4
1452 Words
{ KHAOS }
Five days.
Five damn days she had been asleep.
Most times, her eyelashes fluttered, but she kept sleeping.”
I sat behind my desk, elbows digging into the armrests, fingers tapping once… twice… again. The room was silent except for the faint crackle of the fireplace. Papers lay open before me—unsigned, ignored. Patrol reports. Border logs. Warrior rosters.
The councils had been quiet for a long time. They had stopped pestering me; instead, I felt as though they were constantly scrutinizing my every move, always watching, always judging. But all of it was meaningless.
My mind couldn’t focus on anything but her.
A witch.
A witch who should have been dead the moment she crossed my border. A witch who should have ignited my wrath the instant I scented her. Yet… here she was. Alive. Suspended. Between worlds.
I leaned back, rubbing my face. “Five days,” I muttered. “Five days and she still hasn’t woken.”
First, I thought she had slipped into a coma. Dylan checked. The Royal doctor checked. Even my mother’s old healer journals offered the same conclusion:
She’s fine. Her body is fine. Her pulse steady. Her breathing perfect.
Just… drained.
As if something had sucked every ounce of energy from her, leaving her suspended in a world I couldn’t reach.
My wolf prowled inside me, claws scraping against my ribs.
I hated it.
Hated thinking of her.
Hated how much the idea of her being harmed made something dark rise inside me.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered. “She’s just a witch… a threat.”
A low growl escaped me.
A knock broke my thoughts.
“Enter,” I said, voice sharp.
Ryder slipped inside, eyes wide, nervous. “Alpha… we have visitors.”
I arched a brow. “Who?”
“The Alpha of River Shadow pack,” he said, swallowing hard.
Silence.
Cold. Sharp. Dangerous.
My wolf snarled. Old blood. Old grudges. Nothing good ever came from River Shadow.
I rose slowly, muscles coiled, eyes narrowing. “Bring them in.”
“He’s… not alone,” Ryder added, voice trembling. “His son came with him.”
“Both,” I snapped. “Now.”
Ryder fled.
Moments later, the door opened. Alpha Calder entered, tall, hawk-eyed, smelling like rot and old power. Behind him, Izu — younger, cocky… until our eyes met.
Both men froze. They bowed. Then kneeled.
“Alpha King,”Alpha Calder intoned, voice slick with feigned respect. “Thank you for granting us an audience.”
“I didn’t grant anything,” I said, sliding back into my chair. “You walked into my territory without permission.”
Izu’s confidence faltered. Alpha Calder’s head stayed bowed.
“Our news is urgent,” Alpha Calder said carefully.
I leaned back. “Then speak.”
A glance. A nod. Alpha Calder’s throat cleared.
“We have reason to believe,” he began slowly, “that a witch still exists.” she ran from my pack and stumbled Into your Territory”.
I didn’t move. Didn’t blink.
“What is her name“ I whispered my voice cold as my gaze landed on Alpha Calder.
He stared at me straight in the eyes “That is not important, what's important is she's a witch that needs to be burned”
But a growl — low, deadly — slipped out.
They dropped lower, foreheads nearly scraping the floor.
“It's Stella…Stella Vaughn” Izu whispered but loud enough for me to hear.
Alpha Calder swallowed his gaze still on the floor. “We must alert the council… and the High Priest. He must know the witch survived the purge.”
Izu nodded quickly. “Yes, Alpha King. The High Priest will handle it. Ensure she is… eliminated safely.”
The growl deepened, vibrating through the walls.
“Eliminated?” I repeated, cold and slow.
“Yes,” Izu stammered. “The High Priest decreed that any surviving witch must be destroyed. To prevent the old curses…”
I leaned forward, voice low, lethal. “Say his title again.”
“The High… Priest—” Izu choked.
My growl shattered the room, a thunderclap of raw fury.
Both men fell flat, trembling.
My wolf surged forward inside me, teeth bared, claws itching. The thought of her…… being harmed ignited a fire I couldn’t contain.
“You will not,” I hissed, “speak his name in my presence again.”
Calder’s breath faltered. “Alpha King—”
“You will not,” I continued, leaning closer, “open your mouth about witches ever again.”
Izu’s chest rose and fell rapidly. “Alpha King… with all respect… this is bigger than your vendetta. This witch—”
“She is not yours to touch,” I said, teeth gritted. “Do you understand? Not yours, not the High Priest’s, not Calder’s, not anyone’s. Do you hear me, Izu?”
“Yes… Alpha King,” he stammered, eyes burning with the fire of defiance, of youth untempered by experience.
Alpha Calder lowered his head as he whispered “but it's the law, it's our duty to protect the werewolves and that witch is disaster”
But I heard him.
I stood, muscles coiling like steel springs. “You speak of law, of duty, yet you kneel before me like children. Remember this: in my house, in my lands, my will is law. The High Priest is nothing. The councils are nothing. The old orders are dust beneath my claws.”
Calder’s voice trembled. “Alpha… we did not come to challenge you—only to inform. To prevent disaster.”
“Disaster?” I said, pacing slowly, letting the weight of my presence crush them. “You call my protection of my lands, my people, my—” I stopped, letting the word hang unsaid. “You call that disaster?”
Izu shifted, finally daring to lift his gaze. “She is dangerous. You know it. Witches have powers—powers that—”
“You dare lecture me on danger?” I snapped, my growl filling the room like rolling thunder. “You, who walks into my halls carrying the scent of deceit and cowardice? You think I do not know power? You think I do not smell the wolf in you? Both of you are children playing at diplomacy while I am the storm that can erase you without a thought!”
Silence. Heavy, suffocating. The fire crackled. Calder’s hands fisted at his knees; Izu’s jaw tightened.
“You will not,” I growled, “tell the High Priest anything. Not a word.”
“But—” Calder began.
“If you breathe one word,” I whispered, voice icy, “I will rip out your spines and hang them over my gate. Understand?”
“Yes, Alpha King!” Both men screamed, terrified.
“Leave,” I snarled.
They scrambled to their feet, tripping over themselves, fleeing like prey. The moment the door slammed, I exhaled sharply, fury still thrumming through me.
Kill her?
Eliminate her?
Tell the High Priest?
Over my dead body.
I stormed down the hallway, ignoring the warriors stepping aside. Heart racing, pulse hammering. I needed to see her.
I pushed open the bedroom door.
Quiet. Too quiet.
She lay there. Pale. Peaceful. Breathing. Alive.
I sat at the edge of the bed, elbows on knees, staring. Beautiful. Innocent. Deadly. A contradiction I could not look away from.
Why her?
Why now?
Why did the thought of her being hurt stir something primal inside me—?
A shift.
A ripple in the air.
I froze, eyes lifting.
The room stilled.
Her eyelashes fluttered. Her breath caught. Her fingers twitched.
And then… her eyes opened.
Blue. Piercing. Sharp.
Staring straight into mine.
My chest constricted. My breath stopped.
She was awake.
And she was watching me.
And I…
I got lost in those eyes.
---
Dark Chamber — The High Priest
Far across the kingdom, in a place untouched by moonlight, a man knelt before a massive statue of the Moon Goddess. Its marble face cracked, its gaze shadowed, eternal.
He did not pray.
He listened.
A smile curved his lips. Slow. Wicked.
He rose, cloak whispering across the black stone floor, torchlight flickering in the shadows.
“The witch has awakened,” he breathed, thrill threading his voice.
Fingers traced the cold cheek of the Moon Goddess statue. “I felt her. Just as the prophecy promised.”
His smile widened, cruel and sharp.
“I will use her to destroy the Alpha King.”
He turned, shadows clinging to him like loyal servants.
- Writer
