Chapter 4 — The Girl the Stars Tried to Hide
793 Words
POV: Damieon
The dream came back again.
But this time, I was awake.
I stood at the edge of the training grounds as dawn broke over the mountains, mist curling low across the earth like ghostly fingers. The pack had not yet risen. The world was silent except for my own steady breathing… and the strange ache in the center of my chest that had not left me for three nights.
It felt like something was pulling at my soul.
Not magic.
Not danger.
Something alive.
I pressed a hand against my chest, jaw tightening. Ever since Nytherion’s shadow had brushed my dreams, everything inside me felt louder—my wolf, my instincts, my anger, my curiosity. And now this new sensation had joined them.
A sudden sharp pain lanced through my ribs.
I sucked in a breath as heat rippled across my skin, just beneath my collarbone—fierce, scorching, intimate. Not magic. Not injury.
Connection.
“What are you?” I whispered.
The wind shifted.
And then I smelled her.
Blood.
Starlight.
Fear.
My head snapped up.
It came from beyond the eastern ridge… past the border stones. No pack scent. No human scent. Something ancient and raw threaded through the air. My heart began to pound as my wolf surged forward with violent urgency.
Mine.
The word thundered through my instincts so suddenly it nearly dropped me to my knees.
I didn’t think.
I ran.
The eastern forest tore past me in a blur of shadow and silver light. My feet barely touched the ground as I followed the scent deeper, branches ripping at my arms, frost forming beneath every step as my power flared without permission.
The pull grew stronger.
So did the fear riding on the wind.
Then I heard it—
A scream.
Thin. Broken. Desperate.
I crashed through the last curtain of trees and skidded to a halt in a small ravine split by moonlight. At its center, a girl crouched against a broken stone altar, blood running freely down her arm as three dark-cloaked figures closed in.
Star-Hunters.
Nytherion’s.
My vision went red.
I didn’t shift.
I didn’t need to.
Power ripped free from my core as I slammed into the nearest hunter with enough force to shatter bone. The second barely had time to raise a weapon before frost exploded from my hands and encased him mid-scream.
The third turned—too slow.
Shadow met moonfire.
He disintegrated.
The ravine fell silent.
Breathing hard, I turned toward her.
She was shaking violently, dark hair tangled around her blood-streaked face, silver light faintly pulsing beneath her skin like stars trapped in flesh. Her eyes lifted slowly to mine.
They were not wolf.
They were not human.
They were celestial.
And the moment our gazes locked—
Pain detonated through my chest as if my heart had split open and re-formed around her name.
I staggered back a step.
She gasped.
The bond snapped into place like a shattered universe slamming back into alignment.
Mate.
“No,” she whispered, terror flooding her expression. “No—they said this would happen—”
She tried to stand and collapsed.
I was at her side instantly, catching her before she hit the stone. The moment my hands touched her skin, power flared between us in a blinding rush of moonfire and silver light. She cried out softly as the bleeding on her arm stopped instantly, flesh knitting beneath my palm.
Healing.
Not my power.
Ours.
Her breathing hitched. “You’re not supposed to exist,” she whispered. “The Star-Seers said the Royal Bloodline ended with the queens.”
My jaw clenched.
“It didn’t,” I said quietly. “And neither do you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “They’ll kill you for helping me.”
I leaned closer, my wolf snarling beneath my skin. “They can try.”
The sky split with distant thunder.
I felt it then—dark awareness sweeping the realm.
Nytherion had sensed the bond.
The hunters we killed were only the first wave.
“We have to move,” I said.
She hesitated. “If I go with you, your family will die.”
“My family already died for this world once,” I replied coldly. “They won’t again.”
I lifted her into my arms as effortlessly as breath. Star-light pulsed faster beneath her skin, reacting to my touch.
And deep inside my chest, something ancient and royal awakened.
A legacy older than crowns.
Older than prophecy.
Older than war.
As I turned toward the forest, the wind carried a whisper only I could hear—
“The star-blood has chosen its king.”
And somewhere in the darkness beyond the realm…
Nytherion smiled.
- Writer
