CHAPTER 6: THE OLD TEMPLE
1488 Words
The Old Temple sits on the ridge like it’s been forgotten on purpose.
Stone walls cracked. Roof half caved in. Moonlight spills through the holes and makes the floor look silver.
It’s where Rylan and I marked our bond.
Five years ago, I thought it meant forever.
Now it just means pain.
“Stay behind me,” Rylan says for the third time since we left the packhouse.
I don’t answer.
Kell walks on my other side, quiet, eyes scanning the trees. He’s got a knife in his hand. He’s not a fighter, but he’s trying. I respect that.
Rylan’s pissed about it. He thinks Kell’s in danger.
Kell thinks Rylan’s going to get us all killed by being reckless.
They’re both right.
The temple doors are open.
They weren’t when we left five years ago.
“Elias is inside,” I say. My voice is low. “I can smell him.”
Rylan nods. His eyes are gold already. Close to shifting.
“Let me go first.”
“No,” I say. “This is my fight.”
Rylan grabs my arm.
“Lyra, if he’s got rogue blood—”
“Then I’ll handle it,” I cut him off. “You said you trust me. Prove it.”
Rylan’s jaw clenches.
“Fine. But if you go down, I’m going down with you.”
I step past him and into the temple.
Cold air hits my face. Smells like old stone and blood.
Elias is waiting in the center of the room.
He’s sitting on the altar like it’s a throne. Two vials of red liquid on either side of him. Rogue blood.
He looks up when we walk in.
“Took you long enough,” he says.
Kell moves in front of me instinctively.
“Stay back,” he says.
Elias laughs.
“Look at you. Playing hero for the traitor.”
“I’m not a traitor,” I say.
Elias stands. Slow.
“No. You’re worse. You’re a reminder.”
Rylan steps forward.
“Let them go, Elias. This is between you and me.”
Elias shakes his head.
“No, Alpha. This is between me and the pack. And the pack needs to be cleansed.”
He picks up one vial.
“With this, I can make an army. Feral, loyal, unstoppable. And with you dead, I’ll be Alpha.”
Rylan’s eyes flash.
“You’re insane.”
“Maybe,” Elias says. “But I’m winning.”
He throws the vial at the ground.
It shatters.
Red smoke fills the room.
The smell hits me first. Rot and metal. Wrong.
From the shadows, growling starts.
Rogues.
Six of them. Eyes red, drool dripping, bodies shaking.
“s**t,” Kell mutters.
Rylan shifts.
“Get behind me!” he roars.
I shift too.
Silver fur. Faster than I remember. Stronger. Five years of hate made me stronger.
The first rogue lunges.
I hit it mid-air. We roll across the stone floor, teeth and claws tearing.
It’s fast. Too fast.
Elias made them fast.
Rylan’s fighting two at once. He’s bigger, stronger, but they don’t feel pain. They just keep coming.
Kell’s got his knife out, slashing at one that gets too close. He’s holding his own. Barely.
“Elias!” I snarl.
He’s standing by the altar, watching. Smiling.
“Kill them,” he says to the rogues. “All of them.”
The rogue under me gets a claw to my side. Pain explodes.
I snarl and clamp down on its throat.
It goes limp.
One down.
I turn to help Rylan, but another rogue hits me from the side.
We crash into the altar.
Stone cracks under us.
Rylan’s voice cuts through the chaos.
“Lyra!”
I’m pinned. Rogue teeth at my throat.
I can’t breathe.
Then a knife flashes.
Kell.
He drives it into the rogue’s eye.
It goes limp and falls off me.
Kell pulls me up.
“You good?” he asks.
I nod. Barely.
Rylan kills the last rogue with a snap to the spine.
Silence.
Breathing. Heavy. Ragged.
Three of us. Standing.
Elias. Smiling.
“Not bad,” he says. “But it won’t matter.”
He picks up the second vial.
Rylan moves fast. Faster than I’ve ever seen him.
He crosses the room in a second and grabs Elias by the throat.
“Stop,” he growls.
Elias laughs.
“Make me.”
Rylan lifts him off the ground.
“Where’s the antidote?” he asks.
“There isn’t one,” Elias says. “Not for this dose. Once it’s in the air, it’s done.”
My blood turns to ice.
The red smoke is still in the air.
Rylan’s eyes widened.
“You’re killing the whole pack.”
Elias grins.
“I’m saving it.”
Rylan slams him into the altar.
“Tell me how to stop it!”
Elias coughs blood.
“You can’t.”
Rylan rears back to hit him again.
“Stop!” I yell.
Rylan freezes.
I shift back. My clothes are gone. I don’t care.
“Talk,” I say to Elias. “Now.”
Elias looks at me.
“Always the hero, Lyra,” he says. “Even now.”
“Talk,” I say again.
Elias smiles.
“There’s no antidote,” he says. “But there’s a way to burn it out. The fire in the temple’s heart. If you light it, the smoke will burn before it leaves the ridge.”
Rylan frowns.
“The temple’s heart? That’s just a legend.”
“No,” Elias says. “It’s real. Under the altar. Light it, and the fire will spread through the stone. It’ll clean the air. But…”
“But what?” I ask.
“But it’ll collapse the temple,” Elias says. “Anyone inside dies.”
Rylan drops him.
“No,” he says. “There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t,” Elias says. “Unless you want the pack to become rogues.”
Rylan looks at me.
“Lyra, we can’t—”
“I’ll do it,” I say.
Both of them turn to me.
“No,” Rylan says. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s the only way,” I say. “If I don’t, everyone dies.”
“I won’t let you die for me again,” Rylan says.
“You didn’t let me die before,” I say. “You let Elias do it.”
That hits him.
His face falls.
Kell steps forward.
“I’ll do it,” he says.
“No,” I say. “You’ll die. I won’t let you.”
Kell looks hurt.
“Why?”
“Because you’re good,” I say. “And good people shouldn’t die for this.”
Rylan grabs my shoulders.
“Lyra, please. Don’t.”
I look at him. Really look.
“I love you,” I say.
Rylan freezes.
“I’ve always loved you,” I say. “Even when I hated you. Even when I wanted you dead.”
Rylan’s eyes fill.
“Lyra—”
“Light the fire when I’m inside,” I say. “Don’t come after me. Promise me.”
Rylan shakes his head.
“I can’t.”
“You have to,” I say. “You’re Alpha. The pack needs you.”
I kissed him.
Fast. Hard. Like it’s the last time.
It probably is.
I pull away and run to the altar.
Underneath, there’s a stone door. I wrench it open.
Heat blasts out.
Fire. Old. Deep.
I jumped in.
“Lyra!” Rylan screams.
I turn back at the edge.
“Live, Rylan,” I say. “For me.”
I drop the torch.
Fire explodes.
The temple shakes.
Rylan grabs me as the ceiling starts to fall.
“No!” he yells. “I’m not losing you again!”
He pulls me out.
We run.
Kell’s already at the door.
The temple collapses behind us.
Stone. Fire. Smoke.
It burns hot and fast.
When it’s over, the air is clear.
The smoke is gone.
The pack is safe.
Elias is gone. Crushed under the rubble.
I’m on my knees in the dirt, coughing, shaking.
Rylan’s holding me.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” he says. His voice is breaking.
I laugh. It sounds wet.
“I had to.”
Kell sits next to us.
“It worked,” he says. “The smoke’s gone.”
Rylan nods.
“The pack is safe.”
I look at him.
“And you?”
Rylan touches my face.
“I’m not losing you again,” he says. “Not ever.”
The bond between us flares. Hot. Alive.
Real.
For the first time in five years, it feels like home.
But outside the ridge, I hear howling.
Not rogues.
Wolves.
Lots of them.
Lena.
She’s back.
And she doesn’t look happy.
- Writer
