Chapter Eight: Ghosts That Breathe
594 Words
The storm doesn’t stop.
It swallows the land in grey for days. The wind claws at the windows, and the pack moves quieter, more cautiously. As if they know something is coming.
Maybe they’re right.
Kael hasn’t spoken much since our last night together. He hasn’t kissed me again. But something between us shifted. There’s a softness now in his silences. A weight behind his stares. He looks at me like he’s trying to remember how to hope.
And then she arrives.
At first, I think it’s a mistake.
The woman steps through the packhouse doors wrapped in a wet green cloak, hair dark with rain, skin paler than snow. Her eyes landed on me instantly.
Not with anger.
With… recognition.
“You’re the new Luna,” she says.
Her voice is music wrapped in broken glass.
“And you are?” I ask, my spine straightening.
She doesn’t answer. Not to me.
“Where is Kael?” she asks instead, brushing past me like mist.
A ripple moves through the wolves around us. The guards look away. Yelena actually stiffens.
I follow her to the east wing. I shouldn’t. But I have to.
Kael opens the study door before she can knock.
His face goes white.
“Elena,” he breathes.
My heart drops.
She steps forward and embraces him. He lets her.
Just for a second. Just enough to freeze the air in my lungs.
When she pulls back, her gaze flickers to me, then returns to him. “You didn’t tell her?”
Kael’s jaw tightens. “That you’re Elira’s sister? No.”
I stagger.
She turns to me again. Her expression is unreadable. “You’re not what I expected.”
“Neither are you,” I whisper.
“I came to see if the rumors were true,” Elena says. “That Kael has a new mate. That he’s breathing again.”
He doesn’t correct her.
She steps toward me, her eyes gentle now. “You have her eyes,” she says softly. “But not her fire. Yours is quieter. It burns from within.”
I don’t know whether to thank her or slap her.
Kael watches us both like he’s afraid we’ll tear each other apart.
Then Elena says, “I don’t hate you, Aurora. I envy you.”
“Why?”
“Because he looks at you like the sun rose after a lifetime of night.”
Silence stretches. Thunder rolls outside.
Elena steps back, tears gleaming in her lashes. “Just promise me one thing—don’t run. Not like Elira did.”
She turns, and walks out.
And I’m left staring at Kael.
“She ran?” I ask.
He nods. “Twice. Once before the bond. Once after. She couldn’t handle it. The pressure. The danger. Me.”
I step forward. “Do you think I’ll run too?”
He looks at me—truly looks. “No.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re stronger than she was,” he says. “And I think you’re the one who’s going to save me.”
I reach for him this time.
My hands curl into his shirt. His mouth meets mine in a kiss so soft it almost hurts. Like we’re both afraid to break the moment.
But when he lifts me into his arms, carries me to the furs by the fire, and lays me down…
There’s no fear left.
Only the sound of rain. The echo of ghosts. And the slow, patient rhythm of two souls learning how to love again.
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- Writer
