Chapter 6: Wolves Don’t Stay Dead
1101 Words
Raine stared at him.
Gray.
He was taller. His jaw was sharper now. The exhaustion in his eyes wasn’t from lack of sleep ,it was from surviving things nobody mentioned. His black hoodie hung on him like it had seen its own war, and the scar down his neck? That was new.
But it was him.
Alive.
And she had buried him four years ago.
“Gray?” Her voice cracked.
He didn’t smile. He just stared at her,like he’d known this moment was coming and hated it anyway. Behind him, three shadowy figures waited: two guys and a girl. All of them are quiet. All of them were watching her.
“Is it really you?” she whispered.
“I told you I’d come back,” he said simply. “Didn’t think I’d find you this fast.”
Raine’s legs threatened to give up. She took a shaky step forward, every cell in her body wanting to hug him, to scream, to cry, to punch him in the chest for leaving. For dying. For lying.
“But they said .......” Her voice was a whisper now. “You died in the fire. They showed me the ashes. The report. They made me light the damn candle”
“I know,” he cut in gently. “And I’m sorry. But they lied.”
She shook her head, backing up, eyes burning. “Who are you with?”
Gray’s face hardened. “The ones who saved me. The ones the Council calls ghosts. But we’re not ghosts. We’re what comes when the Council turns their back on their own.”
The tallest figure behind him stepped forward—a man with cropped blond hair, blue eyes like frost, and the kind of stillness that made Raine’s skin crawl. She didn’t know his name, but her wolf recoiled.
“This is Kellen,” Gray said. “He leads the Hollowborn.”
The name hit her like a punch.
“I thought they were just a story.”
“Most stories come from the truth.”
Kellen nodded once. “We’re not here to hurt you. But we don’t have time to play catch-up either.”
Raine crossed her arms. “Then don’t expect me to follow you just because you dropped a name.”
Kellen’s eyes didn’t waver. “Elijah is still alive. But he won’t be for long if we don’t move.”
Her stomach dropped.
“How do you know that?”
“We’ve been tracking the Barrow wolves. They want something. Something inside Elijah. Or maybe someone he’s connected to.”
All eyes shifted to her.
“Me.”
“Your bloodline,” Kellen confirmed. “Your mother was more than just a Luna. She was something ancient. And you inherited that.”
Raine clenched her jaw. “I didn’t ask for any of it.”
“No one does,” Gray said. “But you can’t run from it anymore.”
They moved fast.
Raine didn’t ask where they were going. She followed Gray through the woods, stepping quietly on the fallen leaves. Kellen and the others moved like shadows, hardly speaking. Their quiet energy made her uneasy, like the air before a thunderstorm.
The deeper they went, the colder it got. The trees grew thicker, heavier, like the forest itself was holding its breath.
Finally, they stopped in a clearing wide, hollowed, ringed with stones blackened from old fire.
“This used to be neutral ground,” Gray said. “Before the packs turned on each other.”
“I remember,” Raine murmured. “Mom brought me here once.”
“She was powerful,” Kellen said. “More than she let anyone know. The Council feared her. That’s why they let the Barrows burn your house.”
Raine spun. “They let it happen?”
“They orchestrated it.”
Her breath caught. “And you knew?”
“I didn’t at first,” Gray said, his voice sharp with guilt. “They told me you were dead. I joined Hollowborn because I had nowhere else to go. I didn’t find out the truth until it was too late.”
She turned away, fists clenched. “So what now?”
“We save Elijah,” Gray said.
“Then what?”
Kellen looked at her. “Then you decide if you want to burn the whole system down.”
That night, she didn’t sleep.
The fire cracked behind her, but it didn’t warm her bones. She sat wrapped in her old coat, knees tucked to her chest, eyes scanning the trees.
Gray sat beside her after a while. Neither of them spoke.
“I missed you,” she said finally.
“I missed you too.”
“I thought I was going crazy after you died.”
“I thought I was crazy for surviving.”
They didn’t look at each other.
“Do you think Mom knew?” Raine asked softly.
“Maybe. She always knew more than she said.”
A beat passed.
“Do you remember what she used to say when we were scared?” Gray asked.
Raine closed her eyes.
“Wolves don’t stay dead. They rise with the moon.”
They sat there a while longer.
And when Raine finally laid down, the trees whispered above her like they remembered her name.
The next morning, the Hollowborn moved out at dawn. Raine stayed close to Gray, letting his presence settle her even though her heart hadn’t stopped racing.
The Barrows were closed now.
And so was Elijah.
She could feel it in her bones.
This time, she wouldn’t lose him.
Even if she had to tear down the entire mountain to get him back.
- Writer
