The Blood That Calls the Shadows
879 Words
The air shifted.
Not gently.
Not slowly.
It crashed.
Like something ancient had just woken up—and it was staring directly at me.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
The man’s voice echoed in my head long after he spoke it.
My chest tightened.
“What… are you talking about?” I asked, my voice quieter than I intended.
He smiled.
Not kindly.
Not warmly.
But like he already knew something I didn’t.
“Your power,” he said. “It doesn’t belong to this pack.”
The shadows around my fingers stirred.
Reacting.
Answering him.
Kael stepped forward, his body shielding mine completely now.
“You will not speak to her again,” he growled.
But the man didn’t even acknowledge him.
His gaze stayed locked on me.
Like Kael didn’t exist.
Like nothing else existed.
“Do you feel it?” he asked softly.
My breath hitched.
Because—
Yes.
I did.
Something inside me was pulling.
Calling.
Reaching toward him.
And I hated it.
“I don’t know what you want,” I said, forcing my voice steady.
Selene laughed.
Sharp.
Cruel.
“Oh, she really doesn’t know,” she said, circling slowly like she was enjoying this.
Kael’s patience snapped.
“I said leave.”
The ground beneath us trembled slightly from the force of his Alpha command.
But the man only tilted his head.
Amused.
“You’re strong,” he said to Kael. “But not strong enough to keep what isn’t yours.”
My heart skipped.
Not yours.
Something in those words hit too deep.
Too hard.
Kael’s aura exploded.
Dominant.
Terrifying.
The kind of power that made even the air feel heavy.
“She is mine,” he said, each word like a promise.
The man’s eyes flickered—interest, not fear.
“Is she?” he murmured.
And then—
Everything went wrong.
The shadows inside me surged.
Violent.
Uncontrolled.
Pain shot through my chest as something broke open inside me.
I gasped.
“Aria—” Kael turned instantly.
But it was too late.
Darkness exploded from me.
Not soft.
Not controlled.
Wild.
Alive.
The ground cracked beneath my feet as shadows lashed outward like living creatures, whipping through the air with deadly force.
Selene stumbled back, shock flashing across her face.
“What is she—?!”
The man stepped back too.
But he was smiling.
Smiling.
“She’s awakening,” he said.
“I don’t—” My voice broke as another wave of power tore through me.
It hurt.
It burned.
Like my body wasn’t meant to hold it.
Kael grabbed me, pulling me against him.
“Aria, look at me,” he ordered.
I couldn’t.
Everything was spinning.
Everything was dark.
The shadows wrapped around us both now, violent and unstable, reacting to every spike of emotion I couldn’t control.
“I can’t stop it,” I whispered, panic rising.
“Yes, you can.”
His voice cut through everything.
Sharp.
Commanding.
Familiar.
“Focus on me.”
I tried.
God, I tried.
But the power kept rising.
Stronger.
Darker.
“Kael…” I gasped.
His hands tightened on my face, forcing me to look at him.
“Stay with me,” he said, his voice softer now—but no less powerful.
My breathing was uneven.
My vision blurred.
“I’m losing it…”
“No,” he said firmly. “You’re not.”
The shadows lashed again.
Closer.
More dangerous.
Kael didn’t move.
Didn’t flinch.
He stayed right there.
With me.
“For once,” he said quietly, his forehead pressing against mine, “stop fighting it alone.”
Something in me broke.
Not the painful kind.
The kind that lets something in.
I exhaled shakily.
And instead of pushing the power away—
I let it settle.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The shadows stilled.
Not gone.
But listening.
Waiting.
Mine.
The silence that followed was heavy.
Unreal.
I blinked, my breathing still uneven.
“I… did it?”
Kael’s hand slid gently to the back of my neck.
“Yeah,” he said softly.
“You did.”
Relief flooded me—
Until I remembered.
My head snapped up.
The man was still there.
Watching.
And this time—
His expression wasn’t amused.
It was certain.
“Now you see,” he said.
Selene’s smile returned, colder than before.
“You’re not just a mistake,” she said sweetly.
“You’re a threat.”
My stomach dropped.
“What am I?” I asked, the question barely leaving my lips.
The man stepped forward slowly.
And this time—
Kael didn’t stop him.
Because something told me…
He needed the answer too.
The man’s voice lowered.
“You,” he said, eyes glowing faintly in the shadows,
“are not just a Luna.”
My heart pounded.
The shadows around me stirred again.
Waiting.
Listening.
Claiming.
“You are the last blood of something this world tried to bury.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Terrifying.
“And now that you’ve awakened…”
His smile darkened.
“…they will come for you.”
Kael’s grip on me tightened instantly.
Protective.
Possessive.
Deadly.
“Let them,” he said coldly.
But for the first time—
I wasn’t sure if even he understood what was coming.
- Writer
