Chapter nine
747 Words
The Hollow was alive.
The moment I stepped inside, the darkness closed in like a living, breathing thing. Shadows slithered across the ancient stone walls, and the air buzzed with something older than time itself—Riven magic, thick and waiting.
My footsteps echoed into nothingness as I walked deeper, clutching the blade Kael had given me.
Then the silence broke.
A low growl echoed all around me, but it wasn’t external.
It came from inside me.
“You’re not ready.”
The voice wasn’t mine. It was deep and ancient, echoing through my bones. My knees buckled.
“Who are you?” I whispered.
“You know me. You carry me. I am what they buried inside you.”
Pain seared through my chest like fire beneath my ribs. Images slammed into me—flashes of a woman with golden eyes, a man roaring in agony, blood splattering snow. My mother. My father.
And then a whisper:
“They killed them to hide what you are.”
I stumbled, hitting the stone floor hard.
“No,” I said through gritted teeth. “They died in a fire. That’s what I was told.”
“Lies.”
“They burned your past to keep you weak.”
The walls shimmered, shifting into a new vision. I stood outside a council chamber, unseen. Inside, the Elders argued in furious voices.
“She’s a Riven child—dangerous.”
“She must never know the truth.”
“If she awakens, we’re all at risk.”
I gasped. They’d known who I was. All of them.
I wasn’t just an orphan.
I was a threat.
The wolf inside me surged forward, clawing its way toward freedom.
“Bleed.”
“Let me in.”
With shaking hands, I raised the blade and sliced across my palm.
Blood spilled. The pain was nothing compared to the fire that erupted beneath my skin. I screamed—but it wasn’t in fear.
It was power.
Raw. Ancient. Mine.
My bones cracked, my skin shifted—and then everything went white.
Outside the Hollow, Kael paced like a caged animal.
“She’s been in there too long,” he muttered.
Mira stood nearby, arms crossed. “The rite takes as long as it takes. If she’s strong enough, she’ll come out.”
“If she’s not—”
“She’s not your mate,” someone snapped behind him.
Kael turned sharply to find Lysa, the Council’s envoy from the East Pack, flanked by several warriors. “The Council has decided. If she survives the Hollow, she’s to be delivered into our custody.”
Kael’s growl was instantaneous. “She’s under my protection.”
Lysa stepped forward, unflinching. “She’s Riven. She belongs to all the packs, not just yours. The law is clear.”
“She belongs to no one,” Kael snarled. “And if you try to take her, you’ll start a war.”
Lysa smirked. “Then you better choose your side, Alpha.”
Inside the Hollow, I collapsed to my knees in a glowing pool of silver light. My wolf—not a normal one, not even Nightfang—rose inside me like a second skin.
She was massive, with midnight fur laced with starlight. Her eyes were gold fire, her growl deep and guttural.
“You’re me,” I whispered.
“No. We’re us now. One.”
“What am I?”
“You are the last of the Riven Queens. The bloodline they feared. The prophecy they tried to erase.”
I stood, trembling. “And Kael?”
“He’s the only Alpha strong enough to stand beside you… or destroy you.”
Outside, I heard shouting. Clashing steel. Magic.
Kael was in trouble.
Without hesitation, I sprinted toward the exit. Light gathered around me, my senses sharp, my blood singing with power.
The Hollow opened.
And I emerged.
Everyone turned.
The wind howled.
I stood at the edge, glowing from within, my eyes no longer human.
I was no longer just the rejected girl.
I was something more.
Kael looked at me—eyes wide, jaw clenched.
“Kael,” I said, my voice layered with the wolf inside. “We have to run.”
“Why?” he asked.
I looked toward the horizon.
“They’re coming. The ones who killed my parents. The ones who want me dead.”
And just like that, the earth trembled beneath our feet.
The war had begun.
- Writer
