Chapter Four
810 Words
AURORA
The floorboards groan again, I hear another step, it's closer this time. The dagger is already in my hand, it's steady. My breath slows, sharpening like ice inside my chest.
It's not Kael, Kael’s footsteps are heavier and more confident. Whoever this is, they’re moving like they don’t want to be heard.
But I hear them. The door handle rattles just once, they’re trying to see if the door’s locked.
I slip from the bed silently, pressing my back to the wall, every part of my muscle tense. The footsteps pause.
Then a voice, low and unfamiliar slips through the wood like smoke. “She's here." I hear
Something pulses under my skin, sudden and electric. A jolt that has no origin and no explanation. It buzzes through my fingertips and down to my heels. The voice outside doesn’t wait, the footsteps retreat fast this time, not caring about the sound it was making.
A second later, the front door creaks open and slams shut.
Then there was silence.
My heart still hammering but nothing stirs. No more footsteps, no more voices and Kael doesn’t call out.
I count to twenty, then sixty. Then a hundred. When nothing changes, I unlock the door and step into the hall.
The living room is empty. The fire has gone low, the shadows cling to the corners, cold air slips in through the cracks of the door.
Kael’s coat is missing, so is Kael.
I wrap the blanket tighter around my shoulders and crouch near the hearth. The embers cast just enough light to make out the room, but not enough to feel warm.
The sense of unease creeps back in. That voice, it didn’t sound like a threat, It sounded like a warning.
A thud outside makes me jump. This time it is Kael.
He swings the door open, snow clinging to his shoulders, his face pale and eyes alert.
“What happened?” he asks before I can speak.
“There was someone here.”
Kael’s jaw tightens. “Did they see you?”
“I don’t know. But they knew I was here.”
His gaze sharpens. “What did they say?”
I hesitate, remembering the strange tremor in my body. “Just two words. ‘She’s here.’”
Kael closes the door, bolts it, and stalks across the room. His hands run through his wet hair and he’s barely holding himself together.
“This village isn’t as safe as I thought,” he mutters.
He looks at me like he wants to say more, but he can’t.
“Tell me the truth,” I say quietly. “Why am I here?”
“You're here because they would’ve killed you if they found you first.”
“Who are they?”
Kael’s jaw works. His voice comes strained. “The ones who destroyed everything. Your pack, your family, your life.”
He sits across from me now with his shoulders hunched, and he's staring into the fire.
“Do you think I’m crazy?” I ask.
“I think you’re dangerous.” His voice is steady now. “And not in the way they are, in the way they fear.” he whispered.
That pulse comes again and something inside me responds to his words. Kael doesn’t notice or maybe he does and says nothing.
“Someone’s watching us,” I say after a beat. “Not just tonight. The whole village feels wrong.”
He nods once. “Because they know what you are, even if you don’t.”
I freeze. “What do you mean?”
But before he can answer, someone knocks.
I hear another knock, it's not urgent this time, but deliberate.
Kael shoots to his feet, his dagger drawn and body coiled like a spring. I rise too, the blanket falling to the floor.
He moves toward the door. “Stay behind me,” he says sharply.
I do.
The door opens slowly. A figure stands in the doorway, the face is looking shadowed beneath a grey hood.
It’s a girl. She's young, barely older than me. She looks pale with wild curls and violet eyes that gleam in the low light.
“Kael,” she says, breathless. “You need to hide her. Now.”
His eyes widen. “Lira?”
“I overheard the Elders. They know she's here. They're preparing the circle.”
Kael curses under his breath.
“The what?” I ask.
Lira looks at me, for the first time, truly seeing me. “You don’t remember, do you?” she whispers.
Before I can answer, she steps forward, reaching out like she’s touching a ghost.
“It’s real,” she says softly. “You made it out.”
I take a step back. “Who are you?”
Her smile is sad.
“Your sister.”
- Writer
