THE CALL BENEATH THE SKIN
648 Words
Morning broke over Kael’s estate like a blade of pale light cutting through fog.
Jared sat at the edge of his bed, staring at his hands. The mark from the night before was gone—but the feeling of it wasn’t. It lingered under his skin, a phantom pulse that refused to fade.
Down the hall, he could hear Kael’s voice giving orders to the house wolves—sharp, decisive, always in control. Nothing in her tone hinted that a creature had appeared outside their walls, or that she’d whispered secrets about him into the dark.
She was pretending nothing happened.
Fine. He could pretend too.
When Kael summoned him to the courtyard that afternoon, the air was thick with the scent of metal and pine. Training grounds stretched wide beneath a canopy of silvered trees.
“You’ll begin with balance drills,” Kael said, tossing him a weighted staff. “If you can’t command your body, you’ll never command your wolf.”
Her words stung, but he caught the staff anyway. He trained until sweat burned his eyes and his arms trembled. Each time he faltered, Kael corrected him—firm, never cruel.
“Again.”
“Lower your stance.”
“You fight like you’re afraid to fall.”
“Maybe I am,” he muttered.
She paused then, her expression unreadable. “Falling isn’t failure, Jared. Staying down is.”
The faintest flicker of warmth crossed her voice. For a moment, he almost believed she cared.
Almost.
As dusk crept in, Jared found himself wandering the mansion’s halls. The torches burned low, painting long shadows across the stone. He moved quietly—silent steps, steady breath—just as he’d learned surviving among wolves who loved to hunt the weak.
Kael’s study was half-open. Candlelight flickered inside.
He heard her voice again—low, but urgent.
“The sigil’s reacting faster than expected,” she said.
A second voice, male and rough, answered, “He’ll notice sooner or later.”
“He already has,” Kael replied. “But he doesn’t understand what it means. Not yet.”
Jared’s pulse quickened. The sigil. So it wasn’t just a dream.
He leaned closer, careful not to let the door creak.
“What if the High Council finds out?” the man asked.
“They won’t,” Kael said coldly. “If they do, we both burn.”
The sound of papers shifting, then a faint sigh.
“He’s not ready,” she whispered. “And when the moon calls again… I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop it.”
A floorboard betrayed him.
Kael’s head snapped up.
The door swung open in an instant.
“Jared?”
He stood there frozen, heart thundering. “I—uh—I was just—”
Her golden eyes blazed for a heartbeat, then softened. “You should be resting.”
He swallowed. “Right.”
As he turned to leave, she said quietly, “Curiosity can be dangerous here.”
He looked back, forcing a small, crooked smile. “Then it’s a good thing I’m careful.”
Kael said nothing, but her gaze followed him down the corridor like a silent warning.
That night, sleep came late. When it did, the dream returned—brighter, louder, closer. The wolves of light were calling again, their voices threading through his blood like music.
This time, he could almost make out the words.
“Remember, child of the broken moon… before she hides you again.”
Jared jolted awake, breath ragged. Outside his window, clouds moved to uncover the full moon—burning brighter than he’d ever seen it.
Down in the courtyard, he saw Kael standing alone in the light, her head bowed as if in prayer.
And for the first time, Jared realized—
she wasn’t just hiding the truth from him.
She was fighting it.
- Writer
