Chapter eleven
809 Words
The dream came first.
Fire. Wolves tearing into each other. A crimson moon dripping blood into the sky. And a girl—me—standing in the center, her arms outstretched, a crown of bone hovering over her head.
“Burn it down, child.”
I woke gasping, the dream still tangled in my lungs.
Kael sat beside me, fully dressed, sword on his back. He didn’t speak, but the tension on his face said enough.
Someone was coming.
The runes on the wall glowed brighter, one by one, until the entire sanctuary pulsed with gold.
“She’s here,” I whispered.
Kael tensed. “The Seer?”
Before I could answer, the entrance shimmered—and the temperature dropped sharply.
A figure stepped from the mist. Hooded. Barefoot. Skin as pale as snow and eyes like galaxies.
The Seer.
Her gaze cut through me instantly, like she could see everything—past, future, and the pieces of me I hadn’t even discovered yet.
“You’ve awakened,” she said softly.
I stood. “You know who I am.”
“I’ve known since the moment your parents bled for you.”
Kael stepped forward. “Why now? Why come to us?”
“Because time’s up,” she replied. “The Council knows what you are, and they fear what you’ll become. But they should’ve killed you the night you were born.”
“Then why didn’t they?” I demanded.
The Seer looked at me—really looked.
“Because your father made a deal with death. He gave up everything for you to survive one more day.”
She pulled something from her robe—a black stone pendant etched with a sun and crescent moon.
“This belonged to your mother,” she said. “She was more than Riven. She was the key to uniting the bloodlines.”
I reached for it, but the Seer pulled back.
“There’s a price to knowing the truth,” she warned.
“I’ve already paid,” I whispered. “In blood. In silence. In exile.”
She studied me, then nodded slowly and handed me the pendant.
The moment my fingers touched it, images slammed into my skull.
My mother, pregnant, kneeling before a circle of Elders.
My father, screaming as he was dragged away.
A prophecy carved in flame:
“When the child of blood and shadow unites with the Wolf of Ruin, the packs will fall… or rise forever.”
The vision broke, and I staggered backward, dizzy.
Kael caught me. “What did you see?”
I stared at him, breathless.
“You,” I said. “It was always you.”
The Seer nodded grimly. “Alpha Kael is the Wolf of Ruin. Destined to destroy or protect. There is no middle.”
He froze.
I could feel the war inside him. The Alpha. The lover. The protector. The killer.
“I don’t want to be a weapon,” he said hoarsely.
“Then choose,” the Seer said. “Because the Council just sent their terms.”
She waved her hand—and a scroll materialized, sealed in blood wax. Kael took it with shaking fingers and read.
His face turned to stone.
“What does it say?” I asked.
“They want me to turn you in,” he said quietly. “If I don’t… they’ll burn my entire pack.”
Silence fell like a blade.
I stepped back. “Then do it.”
His head snapped up. “What?”
“I won’t be the reason your people die.”
Kael shook his head. “You don’t understand—”
“I do,” I said. “More than anyone. You swore an oath. I’m not worth their lives.”
He crossed the room and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Don’t say that. You are everything.”
Tears stung my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall.
“I love you, Kael,” I said. “And that means letting you go if I have to.”
The Seer’s voice broke in, sharp and final:
“You have three nights. At the next blood moon, they will come. With chains. With fire. With a blade made from the bones of the first Riven Queen.”
Kael’s voice dropped to a growl. “Then let them come.”
The Seer tilted her head. “Are you willing to sacrifice your title for her?”
“Yes.”
“Your pack?”
He hesitated.
That pause said more than words ever could.
“I will find another way,” he growled.
But the Seer only smiled.
“There is no other way, Alpha.”
With a gust of wind and starlight, she vanished.
And we were left alone again.
This time, the silence between us wasn’t comfort.
It was war.
- Writer
