small against the chaos. “I don’t even know how I did that.”
“I know,” he replied, finally loosening his grip slowly, carefully, like stepping away from a live wire. “That’s what terrifies me.”
Rowan swore again, louder this time. “We need to move. Now.”
The tremor beneath Eva’s feet hadn’t stopped. It wasn’t shaking anymore...it was humming. Resonating. Like the ground itself recognized her.
“Move where?” she demanded.
Rowan met her gaze. “Away from here.”
Kael shook his head. “No.”
Rowan’s eyes flashed. “Kael.”
“No,” Kael repeated, sharper. “If we run now, we confirm what she is. Every pack, every hunter, every Council spy will converge on her trail.”
Eva’s chest tightened. “So your plan is to keep me here? Underground? Like a secret?”
Kael looked at her, really looked at her, and something heavy passed across his face.
“My plan,” he said quietly, “is to keep you alive.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Before he could answer, the alarms abruptly cut out.
The silence that followed was worse.
A voice replaced them...smooth, calm, amplified through the compound.
“Kael Draven.”
Eva felt his posture change instantly like a blade being drawn.
“That voice…” Rowan muttered. “It’s a Council channel.”
Eva’s stomach dropped. “They know I’m here.”
“Yes,” Kael said. “They always know.”
The voice continued, almost amused. “You’ve been very difficult to track lately. Hiding underground like an animal. How disappointing.”
Kael stepped forward, placing himself subtly between Eva and the open space of the compound.
“You don’t have jurisdiction here,” he said coldly.
A soft laugh echoed. “Don’t be dramatic. Jurisdiction is flexible. Especially when Moonblood energy lights up half the city.”
Eva flinched.
Moonblood.
The word felt heavier now. Dangerous.
Rowan leaned toward her. “Eva,” he murmured. “You need to listen very carefully.”
She nodded, heart hammering.
“If things go wrong,” he continued, “do not follow Kael.”
Her eyes snapped to him. “What?”
Kael turned sharply. “Rowan.”
Rowan didn’t back down. “She deserves to know her options.”
“I am her option,” Kael snapped.
“Then you’re a terrible one.”
The voice cut back in, sharper now. “We’re sending an envoy. Cooperation will be… appreciated.”
Kael’s jaw clenched. “No.”
A pause.
Then—another voice layered beneath the first. Female. Cool. Familiar.
“Hello, Eva.”
Eva’s blood turned to ice.
Lysa stepped into view from the far entrance, flanked by two guards wearing Council insignia. Her expression was composed, lips curved into something that might have been a smile if it didn’t hold so much calculation.
“Seeing as you woke up the city,” Lysa said smoothly, “it seemed only polite to come meet you properly.”
Eva crossed her arms, though her hands trembled. “You already decided what I am, didn’t you?”
Lysa tilted her head. “I confirmed what you are.”
Kael moved forward. “You don’t speak to her.”
Lysa didn’t even look at him. Her gaze stayed on Eva. “Do you know what happens to Moonblood heirs who remain untrained?”
Eva swallowed. “No.”
“They burn,” Lysa replied simply. “From the inside out.”
Rowan stiffened.
Eva’s chest tightened. “You’re lying.”
“I wish I were,” Lysa said. “Your little… episode? That was a warning sign.”
Kael’s voice was low and lethal. “Enough.”
Lysa finally turned to him. “You don’t get to protect her from this truth, Kael. Not when your presence is accelerating the bond.”
Eva’s breath hitched. “Accelerating?”
“Yes,” Lysa said. “Every moment you stay near her, the mark deepens. Every time you touch her, it tightens.”
Kael looked at Eva, conflict raging in his eyes.
Rowan’s voice dropped. “She’s right.”
Eva felt dizzy. “So what...you’re saying, he’s hurting me?”
“No,” Rowan said carefully. “We’re saying the bond doesn’t care what either of you want.”
Lysa stepped closer. “There is a solution.”
Eva’s pulse thundered. “Of course there is.”
“You come with us,” Lysa said. “The Council will train you. Stabilize you. Teach you control.”
Kael laughed once, harsh. “And chain her.”
“Contain her,” Lysa corrected. “Before she destroys herself.”
Eva looked at Kael. “Is that true?”
He didn’t answer right away.
That hesitation hurt more than any words.
Finally, he said, “They will keep you alive.”
“But?” Eva whispered.
“But you won’t be free.”
Silence stretched.
Lysa smiled faintly. “Freedom is overrated.”
Eva took a shaky breath. “And if I stay here?”
Kael’s eyes darkened. “You’ll be hunted.”
Rowan added softly, “And the bond may finish forming before you’re ready.”
Eva closed her eyes.
Every option felt like a cage.
When she opened them again, she looked at Lysa.
“If I go with you,” Eva said slowly, “will he be allowed near me?”
Lysa’s smile sharpened. “Absolutely not.”
Eva turned to Kael.
Something unspoken passed between them...heat, fear, restraint, a pull so strong it made her chest ache.
Then she said the one thing none of them expected.
“Then I choose neither.”
The room went still.
“I want answers,” Eva continued, voice steady despite the storm inside her. “Not training. Not protection. Truth.”
Lysa’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t get to make demands.”
Eva felt the mark stir again...warm, restless.
“Actually,” she said quietly, “I think I do.”
The lights flickered.
The hum beneath the floor deepened.
And somewhere far above them, a howl answered...long, low, and not alone.
Kael’s head snapped up.
Rowan swore.
Lysa’s smile vanished.
“That,” Kael said grimly, “isn’t one of mine.”
Eva’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“Then whose is it?”
Before anyone could answer, the wall behind Eva cracked.
Stone splintering outward.
And a claw punched through the concrete.
- Writer
