Chapter fifteen
672 Words
The gates were burning.
Kael’s warriors—men and women I’d seen standing proud just days ago—lay dead, their blood soaking into the soil. Some were torn apart. Others had black veins spreading from fatal wounds.
Dark magic.
Kael stepped in front of me, his wolf just beneath the surface. I could feel it, snarling inside him, demanding blood.
“Theron,” he said, voice low and full of hate.
The traitor smiled, holding the obsidian blade in one hand, his eyes glowing with unnatural light.
“You left the door wide open, Alpha,” Theron said. “You let your heart rule your head. Now watch it all burn.”
I stepped beside Kael, my pulse racing. “Why? Why betray him?”
Theron’s eyes flicked to me. “Because you were never meant to survive. And he—” he gestured to Kael, “—was never meant to feel.”
“You were his brother in arms,” Kael growled.
“I was more than that,” Theron hissed. “I was the one destined to lead. Until she came.”
He pointed at me like I was poison.
I didn’t flinch.
“You were nothing,” he snarled. “An orphan. A cursed legacy. But you twisted fate to your will, didn’t you?”
“No,” I said, stepping forward. “I fulfilled it.”
And then I raised my hand—and fire erupted from my palm.
Not normal fire.
Wolven fire.
Gold and silver, flickering with power older than time. The fire of the first Alpha Queen.
Theron staggered back, just as Kael shifted.
His wolf exploded outward in a flash of white light and fur. Larger than any I’d ever seen, eyes burning gold, fangs bared and dripping.
War began.
Kael launched at Theron, claws tearing into shadow and steel. Damon and the remaining warriors stormed out from the keep, engaging the black-cloaked figures pouring from the trees.
I joined the fight, fire in my blood and fury in my veins.
I wasn’t the lost girl anymore.
I was hers.
Amara’s daughter.
Born of prophecy. Raised by pain. Forged by love.
In the chaos, a shadow figure lunged at me from the side—blade raised.
But before it could reach me, someone threw themselves into the path.
“No!” I screamed.
Blood sprayed.
Damon fell to the ground, the blade lodged in his chest.
“Damon!” I dropped beside him, catching his body.
He smiled faintly. “Should’ve… dodged faster…”
“Don’t talk,” I whispered, tears blurring my vision. “You’re going to be fine.”
“No,” he whispered. “But you are. Finish this. End him.”
His hand fell from mine.
And I screamed—loud enough to shake the stars.
Kael felt it.
He turned, mid-battle, and let out a howl so loud, the trees trembled.
Theron laughed. “More death. More loss. Is this what your bond has brought you?”
Kael didn’t answer.
He lunged.
They collided again—Alpha against traitor, teeth against steel, heart against hate.
I stood, the fire rising in me, now uncontrollable.
It swirled around me like a storm. The wind picked up. The clouds darkened.
Magic cracked through the sky as I walked forward.
And then I saw her.
A woman—faint, glowing, standing behind Theron.
My mother.
A ghost. A memory. A guide.
She pointed at the obsidian blade.
Destroy it.
I raised my hand—and my fire roared toward it.
The blade pulsed black, absorbing the power at first.
But then it cracked.
Screamed.
Shattered.
Theron dropped to his knees, gasping.
Kael didn’t hesitate.
He shifted back and slammed his fist into Theron’s jaw, knocking him out cold.
“It’s over,” Kael breathed.
But it wasn’t.
Because the sky above us cracked open.
And from the rift poured creatures we’d only heard about in whispers—sent by the Council. Sent to kill us all.
War had just begun.
- Writer
