Chapter 10: The Woman in the Woods

The forest was too quiet.

The kind of quiet that made every breath feel wrong.

Mist hung low, curling around our legs as we walked. The trees stretched up like tall shadows, blocking out most of the moonlight. Even the air smelled strange, cold and wild, like it hadn’t been touched in years.

Revan walked ahead, silent and tense. Jordan followed close behind me, his footsteps matching mine like he was afraid to let me out of sight.

None of us spoke. Not for a long time. The only sound was the crunch of wet leaves and the echo of things we didn’t say.

Then Jordan finally broke the silence. “You trust her?”

Revan didn’t stop walking. “You mean my mother?”

Jordan’s voice was sharp. “You said she left your pack years ago. There’s a reason for that.”

Revan looked back over his shoulder. “There’s a reason you lost yours too.”

Jordan’s jaw clenched. “Careful.”

“You first.”

I stepped between them before either could say more. “Enough,” I said quietly. “I’m not doing this again. Not here.”

Revan slowed down, but his eyes stayed cold. Jordan looked away, biting back whatever he wanted to say.

I kept walking. “I don’t care if you two hate each other. Just help me get answers.”

Neither responded. The silence after that felt heavier than before.

The path wound deeper into the woods, darker with every step. The air felt thick, heavy with the smell of pine and smoke.

At last, Revan stopped. “We’re here.”

I looked around. There was nothing, just another cluster of trees and a patch of ground covered in frost.

Jordan frowned. “You’re sure?”

Revan nodded once and stepped toward the biggest tree in the clearing. Its trunk was wide and twisted, the bark dark as ash. He laid his hand on it, and for a second, nothing happened. Then the tree began to glow, faint lines of light tracing through the bark like veins.

The ground hummed beneath my feet. I took a step back.

The trunk split open like a door. Warm light spilled out, soft and golden.

A woman stepped through.

She was tall, graceful, and impossibly calm. Her hair was long and silver, falling over her shoulders like silk. Her skin looked smooth, her eyes bright gold, like sunlight trapped in human form.

“Revan,” she said, her voice soft but steady. “You finally brought her.”

Revan lowered his head slightly. “Mother.”

Her eyes moved past him and landed on me. I felt them before I met them, that sharp, knowing weight.

“So this is the one,” she said quietly.

I didn’t know what to say. Her presence filled the space between us, strong but quiet, like the world itself bowed to her.

“Come,” she said.

Inside the tree, the air was warm and smelled faintly of herbs and smoke. Shelves carved into the wood were lined with glass jars, roots, and candles that burned without a flame. It felt alive, like the tree had a heart that was still beating.

Revan’s mother gestured toward a seat carved from the wood itself. “Sit, child.”

I sat. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Revan stood close, his eyes following me. Jordan stayed near the doorway, one hand on the handle of his blade, the other curled into a fist.

The woman turned to me. “You’ve come a long way, Lora.”

“You know my name?”

Her lips curved faintly. “I know what you are.”

I swallowed hard. “Then tell me.”

Revan stepped closer. “Mother.”

She raised a hand, silencing him. “You brought her here for answers. Let her hear them.”

The flames flickered softly as she spoke.

“Your father was not an ordinary Alpha,” she said. “He carried something older inside him. A power that came from before the packs divided. When he fell in love with your mother, that power mixed with her blood, blood from a line tied to the first Moon Priestesses.”

My chest tightened. “I don’t understand.”

“You were never meant to exist,” she said simply. “You carry both light and fire. Moon and flame. Two halves that were never meant to meet.”

I stared at her. “And that makes me what?”

Her eyes softened a little. “It makes you the key. To peace or to ruin. The child inside you will decide which.”

The room went still. Even the fire seemed to stop moving.

Jordan’s voice broke the silence. “You can’t mean that. She’s not a weapon.”

“She’s fate,” the woman said.

I shook my head. “No. I’m just me.”

Revan’s mother looked at me for a long time. “You’ve already changed the course of two packs, child. Do you really think that’s all coincidence?”

My throat closed. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“No one ever does,” she said.

Jordan took a step forward. “There must be a way to stop this. To change it.”

Her gold eyes flicked to him. “You think love can rewrite prophecy?”

His jaw tightened. “I think it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Revan’s voice was low and cold. “Love didn’t save her before.”

Jordan turned toward him. “You don’t know what love is.”

Revan moved closer. “I know what loyalty is. I know what sacrifice is. You call it love when you throw someone away for your own pack’s survival?”

“Stop it,” I snapped. The sound of my own voice startled me. “I’m not doing this again. Not here. Not between you two.”

Both went quiet.

Revan’s mother smiled faintly. “There it is. The fire that burns through fear.”

She reached out her hand. In her palm lay a small ember, glowing red and gold. It pulsed softly, like a heartbeat.

“Take it,” she said.

I frowned. “What is it?”

“Your inheritance. The power your father sealed away before he died. It belongs to you now.”

Revan’s expression changed. “Mother, you can’t.”

“Silence,” she said, her tone cutting through the air like a blade. “This is her choice.”

My hands trembled. “If I take it, what happens?”

She smiled sadly. “You’ll see.”

I hesitated only a moment, then placed my hand in hers. The ember slid into my skin like it was alive.

The pain hit instantly. Heat rushed through my veins. I gasped, falling forward, grabbing my arm. Light burned under my skin, golden lines snaking up to my shoulder, bright enough to blind me.

“Lora.” Jordan shouted, catching me before I fell. “What’s happening?”

Revan grabbed his mother’s arm. “Stop it.”

She didn’t even blink. “She has to take it.”

“Take it,” Jordan yelled. “It’s killing her.”

Revan’s mother only whispered, “No. It’s waking her.”

I screamed. My vision went white. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Everything inside me felt like it was breaking open.

Then silence.

When I opened my eyes, the light was gone. My arm still glowed faintly with gold marks, like veins of fire.

Revan was kneeling in front of me, his face pale, eyes wild. “Lora, look at me.”

I could barely speak. “I saw something.”

Revan’s mother leaned forward. “Tell me.”

“There was a field. All white. And fire. And a woman standing in it.”

Revan’s mother’s voice softened. “Who?”

“She looked like my mother.” My voice cracked. “She said I was never meant to belong to anyone. She said I was meant to end them.”

Jordan’s face drained of color. “End who?”

Revan’s mother didn’t hesitate. “All of us.”

Revan turned to her, furious. “You knew this would happen.”

“Yes.”

“And you still.”

“She had to know,” the woman said calmly. “Ignorance won’t protect her anymore.”

I struggled to stand. My legs felt weak, but I pushed myself up. “What do you mean, end all of you?”

Her gaze locked on mine. “You carry the power to break the bond between packs. Every pack. Every bloodline. If you lose control, everything ends.”

My breath caught. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

Her answer was soft, but her eyes were cold. “Choose.”

“Choose what?”

“Who lives,” she said. “And who burns.”

The fire flickered low. The air felt heavy again.

Then a sound outside.

Low. Deep. Not human.

Revan stiffened instantly. “That wasn’t an animal.”

His mother rose from her seat, her golden eyes shifting toward the door. “They found you.”

Jordan stepped in front of me, his hand already reaching for his blade. “Who did?”

“The ones who hunt prophecy,” she said. “The ones who want what she carries.”

The growl came again, closer this time.

Revan moved fast, standing between me and the door. “Lora, stay behind me.”

The woman didn’t move. She looked almost calm. “You can’t fight what’s already here.”

Jordan looked back at her. “What’s here?”

A voice answered from the dark outside.

Smooth. Deep. Too close.

“Did you really think you could hide her from me, Revan?”

The light inside the hollow flickered. The air dropped cold.

Revan’s mother’s face hardened. “No,” she whispered. “Not him.”

Jordan’s grip tightened on his blade. “Who?”

The voice came again, clearer this time, quiet, cruel, and familiar.

“Your war started the day she was born.”

I felt my chest tighten. That voice. I knew it.

But it couldn’t be.

The flames blew out, drowning the room in darkness.

And I heard it, that same voice, right beside my ear.

“Hello again, Lora.”