CHAPTER 09: Under Watch
1568 Words
Morning light spilled softly over the Clifford residence, but the air around the house felt anything but peaceful.
Nathan noticed it at first. He was standing near the front porch with his father when a flicker of movement
caught his eye beyond the tree line. It wasn’t random. It wasn’t wind. It was watchful.
“They’re here,” he muttered.
His father followed his gaze and stiffened. “Wolves.”
Sapphira stepped out behind them, barefoot despite the cold ground. She could feel them too.
“You have nothing to worry about. They’re not here to hurt us,” she said quietly.
Nathan turned to her. “That’s not the point.”
“Nathan, they are my family by blood. Please trust me.”
“Okay… fine. I trust you.” Nathan stepped back.
Sapph turned to Mr. Clifford and told him,
“Dad… I finally met my real father. And he is here now.”
Before tension could rise further, a familiar presence approached from the forest.
Randall walked out first, dressed in clean clothes this time, though his posture still carried the weight of years lost.
Behind him stood Whelan, calm but unmistakably commanding, and several wolves in human form spread
quietly along the perimeter.
Randall stopped a respectful distance away and bowed his head toward Mr. Clifford.
“You sheltered my daughter when I could not,” he said solemnly.
“For that, you have my eternal gratitude.”
Mr. Clifford studied him for a moment before nodding.
“You owe me nothing. She’s family.”
Randall’s eyes softened at that word.
Whelan stepped forward next.
“The incident on the highway last time changed things,” he said evenly.
“When a vampire attacked Nathan, Sapph intervened. I got involved.”
“And the other night, my pack and I took care of three vampires who came looking for Sapphira,”
Whelan added.
“You mean you killed those three vampires. You just provoked them further,”
Nathan reacted, folding his arms.
“Yes. Because they already marked her, and they will not stop until they have Sapph,”
Whelan replied without defensiveness.
“Not only the Obsidian Citadel, but the rest of the wolf tribes as well.”
Mr. Clifford’s jaw tightened. “What are you suggesting?”
“Not only is Sapph in danger. That includes the people important to her. You are Sapph’s weakness.
We will keep watch,” Whelan answered. “Day and night.”
“And if we refuse?” Nathan challenged.
Whelan met his gaze calmly. “Then we take her somewhere safer. But I will ask you, arrogant human…
Can you deal with those creatures without our help?”
Nathan stepped forward instantly. “Over my dead body. I will protect Sapphira without your help.”
Sapphira closed her eyes briefly. “The two of you… Can you please stop?”
All of them looked at her.
“I’m not leaving,” she said firmly. “This is my home.”
Whelan didn’t argue, but something flickered in his expression. “Then we stay.”
Randall nodded. “You will not face this alone, my child… not anymore,” he added.
Nathan exhaled sharply, still unsettled but aware that arguing further would solve nothing.
“Fine. But no one crosses this porch without permission.”
Whelan gave a small nod of agreement.
Later that afternoon, as the house quieted and the patrol settled into its rhythm,
Sapphira found herself standing at the edge of the yard. Whelan approached slowly, not intruding.
“You’re angry,” he observed.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” she corrected.
He leaned lightly against a tree trunk. “You saw something when we touched.”
She looked at him sharply. “You felt it too.”
“Yes.”
Silence stretched between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
“In our law,” he continued carefully, “the bond doesn’t lie. The wolf recognizes its mate.”
Her pulse quickened. “That doesn’t mean I do.”
“I’m not asking you to,” he said quietly. “I won’t force a destiny.”
She studied him, and against her will, her body reacted to his proximity.
Her senses sharpened. Her breathing shifted. Instinct pulled toward him like gravity.
But her heart resisted. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw another face.
Dark hair. Crimson eyes. A voice calling her Camilla, though she didn’t understand.
“I saw us,” she admitted. “In another space and time. We got married.”
Whelan’s jaw tightened slightly, but he didn’t look surprised. “That was our fate.”
Her throat tightened. “But when I think about… wanting someone… It’s not you I see.”
That hurt, and she saw it, but he masked it well.
“Is that the sheriff?” he asked evenly.
“No… It’s not Nathan. But Nathan is far more important to me. I feel that he is someone I must not hurt…
Someone I need to protect. But there’s one more person…”
Whelan stepped back. “I won’t compete with ghosts,” he said. “But I won’t walk away either.”
And then he left her there with a storm in her chest.
***************************
Far away in the Obsidian Citadel, Gabriel stood alone in his chamber.
The necklace rested inside a glass containment case on a stone table.
He stared at it as though it might answer the questions tearing through him.
A quiet shift in the air made him straighten. Freyr appeared without announcement.
“You look troubled, my Prince.”
Gabriel didn’t turn. “You locked me here.”
“I protected you,” Freyr corrected.
Gabriel finally faced him. “From what?”
“From eyes that no longer look at me with loyalty.”
Gabriel studied him carefully. “You believe betrayal is coming.”
“I do not believe it,” Freyr said. “I have seen it.”
A long silence followed.
“You did not truly strip me of command,” Gabriel realized.
“No,” Freyr replied. “I gave the court what it needed to see.”
“And why?” Gabriel pressed.
“Because you are not the one who will betray me.”
Freyr stepped closer and placed his palm against Gabriel’s chest.
“Selene’s shield is my power. Damien’s vision exists because I allow it. They forget that.”
Freyr’s crimson eyes gleamed brighter than usual, when his nails pressed into Gabriel’s chest.
While he murmured a Latin incantation. Then he bit his wrist.
“Here. Drink this.”
He let Gabriel drink from his wrist.
Gabriel’s body seized as an ancient force poured through him.
“That’s enough,” Freyr said, stopping Gabriel when he felt the blood draining him.
“This will shield you from their intrusion,” Freyr said calmly, though strain edged his voice.
“They will not easily read you. Nor bind you.”
Gabriel forced himself to remain steady. “Why help me?”
Freyr’s expression hardened. “Because when the war begins, I will need someone who is not blinded by ambition.”
The energy receded.
“You may leave tonight,” Freyr said quietly. “But if you fail me…”
Gabriel nodded. “I won’t.”
Freyr vanished..... Gabriel didn’t hesitate.
****************************
Night settled over Aldoria like a velvet curtain.
Sapphira couldn’t sleep.
The wolves were still watching. She could feel them.
And beneath that, something else.
She stepped outside slowly, drawn without understanding.
The air shifted.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
Her breath caught. She saw him standing at the edge of the yard, no disguise.
“Gabriel.”
He took a careful step forward. “I didn’t come to fight.”
“I know.”
Silence fell between them, thick but charged.
“You didn’t give me a clear answer last time. Why did you call me Camilla?” she asked.
His eyes darkened. “That… I shouldn’t have done.”
“But you did.”
He exhaled. “You resemble someone I once lost.”
“Did you love her?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“Yes.”
The honesty in his voice hit her harder than she expected.
“Do I really look like her?”
“More than you should.”
She stepped closer, heart racing. “Then why does it feel like I remember you?”
His composure cracked for the first time. “Because perhaps you do.”
The wind shifted again.
From the treeline, unseen by her, Whelan watched them.
He sensed the vampire clearly.
“So that vampire was the ghost she was talking about.”
His wolf bristled. But he didn’t move.
Gabriel reached out slowly, stopping inches from her hand.
“If I am your enemy, tell me now.”
Her pulse thundered.
“You’re not,” she whispered.
“And if I am the reason war comes to your door?”
She swallowed. “Then we’ll face it.”
For a long moment, neither moved. Then he brushed his fingers lightly against hers.
And this time, she didn’t pull away.
Behind them, the new moon rose higher.
And somewhere in the dark forest, a brown wolf stood still, watching, waiting.
The war between races was not the only conflict approaching. The battle against destiny had also begun.
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