Chapter 4: Cracks in the Glass

Morning light crept through the high window and hit my face. I woke up slowly, body sore in ways that felt good and bad at the same time. Eli’s arm still lay heavy across my waist. His breathing stayed deep and even. For a minute I just watched him. The Alpha looked almost peaceful asleep. Almost human.

I slipped out from under his arm carefully. He stirred but didn’t wake. Good. I needed space to think. The bond made everything complicated. Last night proved that.

My eyes landed on the artifact sitting on the desk. It looked ordinary in daylight. Just an old stone with carvings. But it called to me. I crossed the room quietly and picked it up. Warm again. Like it remembered me.

“What are you really for?” I whispered.

I turned it over in my hands. My thumb brushed a small notch on the side. The thing hummed. A soft click sounded. Blue light suddenly poured out of it, filling the room with floating images. Memories. I froze.

Pictures played across the air. Shadowfang wolves attacking my old pack. Eli’s father leading the charge. Houses burning. My parents falling. I watched it all in silence. My hands started shaking.

The door to the main hall opened. Eli stepped in, pulling a shirt over his head. He saw the light and stopped cold.

“Jax. Put that down.”

I didn’t. The images kept playing. Final one showed Eli himself years younger, standing beside his father during the cleanup. Blood on his hands.

“You knew,” I said. Voice flat. “Your pack wiped us out.”

Eli closed the door fast behind him. “It’s not that simple.”

“Looks pretty simple to me.” I set the artifact down but kept my eyes on him. Tension filled the room thick enough to choke on. “All that talk last night about protecting what’s yours. Was that before or after you remembered killing my family?”

He stepped closer but stopped when I backed up. “I was a kid during the raid. Orders from above. We were told your pack had turned rogue and attacked humans. It was supposed to be justice.”

“Lies feel better when you say them out loud?”

Eli rubbed his face. “I didn’t know the full truth until later. Some things got covered up. I’ve been trying to fix what I can from inside.”

Eli crossed the room faster than I expected. Not attacking. Just close enough I felt his heat. “It’s not selling out. Some packs have gone bad. Hunters were a tool to take them down quiet. I feed them bad information to protect the good ones.”

“Like mine?” I pushed his chest. He didn’t move. “You expect me to believe that?”

“I expect you to listen.” His voice dropped. “The bond picked us for a reason. Maybe to fix this mess.”

I wanted to believe him. Part of me did. The rest remembered the images. “Prove it. Let me go.”

“Can’t do that.” Eli touched my arm. Gentle. “Hunters are circling the compound. Council’s involved too. If you walk out now they’ll grab you.”

We stood there arguing in low voices. Back and forth. He explained more about the old war between packs. I told him what it felt like growing up alone because of what they did. No yelling. Just raw, quiet tension that made the air heavy.

Eventually I sat on the bed. He sat beside me but left space between us.

We started planning then. Quiet words. Escape routes. Who he could trust inside the pack. I didn’t fully believe him yet, but I needed a way out. He needed answers too. For a moment we worked together like real partners.

Then footsteps sounded in the hall. Heavy. Multiple people.

Eli stood fast. “They’re coming for the artifact. And you.”

I grabbed it off the desk and tucked it under my arm. “Time to choose, Alpha. Help me leave or hand me over.”

He looked torn. The bond pulled between us like a live wire. Finally he opened a side door I hadn’t noticed. “This way. Old tunnel under the wall. Go now. I’ll buy time.”

I moved toward it. At the entrance I paused. “This doesn’t fix what your pack did.”

“I know,” Eli said. “But maybe we can still fix us.”

I slipped into the dark tunnel. Behind me I heard him open the main door and start talking loud to whoever came. Buying me minutes.

The tunnel smelled damp. I ran low, artifact heavy in my hands. Light appeared ahead. Freedom.

I pushed out into the woods and kept moving. Trees closed around me. For the first time since the bond snapped I felt almost clear.

Then a voice spoke from the shadows between trees.

“Hello, little brother.”

I stopped. The artifact glowed hot against my side. A man stepped out. Older. Face like mine but harder. Eyes I thought I’d buried years ago.

Then he smiled at me.

“Miss me?”