Chapter eight
818 Words
The sky was heavy with storm clouds when the first howl shattered the dawn.
Kael stood at the center of the training field, a ring of Nightfang warriors forming around him. I was among them—barefoot, breath sharp in my chest, and heart thudding like a war drum.
“Again,” Kael barked.
I lunged, claws extended. Mira dodged me easily, her movements sleek and cold. She twisted behind me, slammed my shoulder, and I hit the ground hard enough to lose breath.
“Still slow,” she muttered.
“Again,” Kael growled. “Get up.”
I did.
Over and over, I rose.
Every hit I took, I swallowed the pain. Every blow I missed, I learned from. I didn’t care that Mira smirked every time I fell. I didn’t care that the pack watched me with suspicion and doubt.
I wasn’t training to earn their respect.
I was training to survive.
By mid-morning, sweat soaked through my shirt, and my limbs shook with exhaustion. But I didn’t stop.
Kael finally raised a hand. “Enough.”
Mira stepped back with a shrug. “She’s got fire, I’ll give her that.”
I straightened, breathless. “Next time, I knock you on your ass.”
That earned me a rare smirk from her. “We’ll see, mutt.”
Kael tossed me a canteen. “You’re improving.”
I drank deeply, my hands still trembling. “That’s good. Because they’re coming.”
Kael’s gaze sharpened. “You feel it too?”
I nodded. “In my bones.”
Later that day, Jace stormed into the war room.
“We have a leak,” he said without preamble.
Kael stood from the table, eyes flashing. “Who?”
Jace threw a letter onto the surface. It was sealed with a crimson crescent—Council magic.
“They know we’ve fortified Nightfang. They know about the Riven rituals you started for her.”
I froze. “The Council knows about my training?”
Kael growled low. “Only a few had access to that information.”
Jace’s jaw clenched. “I’ve already started an internal investigation. But if there’s a traitor here, we’re running out of time.”
Kael looked at me. “We move up your rites. Tomorrow, you enter the Hollow.”
“The Hollow?” I asked.
Mira’s voice came from the doorway. “It’s the heart of our ancestral grounds. Wolves go there to face their deepest fears. Most don’t return the same.”
“Some don’t return at all,” Kael added quietly.
“But if I survive it…”
Kael nodded. “You’ll awaken your wolf fully. And the Council won’t be ready for what you become.”
That night, I dreamed of fire.
Not the kind that burns homes—but the kind that licks beneath skin, crawling up my spine like something alive. I saw my mother again. Her eyes were gold like mine. Her voice was a whisper I couldn’t hear—but her lips moved with one word:
“Remember.”
I woke gasping, my skin glowing faintly in the dark.
Kael sat in the chair nearby, watching.
“You were glowing,” he said. “Your wolf’s waking faster than we thought.”
“I think… something’s wrong with me.”
He stood and moved closer. “No. Something’s waking in you. There’s a difference.”
I looked up at him. “What if I hurt someone?”
Kael gently cupped my face. “Then I’ll be there to stop you.”
The bond flared between us—hot, hungry, wild.
“Why do you always protect me?” I whispered.
His eyes were stormy. “Because you’re mine.”
And just like that, the distance between us shattered.
His mouth met mine—urgent, claiming, real.
This kiss wasn’t soft.
It was a collision.
When we broke apart, his breath hitched. “You make it hard to do the right thing.”
“What’s the right thing?” I asked.
He swallowed hard. “Letting you go before this bond destroys us both.”
But neither of us moved.
Because deep down, we already knew:
It was too late.
At sunrise, I stood at the mouth of the Hollow.
It was an ancient tunnel carved into the mountain behind the keep, pulsing with old magic and shadows. A place where Riven bloodlines either awakened—or perished.
Kael held out a small blade.
“Your wolf will test you. It will try to break you. You have to bleed to earn its trust.”
I took the blade. “And if I don’t?”
“Then it’ll consume you from the inside out.”
“No pressure,” I muttered.
Kael touched my wrist. “Come back to me.”
“I will.”
Then I stepped into the dark.
And the Hollow swallowed me whole.
- Writer
