THE ONE WHO WATCHES
1054 Words
The summit hall smelled like blood.
Broken stone littered the floor where the assassins had crashed into the pillars. One of the long obsidian chairs had been split clean in half during the fight.
Sunlight poured through the shattered doors.
For the first time since the attack, the hall was quiet.
Aria wiped her blade with a piece of cloth and slid it back into its sheath.
“Well,” she said, looking around at the wreckage, “the peace summit is definitely cancelled.”
Kaelen barely heard her.
His attention was still fixed on Lucien.
The bond had not calmed.
If anything, it had become more intense since the fight ended.
Lucien stood across the hall, inspecting one of the fallen assassins.
Composed.
Unbothered.
Kaelen frowned.
“You should not be touching them.”
Lucien glanced over his shoulder.
“They are already dead.”
“That is not the point.”
Lucien rose smoothly to his feet.
“And what exactly is the point?”
Kaelen crossed the distance between them.
The closer he moved, the stronger the bond reacted.
Warm.
Magnetic.
Dangerous.
Aria watched the interaction with growing irritation.
“Oh my gods,” she muttered. “You two are doing it again.”
Neither of them answered her.
Lucien tilted his head slightly.
“You’re concerned.”
Kaelen’s jaw tightened.
“The assassins came from your court.”
“Yes.”
“They came to kill you.”
“That was established.”
Kaelen stared at him.
Lucien’s calmness was beginning to feel suspicious.
“You expected it.”
Lucien didn’t deny it.
“I suspected it.”
Aria blinked.
“You walked into a summit knowing your people might send assassins?”
Lucien shrugged slightly.
“It seemed likely.”
Aria threw her hands in the air.
“That is the worst planning I have ever heard.”
Kaelen’s voice dropped.
“Why?”
Lucien studied him for a moment.
Then he answered quietly.
“Because the court was always going to react violently once the bond formed.”
Kaelen’s eyes darkened.
“And you let it happen anyway.”
Lucien met his gaze.
“Yes.”
Silence stretched between them.
The bond pulsed again.
This time slower.
Heavier.
Aria looked between them suspiciously.
“Okay,” she said slowly, “I’m starting to think this whole thing was part of your plan.”
Lucien smiled faintly.
“That would require me to control fate.”
Aria crossed her arms.
“I wouldn’t rule it out.”
Before anyone could respond—
A voice echoed from the shattered entrance.
“You shouldn’t.”
All three of them turned.
Someone stood just outside the broken doors.
A young woman.
Tall.
Dark hair pulled back loosely.
Her clothes were simple traveling leathers, but there was something strange about her presence.
Not wolf.
Not vampire.
Something… different.
Aria’s hand immediately moved toward her sword.
“Who are you?”
The woman stepped into the light.
Her eyes flicked briefly to Kaelen.
Then to Lucien.
Finally she smiled.
“I’ve been watching you.”
Kaelen’s instincts reacted instantly.
His wolf stirred uneasily.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The woman laughed softly.
“Neither should you.”
Lucien studied her carefully.
His gaze sharpened.
“You’re not a vampire.”
“No.”
Aria frowned.
“And you definitely don’t smell like a wolf.”
The woman tilted her head.
“That’s because I’m not one.”
Kaelen’s voice hardened.
“Then explain yourself.”
She stepped farther into the hall, completely unconcerned by the tension.
“My name is Seris.”
Lucien went still.
Kaelen noticed immediately.
“You know that name?”
Lucien spoke quietly.
“I know the legend.”
Seris smiled wider.
“Most people think it’s a myth.”
Aria looked confused.
“Can someone please explain what’s happening?”
Lucien’s voice was low.
“Seris was the name of the first hybrid.”
The room went silent.
Aria blinked slowly.
“…you’re joking.”
The woman shook her head.
“I wish I were.”
Kaelen’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s impossible.”
Seris spread her arms slightly.
“And yet here I am.”
Lucien stepped forward.
The bond pulsed sharply as he moved away from Kaelen.
But he ignored it.
“You’re not the first,” he said carefully.
“No.”
“Then the hybrids are real.”
Seris smiled again.
“Very.”
Aria stared at her.
“You’re telling me there’s an entire species hiding somewhere?”
Seris shrugged.
“We prefer the term survivors.”
Kaelen’s voice cut through the conversation.
“Why are you here?”
Seris looked directly at him.
“Because of you.”
Then she turned to Lucien.
“And him.”
The bond reacted again.
Seris’s eyes gleamed slightly as she watched it.
“There it is,” she murmured.
Kaelen’s patience snapped.
“What do you want?”
Seris’s expression softened slightly.
“For centuries,” she said, “our people have been waiting for proof.”
Lucien’s gaze sharpened.
“Proof of what?”
Seris gestured between them.
“That wolves and vampires can bond without destroying the world.”
Aria snorted.
“Based on today, that’s debatable.”
Seris laughed.
“Perhaps.”
Then her tone became serious.
“But whether the courts like it or not…”
Her eyes locked onto the glowing tension between Kaelen and Lucien.
“…you two just changed everything.”
Kaelen’s wolf stirred uneasily.
“Explain.”
Seris’s smile faded slightly.
“The hybrids are no longer hiding.”
Silence filled the hall.
Lucien frowned faintly.
“What does that mean?”
Seris’s voice was calm.
“It means the moment your bond became real…”
She glanced toward the open valley beyond the doors.
“…our people began moving.”
Aria blinked.
“Moving where?”
Seris’s gaze returned to them.
“Here.”
A cold wind drifted through the broken entrance.
Kaelen stepped closer to Lucien instinctively.
The bond flared again.
Lucien noticed the movement.
“So the hybrids have chosen a side.”
Seris shook her head slowly.
“No.”
Her smile returned.
“We’re choosing the future.”
And far beyond the valley—
Dozens of unseen figures were already approaching the summit.
- Writer
