Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

Genesis

---

The moment the door closed behind him

I knew.

Something had shifted.

Not in the room.

Not in the air.

In the story.

And for the first time since stepping into Lucien Varkas’s territory

I was no longer the only one in control of it.

---

I didn’t go to the west wing.

I didn’t return to my quarters.

Instead, I walked.

Calm. Measured. Unhurried.

Every step placed with intention as I moved through the quieter corridors of the estate, my expression composed, my breathing steady.

But inside

Everything was calculating.

Replaying.

That word.

Marking.

My fingers curled slightly at my sides.

There was only one kind of marking that would make Kael hesitate like that.

Only one that would make Lucien’s tone shift

even if just for a second.

Old.

Recognizable.

Feared.

I exhaled slowly.

Carefully.

Because I already knew what it was.

And that meant

Someone else did too.

---

By the time I reached my quarters, the sun had dipped low enough to cast shadows across the walls, stretching long and thin like fingers creeping across the floor.

I closed the door behind me.

Locked it.

And for the first time

I let the mask slip.

Just slightly.

My jaw tightened.

My chest rose a fraction deeper than controlled breathing allowed.

“They’re here…”

The words left my lips in a whisper.

Unsteady.

Unacceptable.

I crossed the room quickly, stopping in front of the mirror.

Genesis Walker stared back at me.

Calm. Composed. Untouched.

A lie.

Because beneath the surface

The past had just reached out and touched me first.

That marking…

It wasn’t just from my pack.

It was from a division most believed had died with it.

A symbol carved only by those who survived long enough to become something else.

Something worse.

Hunters.

Avengers.

Ghosts.

My stomach tightened.

Because if that mark was real

Then I wasn’t the only one who had come back from the dead.

---

“No,” I whispered.

This wasn’t part of the plan.

There were no survivors.

There weren’t supposed to be.

I made sure of it.

Didn’t I?

Silence answered me.

Cold.

Unforgiving.

And in that silence

Doubt crept in.

Just enough.

Just sharp enough to cut.

---

I didn’t think.

I moved.

The decision was made before logic could interfere.

I grabbed my coat, slipping it on with practiced ease, my movements already shifting into something quieter.

Something older.

More instinct than thought.

If someone had left that mark

Then I needed to see it.

For myself.

---

The estate was different at night.

Still guarded.

Still controlled.

But looser.

More space between movements.

More shadows to disappear into.

I used them.

Every one.

Silent.

Unseen.

Untouched.

By the time I reached the outer perimeter, the air had cooled, carrying the faint scent of earth and trees—and something else.

Something faint.

Familiar.

My pulse shifted.

Just slightly.

Too familiar.

---

The southern border wasn’t far.

But it felt like stepping into another world entirely.

The moment I crossed into the tree line, the silence deepened.

No pack movement.

No patrols.

Nothing.

Too quiet.

I slowed.

My senses sharpened, every instinct pulling tight as I moved forward carefully, eyes scanning the ground, the trees, the shadows stretching between them.

Then

I saw it.

Carved deep into the bark of an old tree.

Jagged.

Precise.

Unmistakable.

My breath caught.

This time

I couldn’t stop it.

---

The symbol stared back at me.

A crescent split by three claw-like lines.

Not just a mark.

A message.

A warning.

A claim.

My fingers hovered just inches from it, but I didn’t touch.

I didn’t need to.

I already knew what it meant.

We survived.

My chest tightened.

We’re here.

My pulse spiked.

We found you.

No.

No, no, no

This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

I was supposed to be the only one.

The only ghost.

The only one who remembered.

---

A sound.

Soft.

Behind me.

I stilled instantly.

Every muscle locking into place.

Not fear.

Never fear.

Awareness.

I turned slowly.

Carefully.

But there was nothing.

Just shadows.

Trees.

Silence.

Too much silence.

My eyes narrowed slightly.

“Show yourself,” I said quietly.

No response.

But I felt it.

That shift.

That presence.

Not close.

Not far.

Watching.

Waiting.

A chill slid down my spine—not from fear.

From recognition.

Then

A voice.

Low.

Familiar.

Too familiar.

“You shouldn’t have come back.”

My breath hitched.

Just slightly.

My control slipping for the first time since I arrived.

“Neither should you,” I replied, my voice steady despite the storm rising inside me.

Silence.

Then

Movement.

A figure stepped just far enough into the dim light to be seen.

Not clearly.

Never clearly.

But enough.

Tall.

Still.

Watching me the way I had been watching everyone else.

Carefully.

Deliberately.

“You’re not done,” they said.

A statement.

Not a question.

My jaw tightened.

“No,” I said. “I’m not.”

A pause.

Then

“Good.”

The word lingered.

Heavy.

Meaningful.

Before I could speak again

They were gone.

Just like that.

No sound.

No trace.

Nothing.

---

My heart was beating too fast.

Too loud.

I forced it down.

Forced everything down.

This wasn’t a coincidence.

This wasn’t random.

This was Interference.

And interference meant risk.

---

“You disobeyed me.”

The voice came from behind me.

Sharp.

Cold.

Controlled.

Lucien.

I didn’t turn immediately.

Didn’t react.

Because reacting meant weakness.

And I refused to give him that.

Slowly, I turned.

He stood just beyond the tree line, his presence cutting through the darkness like something carved from it.

His gaze locked onto mine instantly.

Unrelenting.

Dangerous.

“How long have you been there?” I asked.

“Long enough.”

A pause. Then.

“To know you weren’t alone.”

My pulse stilled.

Just for a second.

Too still.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

He noticed.

Of course he did.

---

He stepped closer.

One step.

Then another.

Closing the distance between us with quiet, deliberate control.

“You left the estate without permission,” he said.

“Is that a crime?”

“In my territory?”

A beat.

“Yes.”

I held his gaze.

Unmoving.

Unapologetic.

“And yet, here I am.”

His jaw tightened.

Just slightly.

“You’re testing me.”

“And you’re watching me.”

A pause.

Sharp.

Then

His gaze shifted.

To the marking.

And something in him stilled.

Completely.

“What do you know about this?” he asked.

Direct.

No deflection this time.

No softness.

Just truth.

I followed his gaze briefly before looking back at him.

“Enough to know it’s not random.”

Silence.

Heavy.

His eyes snapped back to mine.

Too sharp.

Too focused.

“You recognized it.”

Not a question.

A realization.

Dangerous.

I didn’t answer.

Didn’t confirm.

Didn’t deny.

And that

That was answer enough.

---

He stepped closer.

Too close.

That same pull igniting between us again, stronger now, tangled with something darker.

Suspicion.

“You’re not who you say you are,” he said quietly.

The words settled between us like something inevitable.

Final.

My heart didn’t race.

Didn’t panic.

Didn’t break.

Because I had prepared for this moment.

Planned for it.

Lived for it.

I met his gaze.

Steady.

Unflinching.

“Then who do you think I am?”

A dangerous question.

One that could end everything

Or start something worse.

Lucien’s eyes held mine.

Searching.

Digging.

Getting too close.

“I don’t know yet,” he said.

A pause.

Then, softer

“But I will.”

---

The air between us tightened.

Stretched.

Ready to snap.

And for the first time

I wondered if I had come back for revenge…

Or walked straight into something far more dangerous.

---

Because Lucien Varkas was no longer just watching me.

He was hunting.

And the worst part

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run.