Chapter 3: The Blood Oath
883 Words
The snowstorm had returned by the time the patrol made it back to the Darkpine lodge.
Wind whipped against the trees, scattering white across the clearing and biting through coats and fur alike. The wolves trudged toward the firelit main hall, some limping, others with fresh scratches that steamed faintly in the cold.
Lina’s legs ached from the long trek, but her mind was still running hot from the fight. She’d never seen violence so close—never smelled blood on the snow like that—and yet the fear she’d felt was tangled with something else. Adrenaline.
Kaelen strode ahead of her, moving as if the cold and the battle hadn’t touched him. When they stepped inside the lodge, his voice cut through the low murmur of the gathered wolves.
“Council. Now.”
The “council” turned out to be seven wolves seated around a long table at the back of the lodge. Mira took a seat to Kaelen’s right, eyes sharp. Others included a broad-shouldered man with tawny hair, a lean woman with a jagged scar across her brow, and an elderly wolf with white hair and hands knotted with age.
Lina hung back, unsure if she was allowed to be here, but Kaelen didn’t send her away.
“They’re scouting our borders,” Mira said once everyone had settled. “The Ironclaws aren’t retreating—they’re setting up for a bigger push.”
“They’ve been quiet for two winters,” the scarred woman muttered. “What changed?”
Kaelen’s gaze was unreadable. “They want something we have.”
The old man leaned forward. “Or someone.” His eyes flicked toward Lina, and the air in the room shifted.
Lina stiffened. “Why would they want me? I don’t even know who they are.”
“That’s the problem,” Mira said, her tone cool. “You don’t know them, but they knew to attack the night you arrived.”
“That’s coincidence,” Lina protested, though the word felt hollow.
Kaelen didn’t confirm or deny it. “The question is whether they’ll come for her directly—or use her as leverage.”
The tawny-haired man slammed a fist onto the table. “We can’t risk it, Alpha. Send her away before she gets us all killed.”
The words hit harder than Lina expected. She opened her mouth, but Kaelen’s voice cut through.
“She’s staying.”
The council erupted in protest. Kaelen didn’t raise his voice, but the authority in it froze the room.
“She’s under my protection,” he said. “And until we know what the Ironclaws are planning, she remains here.”
Mira’s expression was unreadable, but her eyes lingered on Lina for a moment longer before she turned back to the table. “Then we need to seal the borders and prepare for war.”
That night, Lina sat in the small room Kaelen had given her, staring at the frost creeping along the edges of the window. She couldn’t stop hearing the council’s words—Send her away… get us all killed…
A knock sounded at the door.
Before she could answer, it opened, and Kaelen stepped inside. He didn’t bother with small talk.
“They’ll be watching you now. Every step. Every word.”
Lina crossed her arms. “And you? Are you watching me too?”
His gaze held hers. “Always.”
Something in the way he said it made her breath catch—not a threat, but a promise.
She hesitated before asking the question that had been gnawing at her. “Why did you really bring me here that night?”
For a moment, she thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he said quietly, “Because you smelled like the prophecy.”
She blinked. “The… what?”
His expression didn’t change, but his voice dropped lower. “There’s an old oath in our pack—a blood oath—about a girl who would appear when the Darkpine was on the edge of destruction. A girl whose presence could either save us… or destroy us.”
Lina stared at him. “And you think that’s me?”
“I don’t think,” Kaelen said. “I know.”
Before she could respond, a horn blast split the night. Loud. Urgent.
Kaelen’s head snapped toward the door. “Stay here.”
But Lina was already following him into the hall, where wolves were rushing toward the gates. The heavy wooden doors shuddered under a massive blow, then another.
When they swung open, a single figure stepped inside.
He was tall, dressed in black leather that gleamed wet from the snow. His eyes were the color of molten gold, his smile cold.
“Hello, Kaelen,” the man said, voice smooth as silk. “It’s been a long time.”
The tension in the room was instant, electric.
“Ironfang,” Kaelen said.
Ironfang’s gaze drifted past Kaelen to Lina, and his smile deepened. “So this is the little human causing so much trouble.”
“She’s not yours,” Kaelen said, voice like ice.
Ironfang’s eyes glittered. “Oh, Alpha, you’ve got it backwards. She was mine before she was ever yours.”
The words sent a cold shiver down Lina’s spine.
- Writer
