Chapter 6

The forest was alive with movement—branches whipping, the earth shuddering under our feet as we ran. Every heartbeat slammed like thunder in my ears, loud enough I couldn’t tell if it was mine or the pulse of something chasing us. The air stank of smoke and damp fur; the night itself seemed to breathe. Auren moved ahead of me, a shadow carved from the dark, and I followed the rhythm of his steps because thinking meant remembering and remembering meant slowing down—and slowing down meant dying.

Something howled behind us, too close. The sound tore through the trees, sharp enough to make my chest ache. I felt the call echo in the part of me I didn’t want to understand—the part that wasn’t human at all. My blood answered, a low, rising hum under my skin. I tried to suppress it, but it burned hotter the harder I fought.

“Left!” Auren’s voice cut through the chaos. I stumbled into a turn, skidding through wet leaves. The forest opened to a steep ridge, roots jutting like claws from the soil. Below, a faint shimmer of city lights glowed through mist—a reminder that the human world was still out there, oblivious, breathing peacefully while monsters tore at each other in the dark.

“We can’t outrun them forever,” I gasped. My throat burned; each inhale scraped raw.

Auren glanced back. His eyes caught the faintest light—amber, not gold, not kind. “We don’t need forever. Just long enough.”

He leapt down the ridge first. I followed, boots slipping on mud, heart clawing at my ribs. The fall was rough—branches cracked against my shoulders—but I landed upright, adrenaline carrying me. Auren reached for my wrist, his grip steady, grounding. For half a breath, the world steadied with it.

Then the ground trembled.

A vibration rolled through the earth, deep as a growl. My body went still before my mind caught up. “They’re shifting,” Auren muttered. His gaze swept the shadows above. “Kael’s sent his best.”

The name sliced through me. Kael. Even thinking it hurt—like pressing on a bruise that hadn’t healed. I could still feel the tether between us, faint but alive, a string of heat winding through my chest. I didn’t know if he could feel me too, but I hoped not. The last thing I wanted was for him to sense how afraid I was.

The ground shook again, this time closer. Bark split from a tree above us, raining fragments like ash. Auren grabbed my arm. “Move!”

We broke into a sprint again, weaving through the undergrowth. My lungs screamed for air. The power in me surged without warning—a pulse of white-hot energy that flickered out of my control. Trees groaned. The air bent around us. I heard the distant snarl of something big falter mid-run.

“Aria—control it!”

“I can’t!” I could barely breathe. The world spun in flashes—light, shadow, blood. Power clawed at my insides, demanding release. It wasn’t just magic; it was instinct, wild and ancient, something born of pain and lineage.

Auren turned, gripping my shoulders. “You have to anchor it. Me—focus on me.”

His hands were warm against the chill. His voice threaded through the noise, low and sure. I tried to find his eyes but the forest blurred. The light inside me pushed harder, building, desperate. My knees hit the dirt. I felt it erupt—the air cracking open around us. Leaves lifted, frozen midair. My heart stopped, then started again with a roar.

Then, silence.

When I opened my eyes, the forest had gone still. My power pulsed quietly, tamed for now, but it felt different—like something inside me had awakened fully and was listening. Auren crouched beside me, his breath ragged, hair damp with sweat. “That was stronger than before,” he said quietly.

I nodded, trembling. “It’s growing.”

“It’s not just you.” He looked toward the east, where a flicker of red burned through the trees. “It’s drawing them. Power like that doesn’t go unnoticed.”

The wind shifted. The scent of smoke thickened. I knew before he spoke—Kael’s wolves were closer. My chest tightened, the faint bond between us sparking alive again, stronger now, like a call echoing across distance.

“He’s coming,” I whispered.

Auren didn’t ask who. He just reached for his blade, the steel catching a ghost of moonlight. “Then we keep moving.”

We ran again, downhill this time, the terrain shifting from forest to rock. The scent of rain was sharp in the air, masking blood for a while, but not enough. Every rustle felt like a threat. Every heartbeat behind us felt like the pack closing in. My body ached, but I pushed harder, matching Auren’s stride.

When we reached a river, swollen from storm runoff, Auren stopped. “We cross. The water will cover our scent.”

I hesitated. The current was fast, violent. “We’ll get swept.”

“Better that than torn apart.” He waded in first. I followed, the shock of cold biting through exhaustion. The water came up to my waist, pulling hard, dragging at my legs. Halfway across, the current caught me, spinning me sideways. My hand shot out instinctively. Auren caught it, pulled me close, his grip solid even as the current fought to take us both.

For a moment, our faces were inches apart. His breath mingled with mine, ragged and human and alive. There was no time to speak, but something unspoken passed between us—fear, defiance, maybe even trust. Then we pushed forward, emerging on the far bank, soaked and shivering.

I collapsed against a tree, chest heaving. “They won’t stop,” I said.

“No,” he agreed. “But neither will we.”

He crouched beside me, scanning the trees. His jaw was tight. I could feel his pulse through the air, steady but strained. I wanted to ask who he’d been before this—what kind of man knew so much about running and fighting and hiding—but the words caught. There wasn’t room for softness here. Only survival.

The wind shifted again. I caught a scent—metallic, sharp. My blood ran cold. “They’re here.”

Auren’s hand went to his blade, but before he could move, something heavy crashed through the brush. Shadows poured from the trees—shapes too fast, too big. Wolves, at least five of them, their eyes glinting silver. The lead one stopped short, head low, teeth bared.

Auren stepped in front of me, blade raised. “Stay behind me.”

I wanted to argue, to say I wasn’t helpless anymore, but my body remembered the last surge of power and how close it had come to consuming me. I steadied my breath, waiting for the right moment.

The wolves advanced, silent but coordinated. Auren met the first one head-on, his blade catching moonlight as it cut through the dark. The fight was brutal and fast—snarls, steel, blood. I couldn’t see everything, only flashes of motion. One wolf lunged past him, aiming for me. Instinct took over. I raised my hand and the world split.

A burst of light flared from my palm, pure and cold. The wolf froze mid-leap, suspended for a heartbeat before it was thrown backward into the trees. The others hesitated, growling low. Auren turned, eyes wide—not in fear, but awe.

“Aria,” he said softly, like a warning and a prayer.

But there was no time. More shapes were closing in. I could feel them—the pull of Kael’s energy, heavier now, closer. The bond between us thrummed in my veins, screaming at me to stop running. To turn and face him. To surrender.

I clenched my fists. “No,” I whispered.

The power inside me flared again, responding not to fear this time, but to defiance. The forest lit with faint threads of silver energy winding through the air. The wolves snarled, uncertain. Auren moved beside me, ready for whatever came next.

Then, everything shifted.

The sound hit first—a low, rising hum that grew into a roar. The ground quaked underfoot. Auren grabbed my arm, pulling me back just as a beam of light tore through the treeline. Trees exploded into splinters. The wolves scattered. The blast hit the river behind us, sending up a wall of steam.

Auren shoved me to the ground, shielding me as debris rained. The noise was deafening. When it finally stopped, all I could hear was the ringing in my ears and the frantic beat of my heart.

Smoke curled around us. The forest had turned into a wasteland of broken trunks and scorched earth. Auren rose slowly, scanning the distance. His expression changed—hardening into something I’d never seen before.

“Aria,” he said quietly, his voice almost lost in the wind. “That wasn’t them.”

I followed his gaze. Through the haze of smoke, a shape emerged—massive, mechanical, gleaming under flickering floodlights. Not wolves. Not Kael’s men.

Something human.

Someone had found us.

And before I could speak, the world erupted again—this time in a rain of light and sound that swallowed everything.