Chapter 2– The Untruth that Saves Her
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Kaia sat in silence. The cuffs on her wrists were looser now, more emblematic than binding — but they still chafed her skin whenever she shuffled. Her stomach knotted with cold and shame. She had taken something potent — and she didn’t even know why.
The cave. The wolves. The alpha with black eyes, and a voice like fire. Ronan. Its echo was present in her despite having never heard the name spoken out loud. No more had murmured it but his wolves — reverent, afraid. She shivered. He had rescued her from the kill order. But she wasn’t stupid. That didn’t mean she was out of danger.
The Nightshade Council assembled upstairs behind closed doors. The room was small and round, walled with obsidian. Torch flames flickered on the wall and shifting shadows moved across the grim faces in the circle of seated observers. Ronan stood in the middle, arms crossed.
“She needs to die on the spot,” growled Councilor Merek. “She’s an Ashbane spy.”
“She’s not a soldier,” said Ronan calmly.
“She’s a relic thief,” spat another. “What more do you need?”
“She’s also Cain Thornveil’s daughter,” Ronan tossed out, the words hitting the ground with a thud. There was a ripple of silence in the room.
Merek leaned forward. “What did you say?”
“I found her near Hollow Cave. She had the relic. She said she was told it was absurd. Obviously, Cain is using her as a mule.”
“You believe her?” Bane asked, arching one eyebrow.
“No,” Ronan said flatly. “I think she’s more useful alive than dead.”
The room shifted again.
Bane tapped the table. “Go on.”
“She may not know what the relic does — but she got it past every border guard we have. Which means she is either useful … or dangerous. Either way, it’s bad to kill her.”
Merek crossed his arms. “You would keep the enemy Alpha’s daughter here? In our walls? That’s a declaration of war.”
“Not if we don’t report it.”
Bane sat up straighter, his dark eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“She’s not imprisoned,” Ronan repeated. “She’s a political guest. An opportunity.”
Some council members mumbled under their breath. Bane frowned. “And what does she tell them when they ask her what she is doing in Venezuela?”
“She will say nothing,” Ronan responded. “Because I won’t let her have the chance.”
When Ronan returned, Kaia was staring at the wall again, her expression blank. Her eyes narrowed. “Let me guess. In the end, you’re going to kill me.”
“No,” he said quietly. “You’re staying.”
She blinked. “What?”
“You’re under my protection now.”
“Protection?” she laughed, bitter. “As what? A hostage? A prisoner?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he fetched a chair and sat down across from her. Kaia tensed.
“You’re not going back to Ashbane,” he told her. Her breath caught. “Why?”
“Because Cain sent you to get killed.”
Kaia’s face went still.
“No,” she said too quickly. “He wouldn’t—”
“He asked you to take the most dangerous thing known to our pack. Alone. Without explaining what it was. He then left you in a cave close to our lands. What did he expect to happen?”
She swallowed hard. Her nerves were so bad, she was shaking as she grabbed her wrist chain.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
Ronan leaned closer.
“You’re not safe there. You’re not trusted here. But if you want to live, you will remain where I can protect you.”
Kaia shook her head. “You don’t even know me.”
“No. But I can tell when something is being made of me.”
He stood.
She stared after him, confused. Then, without thinking, she asked, “What are you saying about me?”
Ronan didn’t look back. “That you’re a bargaining chip. Nothing more.”
She flinched. But there was something in his voice that just didn’t jibe with the words.
Over subsequent days, Kaia was transferred to a private room — still locked, but warmer, with folded clean clothes at the foot of the bed. A healer passed, said nothing, and bound the cuts on her wrists. The two meals a day came on a tray. No one spoke to her. Except Ronan. And he would come in the morning and at night. Sometimes for minutes, sometimes longer. Always asking questions. Always calm. Always watching.
He never once touched her. But he didn't have to. Just seeing him made her skin crawl. Because there was something rather odd going on inside her. He would walk in and each time a wave of the tension in her chest would recede. Her skin grew warmer. Her instincts — cultivated since childhood to be afraid of Nightshade wolves — started to battle something deeper. Quieter. Older.
She hated it. It wasn’t until the fifth day, when she finally spoke first. “Why are you really keeping me safe?”
Ronan glanced up from his position with his arms folded.
“I already told you.”
“Lie better,” she snapped. “You could have let them kill me and saved yourself a thousand questions.”
He gazed at her, long and hard. Then said, “Because you’re not what you were brought up to be.”
She blinked.
“Don’t act like you know me.”
“I don’t,” he said quietly. “But I’ve heard enough about wolves to know when someone is drowning.”
Kaia swallowed. She felt like she was drowning her entire life.
That night, she had a dream. She was back in the Hollow Cave. The relic thrummed in her hand, its runes shimmering gold, not silver. A voice murmured in her ear — old and gentle and in a language she did not understand. The cave shook. From behind her, a black wolf emerged from the darkness. She turned. It was Ronan. But his eyes shone white. And when he spoke, it wasn’t with his own voice. The voice was that from the relic. “Choose.”
She woke up in a sweat. The next day, she insisted on speaking to Ronan. He came quickly — too quickly — like he was waiting.
“There’s something amiss with the relic,” she said, without a greeting. “It’s doing something to me.”
He didn’t flinch. “Like what?”
“I’m hearing things. Dreaming things. Seeing things.”
“Describe it.”
She hesitated. “I see you.”
He said nothing.
“And a voice. Telling me to choose.”
He nodded, slowly. “You’re not crazy.”
“Then what’s happening to me?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “But I’m going to find out.”
- Writer
