Fire in her blood
1070 Words
They were waiting for us when we returned.
Five wolves in long black coats, elders of the Alpha Council, stood outside the gates of the Blackthorn fortress, eyes sharp, jaws tight.
And they reeked of judgment.
Kael’s hand found mine as we approached, but he didn’t speak. Didn’t flinch. Just squared his shoulders and nodded once at the silver-haired male in the center.
“Councilor Rhian,” he greeted coolly.
“Alpha Blackthorn,” the older wolf replied, his voice laced with ice. “We heard troubling rumors from your borders. A rogue was taken in. A forbidden mark was laid.”
His eyes flicked to me.
“Tell me it’s not true.”
Kael didn’t blink. “It’s true.”
Murmurs rippled through the others. One of them hissed. Another’s lip curled.
Councilor Rhian stepped forward. “And you knowingly claimed her? Without council approval?”
“She’s mine. The bond chose her.”
“The bond is a dangerous thing in the hands of the wrong bloodline.”
My jaw clenched. I knew exactly what that meant.
I was the wrong bloodline.
Rhian’s eyes pierced through me. “You… are flameborn, aren’t you?”
I straightened. “Does it matter?”
“It does when you carry fire that could burn through the pack hierarchy itself.”
“She’s not a threat,” Kael snapped.
“She’s a prophecy,” Rhian shot back. “The kind that leads to war.”
I took a step forward. “I didn’t ask for this power. But I won’t be punished for surviving it.”
The other elders bristled. Rhian raised a hand to silence them.
“You’re young,” he said. “But you need to understand what you represent. The flameblood line was wiped out for a reason.”
Kael growled. “That’s enough.”
“Is it?” Rhian’s tone sharpened. “You’ve risked your rank. Your territory. Your pack. All for a girl whose wolf hasn’t even settled.”
“She is more wolf than half of you standing here,” Kael said darkly. “And I’ll stand by her even if the moon turns against me.”
My breath hitched.
He meant it.
The air grew tense. Electric.
One of the younger elders stepped forward. His eyes were hard.
“If that’s the case…” He pulled a dagger from his coat and drove it into the ground between us. “Then let her prove it.”
Kael’s body stilled.
“You challenge her?”
“She’s marked. That makes her pack. But if she wants to stay, she fights.”
Kael growled. “She just shifted for the first time.”
“I accept,” I cut in, surprising even myself.
Everyone turned to me.
Kael looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Aria…”
“I accept the challenge,” I said again, louder. “If the only way they’ll respect me is through blood, then so be it.”
The elder smirked. “You’ll regret that.”
“No,” I said softly. “You will.”
⸻
They cleared a ring in the center of the courtyard.
Dozens gathered. Pack members, soldiers, spectators. Word had spread fast. The Alpha’s mate was fighting for her place. For her blood. For her right to exist.
I stood in the center of the circle, heart thudding like thunder. Kael approached me before it started, his eyes full of worry and fury.
“You don’t need to do this,” he said.
“Yes, I do.”
He looked at me for a long moment. Then his fingers brushed my cheek.
“Then win.”
⸻
The challenger’s name was Merek. He was fast. Brutal. A pure-blood enforcer with too much pride and not enough soul.
He lunged the moment the horn blew, claws out, shifting partially into wolf form as he struck. I dodged, barely, the wind of his swing slicing past my face.
I wasn’t strong enough to match him physically—not yet.
But I had something else.
Something rising.
As Merek struck again, claws grazing my arm, the pain barely registered. Because something deep in me was burning.
The fire I’d been hiding for years. Caged, silenced, was now awake.
My skin glowed faintly. My breath heated. The mark at my throat pulsed.
He came at me again. This time faster, teeth bared.
I let him hit me.
And then I let go.
The moment his claws touched me, heat exploded outward—flames erupted from my skin like a blast wave. Merek screamed as fire engulfed him, throwing him across the ring.
Gasps filled the air.
I stood there, barely breathing, my hands shaking.
The fire didn’t hurt me. Not anymore.
Because it was mine.
Merek lay groaning on the ground, his arm scorched, his ego worse.
“I yield!” he cried. “I yield!”
The flames vanished.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Then, one by one, wolves dropped to their knees around the circle.
Not out of fear.
Out of recognition.
Out of submission.
She is not cursed.
She is alpha-born.
Kael stepped into the circle, his eyes locked on mine.
He said nothing—just stared at me like I’d become something holy and deadly at once.
Then, in front of everyone, he dropped to one knee.
Not as Alpha.
Not as king.
But as mine.
And I went to him.
My fingers curled around his jaw, lifting his face toward mine.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” I whispered.
“You shouldn’t be,” he murmured. “Because from this moment on, no one touches you without answering to me.”
The crowd roared.
But I only heard his heartbeat.
⸻
Later that night, I stood on the balcony, wrapped in Kael’s coat, staring at the moon. My skin still tingled from the power. From the fight. From him.
Kael stepped behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist.
“You’re not the girl who ran into my territory anymore,” he said.
“I’m still her. But now I remember what she’s capable of.”
His lips brushed my neck. “The council will come again. Harder next time.”
“Let them,” I whispered. “I’ve finally stopped running.”
Kael turned me toward him, eyes dark with pride and desire.
“And now?”
“Now I burn.”
- Writer
