The steps outside were heavy. The steps sounded like boots not like the paws they had heard earlier.Kael’s head snapped toward the shattered window. He moved without a sound, one second beside me, the next swallowed by shadow behind a broken pillar. His eyes burned faint and gold from the dark, a warning that I understood to mean, not to give away his location.I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, tasting iron. The floor was a mess, blood pooled under the dead rogues, slicking the warped boards. Shards of glass glittered like frost. My shoulder throbbed where teeth had found their mark. My wolf paced impatiently back and forth, she was furious that there was distance between her us and Kael.The chapel door scraped across the floorboards.A lantern’s glow cut a slice across the shadowed aisle.“Thornridge business,” a voice called, smooth and thin. “If anyone’s inside, step out where I can see you.”It was Bran.Of course.He came in first, lifting the lantern, the shadows shif
The forest wasn’t silent anymore.The chapel walls vibrated with it: snarls carried on the wind, claws raking bark, the heavy thud of paws in snow. Terror hit me hard, it wasn’t just another one or two, there was a pack of rogues coming.Kael’s head turned toward the sound, golden eyes blazing. His wolf was right under his skin, ready to tear anything apart that got close. His voice was low and sharp. “We have to move. Now.”My pulse slammed against my ribs. “But they sound like thyre coming from every direction, we have to go through them?”“Unless you want to wait here and die, we need to go slow and careful.” he growled.I swallowed hard, glancing at the broken windows, at the shattered door. Shadows moved beyond them, feral shapes, restless, circling. Their growls bled through the dark like knives scraping stone.Kael’s gaze cut back to me. “Stay close.”
The crack of the branch echoed too loud.Kael’s body shifted instantly, every line of him snapping tight, golden eyes glowing in the dark. His wolf pressed close to the surface, claws begging to break skin.I froze in the chapel aisle, my pulse pounding so hard I thought it would shake the walls. My wolf surged too, ears pricked, tail low, caught between fight and flight.My throat went dry. My father? Kade? Bran? If anyone from Thornridge had followed me here…if they saw me with him….I was done for.Another sound slid through the trees. It did not sound like a normal foot step, it wasn’t from a human. A rasping, guttural growl that curled like smoke through the clearing reached their ears.Kael’s jaw tightened. “Its not the pack,” he muttered. “Rogues.”A rogue.The word licked fire down my spine.Rogues weren’t just wolves without packs. They were broken animals. Wolves who had lost their sanity, their bonds, their reason. Wolves who killed because hunger was the only command left i
The hunters’ chapel had sat empty for at least a century.Its roof sagged where the beams had cracked, letting in moonlight through broken gaps. The door leaned on rusted hinges, heavy enough to creak when the wind pushed it. Inside, the floorboards bowed, carved with initials and warnings from wolves and humans long gone. The air smelled like dust, ash, and the faint whispers of old prayers that no one answered anymore.It was the perfect place for secret meetings.I stepped into the clearing with my heart beating too fast. My wolf pressed at my ribs, both restless and afraid. My boots crunched over old snow, the sounds thunderous in the still of the night. My sleeve was tugged low over my palm, but the mark burned anyway, a steady pulse against my skin.He was already there, I could feel his presence.Kael stood at the far end of the chapel, a shadow carved from the dark. His golden eyes found me instantly, sharp and glowing. His coat hung open, revealing the broad strength of his c
Night came fast. I tried to sit by the fire with Mari, but I couldn’t sit still. The bond tugged like someone on the other end of a line was testing the knot. I went to my room early and shut the door.I sat on the edge of the bed, then stood again, then paced. The floorboards knew my steps too well. After a while I pressed my forehead to the window. The ridge was a black line under a thin moon. The chapel wasn’t visible from here, but my body leaned toward it as if it glowed like a beacon.A soft tap came twice at my door, pulling from my thoguhts. I opened it to Mari and Kade.Kade didn’t step in. He leaned on the frame and looked at me like he was memorizing my face. “Tomorrow,” he said, “you stay close to me.”I nodded.“We go to the bend. Then we turn back. No detours and no games.” His mouth thinned. “If you feel… anything… you say it. You don’t play brave and you don’t go see him.”“Okay.”He waited like he was hoping I’d argue
I woke with my heart already racing.The bond had chased me through the night, Kael’s eyes, the pull in my chest, the mark heating like a brand each time I whispered two nights. When dawn finally touched the ridge, I hadn’t rested. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, arm over my eyes, breathing like I’d run up the mountain.I checked my palm. The mark had cooled, but it still glowed faintly if the light hit it right. I pulled my sleeve down and flexed my fingers. The skin there felt too thin, like a secret pressed against glass.The packhouse swelled with morning noise, doors, boots, low voices, the clink of dishes. I left my room and slipped into the hallway. Wolves were everywhere, moving with purpose. Thornridge mornings were always busy with, patrol rotations, kitchen duty, and training schedules. The air smelled like smoke, stew, wet wool, and a hint of antiseptic from the infirmary. It was familiar, safe. It felt like home.Yet, none of it calmed the storm inside me.“Rhe