Chapter Five :THE HUNT BEGINS

Elara's POV

"You’re not making sense."

I stare at Professor Thorne like he’s just told me the moon is made of silver and howling blood.

“You were never supposed to survive the Awakening,”

 he says again, like repeating it will help me understand what the hell he’s talking about.

“That’s not a thing. That’s not even a sentence that means anything.”

“It means someone protected you, someone powerful. And now that protection is wearing thin.”

I blink. “Okay, well, I’m not powerful. I’m just trying to pass algebra and not spiral into a panic attack before lunch.”

Thorne doesn’t laugh. He just looks at me like he’s seeing a ghost.

“You think you’re human,” he says softly. “You’ve convinced yourself. But your blood remembers.”

“That’s creepy. Stop being creepy.”

He almost smiles. “It’s going to get worse before it makes sense.”

“Oh, great. My favorite kind of disaster.”

Something shifts behind his eyes. “You’ve seen him, haven’t you? Kael Draven.”

I don’t answer. I don’t have to.

“Of course you have,” he murmurs. “Your bond pulled you to him.”

“No. Nope. Stop. We’re not doing the mate-bond wolf-destiny soulmate thing. I didn’t sign up for—”

“Elara.” His tone sharpens, cutting through my protest. “He’s not your danger. He’s your shield.”

That shuts me up.

Then the door creaks open. My breath catches.

Kael.

He steps inside like he owns the shadows. His hoodie’s streaked with dirt. His hand is bleeding. His eyes—storm-gray, —lock on mine like a magnet.

“Elara,” he says, low and rough, “we need to move. Now.”

“Why?”

“They found you.”

“Who?”

Kael doesn’t answer. He just looks at Thorne. “Did you tell her everything?”

“No,” Thorne says. “Just enough to scare her.”

Kael nods once like that’s good enough. Then he steps toward me.

“Elara,” he says, softer now, “I’m sorry. But if we stay here, you’re going to die.”

I don’t move.

Kael’s standing close now, eyes wild but focused, voice low and clipped. 

“We don’t have time to explain everything.

 You either trust me or you don’t.”

“I don’t even know you.”

“You do,” he says, like it’s a fact I’ve just forgotten. “You just don’t remember yet.”

“Oh, that’s not creepy at all.”

Professor Thorne steps between us. “She needs more than riddles, Kael. She’s not ready.”

Kael glances at him, jaw tight. “She doesn’t have a choice.”

My hands are cold. My brain is on fire. None of this is making sense, and yet… something in me is humming. Like a key turning in a lock I didn’t know was there.

“I’m not going anywhere until someone tells me why they’re after me.”

Kael’s gaze flickers. “Because you’re not what they thought you were. And now, you’re dangerous.”

“I’ve never hurt anyone in my life.” I was intense 

“That doesn’t matter. It’s not about what you’ve done, Elara. It’s about what you could do.”

I stare at him. “What does that mean?”

Before he can answer, the lights above us flicker. The glass panels of the greenhouse groan, like the wind outside just shifted wrong.

Thorne goes rigid. “They’re close.”

“What is happening?” I shout, heart hammering.

Kael grabs my arm. “We need to move. Now.”

He pulls me toward the exit, and I don’t resist. Not because I trust him—but because something deep in my chest is screaming that if I stay, I won’t survive. 

We cut through the garden, boots crunching on gravel. The air tastes like static. Kael’s bleeding from his knuckles, but he doesn’t slow down. Thorne trails behind, muttering something under his breath—maybe a ward, maybe a prayer.

“Where are we going?” I ask, breathless.

“To the edge of the forest,” Kael says. “There’s a tunnel beneath the border. We’ll be safe there.”

“Safe from what?”

He doesn’t answer.

Typical.

We reach the treeline. The wind dies all at once, and everything goes too still.

Then I hear it.

A howl.

Not just one.

Three.

Low and echoing. Too close.

I turn to Thorne. “What do they want from me?”

His eyes flick to Kael, who shakes his head.

They’re not telling me something. I can feel it.

“Stop,” I say, planting my feet. “I’m not going another step until someone gives me a real answer.”

Kael exhales sharply like he’s been holding it in forever. “You were hidden in the human world because of a prophecy, Elara. A girl born of two bloodlines—one royal, one cursed. You’re not just rare. You’re impossible.”

“That’s not real.”

“That's why they’re hunting you. It’s why you survived something no one else has.”

The forest shudders again. Branches crack.

Thorne shouts, “We need to go—now!”

But I’m still frozen.

“Who cursed me?” I ask.

Kael looks at me like he’s deciding whether or not to break something sacred.

“You were marked by your mother’s bloodline,” he says quietly. “She was one of them.”

“One of what?”

He doesn’t speak.

Another howl. Closer.

This one makes my vision blur.

I stumble.

Kael grabs me. “They can’t touch you if you shift. You have to try.”

“I don’t know how!”

“You will.”

I look at him, and for one terrifying second, I want to believe him.

But before I can ask another question—before I can even breathe—a voice cuts through the trees.

A woman’s voice. Cold. Familiar in a way that makes my stomach twist.

“Elara,” it says. “You left something behind.”

I turn.

The trees part.

And there she is.

A woman with hair like mine. Eyes like mine.

I whisper, “No.”

Kael’s grip tightens.

“Elara,” he says low in my ear, “you need to run. That’s not a ghost.”

My throat closes.

It’s not a ghost.

It’s my mother.

But she’s not supposed to be alive.

She died when I was six.

At least… that’s what I was told.

And then, she smiles at me.

“Elara, sweetheart,” she says, voice as soft as a blade. “Did your little friends forget to mention... I was the one who cursed you?”