Past Wounds, Present Enemies
1076 Words
Snow clung to Nyra’s boots as Kael’s Beta, Garrick, led her through the Alpha’s wing. The corridors were quieter here, the murmurs of the pack fading into the heavy silence of stone walls.
Evren kept close, his small hand still wrapped in hers.
“You’ll stay here,” Garrick said, gesturing to a guest room. “Alpha will see you after he’s addressed the council.”
Nyra stepped inside, scanning the space. It was warm, with a small hearth and a single bed but the thick wooden door had a lock on the outside. She knew a cage when she saw one.
Garrick’s gaze lingered on Evren before he left. “Keep him close. Not everyone will welcome you here.”
The door clicked shut, and Nyra let out a slow breath. She crouched in front of Evren. “Stay in the room. No wandering, no matter what you hear outside.”
His eyes were too knowing for a child his age. “Is it because of the bad wolves?”
Her chest tightened. “Yes. And because of…” She hesitated. “Because some people will think you don’t belong here.”
“But we do,” he said simply, with a conviction she wished she shared.
Nyra didn’t have to wait long before the door opened again and this time, Kael stood there.
The sight of him in the doorway made her pulse jump, though she forced her expression into something unreadable.
“Come with me,” he said, his voice curt.
They walked in silence down the hall, his stride long and sure, hers matched with deliberate defiance.
When they reached his office, he closed the door behind them. The click was louder than it should have been.
“You’ve got two minutes,” he said. “Tell me why you’re really here.”
Her jaw tightened. “I told you—”
“You told me a story. Now tell me the truth.” He stepped closer, his silver eyes cutting through her. “You vanish without a word, without letting me—” He broke off, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “And now you’re back with a child you expect me not to ask questions about?”
Nyra held his gaze, but the weight of it made her chest ache. “The Hollowborn are moving west. Your territory is in their path. Whether you believe me or not, I’m here to help you stop them.”
“And the boy?” His voice dropped, dangerous. “Who is he to you?”
She didn’t flinch. “He’s mine. That’s all you need to know.”
For a moment, his expression was unreadable but something flickered in his eyes. Recognition. Or maybe just suspicion sharpened into certainty.
He looked away first. “Stay out of the council’s way. Some of them already think I’m too soft on rogues.”
Her mouth twisted. “Soft isn’t a word I’d use for you.”
A ghost of something — irritation, maybe even amusement passed over his face before he opened the door. “Let’s go. They’re waiting.”
The council chamber was full when they entered.
Six elders sat in carved chairs, their eyes narrowing the moment they saw her. Whispers rippled through the room.
“This is a mistake, Alpha.”
“She’s rogue blood. She doesn’t belong here.”
“And the child?”
Kael raised a hand, and silence fell instantly.
“Nyra Vale has information about a possible threat to our pack,” he said. “You will hear her out.”
Nyra stepped forward, meeting each elder’s gaze in turn. “The Hollowborn are back. I’ve seen them with my own eyes. They’ve been hunting rogues and small packs across the border. They leave nothing behind but—”
A low, inhuman howl cut her off.
It came from the direction of the training grounds… too close.
Kael was moving before the echoes faded, shifting mid-stride into his massive black wolf form. The rest of the council erupted into motion, warriors rushing past them.
Nyra didn’t hesitate. She ran.
The snow outside was churned with pawprints and streaked with red. Wolves clashed with pale, twisted creatures their bodies wrong, like bones forced into shapes they weren’t meant to hold. Hollowborn.
Nyra drew her blade from the sheath at her thigh, the silver edge catching the moonlight.
One of the creatures lunged at her, its mouth gaping wider than a wolf’s should, rows of jagged teeth glinting. She ducked under it, slashing its side, black ichor spraying across the snow.
A sharp, terrified cry cut through the chaos.
“Evren!”
She spun toward the sound and her blood turned to ice.
Two Hollowborn had broken past the defensive line, cornering Evren near the fence. His small body was pressed against the wood, his eyes wide with fear.
Nyra sprinted, every instinct in her screaming to reach him but Kael was faster.
He tore into the first creature with brutal precision, his massive jaws crushing its neck. The second turned toward him, but Kael’s claws ripped it open before it could strike.
Nyra reached Evren just as Kael shifted back into human form, his chest heaving. His arms were around the boy instantly, his large hand curling protectively around the back of Evren’s head.
The sight hit Nyra like a physical blow — Kael, holding his son without knowing, his body curved as if shielding something precious.
“Are you hurt?” Kael’s voice was rough, his eyes scanning Evren for injuries.
Evren shook his head, but clung to him fiercely.
Kael’s gaze lifted to Nyra, and in that moment, she saw the questions burning in his eyes and the truth he was starting to piece together.
Before he could speak, a warrior shouted from across the yard.
“They left something!”
Nyra and Kael moved toward the voice, Evren’s small hand still in Kael’s grip.
In the snow lay another obsidian shard …this one carved with a single rune.
Nyra crouched, tracing it with her gloved fingers. Recognition chilled her. “It’s a marker. They know where we are now.”
Kael’s voice was low, dangerous. “Then we end them before they come again.”
But as they locked eyes over the shard, Nyra knew it wasn’t just the Hollowborn they’d be fighting.
It was the truth and what would happen when it came out.
- Writer
