Chapter 9: When the Wolves Came
1767 Words
The eastern gates exploded.
Wood and iron flew through the air.
The first wolf came through the smoke.
Then another.
Then twenty.
Their howls merged into one deafening roar as they stormed across the estate grounds.
I stood frozen for half a heartbeat.
Not because I was afraid.
Because something inside me recognized them.
My wolf rose beneath my skin.
Enemies.
I could feel their presence now.
Every single one.
Their anger.
Their hunger.
Their intent.
It was overwhelming.
I pressed a hand against my chest.
“There's too many.”
My father drew his sword.
“Caelan, take the western hall. Get the guards around your mother.”
Caelan nodded.
“And Sera?”
Father looked at me.
For the first time, I saw him hesitate.
He wasn't looking at his daughter.
He was looking at the heir everyone had spent twenty years hiding.
“Stay with Lucien.”
I almost laughed.
“That's your plan?”
“It is tonight.”
Another explosion shook the estate.
Glass shattered somewhere upstairs.
Lucien stepped in front of me.
“Stay close.”
I stared at his back.
“You know I hate being told that.”
“I know.”
“And you're still saying it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Because I'm currently choosing between respecting your independence and keeping you alive.”
“And?”
“I'm prioritizing the second.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
Then the smile disappeared.
A shadow moved through the smoke.
Lucien's body changed instantly.
His shoulders broadened.
His eyes flashed gold.
“Down.”
I ducked.
A silver blade flew over my head.
Lucien caught it.
The moment his hand closed around the weapon, his skin hissed.
He dropped it.
I stared.
“Silver hurts you.”
“It hurts every wolf.”
The attacker lunged.
Lucien moved faster.
He caught the man's wrist and slammed him against the stone wall.
The man snarled.
“She's not yours.”
Lucien's expression became terrifyingly calm.
“She never belonged to you.”
The attacker smiled.
“You still think this is about her?”
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
The man suddenly bit down.
Lucien's expression changed.
“Stop!”
Too late.
The attacker convulsed.
Then went still.
Poison.
Lucien released him.
I stared at the body.
“They'd rather kill themselves than be captured.”
“They've been trained that way.”
Another figure appeared behind us.
I felt him before I saw him.
My wolf growled.
I turned.
The man was already charging.
This time, I didn't freeze.
My hand lifted instinctively.
The air exploded.
The attacker flew backward as though struck by an invisible wall.
He hit the ground hard enough to c***k the stone beneath him.
I stared at my palm.
Lucien looked at me.
“Again.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Do it again.”
“I don't know how.”
“You don't need to.”
Another attacker rushed us.
I felt my heartbeat accelerate.
The power came with it.
Golden light gathered around my fingers.
I pushed my hand forward.
The force hit him.
But instead of sending him flying, it stopped him.
He hung several feet above the ground.
His legs kicked uselessly.
I stared at him.
“What am I doing?”
“You're binding him.”
“I don't know how to stop.”
“Don't.”
My eyes widened.
The man began choking.
“Seraphina.”
Lucien's voice changed.
“Release him.”
I looked at the attacker.
His face was turning red.
I panicked.
The pressure vanished.
He dropped.
I stumbled backward.
Lucien caught my arm.
“You're using too much force.”
“I almost killed him.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him sharply.
“You say that so casually?”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“I say it because you need to understand something.”
He looked toward the battlefield.
“Your power doesn't care whether you're frightened. It responds to you.”
I swallowed.
“So if I lose control…”
“People die.”
The words were blunt.
But somehow, they were exactly what I needed.
I nodded.
“Then teach me.”
His eyes held mine.
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
A wolf slammed into one of the guards outside.
The guard screamed.
I turned toward the battlefield.
“Show me.”
Lucien looked almost amused.
“You really don't know when to stop.”
“No.”
“Good.”
He stepped behind me.
“Don't reach for the power.”
I closed my eyes.
“Then what do I reach for?”
“Your wolf.”
I felt her immediately.
Warm.
Powerful.
Furious.
Let me help.
I breathed in.
“Together?”
Always.
My eyes opened.
Everything changed.
The battlefield became clear.
I could sense the wolves moving before they moved.
I knew where they were.
I knew which ones were afraid.
Which ones were injured.
Which ones intended to attack.
And then—
I felt something else.
A thread.
Dark.
Cold.
Connected to all of them.
My expression changed.
“Lucien.”
“I feel it.”
“Someone is controlling them.”
He nodded.
“Not controlling.”
He looked toward the northern edge of the grounds.
“Directing.”
“What does that mean?”
“The wolves aren't the real threat.”
A horn sounded in the distance.
Every attacking wolf stopped.
All at once.
The silence was unnatural.
The soldiers lowered their weapons.
The wolves stood perfectly still.
I felt the dark thread tighten.
Then every wolf turned toward me.
My blood froze.
Lucien stepped closer.
“They're waiting.”
“For what?”
A voice echoed across the estate.
“FOR THE HEIR.”
The words came from beyond the gates.
Deep.
Male.
Calm.
Every wolf lowered its head.
Not toward me.
Toward the forest.
I felt my wolf rise.
That's him.
“Who?”
The one who remembers.
A man walked out of the trees.
He wasn't wearing armor.
He wasn't carrying a weapon.
He didn't need one.
He wore a long black coat and moved with the confidence of someone who already knew how the night would end.
His eyes found mine.
He smiled.
“Finally.”
Lucien stepped forward.
The stranger's smile disappeared.
“You.”
Lucien's voice was deadly.
The stranger laughed.
“Still guarding her?”
Lucien's claws extended.
“You should have stayed dead.”
The stranger's gaze shifted to me.
“Dead?”
His smile returned.
“She doesn't know, does she?”
I looked at Lucien.
“What is he talking about?”
Lucien didn't answer.
The stranger chuckled.
“They didn't tell you what happened the night Elaria fell.”
My heart began pounding.
Mother appeared behind us.
She had heard him.
Her face went white.
The stranger looked directly at her.
“You should have killed her when you had the chance.”
My mother froze.
I turned toward her.
“What?”
The stranger smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
The exact same words.
The same deliberate cruelty.
But this time, I wasn't willing to let the question disappear into another secret.
I looked at my mother.
“Did you know him?”
She couldn't answer.
The stranger lifted his hand.
Every wolf around the estate growled.
Then something strange happened.
They weren't looking at me anymore.
They were looking at him.
Waiting.
Obeying.
I suddenly understood.
The dark thread I'd sensed wasn't magic controlling their bodies.
It was a command.
An Alpha command.
But there was something wrong with it.
Something unnatural.
I could see it now.
The power wasn't coming from him.
It was coming through him.
From somewhere else.
Someone stronger.
My wolf whispered:
Not the master.
My eyes narrowed.
“Who is giving you the orders?”
The stranger's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked surprised.
“You can see it?”
“Yes.”
He stared at me.
Then laughed.
Not mockingly.
Almost excitedly.
“Oh.”
His eyes gleamed.
“They were right.”
“Who was right?”
“That you would awaken.”
He looked toward Lucien.
“And that he would fail to control you.”
Lucien moved.
The stranger disappeared into the forest.
“Wait!”
I ran forward.
Lucien caught my wrist.
“No.”
“Let me go.”
“He wants you to chase him.”
“I need answers.”
“And he wants you angry.”
I pulled against his grip.
“I am angry.”
“I know.”
His voice lowered.
“But that's exactly what he needs.”
I stopped.
Behind us, the wolves began retreating.
The attack was ending.
Just as suddenly as it had begun.
My father approached, breathing heavily.
“They're leaving.”
I looked toward the forest.
“Because they wanted to see me.”
Lucien nodded.
“They wanted confirmation.”
“Of what?”
His gaze settled on me.
“That you're awake.”
A terrible realization settled over me.
The attack hadn't been an attempt to kill me.
It had been a test.
They had wanted to know what I could do.
They had wanted to know whether the heir had finally awakened.
And now they knew.
I looked at the ruined gates.
At the blood across the grounds.
At the wounded guards.
Then I looked at my glowing hand.
The power inside me no longer felt like a strange accident.
It felt like something ancient.
Something that had been waiting.
Something that belonged to me.
My father walked toward me.
“Seraphina.”
I turned.
He looked exhausted.
But there was something else in his expression.
Pride.
Fear.
And grief.
“You need to leave the estate.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“This place isn't safe.”
“I know.”
“We can move you somewhere they can't find you.”
“They already found me.”
He went silent.
I looked at Mother.
Then Caelan.
Then Lucien.
“I spent my first life trusting people because I thought I had no reason not to.”
My voice steadied.
“I won't make that mistake again.”
I looked toward the forest where the stranger had disappeared.
“If they want their queen…”
I closed my fingers around the ring.
“They can come and get her.”
The golden light returned to my eyes.
And somewhere deep inside me, my wolf smiled.
Let them come.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD