Chapter ten
777 Words
The world burned behind us.
Kael’s hand gripped mine tightly as we ran through the trees, our wolves close beneath our skin, breathing in sync. The moment I’d stepped out of the Hollow, glowing with the fire of my awakened bloodline, the Council had attacked.
Not a warning. Not a trial.
Just blood.
“They planned this,” Kael growled as we darted through the forest. “They waited until you came out. They were never going to let you walk free.”
I didn’t speak. I couldn’t.
The Hollow had changed me—deeply. I felt the hum of something ancient in my blood. Not just power, but memory. My ancestors whispered to me in the wind. My mother’s voice echoed faintly with each heartbeat.
“Run to the Sanctuary.”
That’s where we were headed now.
The path was treacherous—winding through forgotten territory in the Northern Cliffs, where few dared to travel. Legend said a Riven Queen once hid here, after the first war. Her magic had turned the mountain into a maze of protection and secrets.
“Are you sure this place exists?” Kael asked as we climbed a narrow pass. Below us, fog curled like fingers over the rocks.
“I saw it in the Hollow,” I replied. “It called to me.”
He didn’t argue.
Not anymore.
Whatever I’d become… he could feel it too.
We arrived at nightfall.
The Sanctuary wasn’t made of stone or wood—it was carved into the cliffs themselves. Glowing runes marked its entrance, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.
The moment I stepped through, the magic surged and the entrance sealed behind us.
Kael looked around in awe. “This place… it feels alive.”
“It is,” I whispered. “It remembers the ones who came before.”
There were murals on the walls—ancient wolves with glowing eyes. One showed a woman standing in a circle of fire, her hand outstretched. At her side stood an Alpha, cloaked in shadow.
“They were bonded,” I said. “Like us.”
Kael stiffened. “We’re not—”
“We are,” I said simply. “You know it. I feel it every time you breathe near me.”
His jaw clenched. “The bond was forbidden for a reason. You were promised to another. I took an oath to never take a mate.”
“But fate doesn’t care about our rules.”
We stared at each other, the firelight dancing between us.
“You want the truth?” Kael said, stepping closer. “Every time I’m near you, I feel like I’m standing too close to a storm. You break my rules. You make me weak.”
“I don’t want you weak,” I said. “I want you real.”
And then I closed the distance.
The kiss was nothing like the first.
This one was honest. Starved. Raw.
Kael’s arms wrapped around me like armor. His lips devoured mine, and the power between us exploded—wild and electric. His wolf roared inside him. Mine echoed in return.
When we broke apart, our foreheads touched, breath mingling.
“I can’t lose you,” he whispered.
“Then don’t.”
Later, we lay together beneath a carved ceiling of stars. The sanctuary hummed around us, peaceful for now.
Kael traced the scars on my shoulder. “The Council will come again.”
“I know.”
“They’ll send an army this time.”
“Then we fight.”
Kael went quiet, then said, “I saw something during the battle. One of the Council warriors… he had your father’s crest on his blade.”
I turned sharply. “What?”
“It wasn’t just an execution, was it?” he said. “Your parents weren’t caught in the crossfire. They were targeted.”
I sat up, heart racing.
“There’s more to this,” he said. “Your bloodline… the Riven Queen legacy… it wasn’t lost. It was stolen.”
And just like that, the mural across from us shimmered.
A new image formed—one of betrayal.
A wolf cloaked in Council colors stabbing another from behind.
My breath caught. “The prophecy…”
Kael stood. “We need answers. Real ones. From someone who was there.”
I nodded. “Then we find the Seer.”
Kael froze. “The Seer’s been missing for decades.”
“She’ll find me,” I whispered. “She’s always known where I’d end up. And now she’ll know I’m ready.”
Outside, thunder cracked.
The storm hadn’t passed.
It was just beginning.
- Writer
