A WAR BETWEEN HEARTS
882 Words
Aria's scream echoed through the ruined temple, but it wasn't pain—it was power.
A white-hot surge of magic coursed through her blood, ancient and wild. The pendant at her neck pulsed like a second heartbeat, feeding the energy that had burst from the obsidian tomb.
She clutched the stone floor, gasping for air, her fingers clawing at cracked marble. Her vision blurred, then sharpened unnaturally.
The world had changed.
No— she had changed.
The bond. The Shadowbloods. The light that wasn’t just power, but a memory. A truth long buried now fused into her soul.
She could feel the vault’s purpose… and the Alpha who once ruled this land.
He was her ancestor.
And Kaelen was not the only heir.
The Battlefield Outside
Outside the temple, snow stained red with blood.
Kaelen’s massive wolf form tore through two of the hunters, sending one flying into a collapsed pillar. His flames flickered low now—he was tiring.
The remaining three closed in with silver-tipped spears.
“Kaelen!” Aria’s voice boomed like thunder.
He turned just in time to see her step from the temple entrance, her eyes no longer hazel—but radiant silver.
She held no weapon. She was the weapon.
The hunters hesitated.
One growled. “She’s not marked.”
“She’s awakened,” the oldest said. “She’s not human anymore.”
Aria raised her hand.
The air crackled.
A blast of energy surged forward, knocking all three back like leaves caught in a gale.
Kaelen shifted back to his human form, chest heaving.
“Aria…”
She stepped toward him, barefoot in the snow, steam curling from her skin.
“I know who I am now.”
The Awakening
Inside the temple again, Kaelen helped her sit as the magic faded to a simmer.
“I saw them, Kael. The first wolves. Your grandfather. My grandmother. She was a Shadowblood too.”
Kaelen blinked. “What?”
“She left the line before it was cursed. She was human when she fled—but the bond stayed in her blood. That’s why I was drawn to you.”
Kaelen exhaled. “We were fated before we even met.”
“But this isn’t just fate,” Aria said, grasping his hand. “It’s war. And if we don’t stop your father, he’ll destroy every bond that doesn’t serve his rule.”
Kaelen stood, resolute.
“Then we lead them.”
The Offer
Later that night, they returned to the Hollow to regroup with the allies Kaelen trusted—Viktor, Lyla, and a few rogue alphas who had sworn no oath to the Elder Council.
“You’re saying she’s Shadowblood?” Lyla said, eyes narrowed at Aria.
“She is,” Kaelen confirmed. “And the bond makes her one of us. One of the old blood.”
“But she’s human,” Viktor muttered. “They’ll never follow her.”
Aria stepped forward. “They don’t have to follow me. They need to follow truth. The Council’s lying to everyone. They erased an entire bloodline to keep power centralized.”
Lyla crossed her arms. “And what do you want?”
“Freedom,” Aria said. “For wolves and humans. For bonds that are real—not arranged by blood or control.”
The room was silent for a long moment.
Then Viktor laughed.
“Hell. I’ll follow that.”
Fissures in the Pack
While the rebels gathered in the Hollow, a different storm brewed in Kaelen’s old home.
Alpha Roen, Kaelen’s father, stood before a wall of flames, watching a replay of the attack on Shadowcrest.
His Beta knelt beside him. “She’s awakening the old blood. The vault was opened.”
Roen’s jaw clenched. “Then we act before they crown themselves gods.”
He turned toward a steel cabinet and retrieved a vial—filled with a dark, pulsing substance.
“What is that?” the Beta asked.
Roen’s eyes gleamed.
“Shadowbane. A toxin that kills bonds. And she’ll drink it… or die.”
The Rift
Back at the Hollow, Aria stood on the roof of the chapel ruins, staring at the stars.
Kaelen joined her, quiet at first.
“You okay?”
“No,” she said honestly. “I feel like I’m living a story someone else wrote.”
He sat beside her. “Maybe. But we get to choose the ending.”
She turned toward him.
“I don’t want this to be about prophecy or fate or revenge. I want it to be about us.”
Kaelen leaned in.
“Then let it be.”
Their kiss was slow, grounding. A promise amid chaos.
But the moment shattered as Viktor burst through the door.
“They’ve found us.”
Lines Drawn in Blood
By sunrise, the Hollow was surrounded.
Roen’s wolves—over a hundred strong. They wore Council markings. Their eyes glowed red.
At their front stood Roen himself.
He called out with a voice that shook the trees.
“Give me the girl, Kaelen. And I’ll let the rest of you live.”
Kaelen stepped forward.
“You’ll have to kill me first.”
Roen smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
And then the war began.
- Writer
