Chapter 4: Blood at the Border

The first scream echoed before I even understood what silence was supposed to be again.

It cut through the park grounds like a blade.

Sharp. Panicked. Real.

I stood in the cell, frozen.

Then another sound followed—closer this time.

A howl.

Not a Blackridge wolf.

My stomach tightened instantly.

Something was wrong.

Outside, chaos unfolded without warning.

Footsteps thundered past the corridor beyond my cell. Voices overlapped—commands, warnings, curses.

"The north gate is secure!”

“South perimeter breached again!”

“They’re too fast—fall back!”

My pulse quickened.

I moved instinctively toward the iron door.

It didn’t open.

Of course it didn’t.

I pressed my hands against it anyway, listening harder.

Metal clashed somewhere in the distance.

Then a roar.

Not human.

Not controlled.

My breath caught.

Rogue wolves.

That was what Kael had said.

A border breach.

But this didn’t sound like a simple breach.

This sounded like war.

Another explosion of sound echoed—wood splintering, stone cracking.

The entire structure seemed to vibrate.

I backed away from the door slowly.

My heart was beating too fast now.

Too loud.

Then—

A shift.

Inside me.

It started as a whisper beneath my skin.

Then a pull.

Strong.

Violent.

The mark.

I froze immediately.

My arm burned faintly, like something waking from sleep again.

“No,” I whispered to myself. “Not now.”

But it didn’t listen.

The pulse intensified.

Like it was reacting to something outside.

Something near.

I pressed my back against the wall, breathing harder.

The bond.

That word again.

Kael.

The moment I thought it, the pull tightened.

As if confirming it.

Another scream echoed outside—closer this time.

Then footsteps stopped directly outside my cell.

Keys jangled.

My body tensed instantly.

The iron door unlocked.

It swung open fast.

A warrior stood there, armor splattered with dark stains.

Not blood.

Something worse.

Fear.

“Move,” he snapped immediately.

“I’m not allowed out,” I said instinctively.

“Orders changed,” he barked. The south wall is collapsing. We’re evacuating non-combat zones.”

Non-combat zones.

That meant me.

A liability.

A burden.

Before I could argue, he grabbed my arm and pulled me out.

I stumbled into the corridor.

The entire fortress was alive with panic.

Wolves ran in formation past us, weapons drawn, eyes sharp. The air smelled like smoke and earth and something metallic that made my stomach turn.

I had never seen Blackridge like this.

Uncontrolled.

The warrior dragged me forward.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered. “If you see anything, you don’t stop. You run.”

“I don’t even know where to run,” I muttered.

He didn’t respond.

We moved through the hallways quickly.

Too quickly.

Every step brought louder sounds of battle.

We turned a corner—and I saw it.

The outer courtyard was open ahead.

And it was burning.

The southern wall had partially collapsed. Stone scattered across the ground like broken bones. Wolves fought in chaotic clusters—Blackridge warriors against darker, ragged figures with glowing eyes.

Rogues.

They didn’t fight like packs.

They fought like hunger.

Like something broken that had forgotten what control meant.

A rogue lunged at a warrior, teeth sinking into his shoulder. Blood sprayed instantly.

I stumbled back in shock.

The warrior pulling me cursed under his breath.

“Don’t look,” he said sharply.

But I already had.

Something inside me twisted at the sight.

Not fear.

Something else.

A pressure building beneath my ribs again.

Faint.

But rising.

The mark.

It was reacting again.

My breath hitched.

“No… no, no—”

The pull snapped stronger this time.

Not toward Kael.

Toward the battlefield.

I stopped walking.

The warrior turned instantly. “What are you doing?”

“I—” I swallowed hard. “Something’s wrong.”

“There’s nothing wrong except rogues tearing through our border. Keep moving.”

But I couldn’t.

Because now I could feel it.

The threads.

Invisible.

Pulling.

Every direction Kael was not in felt like static.

But one direction—

The center of the battle—

Pulled harder.

My head snapped toward it.

And I saw him.

Alpha Kael Draven.

He moved through the battlefield like violence given form.

Fast.

Controlled.

Unrelenting.

Every strike of his arm sent rogues flying back. Every movement precise enough to be lethal without hesitation.

He wasn’t just fighting.

He was dominating.

And yet—

Even from here, I could see it.

He was surrounded.

Too many rogues.

They weren’t winning.

But they weren’t losing either.

They were testing him.

Tiring him.

My chest tightened.

Without thinking, I took a step forward.

The warrior grabbed my arm immediately. “Are you insane? Stay back!”

“I need to—” I stopped myself.

Why did I need to?

I didn’t even know.

But the pull inside me sharpened again.

Like it was answering something I couldn’t explain.

Kael turned slightly in the chaos.

And then—

His eyes found mine.

Across the battlefield.

Everything slowed.

Not physically.

But inside me.

The noise faded.

The panic dulled.

There was only that connection.

Sharp.

Unavoidable.

His expression changed instantly.

Not surprised.

Recognition.

And something else.

Warning.

“Get down!” someone shouted nearby.

I barely processed it.

A rogue broke from the fight—fast, wild, and directly toward me.

The warrior in front of me moved to intercept—but too slowly.

Everything happened at once.

The rogue lunged.

I froze.

And then—

Pain exploded through my arm.

The mark flared violently.

Not just burning.

Pulling.

My body reacted before my mind did.

I raised my hand.

I didn’t understand what I was doing.

But something inside me snapped.

A force erupted outward.

Invisible.

The air twisted.

The rogue hit something midair and was thrown back violently, slamming into stone.

Silence hit the space around me instantly.

Even the fighting nearby faltered.

My breathing stopped.

“What… was that?” the warrior beside me whispered.

I stared at my hand.

Shaking.

I didn’t answer.

Because I didn’t know.

Across the battlefield, Kael had stopped completely.

He was staring at me.

Unmoving.

Then slowly—

He killed the rogue nearest him without looking.

His eyes never left me.

The distance between us suddenly felt meaningless.

Like it didn’t exist.

Like something had just broken open.

Then the pull inside me shifted again.

Stronger.

Heavier.

And this time—

It wasn’t just pain.

It felt like recognition.

Kael moved.

Fast.

Cutting through rogues with renewed force, heading directly toward me.

No hesitation now.

No distance.

Just intent.

The warrior beside me grabbed my arm again.

“Run!” he shouted.

But I couldn’t move.

Because I realized something terrifying.

Whatever had just awakened in me…

It wasn’t finished yet.

And neither was he.