Ashes and Accusations
1208 Words
Alara Pov
“She’s not dead. You all just wanted her gone.”
Kara’s voice echoed through the war chamber as she slammed her hand on the table, shaking the goblets. Elder Myron flinched, his fingers twitching around the edge of his chair.
Caelum sat at the head of the table now Alpha King.
Crowned. Fears. Untouchable.
Or so he thought.
“She fell during patrol,” Elder Myron said calmly, “and her body was never recovered. You were there.”
“I was,” Kara growled. “And that’s exactly why I know this is all a damn lie.”
“Enough,” Caelum said, rising to his feet. “We held a memorial. The pack accepted it. Move on, Kara.”
“No,” she snapped, eyes locked on him. “You moved on too fast. You married her, made her queen, and the moment she collapses, you declare her dead without a body?”
He stepped closer to her, voice dropping low. “Be careful with your words.”
“And you,” she said, narrowing her eyes, “should be careful with your lies.”
Silence stretched.
Kara knew she was alone now surrounded by enemies who once called her pack. But her heart told her the truth.
Alara wasn’t dead.
And she was going to prove it.
**********
Meanwhile, far from the wolves and their lies, I was learning to breathe again.
I sat up slowly on the soft stone bed, my legs trembling beneath me. My hands were wrapped in white bandages. My lips were dry. But I was awake.
Alive.
Lucian watched me closely from across the room, his arms folded over his chest.
“You came back quicker than I expected,” he said, voice low, smooth like wind on glass.
“Where… am I?” I asked.
“A hidden realm,” he said, “between the werewolf territories and Lycan lands. Safe. For now.”
I stared at him.
His face was strange. Handsome but sharp. Like a blade wrapped in velvet. His eyes glowed slightly under the candlelight.
“Why did you save me?” I asked, voice raw.
“Because your story isn’t finished,” he replied. “And because I owe your mother.”
I blinked. “You knew Lysandra?”
He nodded once. “She helped me once… many years ago. I made a promise. If her daughter ever reached the edge of death, I would bring her back.”
I looked down at my trembling hands. “She’s really gone, isn’t she?”
“She may be gone in flesh,” he said gently, “but her magic still moves through your veins. That’s how you survived.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Can I ever return to who I was?” I whispered.
Lucian shook his head. “No.”
I looked up quickly.
“You won’t return to who you were,” he said slowly. “You’ll become something far greater.”
***
In Silvermoon, the crown ceremony was held in full display.
Caelum stood at the center of the sacred circle, Isla beside him. Her white dress shimmered like a blade hidden in snow.
The elders placed the blood-marked ring on Caelum’s hand.
“You are now Alpha King,” Elder Myron said loudly.
The pack bowed.
Even those who doubted stayed quiet. Fear held their tongues.
Isla stepped forward, smiling. “And soon, your Queen.”
Applause filled the courtyard.
But Kara stood in the shadows, watching, her rage bubbling beneath her skin. She gripped the necklace I once gave her, a small moonstone charm.
“Enjoy it while you can,” she whispered. “Because when she comes back, you’ll both wish she stayed dead.”
********
Back in the hidden realm, Lucian guided me to the center of a glowing circle carved into the stone floor.
“You must rebuild your power,” he said, drawing symbols with chalk. “Piece by piece. Your witch blood is waking. Your wolf is still silent, but she will return.”
I closed my eyes as the runes began to hum.
Memories rushed through me of my father's final breath, Caelum’s fake kisses, Isla’s smug face, the sound of the fire they threw my name into.
I clenched my fists.
“I want to go back,” I whispered. “I want to make them pay.”
Lucian stepped closer. “Revenge is fire. If you carry it, you must control it or it will burn you too.”
“I’m not going back for revenge,” I said, eyes glowing. “I’m going back for justice.”
He smiled faintly. “Then your journey starts now.”
Suddenly, the circle flared brighter, and a force pulled at my chest.
I gasped.
A vision hit me like lightning.
A dark castle. Black stone. Wolves twice the size of horses.
And a man with gold eyes standing on a balcony, his heart calling to mine.
Lucian grabbed my shoulders, steadying me. “You saw him, didn’t you?”
I nodded slowly. “Who is he?”
“The one the moon wrote in your fate. King Darius. Lycan blood. The only ruler who doesn’t fear witches.”
I staggered back. “Why would I be shown to him?”
“Because he is your mate,” Lucian said calmly. “And your next path leads to him.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came.
Mate?
The word twisted in my chest. Caelum was supposed to be that. And look what he did to me.
“I don’t want another mate,” I said sharply. “I want power. Not love.”
Lucian nodded. “Maybe. But fate doesn’t ask what you want. It gives you what you need.”
********
Back in Silvermoon, Kara found her way into the forbidden archive again.
She dug through old scrolls until she found the original bloodline chart.
Her eyes widened as she traced a line from my family… straight to an old magical symbol.
My mother’s sigil.
Moonfire.
She blinked. “What were you hiding, Alara?”
She grabbed the scroll, tucked it under her cloak, and raced out.
She didn’t know it yet but the chart she held would unlock a truth Caelum wanted buried forever.
*******
I stood outside Lucian’s gate, now dressed in black armor laced with silver runes. My strength had begun to return. Not fully. But enough.
Lucian handed me a small map. “This will guide you through the neutral lands. But once you cross into Lycan territory, you’re on your own.”
I nodded. “Good.”
He hesitated. “When you see Darius… don’t run.”
“I’m not looking for a mate.”
“No,” he said, “but maybe you’re looking for a kingdom strong enough to destroy the one that betrayed you.”
I didn’t answer.
I turned and walked into the night, the cold wind curling around me like a warning.
Alara Blake was dead to the world.
But something far more dangerous was about to rise.
And the moment my foot crossed into Lycan territory… the earth itself whispered his name“Darius.”
- Writer
