ログインNalini Leaving the council’s territory did not feel like freedom.It felt like the quiet before a storm decides where to strike.The forest thickened as Alpha Thane led me deeper into his lands, ancient trees closing around us like sentinels that had seen empires rise and rot. The air smelled different here—pine, damp earth, iron-rich stone. Power lived in this place, not loud or oppressive, but old and watchful.My father walked ahead of me in his wolfskin cloak, broad shoulders rigid, as if holding back words that had waited years to be spoken. The guards flanked us at a respectful distance. Not jailers. Not escorts. Witnesses.I wrapped my arms around myself, not from cold, but from the ache settling deep in my chest.The bonds were… restless.Myron’s presence flickered at the edge of my mind—angry, pacing, like a caged flame. Timothy felt farther away, but steady, his emotions carefully leashed, though I could sense the strain in him. Kael—Kael was different.There was no clear
Nalini The world does not end when a prophecy is revealed.That was the first lie I had believed.Instead, it keeps breathing. It keeps arguing. It keeps sharpening its knives.The council chamber was louder than I’d ever heard it—voices crashing into one another, elders standing, others pacing, some outright shouting as if volume could undo what the Moon Goddess herself had spoken. I sat very still between Myron and Timothy, my body aching in places I didn’t yet understand, my wolf curled tight inside me like she was bracing for impact.Kael stood a few steps away, unmoving. He didn’t argue. He didn’t bow. He didn’t look impressed or afraid. He watched the room like a man who had already survived worse than this.I envied him.“This is unprecedented,” one councilor snapped, slamming his palm against the stone table. “A tri-bond violates every ancestral statute—”“Your statutes,” another elder cut in bitterly, “were written after the last great fracture. Perhaps this is how it heals.
Nalini The silence after my words was not empty. It was listening.I felt it first through my feet—an answering pulse beneath the stone circle, like a heartbeat waking from a long sleep. The sigils carved into the ground brightened, lines of silver-blue light crawling outward, ignoring the council’s careful boundaries. Someone shouted. Someone else swore under their breath. The elder who had spoken to me took an unconscious step back.Good.For once, they were reacting to me.“You overstep,” another councilor snapped, his voice sharp with panic poorly disguised as authority. “This is sacred ground.”“So am I,” I replied, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. “Or didn’t the Goddess make that clear enough?”Myron moved closer, not touching me, but near enough that the heat of him steadied my racing pulse. Timothy mirrored him on my other side, jaw tight, eyes burning. And then there was the third pull—subtle but insistent—threading through my spine like a hum just below hearing.Th
Nalini The bow of the old guard didn’t feel like victory.It felt like a line being drawn.The forest was still bent around us, branches lowered as though the land itself had chosen a side. I could feel it—roots humming beneath my feet, ancient and awake. Not answering me exactly, but listening. Watching. Measuring.Power like that doesn’t bow easily. And it never bows without demanding payment later.“Enough,” I said finally, my voice carrying farther than it should have. The echo startled even me. “Leave. Before the land decides you no longer belong here.”The guard in the broken crescent hesitated. For a heartbeat, I thought he might challenge me. Instead, he pressed his fist to his chest in a formal salute—older than the council, older than packs—and rose.“As the vessel commands,” he said.That word again.They retreated into the trees, armor dissolving into shadow until the forest swallowed them whole. The moment they were gone, the pressure snapped loose all at once.I sagged.
Nalini The answer came faster than I was ready for.The first arrow shattered against the warded window, exploding into blue sparks that screamed like torn metal. The sound punched straight through my chest, yanking my wolf fully to the surface. Power rippled out of me without permission—raw, instinctive, protective—and the stone beneath our feet groaned as if it recognized me.“They’re not here to arrest,” Kael said grimly, already moving. “Those tips are spell-forged.”“To kill,” Myron finished, his voice darkening as his canines lengthened.Timothy didn’t speak. He reached for me instead, his fingers brushing my wrist, grounding me just as the third bond flared hot and sharp, threading something ancient through my veins.Eryx turned toward the door, calm in the middle of chaos. “They will not stop,” he said. “The council believes fear will restore order.”“Fear never restores anything,” I said, surprising myself with how steady my voice sounded. “It only breaks it further.”The do
Nalini The night did not stay quiet after that.Silence, I was learning, was a lie the world told before it struck.I couldn’t sleep. The outpost breathed around us—stone ticking softly as wards adjusted, the forest whispering beyond the walls like it was eavesdropping. Myron and Timothy argued in low voices somewhere outside the room Kael had given me, their tones sharp with fear they were trying not to aim at each other. I lay on my side, staring at the faint glow seeping through my skin, the mark warm and restless, as if it were listening to a rhythm I couldn’t hear.The third presence stirred again.Not violently this time. Not like the visions before.This was… deliberate.You are awake, a voice said—not aloud, not in my head, but inside the bond itself.I sucked in a breath and sat up so fast the blanket slid to the floor. My heart hammered painfully, my wolf rising instantly, hackles up.“Who are you?” I whispered.The air shimmered.The wardstones flared blue.And then the im







