CHAPTER TWELVE
1193 Words
Phaeryl’s eyes were fixed on the stars. Over the years, she had built up a habit of climbing the sequoia tree close to the manor. The view from the tree's branch was amazing.
This was usually a soothing time for her except for tonight's. Someone else was here.
Her mother had suggested Xhanes followed her out. After his win against Espen, her parents' unnecessary praises flooded him.
“You don't seem like the type to watch the stars” His voice came from a branch higher than hers, breaking off her thoughts
“You don't seem like the type to watch the stars," She repeated, trying to mimic him in a funny tone contrasting his usual monotone voice.
“Your presence and personality bore me.” She added.
“ What? I don't have a boring personality. We've just not spent a lot of time together.”
“You probably haven't spent a lot of time with anybody. You've been locked up in Keld palace–” The words rolled off her tongue before she could think. She looked up to see a slight, brief change in his expression.
“Um– Um, at least you– you– ” She tried to think of comforting words for someone that had been locked up for years.
“I was able to break out of Keld at the age of seventeen. If you ask me, I'd say I'm pretty awesome.” Phaeryl scoffed at the fact he turned his trauma to chance to bluff about himself
Phaeryl's lips tugged outwards “I was right. I'm sure i bumped into you one time”
“One time? Where?”
Phaeryl was about to respond when she felt something. A sharp, jagged shift in the air. Her senses stretched beyond the trees
Then came a low, aggressive, unfamiliar howl.
Many.
Her stomach twisted in hopes that her instincts were wrong. She could feel her wolf,Phae's uneasiness.
She hastily jumped down from the tree with Xhanes doing the same as if getting the context. By the time she got to the manor, most of Lanster's strongest wolves were in the compound stirring—wolves spilling into the open, shifting mid-run, voices barking orders into the cold night.
She quickly noticed the attacking wolves had Vezorian features. But something seemed odd about them. This was not her first time seeing Vezorian wolves. She was sure they didn’t have red eyes. No wolf had visually disturbing red eyes.
The first clash rang out like thunder.
Lanster wolves fought in coordinated precision, their movements sharp and practiced, but the attackers were brutal, reckless, and driven by something that made them seem mindless.
Phaeryl barely had time to process before one lunged at her.
She twisted, instincts snapping into place, barely dodging as claws grazed her shoulder. Pain flared, hot and immediate, but she didn’t slow. She drove her elbow into its ribs, spun, and struck again.
There was time to react to her victory.More were coming.
“Be careful” She heard in her mind. Thoughts she swore were not hers. As if someone was speaking to her.
Her mind immediately thought of Xhanes.
She turned—and there he was, already in the middle of it. Blood streaked across his jaw, his movements faster than anything she could track. A Venzor wolf charged at him from behind—
He moved without even looking.
A blur and a snap. Then silence.
The body dropped.
This was a personal reminder of Xhanes’ power.
“Hold the line!” Alpha Astor’s voice roared across the battlefield, commanding, unshaken. “Do not let them breach the inner grounds!”
Lanster wolves tightened formation instantly, pushing back the attackers with brutal efficiency.
Phaeryl joined them, falling into rhythm, her strikes growing sharper, cleaner. Beside her, Xhanes moved like something unleashed—untouchable, relentless. No wasted motion or hesitation.
His movements appeared perfect and controlled.
And not controlled at the same time.
A Venzor wolf broke through the line and then another.
Phaeryl’s breath hitched at the fact that they were adapting and at a really fast rate. That wasn’t normal.
“Fall back two steps!” someone shouted.
But it was already too late.
The line faltered slightly.
But in a fight like this,slightly was enough.
Alpha Astor appeared in the center of the chaos, his presence alone forcing space between the clashing bodies.
His gaze swept the field, calculating, sharp.
Then it landed on Phaeryl before shifting to Xhanes.
“You two,” he said, voice low but absolute. “Go.”
Phaeryl blinked. “What?”
“Now.”
“I can't leave, especially not now”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
The ground trembled as another wave of Venzorian wolves pressed forward.
Astor’s voice dropped, quieter now, meant only for them.
“They’re not here for territory.”
Phaeryl’s chest tightened.
“They’re here for something else,” he continued. “And I won’t risk it being you.” Her eyes softened when she heard the last part.
Her.
Or—
She glanced at Xhanes, and realization struck like ice.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “We can fight—”
“You will leave,” Astor cut in, sharper this time. “That is an order.”
Xhanes didn’t argue. That alone told her everything.
“Phaeryl,” he said quietly. “We need to leave.”
Her fists clenched.Every instinct in her screamed to stay.
Another howl split the night—closer this time.
The enemy was breaking through again.
Astor stepped back, already turning toward the fight.
“Leave!”
Xhanes didn’t wait before grabbing her wrist—not rough - but firm enough to leave no room for argument.
Phaeryl stumbled after him. Her thoughts couldn't get past the sound of battle chasing them as they broke away from the clearing and into the forest.
They whipped past the branches as the cold air burned her nose.
Behind them, it seemed like Astor was able to subdue the Venzorian wolves. There were barely any howls echoing.
She still wondered why her chest still felt tight. Espen was a good fighter and her father, a powerful strategist and wolf. Only when they had gotten deep into the forest did Xhanes finally slow down.
Phaeryl yanked her wrist free from him.
“We left them,” she snapped, breathing unevenly. “We just—ran.”
Xhanes didn’t answer immediately.
He stood still, listening—not to her, but to something else. Something far away.
Or something only he could hear.
“They held,” he said finally.
“You don’t know that.”
His gaze shifted to her. A lot more serious.
“I do.”
Phaeryl swallowed hard, anger and fear tangling inside her chest.
“Why did he send us away?” she demanded.
Xhanes didn’t look away this time.
“Because,” he said quietly, “we’re what they came for.”
The words settled like a blade between them. But the undeniable truth pressing in from all sides.
This wasn’t just an attack. It was the beginning of something much worse.
- Writer
