Chapter 5: The Howl Beneath Her Skin
906 Words
The creature lunged, a blur of fangs and shadow.
Tanya barely had time to scream before it struck Kael full force, sending him crashing against the marble wall with a sickening c***k.
“No!” she cried, rushing forward, but the beast whirled on her next.
It wasn’t a wolf.
It was something wrong.
Twisted. Mutated. Its fur rippled like smoke, its eyes burning with a crimson light. A curse given flesh.
It snarled and pounced.
Tanya’s instincts screamed at her to run. But something deeper, something older, roared louder.
She dropped to her knees beside Kael, her arms shielding his body. “You’re not touching him.”
The creature lunged again.
And the air exploded.
The howl awoke.
Not from her lips, but from her soul.
It didn’t sound like a normal wolf. It was wild, ancient, and otherworldly. A sound that trembled the stones beneath their feet and silenced even the cursed beast mid-pounce.
Tanya gasped as a burning pain tore through her chest.
Her limbs trembled. Her vision blurred.
Then something burst beneath her skin, light, wild and gold, wrapping around her like fire made flesh.
The cursed creature reeled, howling in confusion as its body was flung backward by an unseen force.
Tanya staggered to her feet, swaying.
“What….. what was that?”
Kael groaned, eyes fluttering open. Blood streaked his temple, but he looked at her like she was a miracle.
“Your power,” he rasped. “You called it.”
She blinked. “I didn’t mean to.”
“But it came anyway,” he said, pushing himself up slowly, muscles shaking. “Because it was always inside you.”
Behind them, Lysara clapped.
“Well done, Tanya. You just made things far more interesting.”
Tanya turned, eyes flashing. “You sent that thing after us.”
Lysara twirled the silver pin between her fingers. “I did. And it would have torn you both apart, had you remained the pathetic little wolf without a howl.”
Kael stepped between them, jaw clenched. “You’ve broken every treaty by using cursed magic within the royal house.”
Lysara’s smile faded. “You broke our engagement first.”
“I never wanted you,” Kael said bluntly. “Only the crown did.”
Lysara’s eyes darkened.
Tanya’s fingers curled into fists. “Where’s Shadow?”
Lysara sighed. “Don’t worry. He’s unharmed. For now.”
“I swear,” Tanya growled, her voice low and shaking, “If you touch him….”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Lysara said. “I only needed to see what you were. Not I know.”
“And what am I?” Tanya asked.
Lysara tilted her head, smile creeping back. “A mistake. But a dangerous one.”
Then, before either of them could move, she vanished in a swirl of violet smoke.
Kael’s eyes narrowed. “She’s allied with dark magic.”
Tanya turned toward him, still glowing faintly. “So what do we do now?”
He looked at her like she was the answer to a question he hadn’t dared ask. “Now….. we fight back.”
The map of the castle spread across the table, scattered with stones marking guard positions and weak points.
Kael stood at its edge, half his body wrapped in bandages. Tanya paced behind him, her skin still tingling with the ghost of her power.
She hadn’t told him anything, about the voice she’d heard inside her mind, or how the power had felt familiar, almost like a memory instead of something new.
Because deep down, Tanya feared what it meant.
What if I’m not normal? What if I’m…… something else entirely?
Kael turned, as if sensing her thoughts. “You’re afraid.”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“You shouldn’t be,” he said. “That power saved us. It could save the entire kingdom.”
Tanya laughed bitterly. “I was born with no howl. I couldn’t even shift. And now I’ve called a force that nearly blew apart the room.”
“You’re changing,” Kael said, stepping closer. “And that terrifies them.”
“Who?”
“The nobles. The elders. Everyone who thought you were nothing, they’ll come for you now.”
Tanya’s voice dropped. “Let them.”
Kael’s eyes flashed with pride. But before he could speak, a knock echoed through the door.
A scout entered, eyes wide.
“My Prince, Shadow is gone. Taken.”
Tanya’s heart stopped. “No.”
“We followed the scent, it leads beyond the outer gate. Into the Forbidden Lands.”
Kael’s voice turned cold. “That’s the Warlock’s territory.”
Tanya’s breath caught.
“Then I’m going after him.”
Kael met her gaze. “Not alone.”
The moon rose high above the dark hills. Kael and Tanya stood at the edge of the forest, cloaked and armed.
Behind them, the castle burned with tension. Ahead, only darkness.
Kael took her hand.
“You don’t have to prove anything,” he said.
“I’m not proving anything,” she replied. “I’m protecting the only family I have left.”
He nodded once.
Then they stepped into the shadows together. Neither saw the red eyes watching from the treetops.
Nor the blood mark drawn in the dirt behind them. And far away, in the forbidden lands, a voice whispered.
“She has awakened.”
- Writer
