The Enemy’s Hunt
1013 Words
Chapter Six: The Enemy’s Hunt
The name Crimson Fang spread through the village like poison.
Even those who didn’t understand what it meant could feel it.
Fear changed the air.
People stopped laughing in the streets.
Doors were locked earlier than usual.
Warriors doubled their patrols.
And Kael Draven stopped sleeping.
⸻
Elara noticed the change immediately.
The Alpha King no longer left her alone for long.
Even when he was in meetings, she could feel his presence nearby—like a shadow guarding her existence.
It should have made her feel safe.
Instead, it made her feel watched.
Protected.
Possessed.
All at once.
⸻
Three days after the warning, Kael moved her.
He didn’t ask.
He didn’t negotiate.
He simply arrived at dawn with warriors.
“You’re coming with me.”
Elara stepped outside her cottage, still adjusting her cloak.
“Where?”
Kael’s silver eyes were sharp.
“The packhouse.”
“I don’t need—”
“You do.”
His tone ended the argument before it began.
⸻
The packhouse was nothing like her small cottage.
It was built of ancient black stone, surrounded by high walls and guarded gates.
A fortress disguised as a home.
Inside, everything felt heavier.
Stronger.
Colder.
⸻
Her new room was on the upper floor.
Large windows.
A view of the forest.
And guards stationed outside the door.
Elara turned slowly.
“This is unnecessary.”
Kael stood near the doorway.
“It’s necessary.”
“For what? Protection or control?”
A flicker of emotion crossed his face.
“Both.”
The honesty stunned her.
⸻
That night, she couldn’t sleep.
The silence of the packhouse was too deep.
Too intentional.
Every sound echoed.
Every shadow felt alive.
She sat by the window staring at the moon.
And that’s when she felt it.
A pull.
Deep inside her chest.
Like something inside her was responding to the night.
Calling.
Answering.
⸻
Without thinking, she placed a hand over her heart.
A faint warmth spread through her fingers.
Then—
The glass of the window fogged on its own.
Elara froze.
Her breath slowed.
“What…?”
The fog shifted.
Patterns formed.
Symbols.
Ancient markings she had never seen before.
Yet somehow… she understood them.
⸻
A voice echoed in her mind.
Not spoken.
Not imagined.
Remember.
Elara stood abruptly.
Her chair fell back.
Her heartbeat quickened.
“No… no, this isn’t real.”
But the symbols glowed brighter.
And suddenly—
Pain.
A sharp burst behind her eyes.
She dropped to her knees.
⸻
Images flooded her mind.
A throne.
A silver crown.
A woman standing beneath a burning sky.
And wolves kneeling before her.
Power unlike anything she had ever imagined.
Elara gasped.
Her body trembled.
“What is happening to me…?”
⸻
At that exact moment, outside her door, Kael stopped walking.
He felt it.
A shift.
A surge of energy in the air.
His instincts flared violently.
“Elara.”
He pushed the door open.
⸻
She was on the floor.
Hands trembling.
Eyes glowing faintly silver.
Kael’s expression changed instantly.
“Don’t move.”
But it was too late.
The moment his voice reached her—
The energy snapped outward.
The windows shook.
The candles flickered out.
And the entire room filled with a sudden pulse of power.
⸻
Kael stepped forward slowly.
“Look at me.”
Elara tried to speak.
“I didn’t— I didn’t do anything—”
“I know.”
His voice was steady.
But his eyes told a different story.
A story of recognition.
Of ancient fear.
And something far more dangerous.
Awe.
⸻
Outside, alarms sounded.
Warriors shouted.
Footsteps rushed through the hallways.
But Kael didn’t move.
He kept his focus on her.
“Your blood is awakening.”
Elara shook her head.
“I don’t understand this.”
“You will.”
He stepped closer.
“Because they will come for you faster now.”
⸻
Another voice echoed from the corridor.
Darius.
“My King! The border scouts report movement—Crimson Fang has crossed into the outer lands!”
Kael didn’t look away from Elara.
“How many?”
A pause.
“Too many.”
Silence.
⸻
Elara slowly stood.
“I can’t be the reason people die.”
Kael finally looked at her fully.
His voice dropped.
“You were never the reason.”
A beat.
“You are the target.”
⸻
A distant howl shattered the night again.
Closer.
Louder.
This time, not from scouts.
Not from allies.
From enemies.
⸻
Kael turned toward the door.
“Stay behind me.”
Elara stepped forward instead.
“No.”
He looked back sharply.
“You don’t understand what’s coming.”
Her hands were shaking—but she didn’t move away.
“Then explain it.”
⸻
For a moment, Kael hesitated.
Then he said quietly,
“The Crimson Fang don’t just kill.”
Silence.
“They erase bloodlines.”
Elara felt her stomach drop.
Kael’s voice darkened.
“And your bloodline… is the last they never finished destroying.”
⸻
Another explosion sounded outside the walls.
The packhouse shook.
War had arrived.
⸻
Kael drew a blade.
Silver steel glinted under torchlight.
“This ends tonight.”
Elara’s heart pounded.
“And if I can’t control whatever is inside me?”
Kael glanced at her.
For the first time, his expression softened.
“Then I’ll protect you from that too.”
⸻
A second explosion rocked the building.
Warriors shouted.
Enemies breached the outer gate.
⸻
Kael moved toward the door.
But before stepping out, he paused.
Without turning, he said,
“If you run… run toward the moonlight. Not the forest.”
Elara frowned.
“Why?”
His answer came low.
“Because something in you answers the moon.”
Then he left.
⸻
Elara stood alone in the shaking room.
Outside, war had begun.
Inside her chest, something ancient continued to awaken.
And far beyond the walls…
The Crimson Fang had finally found their target.
The last heir of the Moon Kingdom.
- Writer
