Chapter 3: The Battle Before the Reunion
895 Words
The moon shone brightly over the forest as Verra moved silently through the shadows.
Her heart beat faster with every step she took.
The scent was getting stronger.
Pine.
Rain.
Storms.
Daven.
After ten years, she could still recognize his scent as if no time had passed at all.
She tightened her grip on her cloak.
"Why am I doing this?" she whispered to herself.
She knew the answer.
The Narra Tree.
The place where everything began.
The place where she broke a promise she never intended to break.
The place where she had left behind a piece of her heart.
Verra climbed over a fallen log and stopped.
Through the trees, she could finally see it.
The ancient Narra Tree stood proudly in the center of a moonlit clearing.
Her eyes filled with emotion.
Memories rushed back like a flood.
The laughter.
The games.
The promises.
And Daven's smile.
For a brief moment, she forgot she was a fugitive.
Forgot she was the rightful heir.
Forgot the war.
Forgot Geneva.
She took another step toward the clearing.
Then another.
Only a few more meters.
Suddenly, her instincts screamed danger.
Whoosh!
An arrow shot past her face.
Verra immediately ducked.
The arrow struck a nearby tree.
Her eyes narrowed.
An ambush.
Dozens of cloaked figures emerged from the darkness.
Geneva's assassins.
Their leader stepped forward.
"There she is."
"Kill the traitor!"
Without hesitation, they attacked.
Steel flashed beneath the moonlight.
Verra threw off her cloak and drew her twin daggers.
The first assassin charged.
Slash!
Blood splattered across the forest floor.
The man collapsed instantly.
A second warrior lunged from the side.
Verra spun and buried her dagger in his chest.
The assassin let out a scream before falling lifelessly.
More enemies surrounded her.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
Geneva had sent an entire death squad.
Verra's golden eyes glowed.
"Come and try."
The battle erupted.
Daggers clashed against swords.
Bodies fell one after another.
Years of training transformed her movements into a deadly dance.
Every strike was precise.
Every attack was fatal.
One assassin rushed from behind.
Without looking, Verra drove her blade backward.
The warrior fell.
Another attempted to stab her.
She caught his wrist and snapped it before slashing his throat.
The forest echoed with screams.
Yet despite her skill, the numbers continued growing.
More assassins emerged from the shadows.
Meanwhile...
Beneath the Narra Tree, Daven suddenly heard the sounds of battle.
His wolf immediately became alert.
Growls echoed inside his mind.
Someone was fighting nearby.
Daven climbed onto a large rock overlooking the clearing.
His sharp eyes scanned the darkness.
Then he saw her.
A lone hooded woman fighting against dozens of warriors.
His eyes widened.
She moved like lightning.
Fast.
Deadly.
Beautiful.
For some reason, he couldn't look away.
Something about her felt familiar.
Painfully familiar.
Another assassin charged toward her.
She dropped him effortlessly.
Then Daven noticed something.
A hidden warrior crouched behind a tree.
The assassin quietly raised a crossbow and aimed directly at the woman's back.
She didn't see him.
Time seemed to slow.
The assassin smiled.
His finger moved toward the trigger.
Daven reacted instantly.
He grabbed the bow strapped across his back.
Pulled an arrow.
Aimed.
Released.
Whoosh!
The arrow sliced through the air.
Thud!
The assassin's eyes widened.
Daven's arrow pierced straight through his chest.
The crossbow fell from his hands.
He collapsed before he could fire.
Verra froze.
Someone had saved her.
She quickly turned toward the direction of the shot.
And there he was.
Standing beneath the moonlight.
Bow in hand.
Silver eyes glowing.
Alpha Daven Morgan.
Her breath caught.
Ten years.
Ten long years.
And now she was seeing him again.
The boy she had never forgotten.
The man who still haunted her dreams.
For one dangerous moment, their eyes almost met.
Verra's wolf whimpered.
Mate.
The bond stirred violently.
She wanted to run toward him.
Wanted to explain everything.
Wanted to tell him why she never came.
But she couldn't.
Not yet.
The rebellion wasn't ready.
Geneva's spies were everywhere.
If Daven became involved now, he would become a target.
She couldn't risk that.
Not when she had already lost him once.
A fresh wave of assassins suddenly appeared.
Verra used the distraction.
With a final s***h, she killed the nearest attacker.
Then she leaped into the darkness.
"No," Daven muttered.
The mysterious woman disappeared among the trees.
Within seconds, she was gone.
The remaining assassins quickly retreated after suffering heavy losses.
Silence returned to the forest.
Daven rushed toward the battlefield.
Bodies lay scattered across the ground.
Most had died from blades.
One from his arrow.
But the woman was nowhere to be found.
He looked toward the forest where she had vanished.
His wolf growled softly.
The scent lingering in the air made his heart ache.
Wildflowers.
Fire.
Moonlight.
The exact scent he had sensed earlier.
The exact scent that reminded him of a promise made beneath this very tree.
Far away, hidden atop a cliff overlooking the clearing, Verra watched him.
Tears glistened in her eyes.
"Daven..."
She placed a trembling hand over her heart.
"I promise."
"One day, I'll tell you everything."
The wind carried her whisper away.
Below, Daven continued searching the darkness, unaware that fate had brought them closer than ever before.
And next time...
Neither destiny nor war would be able to keep them apart.
- Writer
