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Rooted in Flame: 10

Penulis: Bella-Anne
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-05-15 02:06:55

Kael (POV)

Lira walks out of the mirror ruins on her own feet.

I hate that I’m proud of her for it.

I hate more that I’m afraid she won’t make it to the trees.

Broken glass crunches behind us. The altar sits dead under the Bone Moon, cracked through the center, its mirrors dark now. No false queens. No chained smiles. No bodies laid out for fear to feed on. Just ruin and wet stone.

Draven is gone.

That should settle something in me.

It doesn’t.

Men like him don’t leave because they’ve learned.
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  • Bloodied Ashes   Rooted in Flame: 15

    Kael (POV)That lands.Not gently.Nothing lands gently tonight.Lira looks toward the archway, where the pack waits with too many eyes and not enough breath. I know she hears what I do. The shift in them. The quickening. Fear turning its face toward awe because awe feels safer than uncertainty.One woman drops to her knees in the mud.I see it through the arch.Hands clasped at her chest. Head bowed.Then another lowers his head.Not all of them.Enough.Lira goes still.“No,” she says.Quiet.Too quiet for them.Not for me.I step into the firelight.“Stand.”A few heads jerk up.I don’t shout. I don’t need to. Every wolf there knows my voice when it means something will bleed if ignored.The woman in the mud trembles but does not rise.“She didn’t break a throne so you could build another one out of gratitude.”That reaches them.Shame moves through the crowd in uneven ripples. Some stand at once, almost stumbling in their hurry. Others hesitate, and that hesitation is its own woun

  • Bloodied Ashes   Rooted in Flame: 14

    Kael (POV)The footsteps gather outside before Lira’s fingers have fully left mine.I feel the loss of that small touch more than I should. Her hand pulls back. Mine stays where it is for half a breath, empty and useless over my knee.Then the whispers start.Not loud. Not brave enough for that. They move along the broken wall and through the archway in pieces.“She broke it.”“I heard the glass.”“Did he die?”“No one saw him fall.”“The mark’s gone.”“No. I saw light.”“Is she queen now?”Lira’s face closes.Not fear.Refusal.I stand before the last word can settle too deeply inside the room. My arm pulls where she wrapped it. The wound protests, hot and mean under the cloth, but I ignore it.The pack waits beyond the arch. I can see shapes in the firelight, shoulders tight, faces pale, eyes fixed on the inside of the watch post like they expect something sacred to crawl out.That worries me more than panic would.Panic runs.Awe kneels.“Stay back,” I say.A few wolves shift. No o

  • Bloodied Ashes   Rooted in Flame: 13

    Kael (POV)Lira walks out of the mirror ruins on her own feet.I hate that I’m proud of her for it.I hate more that I’m afraid she won’t make it to the trees.Broken glass crunches behind us. The altar sits dead under the Bone Moon, cracked through the center, its mirrors dark now. No false queens. No chained smiles. No bodies laid out for fear to feed on. Just ruin and wet stone.Draven is gone.That should settle something in me.It doesn’t.Men like him don’t leave because they’ve learned. They leave because they’ve found another angle.Lira’s hand stays pressed to her side. Blood runs between her fingers from the cut across her palm. She keeps her chin high anyway, her steps steady enough to insult the wound.“You’re limping,” I say.“I’m walking.”“That wasn’t what I said.”“It’s what matters.”I move closer. Not touching. Close enough that if her knees give, she’ll hate me while I catch her.The corner of her mouth twitches. “You’re hovering.”“You’re bleeding.”“So are you.”I

  • Bloodied Ashes   Rooted in Flame: 12

    Kael (POV)Mirella steps closer. “Show me.”Lily pulls her collar aside.There is no grand mark. No glowing symbol. Only a faint crescent near her shoulder, so pale it could pass for an old scar if you didn’t know to hate it.Mirella touches two fingers beside it.Lily gasps.The pack shifts.Mirella pulls back, face hard. “Claim work.”Serin curses under his breath.Lira’s voice is thin. “Can he use it?”Mirella doesn’t answer fast enough.That is answer enough.Lily looks at Lira then. Not begging. Not asking to be saved without cost. Just telling the truth because there is nothing left to hide behind.“I don’t know how deep it goes,” she says. “And I don’t know if it reaches him.”Her hand drops to her belly.Him.The word doesn’t need to be spoken.Lira’s hand moves to her own stomach.Two women. Two children. One old magic made ugly by a man who thinks the future is something he can brand before it breathes.Kael, think.My mind cuts through the fear because fear alone is useless

  • Bloodied Ashes   Rooted in Flame: 11

    Kael (POV)I watch that land.Not softly.Nothing lands softly tonight.Outside, the whispers thicken. The pack presses closer without meaning to. Fear smells sharp when enough bodies carry it together.Someone kneels.I see it through the arch, one woman dropping to her knees in the mud with both hands clasped tight at her chest. Then another lowers his head. Not all of them. Enough.Lira goes very still.“No,” she says.The word is quiet.The kneeling wolves don’t hear it.I do.I step out into the firelight. “Stand.”A few heads jerk up.I don’t raise my voice. I don’t need to. “She didn’t break a throne so you could build another one out of gratitude.”Shame moves through them. Some stand fast. Others hesitate.Then Lira appears beside me.She’s pale. Barefoot now. The bandage on her palm is already stained through.But she stands.“If you’re grateful,” she says, “live differently.”No one speaks.Good.The silence holds until movement shifts at the far edge of the gathering.Lily

  • Bloodied Ashes   Rooted in Flame: 10

    Kael (POV)Lira walks out of the mirror ruins on her own feet.I hate that I’m proud of her for it.I hate more that I’m afraid she won’t make it to the trees.Broken glass crunches behind us. The altar sits dead under the Bone Moon, cracked through the center, its mirrors dark now. No false queens. No chained smiles. No bodies laid out for fear to feed on. Just ruin and wet stone.Draven is gone.That should settle something in me.It doesn’t.Men like him don’t leave because they’ve learned. They leave because they’ve found another angle.Lira’s hand stays pressed to her side. Blood runs between her fingers from the cut across her palm. She keeps her chin high anyway, her steps steady enough to insult the wound.“You’re limping,” I say.“I’m walking.”“That wasn’t what I said.”“It’s what matters.”I move closer. Not touching. Close enough that if her knees give, she’ll hate me while I catch her.The corner of her mouth twitches. “You’re hovering.”“You’re bleeding.”“So are you.”I

  • Bloodied Ashes   Blood in the Wilds: 2

    Lira (POV)The snow swallows Kael’s footsteps faster than I can follow them.I drag my weight through the trench he leaves, my feet scraping where they should be stepping, half my balance riding on fury and frostbitten adrenaline. My thigh feels like it’s been stitched together wrong. Every time I

  • Bloodied Ashes   Blood in the Wilds: 1

    Lira (POV)The blood on the snow isn’t mine—not all of it. But it steams like it knows me. Like it wants to crawl back into my skin.I wake mid-shift, my body bent wrong, bones caught between what I was and what they tried to make me. My spine arches halfway into something feral, and its angle makes

  • Bloodied Ashes   Before the Queen: 34

    Kael (POV)She’s not screaming anymore, not because the pain stopped but because it claimed her.The snow around her is steaming. Her skin is splitting in places it shouldn’t. The silver in her scars pulses like a curse trying to crawl out. Something not wolf-born. Magic that tastes wrong tastes ol

  • Bloodied Ashes   Before the Queen: 33

    Kael (POV)I smell it before I see it.The Wilds shift around us, something so subtle that most wouldn’t notice. The trees stop breathing, and the winds go still. Frost curls across the ground in shapes too deliberate to be natural, feathered like fangs dragging through powder.Somewhere behind us,

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