One is not a true blood of the Slade brothers

Isabella’s POV

I tried calling  Trenton again, to tell him that something was chasing us. That something was chasing me. 

But when I turned back to where I had seen the image, there was nothing there. 

I was almost beginning to think that I was hallucinating. 

I tore through the trees after Trenton, branches clawing at my clothes, my heart pounding louder than my footsteps. The forest was thick here, the shadows deeper, heavier, as if they knew something had shifted and were trying to keep the truth hidden.

But it was too late for that, the Slade brothers and I knew something and we wouldn’t stop until we learnt the truth.

Trenton  stumbled into a small clearing, dropping to his knees. His body jerked, twisted—like it was fighting itself. A raw, animalistic snarl ripped from his throat. His skin shimmered beneath the moonlight, veins darkening, stretching across his arms like black lightning.

I stopped just short of the clearing, my breath caught in my chest.

This wasn’t just a shift into his wolf.

It was something else, something older.

His back arched sharply, bones cracking, shifting under his skin, but not into fur. Not into paws either. Ur was shifting into  something wrong. His teeth sharpened, but his eyes glowed with a violet light I had never seen in any werewolf.

He looked part monster. Part man.

Part something else.

Then, as quickly as it started, the transformation stopped.

Trenton collapsed forward, panting hard, sweat glistening on his back. His hands dug into the dirt, clawed but still human.

I stepped into the clearing carefully, not wanting to scare him. But he heard me, and his head snapped up.

“Don’t,” he warned, his voice hoarse and low. “Don’t come near me.”

“Trenton—”

“I said don’t!”

His eyes,  gods, his eyes; were still glowing faintly, flickering like dying embers.

“I saw it,” I said softly. “I saw what happened.”

“I don’t know what happened,” he snapped, pushing himself to his feet. “I’ve shifted a hundred times. That... that wasn’t a shift. That was—”

“Something else,” I finished for him.

He looked away, hands shaking. “Something that felt wrong.”

“What is it, Trenton? Tell me. I want to help you. I want,.,” I was saying but he just  staggered back toward the trees, avoiding my gaze, and I didn’t follow him this time. I let him disappear into the woods, not because I wanted to, but because he needed space.

But as I stood there in that clearing, alone with the silence, I knew things were never going to be the same again.

Back at the cabin, the air felt heavier.

Darcy met me at the door. He took one look at my face and didn’t ask any questions. He just pulled me into a hug.

I didn’t know I needed it until I was in his arms, breathing in the scent of pine and firewood clinging to his skin. I melted into him, every muscle trembling from exhaustion.

He held me like he didn’t want to let go.

Later, when the house had gone quiet and the fire had burned low, we sat across from each other on the floor, the scroll between us like an invisible wall we couldn’t cross.

Darcy’s voice broke the silence. “I’ve never seen him like that.”

“I don’t think he’s ever seen himself like that,” I replied.

He nodded. “It scares him. And when he’s scared, he pushes people away.”

I looked at him, really looked at him, and something inside me cracked open.

“You don’t push people away, no matter what” I whispered.

Darcy gave me a soft, sad smile. “Sometimes I want to. But then you look at me like that, and I can’t.”

“Like what?”

“Like I matter,” he said.

“You do.”

He reached for my hand, his fingers brushing mine. “I don’t know what’s happening to us. To this bond. But if we lose you... I don’t think we’ll survive it.”

I leaned forward, resting my forehead against his. “You won’t lose me. Not if I can help it.”

And at that moment, everything slowed down. The fire crackled, our breaths mingled, and the weight of the world faded for a heartbeat.

Darcy kissed my hands  —soft and careful, like he was afraid I’d break. I smiled at him, because for all the chaos spinning around us, this felt real. 

But even that peace didn’t last, as a loud sound broke our gaze. 

It started with a whisper.

Not the ancestor kind, not the shrine type.

Something... deadly.

The scroll flared to life again, shaking on the floor between us.

We scrambled back as a shimmer of silver light burst from its center, twisting into a tall, slender figure cloaked in flowing garments of black and deep green. Their skin was smooth and pale, and their eyes glowed with the same violet light I’d seen in Trenton.

Darcy moved protectively in front of me, his teeth bared.

The figure held up one graceful hand. “I come to speak, not to  fight.”

“Who the hell are you?” Darcy growled.

The fae’s smile was razorthin. 

“I’m a  messenger. A witness. A warning.”

The scroll’s light flickered, revealing ancient symbols now burned into the floor beneath us.

“You seek answers,” the fae said. “But answers have a price.”

Darcy stayed tense beside me. “We’re not giving you anything.”

“Not yet,” the fae said coolly. “But soon, the bond will break if it is not balanced. Your bloodlines are unraveling. The prophecy was only the beginning.”

“What do you want?” I asked, holding Darcy’s arms tightly .

The fae’s gaze turned to me. “To show you the truth.”

And with a flick of their wrist, images spiraled into the air; visions of an ancient war, of wolves and fae locked in bloody battle. Of a child born from both. Hidden. Protected and  Feared.

Then the vision stopped.

The fae’s smile faded. “One of your triad is not what he believes himself to be. His blood holds secrets even his ancestors buried.”

The words rang in my ears. “Who could it be, Trenton...?”

The fae turned away, already fading.

 “The bond will only survive if you face what you fear. But beware—truth always comes with pain.”

And just like that, it  was gone with no trace. Not even a scent.

Darcy turned to me, his face pale. “Did they mean Trenton? He’s the oldest. The one who always took everything on his shoulders.”

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

But I did know. Deep down, I felt it.

The storm came hours later, not a real storm—an emotional one.

Trenton returned just before sunset, his clothes torn, his eyes wild. Oliver had arrived earlier that morning, and the four of us were finally together again.

But nothing felt whole, everything felt wrong.

We stood in the living room, the scroll on the table between us, and the tension so thick I could barely breathe.

“You should’ve told us,” Oliver said to Trenton, voice calm but tight. “If something was happening to you—”

“I didn’t know,” Trenton snapped. “And I still don’t know. How then do you expect me to tell you what I don’t know?”

Darcy stepped in. “The fae said one of us might be part of their bloodline.”

“And you all assume it’s me,” Trenton growled, pacing. “Because of what you saw. Because of how I—how I changed.”

“Because it makes sense!” Oliver snapped, surprising all of us. “You’ve always been different. Stronger. Faster. More... controlled. Until you’re not.”

Trenton’s expression twisted. “So what, you’re scared of me now?”

“No,” Darcy said quietly. “We’re scared for you.”

Trenton slammed his fist into the wall and the cracked.

“I don’t want your pity,” he muttered. “Or your trust. Not if it’s based on lies.”

“You are one of us,” I said firmly. “Whatever your blood is, it doesn’t change that.”

He looked at me then, something sharp and wounded in his eyes. “You think love can fix this?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But pushing us away won’t.”

That’s when he stepped back, not like a man retreating.

Like someone choosing distance on purpose.

And before anyone could stop him, he turned and walked out the door.

Darcy made a move to follow, but I caught his arm. “Let him go. For now.”

The house felt colder without him.

It felt Fractured, but what could we do?

That night, I  couldn’t sleep.

I sat on the porch alone, watching the stars blink into existence, wondering how the hell we were supposed to hold this bond together when everything around us was falling apart.

Then a chill ran through the air, it wasn’t the wind.

It was a Presence.

I turned sharply—and there they were.

The fae figure again, standing just beyond the tree line, cloaked in moonlight, one hand raised. 

This time, they didn’t speak.

They held up a stone—small, round, glowing with the same violet light.

And with deliberate precision, they dropped it onto the ground and vanished.

I stared at it, dread pooling in my stomach.

The glow pulsed once, then  twice.

Then it shattered open—

Releasing a swirling wisp of energy that slammed into the dirt, spreading outward like fire licking through shadow.

And burned into the ground with  words I couldn’t unsee:

‘The faeborn walks among you.’

A branch snapped in the woods behind me.

I turned sharply, my heart in my throat—

And then I saw Trenton, standing in the shadows, staring at the glowing words beneath my feet.

His hands were clenched.

His body tense.

And his eyes were glowing violet again.