CHAPTER EIGHT
1254 Words
AMARA'S POV|
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
One moment, I was staring at the ceiling, trying to ignore the bond pulsing between us like a second heartbeat. The next… darkness pulled me under.
But not peaceful darkness.
Dreams came.
No—visions.
I stood in a forest. Not the one behind the house. Not any place I recognized. The trees were taller than mountains, stretching so far into the sky they disappeared into mist. Silver leaves shimmered with light that didn’t come from the sun. The ground beneath my feet pulsed—alive, like it was breathing.
I heard whispers.
Not words. Just sound.
Like the rustle of silk and secrets.
And then I saw her.
The woman in white.
She wasn’t a wolf. Not exactly. She was more… essence. A shape carved from moonlight and power. Her face was blurred, glowing too brightly for me to focus on. But I felt her eyes. Felt her knowing.
She raised a hand and placed it over my chest.
Right above my heart.
“You were never meant to be alone,” she whispered.
Her voice echoed—not just in my ears, but in my bones. In my blood.
“You are the hinge between what was... and what will be. The one who survives.”
And just like that—
I woke up.
Gasping. Sweating.
Heart racing like I’d been running for miles.
Light streamed through the window. Morning. Soft and pale. The scent of earth and cedar drifted in, and I knew instantly—
Kael was still there.
I rose slowly, quietly crossing the room to open the door.
And my breath caught.
He was sitting on the floor, head tilted back against the wall, eyes closed. Bare chest rising and falling with a steady rhythm. He looked like a painting—so still, so powerful, like he was carved from the forest itself.
And yet… there was something boyish in the way he slept. Unprotected. Vulnerable.
I hated the way it made my chest ache.
He must’ve felt me watching, because his eyes opened.
Golden. Sharp. Awake instantly, like a warrior trained never to let his guard down, even in rest.
“Morning,” he said, voice low and rough from sleep.
I didn’t know what to say. So I just nodded.
He stood in one smooth movement, like a shadow uncoiling. Still keeping distance between us, still respectful. But his eyes never left mine.
“Did you sleep?” he asked.
I hesitated. “Enough.”
He nodded once. “Good. I’ll give you space. But if you feel anything—off—call for me.”
I frowned. “Off?”
His jaw flexed. “There’s something in the woods.”
That made my blood chill.
“What kind of something?”
“I don’t know yet,” he admitted. “But I felt it last night. Just a flicker. Not rogue. Not human either. It was watching.”
I swallowed hard, my wolf bristling beneath my skin.
Watching us?
He gave me a long look, then turned and walked down the hall, muscles coiled like he was preparing for battle—even in his silence.
And just like that… he was gone.
But the tension in the air wasn’t.
Something was coming. I could feel it.
And now, I had more questions than answers.
Who was the woman in white?
What did she mean by the one who survives?
Why now—why after Kael?
My fingers clenched at my sides.
Whatever this bond was… it wasn’t just about love.
It was about fate.
And fate was never kind.
I didn’t go back to bed.
I didn’t want to close my eyes again. Not after that dream. Not after those words—You were never meant to be alone… the one who survives.
What did she mean? Survive what?
I made my way to the kitchen, hoping to distract myself with something normal. Mundane. Toast. Tea. Something that didn’t vibrate with prophecy.
The house was quiet, sunlight cutting through the windows in warm slants, dust dancing in the beams like little spells. But the silence wasn’t peaceful.
It was too quiet.
Even the birds had stopped singing.
Liana wasn’t in her usual seat near the hearth. Her shawl was still there, draped over the back like she’d left in a hurry.
I frowned and moved toward the back door, the one that led to the garden and the woods beyond. As soon as I stepped outside, I froze.
The scent hit me first.
Ash. Burned earth.
But not from a fire.
From magic.
Old magic. Feral. Thick in the air like it had been ripped open and stitched closed too fast. My wolf whimpered inside me—confused, but not scared.
No. She knew this.
My feet moved before I could think.
I followed the scent into the trees, deeper and deeper until I reached a small clearing I didn’t remember being there before.
And in the center—
A mark.
Etched into the soil, as if the earth itself had bled to form it.
A perfect circle of symbols—elegant, curling script I didn’t recognize but somehow understood.
It pulsed with light.
Faint. Golden.
I stepped closer.
My heart thudded.
Faster.
Harder.
My wolf was growling now, but not in fear.
In recognition.
Because whatever this was—it was meant for me.
The moment I crossed the edge of the circle, my body locked up.
Magic slammed into my chest like a wave, knocking the breath from my lungs. The trees blurred, the sky vanished, and suddenly—I was somewhere else.
Not physically.
But spiritually.
I stood again in that silver forest—but this time, I wasn’t alone.
The woman in white was gone.
In her place stood… my mother.
My breath caught.
Not a dream. Not an illusion.
Her.
She looked the same as I remembered—tall, beautiful, strong. Her long curls spilled over her shoulders, and her eyes… they were filled with pride. And something deeper.
Warning.
“Amara,” she said gently, stepping toward me. “You don’t have much time.”
“Mama—” My voice cracked. “How? What is this?”
“There are pieces of you waking up now,” she said. “Truths you’ve never been told. Power that was hidden… for your protection.”
My chest tightened. “What power?”
She lifted her hand and touched my forehead.
A rush of energy surged through me—cold, hot, blinding—and suddenly I saw.
Flashes.
Visions.
A child with silver eyes and a mark on her shoulder.
A dagger buried in the ground beneath this forest.
A man with Kael’s eyes but cloaked in shadows.
A crown broken in half.
And blood—my blood—spilling over that same circle in the earth.
I stumbled back.
“No—what is this? What does it mean?”
My mother’s expression softened. But there was pain in her eyes.
“It means you were never just a mate, Amara. Never just a wolf.”
I swallowed hard. “Then what am I?”
She looked at me for a long, quiet moment.
Then whispered—
“You’re the key.”
The vision shattered.
And I collapsed to the forest floor, gasping.
The clearing was still. The symbol still glowed.
But I knew now—
It wasn’t just a mark.
It was a seal.
And something beneath it was waiting to be unlocked.
- Writer
