Chapter 8

The light in the cell shifted as the door beyond the glass hissed open. Kael stepped through the mist like a shadow given flesh. He looked exactly as I remembered—tall, composed, the same eyes that once held the pack together—but colder now. Everything human in him had been burned away and reforged into control.

My palms pressed against the glass. It thrummed faintly, like it recognized my power and dared me to try. The air itself hummed with energy, symbols pulsing along the edges of the walls. Whatever this prison was, it wasn’t human-made alone. The sigils etched in the glass shimmered with ancient magic.

Kael smiled when he saw me. Not kindly. Like a scientist might smile at the creature that finally behaved. 'Alive,' he said. 'Good.'

I wanted to speak, to demand answers, but my throat was dry. The last thing I remembered was the blast, the sky turning white, Auren’s voice fading in the chaos. Now there was only silence and this cage. 'You’re supposed to be dead,' I whispered.

Kael’s expression didn’t change. 'And yet here you are, defying death too. Perhaps we’re not so different after all.'

I stepped back, the pulse of my power stirring beneath my skin. The markings on the glass glowed faintly in answer. 'What is this place?'

'A sanctuary,' he said, his tone smooth, detached. 'For those who can’t control what they are. For those who need… direction.'

Direction. The word burned. I slammed my fist against the glass; it rang like a bell. Power surged, but the symbols absorbed it, rippling in mocking light. He had trapped me inside my own element.

'You’ve been hiding among humans,' he continued, circling the perimeter of the cell. 'Pretending you could belong there. But they’ve always known, Aria. You saw it yourself. The moment your blood called to the sky, they marked you as an anomaly to erase.'

I met his gaze. 'You did this. You told them what I am.'

A thin smile. 'I told them what they needed to know. Enough to draw you out. You were always destined to reveal yourself.'

Anger rose, sharp and clean. 'You betrayed the pack. You betrayed me.'

Kael stopped moving. For a moment, I saw the ghost of the wolf I once knew—the alpha who had stood between me and the council’s wrath. Then it vanished. 'The pack betrayed itself when it forgot its purpose. You, more than anyone, were a risk to everything we built.'

His words cut deeper than any weapon. I remembered the night of fire, his hand dragging me toward safety—then the explosion, the screams. I’d believed he was gone. That he’d died for us. But he had been planning this all along.

'Why me?' I asked, the words shaking. 'Why not kill me that night?'

He tilted his head. 'Because you are the key. The Lost Bloodline is not a myth, Aria. It’s an equation, and you are the missing variable. Your power isn’t evolution—it’s correction. A return to what we were meant to be before the divide.'

I didn’t understand, not fully—but part of me felt it. The ancient pull in my veins, the voice that had whispered in my dreams since I first shifted.

Kael pressed a hand to the glass. The sigils flared brighter, reacting to him. 'The humans are preparing for another strike. They think they can erase us. But with you, I can make them kneel instead.'

My heartbeat thudded in my ears. 'I’ll never stand with you.'

He smiled. 'You don’t have to stand. You just have to survive long enough to understand.'

The lights flickered. Alarms blared through the facility, low and pulsing. Kael turned sharply, his eyes narrowing. 'He’s here,' he muttered.

My breath caught. 'Auren.'

Kael gave a thin smile. 'Persistent, isn’t he? I suppose even ghosts know how to haunt.' He tapped the glass once, the sigils flaring to life again. 'Stay here, Aria. This won’t take long.'

He vanished through the door, the lights dimming behind him. I pressed both hands to the glass, forcing calm into my breathing. My reflection looked strange—eyes glowing faintly, power humming beneath the surface of my skin. I felt the walls around me breathe with energy. Ancient magic. It wasn’t perfect. Nothing built on fear ever was.

I closed my eyes and listened—to the hum of the facility, the heartbeat of machinery, and the faint vibrations through the floor. My senses stretched outward. Every pulse of energy was a thread, and I could feel where they connected. A system designed to contain, not destroy.

I whispered to it, the way my mother once whispered to the moon when she thought no one could hear. The symbols flickered, hesitated.

A crack spidered through the glass.

The alarms rose to a deafening pitch. Somewhere distant, a roar—Auren’s. Gunfire followed, metal tearing, men shouting. My pulse synced to the chaos outside. Another crack split across the wall. Power poured from me, raw and instinctive, bending the air until it screamed.

Then the lights exploded.

When the smoke cleared, the cell stood open. My knees hit the floor, every nerve burning. The corridor beyond shimmered with haze, red lights painting the walls. Bodies lay scattered—soldiers and wolves alike. Auren’s scent was close.

I stumbled forward, dragging in a ragged breath, my power pulsing like wildfire. Somewhere ahead, Kael’s voice echoed through the corridors. 'You can’t save her, Auren. She was never yours to save.'

And then I saw them. Auren, bleeding but standing firm, facing Kael across the wreckage. The air between them rippled with energy, predator against predator.

I took a step forward—but the floor beneath me glowed, lines of light forming a circle around my feet. My body locked.

Kael’s gaze snapped toward me. 'You were never meant to escape,' he said.

The circle flared blinding white.