Twin Souls - The Alpha's Mark

Chapter Four - The Wolf who shouldn't exist(Part @)

Elias initiated the shift immediately, stepping away from the grey wolf’s frame . Within seconds, he was human again, his breathing ragged as he stood barefoot beside Elara among the shattered stone . His golden eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the rusted table .

"Margaret Vale created the Hollow," Elias said, his voice a deep, gravelly whisper . "She was the one who tore the soul-locked grid apart."

Willow snarled fiercely from the dark corridors of the subconscious . No!

Elara turned her focus inward, crossing the internal boundary . Willow, listen to me. You saw the memory. We both did.

NO!

Her wolf violently slammed up a massive wall of psychological ice, cutting off the transmission . Elara felt the absolute force of the resistance .

"Willow, you saw it with your own eyes," Elara pressed internally .

Memories can lie, Elara, the wolf argued fiercely, her thoughts shaking . The Hollow can manipulate the timeline. It can project false parameters into our shared bond to make us turn on our ancestors.

Exactly, Willow added flatly .

Ronan shifted complete, undisputed control of the limbs back to Elias . Elias looked across the dark table at Elara, his expression dead serious . "She's right, Elara."

Elara frowned, her brow furrowing . "About what?"

"We cannot trust a single vision or mental flash while the Hollow is actively near our coordinates," Elias explained, his tone measured . "It can stitch fabrications into the link."

"So how on earth do we find the actual truth on this mountain?"

Cael answered the question directly through the open Pack-Speech network, his deep, bronze thought cutting through their panic .

Scent doesn't lie.

Everyone looked over at the massive bronze wolf . He began to walk slowly toward the very center of the vaulted chamber, his massive head lowered, his nostrils flaring as he audited the stone floorboards . Searching .

Elara watched him navigate the dark . The wolf was entirely new—he had been consciously awake for a total of perhaps five minutes . Yet he moved through the room with a terrifying grace, as though he had spent an entire lifetime understanding the mechanics of his predatory senses .

Maybe he had . Maybe wolves didn't wake up as empty, unwritten slates when their human hosts transitioned . Perhaps bloodline instinct itself was simply a different, older kind of memory .

Cael came to a sudden halt at the far limestone wall .

Here, he projected .

Elara approached the wall, her phone torch beam illuminating the rough grey blocks . She saw nothing out of the ordinary . Just smooth stone .

Cael raised a massive bronze paw, scratching once against the masonry with his black claw . A distinct, hollow metallic sound answered the impact .

Elias joined them at the wall, his brow furrowing as he inspected the seams . "Another hidden door."

Elara let out an exhausted, dry sigh . "Of course it is."

Willow’s sarcastic humor returned faintly from the dark corners of her mind, a small wave of matching energy rippling through the bond . Your human family thoroughly likes doors, partner. It’s becoming a structural problem.

Apparently we do, Elara conceded internally .

Cael stepped closer, pressing his massive, wet bronze nose flat against a specific carved stone block . A sudden, faint green light sparked from the center of the masonry, casting long shadows across the floor .

Everyone took a rapid step backward .

The massive limestone block shifted on its own cogs, moving inward with a heavy mechanical shriek . Behind the masonry lay a small, dust-covered hidden compartment .

Nestled inside the stone was a box . It was crafted from a heavy black wood, reinforced with a secure silver lock . A single name had been deeply, sharply carved into the center of the lid:

JOSEPH VALE

Daniel woke up .

Elara felt the sudden, violent transition of the consciousness through her link to Cael . A massive, chaotic shock wave of pure human confusion slammed straight across the open Pack-Speech network .

Why on earth am I currently a giant dog?

Willow let out a sharp huff of laughter inside Elara's skull . Ronan laughed too, a low rumble . Even Cael seemed internally, deeply offended by the vocabulary .

Elara quickly covered her mouth with her hand . Daniel? Can you hear me?

Elara? Is that you? Where are you?

You're completely okay, Daniel. Just calm down.

Why do I physically have massive furry paws, Elara?! What is happening to my limbs?!

Cael answered the frantic query directly inside their shared consciousness, his thoughts dry and clinical .

They are my paws, human. Calm your baseline.

Absolute silence fell over the network for two long seconds . Then, Daniel screamed . He didn't open his mouth; he shrieked straight across the open Pack-Speech line with a desperate fury .

WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!

Cael winced, his massive bronze ears flattening against his skull . Stop shouting inside our shared head. It is highly unnecessary.

GET OUT OF MY BRAIN!

It is factually my brain too, Daniel. Learn the property parameters.

ELARA!

Elara was openly, genuinely laughing now, the sheer, unadulterated absurdity of the sibling argument breaking through the horror of the laboratory . She couldn't help it .

Daniel, meet Cael, she projected smoothly .

I JUST MET HIM, ELARA. I FLATLY DO NOT LIKE HIM.

Cael let out a heavy mental sigh . I told you. He is insufferably dramatic.

Willow’s voice drifted to the surface, her smug satisfaction returning in a flash . He gets that exact trait from Elara, you know.

Excuse me? Elara countered internally .

Ronan added a brief, dry fragment from the background: Definitely. The architecture matches perfectly.

"Nobody asked for a comparative psychological audit from either of you wolves," Elara muttered aloud .

Daniel’s frantic panic seemed to ease slightly as he anchored himself to her voice, his thoughts shifting . Am I... am I actually a werewolf, Elara?

Elara stopped laughing, her expression turning solemn over the black box . Yes, Daniel. You are.

A long, heavy silence stretched over the telepathic connection .

Then: Mum is going to absolutely, completely lose her mind.

Elara let out another bright laugh into the dark chamber . Cael’s massive bronze body visibly shook with an internal chuckle .

Daniel felt the physical movement of the muscles instantly through their shared nervous system . Are you... are you actively laughing at my crisis right now, wolf?

Yes, Cael replied smoothly, his green eyes blinking . I am.

I hate you, you giant hound.

No, you don't.

Elara smiled into the shadows . The phrase sounded remarkably, beautifully familiar .

Elias leaned down over the worktable, examining the surface of Joseph's box .

"There's no keyhole," he murmured, his fingertips tracing the heavy, seamless black timber .

Elara approached, holding her phone torch closer . Right in the center of the reinforced silver banding, she spotted a subtle, shallow indentation . It was an oval . A very specific, geometric shape .

It was exactly the physical dimension of her grandmother’s pendant .

She reached beneath the collar of her heavy sweater, pulling the silver chain over her head . The blue stone throbbed faintly against her skin .

Willow’s voice immediately erupted inside her head, her tone sharp with a sudden, warning clarity: Wait, Elara.

Elara stopped her hand midair . What is it, Willow? What's wrong?

Joseph's wolf.

Elara froze, her fingers hovering an inch above the black wood . "What about him?" she asked aloud .

Across the room, the massive bronze wolf, Cael, shifted his weight, his heavy ears lifting as his green eyes locked onto her coordinates .

Willow stared fixedly at the carved name on the lid through Elara's retinas . The Hollow explicitly stated that Joseph was the last male member of the Vale family line to carry an inner wolf fragment.

Inside the bronze beast, Daniel's frantic mental bickering quieted down instantly, his attention anchoring to the line .

Elara nodded slowly . "Yes. She said that right before the floor collapsed."

What exactly happened to his wolf fragment when Joseph died in the woods? Willow demanded .

Nobody answered her . The silence in the laboratory turned heavy and dense .

Ronan approached the table, his grey paws silent on the limestone debris . Born wolves usually dissolve into the mountain ether alongside their human hosts, White. That is the fundamental law of the flesh.

Willow turned her blue gaze toward him, her thoughts tight . Except Ronan did not dissolve when Thomas Mercer died a century ago.

And Willow did not dissolve when Anna passed, Elara added internally . They were exceptions to the ancient architecture of the ridge .

Elara slowly turned her head, looking directly into the brilliant green eyes of the bronze beast standing beside her brother . "Unless they don't die with them."

Cael stared unblinkingly at the name JOSEPH VALE carved into the black timber . His bright green irises suddenly shifted, the color swirling as a strange, volatile emotion rolled over his massive frame . Something flickered in the depth of his expression .

Recognition .

Elara’s stomach dropped away, a cold wave of suspicion hitting her veins . "Cael?"

The wolf didn't respond to her voice, his physical body going completely rigid .

"Cael," she pressed harder against the link .

Daniel’s human thoughts suddenly broke through the static of their private bond, his tone rising in panic . Elara, I can't reach him. He's actively blocking me from accessing the passenger seat.

Willow stepped forcefully to the forefront of Elara’s consciousness, her mental posture unyielding as she threw her voice across the Pack-Speech network: Cael. Identify the signature.

The massive brown wolf stared at the wooden box . Then, he whispered a single, hollow thought into the network:

I know that name.

Elara’s internal pulse slowed down, taking on a heavy, deliberate thud in her ears . "You know Joseph?"

Yes.

"How, Cael? How could you possibly know him if you just woke up today?"

The bronze wolf began to violently tremble against the stone floor, his claws scratching . And before Elara could fortify her boundaries, a sudden, massive memory burst straight through the open Pack-Speech network .

All of them saw it simultaneously .

Joseph Vale stood beneath a blood-red moon.

He was young—scarcely out of his boyish years—with thick dark hair plastered to his forehead by the mountain rain. He possessed a striking, brilliant pair of green eyes. Fresh, coppery blood covered the front of his torn shirt, blooming from a jagged wound near his ribs.

Margaret stood directly across from him in the dark clearing, her silver hair catching the crimson glare of the sky. "Please, Joseph," she begged, her voice cracking with a raw, maternal desperation.

Joseph shook his head, his jaw tightening as he took a weak step backward into the brush. "No."

"Your wolf is dying, Joseph," she pressed, her hands trembling as she stepped closer. "The silver is already in his bloodline. If the host heart stops, he dissolves with you."

"He isn't dying," Joseph insisted, his breathing shallow and ragged.

Inside Joseph’s conscious mind, a deep, resonant male presence spoke. It was Cael, his internal vocal cadence completely stripped of its modern, sarcastic edge.

She is entirely right, Joseph. The tide is rising.

Joseph closed his green eyes tightly, his forehead resting against a cold pine trunk. "Don't, Cael. Don't say that."

Joseph.

"I flatly won't lose you," the young human wept into the dark. "I am not riding shotgun in an empty skin."

You won't lose me, partner.

"How on earth do you know that for sure?"

Cael's mental answer came softly, carrying the quiet gravity of a century-old bloodline truth: Because wolves remember, Joseph. We do not disappear into the dirt.

Margaret held the blue oval pendant out in her shaking palm, the cerulean stone pulsing violently in response to the crimson moon above. "Joseph, listen to the wind. We have precisely minutes before the pack closes our coordinates."

He opened his brilliant green eyes, looking directly at his mother. "If you physically use that silver wheel to separate us..." His voice broke, a ragged sob escaping his throat. "...what exactly happens to his spirit?"

Margaret looked straight through his features, her gaze locking onto Cael's frequency waiting right behind the retinas. "I honestly do not know, my son."

Joseph let out a short, bitter, and entirely breathless laugh. "Wonderful. A clinical experiment with an unwritten ending."

Cael's voice whispered one final time from the darkest corridors of his skull, warm and steady: Trust her, Joseph. Open the internal door.

Joseph reached out his hand, his pale fingers making direct contact with the pulsing blue stone of the pendant.

A sudden, blinding explosion of white light violently tore the forest apart.

And then, absolute darkness swallowed the memory.

The memory ended .

Cael staggered back a step, his massive bronze paws dragging through the mortar dust on the stone floor .

Elara stared at him, her breath shallow . Deep inside the bronze beast, Daniel was entirely silent .

Willow’s voice drifted softly into the space between their thoughts: Cael.

The giant brown wolf slowly lifted his heavy head, his brilliant green eyes wide and clouding over with an ancient, dark confusion . I was Joseph's wolf, Elara. A century ago.

Daniel finally spoke from the passenger seat, his internal thought quiet, fragile, and stripped of all its previous sarcasm .

So I am not your first human.

Cael closed his green eyes tightly, his massive shoulders dropping . No.

A sudden, sharp wave of Daniel's raw emotional pain entered the Pack-Speech network before he could construct a wall to hide it . Cael felt the contraction of the thought instantly . Everyone did .

Then why me, Cael? Why did you wake up in my head?

Cael didn't know the answer . Elara could feel the factual, empty space where the knowledge should have been .

She stepped closer, her bare feet silent on the debris as she placed her human hand gently against the coarse fur of the wolf's forehead . "Maybe that is exactly what Joseph's box is trying to tell us, Daniel."

Daniel didn't answer her, but Cael leaned his heavy muzzle into her palm, accepting the anchor .

Willow whispered quietly from the shadows: Family.

This time, Daniel heard the word clearly over their private bond, and he didn't offer a single shred of an argument .

Elara reached out with her other hand, carefully pressing the blue oval pendant directly into the shallow indentation on the silver lock .

A sharp, mechanical click echoed off the limestone walls .

The black wooden lid popped open on its own hinges . Inside the small, dust-free compartment lay precisely three objects: a silvered, black-and-white photograph, a leather-bound journal, and a small silver vial filled with a thick, dark liquid .

Elara picked up the photograph first, holding it up into the yellow glare of the lantern . A young Joseph Vale stood proud beside an older, severe Margaret . And right behind them sat Cael—the exact same massive, bronze-tinted brown wolf with those unmistakable, bright green eyes .

Daniel whispered into the link, his shock returning: That's him. That's actually him.

Cael stared at the silvered paper through his host's retinas . That is me.

Elara turned the photograph over, her phone torch illuminating the elegant, faded ink written across the back :

Joseph Vale and Cael. August 1912.

And beneath the names, written with a sharper stroke of the pen, was a solitary observation:

If the transfer succeeds, the wolf fragment may safely survive the death of the human.

Elias stared at the script, his jaw tightening . "Transfer."

Elara looked from the card to Willow, then to Ronan, and finally back to Cael's massive chest . "That is exactly how all of you came back across the century. You weren't reborn."

Willow went completely, utterly silent inside her head . Ronan did too, his grey ears pinning back .

Elara picked up the leather-bound journal, opening the cover with cautious fingers . The very first page was covered in Margaret Vale’s distinct, clinical handwriting .

A wolf is not simply the animal half of a human being. The wolf is a distinct consciousness of its own—a companion born directly into the geometry of the bloodline. We believed for generations that human and wolf were entirely inseparable. We were wrong.

Elara turned her focus downward, reading the next script lines aloud . "The bond can be physically broken."

Willow let out a low, warning growl from the dark corners of her mind . We thoroughly know that part, partner. We felt the chains.

Elara read on, her eyes scanning the faded text . "It can also be transferred."

Everyone in the circular archive froze dead in their tracks .

Daniel whispered across the network: Transferred where, Elara? Into what?

Elara turned the heavy parchment page . An intricate, hand-drawn ink diagram occupied the center of the spread . It detailed two abstract human silhouettes with a massive wolf figure standing directly between them, connected by a network of sharp arrows and branching bloodlines .

Elara’s pulse quickened, taking on a frantic rhythm against her ribs . "The wolf fragment can physically move from one human host to another within the family tree."

Elias stared hard at the grey beast beside him, his thoughts fracturing . "So after Thomas Mercer died in the forest..."

Ronan whispered back, his thoughts a dark, hollow echo across the Pack-Speech: I was placed somewhere in the dark, Elias.

Willow understood the structural mechanics instantly, her tone cold . Stored, Grey. We were stored like artifacts.

The word felt absolutely horrible spoken aloud in the quiet vault .

Elara read faster, her fingers flying down the page . The secondary vessel must share direct genetic blood with the previous human host to receive the frequency. Unless—

The next line of text had been violently, aggressively scratched out with thick strokes of black ink . Elara tilted the journal closer to the lantern flame, squinting through the dust . "Unless what? It's unreadable."

Elias reached across the table, taking the book from her hand . "There is something hidden right underneath the scoring."

The massive bronze wolf stepped closer, his snout wrinkling as he sniffed the paper . Blood.

Elara looked at him, her brow furrowing . "On the actual writing?"

Margaret's own bloodline signature is dried into the ink fibers, Cael projected .

Willow’s voice surged to the surface with a sudden, intuitive memory: Heat the parchment, partner.

Elara frowned. How on earth do you know that will work, Willow?

Anna used to hide her private messages from the pack using lemon juice and heat, Elara. It's a standard Keeper strategy.

Daniel’s human thoughts replied dryly: That is surprisingly, wonderfully normal for this mountain.

Willow’s energy shifted, and she almost smiled into their shared mind .

Elias held the heavy paper a few inches away from the iron lantern’s flame, the heat rising . Slowly, a row of faint, brown letters began to materialize through the black scratch marks .

Elara leans in, reading the words as they resolve into sanity .

Unless the wolf fragment willingly chooses the new human host.

An absolute, heavy silence fell over the vault .

Elara slowly turned her head, looking inward toward the dark corners of her mind . "You chose me, Willow. You weren't forced into my bloodline."

The white wolf whispered back, her mental tone soft and stripped of all its previous haughtiness: Yes, Elara. I did.

Elias turned his head, his golden eyes locking onto his grey beast . And you, Ronan?

The grey wolf answered firmly: Yes, Elias. I chose your frequency.

Daniel turned his focus inward, crossing his own private boundary . Cael? Did you choose me?

The massive bronze wolf didn't respond immediately, his green eyes blinking in the light . Then, a dry thought drifted up: I think so, human.

Daniel’s deep internal hurt seemed to soften slightly at the admission . The pain wasn't gone entirely, but it changed shape, losing its jagged edge . You actually chose me?

Apparently I did.

Why, Cael? What did you see in my frequency?

Cael considered the question for a long beat, his ears twitching . Then, a distinct wave of humor flooded the line: You were actively carrying a lot of thick-cut bacon, Daniel. It was highly persuasive.

Daniel stared blankly through the wolf's eyes, his mind flatlining .

Elara burst out laughing, the bright sound echoing loudly off the vaulted limestone walls . Cael’s internal amusement flooded the room, the bronze beast letting out a soft huff of air .

I am joking, human. Calm your baseline.

Daniel let out a long, mental groan . I flatly hate having a supernatural comedian occupying my brain.

You will survive the experience, Daniel.

Apparently you do survive it, Daniel thought back softly .

Cael went quiet, his green eyes widening slightly as the double meaning of the words registered . Daniel realized what his human thoughts had accidentally touched, his posture shifting . Sorry, Cael.

A sudden wave of warm, deep emotion moved from the wolf through their shared nervous system, anchoring them together . It's all right, partner.

For the very first time since the floorboards had collapsed, the two consciousnesses seemed to settle comfortably beside each other under the skin . They were no longer a human host and an invading beast violently wrestling for custody of the steering wheel . They were Daniel . And Cael .

A beginning .

Elara turned another page, and the brief, fragile warmth of the moment vanished entirely.

Before her lay a meticulously inked family tree. It mapped out generations across Oakhaven Ridge, with the names Vale and Mercer intersecting like creeping briars. She traced the lines past Anna Vale, Thomas Mercer, and Joseph Vale, down through Elsie, until her eyes caught her own name, with Daniel’s branched right beside it.

But something was deeply wrong with the architecture of the lineage.

A heavy second line bypassed the traditional paths, carving a direct trajectory from Elara and Daniel’s branch straight back into the Mercer family tree.

Elara stared at the ink. "No."

Elias stepped up tightly beside her, his bare feet crunching on the stone dust. "What is it?"

She pointed a trembling finger at the intersection. "Our father."

Daniel shifted his massive bronze frame closer, his bright green eyes widening as Cael brought his focus to the foreground. The journal detailed a name neither sibling had ever seen before. It wasn't the quiet, ordinary man who had raised them in the valley. It was a Mercer.

Elara's throat tightened so hard she could barely breathe. "This can't be right."

Willow’s voice whispered softly from the dark corridors of her mind, the sarcasm entirely gone: Elara.

"No," Elara muttered fiercely.

She turned the parchment page. Tucked into the margin was a frantic, handwritten note from Elsie Vale: The children must never know their father's true bloodline until Willow and Cael wake.

Daniel’s human thoughts came through Cael, sounding fragile and hollow across the open network. Children.

Elara couldn't force her mouth to construct a sentence. Plural.

"Yes," she whispered aloud.

Elara...

"I know, Daniel. I know."

Elias quietly stepped back a few paces, giving the siblings physical space to absorb the reality. Elara appreciated it.

Daniel’s internal voice was much smaller when he finally asked across their private link: Who was our father?

Elara stared at the elegant ink on the page, the syllables burning into her memory.

ADRIAN MERCER

And directly below his name, a solitary inscription:

Son of Gabriel Mercer.

Elias swore loudly, his measured human calm completely fracturing.

Elara spun around to face him. "What?"

His face had gone dangerously pale in the torchlight, his golden irises widening. "Gabriel isn't just an Alpha, Elara."

"What is he?"

"He's the head of the entire Mercer bloodline on this mountain."

Elara’s stomach dropped away, a cold wave of adrenaline hitting her veins.

Daniel’s thought whispered across the link: Meaning?

Elias looked directly at the siblings, his posture rigid. "Gabriel Mercer is your grandfather."

An absolute, suffocating silence fell over the vaulted laboratory.

Then, Willow’s voice drifted to the surface, her mental tone quiet and calculating. That explains why he smelled familiar to my nose through the glass.

Elara almost snapped at her wolf, her frustration mounting, but something else violently caught her attention.

A sound.

It was coming from far above them, traveling down through the structural timbers of her grandmother's house. A howl. A lone wolf throwing its voice into the morning mist. Then another answered it from the ridge. Then dozens of overlapping frequencies joined the chorus, a wall of pure predatory intent.

Ronan went instantly alert under the grey skin, his ears pinning forward. Mercer pack.

Cael lifted his heavy, bronze-tinted head, his green eyes sharpening. They're completely surrounding the house.

Elara’s pulse quickened, her fangs aching beneath her gums. "Gabriel?"

Elias listened intently through the Pack-Speech network, his expression darkening with a sudden alarm. "Yes."

Elara felt the Alpha's presence before she ever heard his voice. His mind violently touched the telepathic grid of the ridge—powerful, absolute, and utterly furious.

ELARA VALE.

Willow rose aggressively inside her mind, her ancient pride flaring up to mask the sudden chill. He is remarkably loud.

Elara ignored her wolf, pushing her own human will across the network. Gabriel.

The Alpha's mental frequency flickered with sharp surprise when she answered. He hadn't expected her to hold the line so firmly. Open the house.

Give me a single reason why I should open my doors to a hostile pack, Elara demanded.

Because the Hollow just woke an ancient abomination beneath your land.

Elara looked over at the massive bronze beast standing beside her. My brother? You mean Daniel?

Silence fell over the Alpha's connection. Then, Gabriel’s mind forcefully expanded, tracking her focus until his telepathic energy violently touched Cael’s frequency.

The Alpha physically recoiled across the distance. Elara felt the shock wave of his reaction ripple through the Pack-Speech network—stark panic, deep recognition, and a profound, old fear.

Joseph? Gabriel's voice cracked.

Cael let out a low, guttural growl that shook his chest, his green eyes flashing. Wrong human.

Gabriel went completely, utterly silent on the network. Then, his thoughts returned, dropping into a hollow whisper:

Cael.

The bronze wolf froze dead in his tracks, his tail dropping. You know me?

Gabriel’s answer arrived slowly, each word heavy with a century of bloodline guilt. I watched you die.

Daniel’s human thoughts whispered across the private link: This family really needs happier stories.

Despite the absolute terror of the situation, Elara almost smiled.

Then, Gabriel's voice boomed through the link again, urgent and sharp: And if Cael has returned, you have less time than I thought.

For what? Elara demanded.

The Alpha didn't answer with words. Instead, he directed his focus through the Pack-Speech toward the high mountain peaks. Every single wolf on the ridge felt the physical shift in the atmosphere.

The moon.

Though bright daylight still technically remained above the earth, Elara suddenly sensed the celestial body waiting right beyond the edge of the sky. It felt wrong. It was too close, its magnetic tide rising violently against her bloodline.

Gabriel’s final whisper echoed inside her skull: The Blood Moon.

Elara snapped her head around, looking directly at Elias. "We were supposed to have three nights."

His face went entirely dark. "Yes."

Gabriel answered from outside: Not anymore.

The limestone floor beneath their boots suddenly began to tremble. A fine cloud of white mortar dust fell from the vaulted timber ceiling, dusting their shoulders.

Inside Joseph Vale's black wooden box, the small silver vial violently shattered on its own cogs.

The thick, dark liquid spilled out across the surface of the worktable. Willow let out a raw scream of panic inside Elara's skull. Ronan snarled, his grey fur bristling. Cael staggered backward, his green eyes wide.

The dark blood didn't run downward off the edge of the wood. It moved upward.

It lifted completely from the table, defying gravity, spinning into thin red threads that suspended themselves in the air. The liquid shifted and reoriented, forming dark, cohesive letters before their eyes.

Elara watched, her breath freezing.

ROSEBANK

Then, the liquid rearranged itself into a final, definitive decree:

TONIGHT

The dark threads lost their configuration, and the blood splattered heavily back onto the table. Absolute silence reclaimed the vault.

Elara looked over at Elias, her defensive cynicism flaring up to mask her terror. "Apparently we're going to Rosebank."

Willow immediately responded from the dark corners of her mind, her thoughts tight: No.

Ronan’s rough baritone echoed across the link: Yes.

Cael's bronze head tilted: What's Rosebank?

Daniel groaned from the passenger seat: I vote for everywhere else.

Elara closed her eyes tightly, her temples throbbing. Four voices. Four wildly different opinions. One looming supernatural disaster. And somehow, she was supposed to be the Keeper.

She lowered her eyes, looking back down at the leather-bound journal. One single sentence stood completely alone at the very bottom of the parchment page—a final, chilling warning from Margaret Vale.

When the three wolves return, do not ask why. Ask what they were brought back to kill.