CHAPTER 13
1420 Words
Morning had come, and Elise was still turning and tossing in bed.
She didn’t sleep last night.
The parchment’s words haunted her like a curse echoing through the dark:
The wolf without a wolf. The girl who should have died. You are not one of them. And soon, they will know it too.
She sat on her bed, eyes fixed on the black feather still pulsing faintly on her nightstand. Her thoughts spiraled—was she really marked? Was she ever meant to survive?
Her chest tightened at the memory of Becky’s milky eyes and that unnatural, rasping voice.
And then—
The scream.
The magic.
The way Becky vanished into the air like smoke.
“Elise?” Kai’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
He knocked gently, but didn’t wait before stepping inside.
“You didn’t sleep” he said, concern laced in every word as he saw the dark circles around her eyes.
“I couldn’t” she admitted.
“It feels like something’s crawling under my skin. Like I’m… being watched.” She looked down.
He crossed to her, his expression softening. “You’re not alone in this. I swear.”
She nodded faintly. “Is there any word about Becky?”
“She’s back,” he said, and her heart skipped. “Lucien found her outside the infirmary door this morning. She’s awake now. She asked for you.”
Elise rose to her feet. “Is she… okay?”
“She’s herself.” Kai hesitated. “Mostly.”
Becky looked like a shadow of her usual self—pale, lips cracked, shoulders slumped.
There was no fire in her eyes.
Just a hollow, wary focus that landed on Elise the moment she stepped into the infirmary.
“Close the door,” Becky croaked. “Just us.”
Lucien nodded and quietly exited, leaving the two girls in a silence that stretched too long.
Becky’s eyes traveled slowly over Elise. “You really came running after me?” She said, trying to figure why the bullied saved the bully.
“You called me,” Elise said carefully.
“I remember parts,” Becky said, her voice low.
“Flashes. Like dreams through fog. I remember… not being able to move. Not being able to scream. And then… you were there.”
She looked down at her hands. “Whatever you did, it helped. You pulled me out.”
Elise exhaled slowly. “I didn’t know what I was doing, I just followed the voice.”
Becky’s mouth twitched. “I figured. Even your instincts are annoying.” Her tone wasn’t cruel, but it wasn’t warm either.
Elise tilted her head. “You’re welcome, I guess”.
“I didn’t say thank you”.
“You kind of did”.
Becky’s lips curled faintly, almost like a smile, but it faded fast. “I didn’t ask to be saved”.
“I didn’t need a thank you,” Elise said softly. “I just needed to know you’re okay.”
Becky didn’t answer right away. Her gaze drifted to the window, faraway.
“There’s something still inside me,” she whispered. “I don’t think it left completely.”
Elise’s blood ran cold. “What do you mean?”
“I hear whispers when I close my eyes. I wake up cold. And sometimes… I forget where I am.” Becky turned to look at her.
“They marked me, Elise. Whatever the Shadowborn are… they don’t just let go.”
By the time Elise left the infirmary, people were already talking.
“She saved Becky,” someone whispered as Elise passed.
“Did you hear what she did? Went into the woods alone…”
“Most wolves wouldn’t have risked it—not after everything.”
“She’s got guts. And a good heart. Not many would’ve gone after someone who bullied them.”
“She’s not just brave… she’s kind.”
It was overwhelming.
Elise ducked her head, unsure how to take the sudden praise.
A few weeks ago, people avoided her like a curse. Now, some looked at her with something close to admiration.
At lunch, the dining hall buzzed with energy. Elise walked in and felt the hush ripple again—only this time, it wasn’t laced with suspicion.
It was respect.
“You did a good thing,” Lucien murmured as she sat beside him.
Kai slid her tray closer. “More than good. You risked everything for someone who never showed you kindness.
That says more about who you are than anything else ever could.”
She smiled weakly. “It still doesn’t feel real.”
“Real or not,” Lucien said, “you made people look at you differently. Some with awe, some with confusion. But no one’s ignoring you anymore.”
Elise didn’t know how to feel about that. She didn’t save Becky for glory.
She didn’t even think—she just acted.
Still, the shift in the air was undeniable.
Later that evening, Aunt Thea arrived at the packhouse uninvited.
She swept in with her chin held high and her voice sharp enough to cut air. “Where is she? Where’s Elise?”
Kai was already waiting for her. “Turn around, Thea. You’re not welcome.”
“I heard she’s special now,” Thea sneered.
“That everyone’s whispering her name. My niece, a hero? Don’t make me laugh.”
Lucien stepped beside Kai. “Funny, I don’t hear anyone laughing.”
“I raised her. I have a right to know what she is.”
Kai stepped forward. “You threw her into the dirt and left her there. She became who she is in spite of you.”
At that moment, Elise appeared at the top of the stairs. Her expression was unreadable.
“Thea,” she said simply.
The older woman’s gaze locked onto her. “Still hiding behind others, I see.”
Elise descended slowly, every step measured. “No. I’m not hiding anymore.
But you don’t get to take credit for me now.”
Thea scoffed. “I see you’ve learned to speak.”
“I’ve learned a lot of things,” Elise replied. “And one of them is knowing who’s worth my time.”
Lucien smiled. “Shall I walk her out?”
Thea opened her mouth to speak, but Elise beat her to it. “Don’t come back.”
That night, Elise sat on the porch with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, watching the moon.
The house was quiet behind her, the forest quieter still.
Lucien joined her first, wordlessly placing a steaming mug of tea in her hands.
“She’s still not the same,” Elise said.
“Becky?”
She nodded. “She said something’s still in her. That she hears them.”
Lucien exhaled. “Possession like that… it leaves residue. Sometimes the mind heals. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
Elise gripped the mug tighter. “What if she becomes a threat?”
Lucien didn’t answer immediately. “Then we do what we have to. But you saved her once. Maybe that’s not the end of it.”
Kai appeared a few minutes later, sliding in beside her and draping an arm across the back of the bench.
“I think you’re going to need training,” he said.
“Because of the Shadowborn?”
“Because of everything,” he replied. “You’ve got something in you, Elise. Something the rest of us don’t understand. And we won’t survive what’s coming unless you learn how to control it.”
“I don’t even know how I did any of it,” she murmured. “It only happens when I’m in danger.”
“Then maybe we learn what danger wakes it up,” Lucien said. “And how to wake it without the fear.”
Kai nodded. “We’ve contacted someone. An elder. She trained wolves who didn’t fit the mold. She might be able to help you.”
Elise looked between them. “And if I can’t do it?”
Kai met her eyes. “Then we stand beside you. Every step.”
The wind shifted.
Elise glanced up at the trees, thinking about Becky’s hollow gaze and the whispering parchment.
She still didn’t feel like a warrior or a leader. She didn’t even feel brave.
But something inside her was changing.
And whatever the Shadowborn had planned, they would find out soon enough—
She wasn’t going down easy.
- Writer
