Chapter 15: “The Visitor”
1202 Words
It was Lina who saw her first.
“Ella.” Her voice was sharp. Not scared. Warning. “At the wall.”
I was helping Dell hang herbs to dry. The staff was leaning against the table. It went warm the second Lina spoke.
Everyone froze.
Kael was at the wall in 3 steps. Sword half-drawn. “Who is it?”
“One person,” Lina said. She climbed up beside him. “Woman. No crest. No weapon.”
Toren was already between me and the gate. “Could be a trap.”
“Could be,” Kael said. “But she’s not moving. Just standing there.”
My stomach twisted. “Let me see.”
I climbed the wall.
She was about 20 feet out. In the tree line.
Brown hair. Grey dress. Hands empty and raised.
And I knew her.
My breath caught. “Rosa.”
Kael turned to me. “You know her?”
“From my old Pack,” I said. The words felt like rocks. “She was... she was the healer’s apprentice. When I was 12.”
Rosa hadn’t changed much. Older. Tired. But her eyes were the same. Soft. The only person who ever gave me extra soup when I was wolfless.
“She’s alone,” Lina said. “No one behind her.”
“Still,” Kael said. “Could be Darius using someone you know.”
Rosa called out. Her voice shook. “Ella? Is that you?”
I gripped the wall. “What do you want, Rosa?”
“To talk,” she said. “Please. Just talk. I’m not armed. I swear on the Moon.”
Kael looked at me. “Your call.”
My heart was pounding. This was my old Pack. The Pack that threw me out.
But Rosa... Rosa used to sneak me bandages.
“Open the gate,” I said.
“Ella—” Kael started.
“Open it,” I said again. Quieter. “If it’s a trap, we deal with it. Together.”
Kael studied me for 2 seconds. Then nodded. “Toren. With me.”
The gate creaked open.
Rosa didn’t move until it was fully open. Then she stepped in. Slow. Like she expected arrows.
The second she was inside, 10 people were staring at her.
Jace. Mara. Sera and Nina holding hands. Dell with a knife behind his back.
Rosa’s eyes went wide. “There’s... there’s so many of you.”
“Rosa,” I said. “Why are you here?”
She looked at me. Really looked. At my clothes. At the mark on my neck. At the staff in my hand.
“You’re... you’re alive,” she whispered. “They said you died in the woods.”
“Almost,” I said. “Why are you here?”
Rosa took a shaky breath. “Because Alpha Darius is moving. He’s gathering wolves. At Blackstone. He says you stole Pack property.”
“Us,” Toren growled.
“People,” Rosa corrected. She looked at Jace. At Sera. “He says you took runaways and wolfless and made them lie.”
Sera made a small sound.
Kael stepped forward. “And you came all this way to warn us?”
Rosa flinched. “No. I came because... because I heard your name. And I remembered you. You were 12 and you had a fever and no one would help you. I did.”
“I remember,” I said.
“I didn’t come for Darius,” Rosa said fast. “I came for you. To tell you to run. He’s not waiting for Council. Not anymore.”
The yard went silent.
“What do you mean?” Lina asked.
“He’s coming,” Rosa said. “Tomorrow. Maybe tonight. With 20 wolves. He says if you don’t surrender the staff and the people, he’ll take Ashford by force. Council be damned.”
Kael cursed.
Jace looked at me. Panic in his eyes.
I felt the staff pulse. Hot. Angry.
“Why would you risk this?” I asked Rosa. “If Darius finds out you warned me—”
“He’ll exile me,” she said. “Or worse.” She lifted her chin. “But I watched them throw you out when you were 15. With nothing. I couldn’t watch them kill you too.”
My throat hurt.
“You should go,” I said. “Before someone sees you.”
“I will,” she said. “But first...” She reached into her pocket. Pulled out a small cloth bundle. “Medicine. For wounds. And fever. And...” She hesitated. “And this.”
She held out a piece of paper. Folded.
“What is it?” Kael asked.
“A map,” Rosa said. “Of Blackstone. The tunnels under it. In case you need to get in. Or out.”
I took it. My hands were shaking.
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because someone should have helped you before,” Rosa said. “And I’m sorry I didn’t do more.”
She turned to leave.
“Rosa,” I called.
She stopped.
“Thank you,” I said.
She gave me a small, sad smile. Then she walked out. Didn’t look back.
The gate closed behind her.
Silence.
Then chaos.
“We have to move,” Kael said. “Now. If he’s coming tomorrow—”
“We can’t outrun 20 wolves,” Toren said.
“We don’t run,” I said. My voice was steadier than I felt. “We prepare.”
Lina grabbed my arm. “Ella. 20 wolves. We’re 11. And half of us have no wolf.”
“I know,” I said. “But we have walls. And we have this.”
I held up the staff.
It was glowing. Not silver. White.
The white wolf was standing in my mind. Teeth bared.
“They’re coming to take what’s ours,” she said. “Let them try.”
Kael ran a hand through his hair. “Okay. New plan. Everyone. Walls. Traps. Weapons. We have until nightfall.”
People scattered. No arguing. No fear. Just movement.
Dell grabbed pots. “I’ll make broth. For strength.”
Mara started sharpening sticks.
Nina and Sera ran for rope.
Jace picked up his wooden stick. His hands weren’t shaking anymore.
I unrolled the map. Blackstone. With tunnels marked in red.
Kael looked over my shoulder. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“If he comes to us, we fight,” I said. “But if we have to... we have a way in.”
“Not yet,” Kael said. “But good to have.”
I folded the map and tucked it into my belt. Next to the staff.
That night, we didn’t sleep.
We worked.
We set snares. We boiled water. We moved stones.
11 people moving like one.
At midnight, I climbed the wall alone.
The forest was dark. Quiet.
But 20 wolves were coming.
And for the first time since I was 15, I wasn’t afraid.
I was ready.
The staff glowed softly in my hand.
“Tomorrow,” the white wolf said.
“Tomorrow,” I agreed.
- Writer
