Chapter4
1265 Words
He’s coming for you.”
Riel’s voice still stayed in Liana’s mind while she dragged his body through the forest. His blood soaked into her sleeves. Her heart pounded. Her hands trembled.
The forest wasn’t quiet anymore. Now it listened. Leaves shifted without wind. Branches seemed to lean toward her as she moved. Her wolf stayed quiet, pacing inside her, tense and restless. Every breath Liana took felt thin, like even the air was telling her to move faster.
“Just hold on,” she whispered to Riel.
His skin was cold. His breaths were shallow. Every step back toward the cave felt longer than the last. The shadows pressed closer around her. There was no sound, but she knew something was behind her. It didn’t step. It didn’t breathe. But it watched.
Her wolf finally whispered, “Don’t look back.”
Liana didn’t.
She made it to the cave’s entrance before her knees buckled. Maelis was already there, eyes narrowed.
“You brought something back with you,” Maelis said.
Liana collapsed beside Riel. “He found me. Collapsed in front of me. He’s from my pack. I thought he was dead.”
Maelis knelt beside him and laid her palm on Riel’s chest. She pulled back at once, like something had shocked her.
“This boy is marked,” she said, her voice low and serious.
Liana leaned in. “What kind of mark?”
Maelis’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Not mine. Not yours. Not Kael’s. This is something darker.”
She turned and waved her staff. Symbols glowed faintly on the stone floor around the cave. “Bring him inside. Keep him away from the fire.”
Liana dragged Riel toward the far wall, laying him gently against a pile of furs. Maelis followed, her fingers moving quickly through a pouch of ash and crushed herbs. She drew marks around him, symbols Liana didn’t recognize.
When she finished, she looked at Liana’s hand. “Show me.”
Liana hesitated, then unwrapped the cloth around her palm. The Seer mark shimmered faintly silver beneath her skin.
Maelis frowned. “Touch him.”
“What?”
“Touch his hand.”
Liana reached out and pressed her fingers to Riel’s.
Her mark flared. So did his.
A red mark lit up on Riel’s chest, burning straight through his shirt. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
Liana gasped and pulled her hand away.
Maelis’s voice dropped. “He carries corrupted Seer blood. Just enough to react, not enough to control.”
“Why would anyone do that to him?” Liana asked.
“Because he’s connected to you,” Maelis said. “And someone wants to use him to find you.”
Liana stayed seated by the cave wall long after Maelis left her side. The firelight flickered against the stone, but her thoughts were far away. Somewhere out there, Kael was still breathing. Still alive. She couldn’t help but wonder if he could feel it too.
Far across the mountains, Kael suddenly woke up, gasping for breath. He had fallen asleep at his desk, ink stained the page he’d been writing on. The nightmare had returned not the forest, not the blood. The scream. Her scream.
He got up and paced the room, pulling his shirt on. But the feeling of her wouldn’t leave him. Her light, that burning silver. The pain. The heat, like something had torn open inside him.
His wolf clawed inside his chest, restless.
“She’s afraid,” it said.
Kael’s fists clenched. “I know.”
A knock at the door. His Beta, Dren, stepped in without waiting.
“You’re going to kill someone,” he said flatly.
Kael turned.
“You nearly tore open Halden’s throat during training. He’s still coughing blood.”
Kael said nothing.
Dren crossed his arms. “This isn’t just about the past. You’re unraveling.”
“She’s alive,” Kael said quietly.
“I figured.”
“I feel her.”
Dren exhaled. “You rejected the bond.”
“It didn’t break.”
Dren stepped closer. “If the council finds out what this is doing to you, they’ll question your rule. Your control.”
Kael turned to the window. “Let them.”
Back in the cave, Maelis finished drawing the protection marks and stepped back. Riel lay unconscious, his breath weak but steady. The red mark on his chest had faded to a faint light.
Liana sat near the entrance, arms around her knees.
“Did I do this?” she asked softly.
Maelis glanced at her. “You awakened it. But no, you didn’t cause it.”
“Then who did?”
“Someone who knows what Seer blood can do,” Maelis said. “Someone who wants yours.”
Liana closed her eyes. Her wolf was silent.
Maelis sat beside her. “You can still walk away. Leave him. Forget the bond. Fade into the world.”
“I don’t want to run,” Liana said.
Maelis’s voice was gentle. “Then you must prepare for war.”
That night, Liana had a dream. She stood in the same forest of silver trees. But this time, her wolf wasn’t there. She was alone. Then a figure stepped forward. Not a wolf. Not a man. Something in between. It wore a cloak of shadows, face hidden, but its voice was clear.
“You are not the last.”
Liana tried to move, but her feet stayed rooted.
“Others like you survived. But not all chose your path.”
The figure raised a hand.
Images flashed. A girl. Her age. With the same silver eyes. But darker. Crueler.
The girl turned, and her mark burned red.
Liana jolted awake. Sweat soaked her shirt. The fire had burned low again. She stood, walked toward the pool chamber, and looked at her reflection. The silver in her eyes had grown.
Riel woke up screaming.
Liana rushed to his side, but Maelis beat her there.
His body arched. The red mark blazed on his chest again.
“Don’t touch him!” Maelis warned.
But Liana didn’t listen, and without thinking she grabbed his hand and held on.
Their marks collided. Light exploded.
Pain shot through her arm, burning like fire.
She screamed. Riel screamed louder.
The cave trembled.
Maelis shouted something in a language Liana didn’t understand. Her staff lit up. Then everything went black.
When Liana opened her eyes, she was flat on the ground, gasping for breath.
Maelis knelt beside Riel. He was unconscious again.
Liana’s palm still glowed. But now, the light was climbing up her wrist.
Maelis looked pale. “It’s begun.”
Later that evening, Liana stepped outside alone. The trees whispered again, but not like before. Now they felt familiar. Recognizing. She looked up at the moon.
Her wolf spoke.
“He’s coming.”
“Kael?” Liana asked.
“The bond isn’t sleeping anymore. He feels you.”
“I don’t want him to.”
“Then you’ll have to leave before he finds you.”
Liana turned to go back inside. But then everything stopped. The wind died. The trees stilled. She turned again. And saw him.
Kael’s wolf stood at the edge of the clearing massive, glowing, watching. But… not real. She realized it wasn’t flesh. It was a vision. A bond echo.
Her wolf’s voice trembled.
“He’s closer than you think.”
Liana dropped to her knees. The silver on her wrist burned. The wolf disappeared.
And a voice whispered behind her ear,
“You can’t run forever.”
- Writer
