THE FUTURE WITH YOU

CHAPTER 8: THE FUTURE WITH YOU

Elric was already in front of me before I finished catching my breath. He drew his sword so fast the air around it whistled. His whole body stayed low, ready to attack whatever knocked me off my feet. Elara shifted beside him, blade raised, her eyes darting through the trees.

My back still throbbed from the hit. The force felt like a giant hand had slapped me out of the world.

“Elric,” I whispered, still dizzy.

“Stay behind me,” he said. His tone carried no argument. His eyes never left the shadows ahead.

Elara moved to my other side. “If something comes out of that mist, I'm cutting first and asking questions next.”

Something moved, it was soft and slow, like someone brushing cloth against leaves.

Elric lifted his sword higher.

Then she stepped out.

A woman with silver-streaked hair and sharp eyes that missed nothing. She didn’t look dangerous, but the air around her felt heavy. Her dress was simple, her expression unimpressed, and she walked like the forest belonged to her.

The moment I saw her, my breath stuck in my throat.

She looked younger than I remembered, maybe in her forties. But I knew the truth that Aunt Nelly was sixty-seven.

She folded her arms and shook her head at me like she was scolding a child. “Why do you always have to prove stubborn,” she said. “In times of crisis, you still want to act like a hero. This girl will not hear word.”

My chest tightened. Her voice dragged out memories I thought I had buried.

“Aunt Nelly,” I breathed.

Elric froze. Elara’s mouth dropped. They both looked between me and the old woman like they’d just seen a ghost slap me back to life.

Elara blinked at me. “Wait. This is Aunt Nelly? The one you always talk about? The one who beat up a rogue with a kitchen pot?”

Aunt Nelly sniffed. “If the rogue had sense, he would not fight someone boiling water.”

Elara muttered, “Okay then.”

Elric relaxed only a little, but he didn’t lower his sword. “Mira… you know her?”

“Yes,” I said, stepping forward. “She raised me for half my life.”

Aunt Nelly gave me a long stare. “And half your life I spent dragging you out of trouble. Looks like nothing changed.”

Elara whispered under her breath, “She doesn’t sound like someone who drags. She sounds like someone who throws.”

Aunt Nelly turned to her with a sharp gaze. “I heard that.”

Elara stiffened. “Sorry ma.”

Aunt Nelly ignored her and walked straight to me. She touched the side of my face gently. “You look tired. And thinner. They stressed you too much, right?”

I swallowed hard. “Aunt Nelly… how did you find me?”

“Your blood… It called me,” she said simply. “And the forest shifts for those it wants to keep alive.”

Elric finally lowered his sword. “Why did you attack her then? You could have killed her.”

Aunt Nelly gave him a look so flat it dried up the whole air. “If I wanted her dead, you think she would stand up again?”

Elric didn’t respond.

“And you,” she added, turning to him. “Put that sword down before I use it to cut your pride.”

Elara coughed hard, trying to hide her laugh and Elric lowered the blade immediately.

Aunt Nelly sighed and looked at me again. “You should not be wandering this forest alone. Your path doesn’t lie here. Go with them. That’s where the future calls you.”

My heart tightened. “But I can’t go to Shadowfang. They don’t know me. I don’t…”

“You will go,” she said firmly. “And you will prepare for what is coming.”

“I can’t leave you,” I whispered.

Aunt Nelly stepped back, her expression softening for the first time. “I’m not the one fate wants. You are and if you stay by me, the enemies coming for you will find me too. I’m too old for another chase.”

I shook my head. “Aunt Nelly, please. At least tell me…”

“There is nothing to tell,” she said. “Go with them. The answers you want are there.”

I hated how helpless I sounded. “But what if something happens to you?”

Her smile was small but solid. “I have survived longer than most packs. Let them come.”

Elric stepped beside me. “We will keep her safe,” he said quietly. “I swear it.”

Aunt Nelly turned to him slowly. “You.”

Elric blinked. “Me?”

“Yes you.” She pointed at his chest like she was marking a target. “If this girl gets even one scratch while she’s with you, I will cut off your monster and serve it to you with salt.”

Elric stares down at his bulge and covers it up with his hands and steps back a little.

Elara choked. “She’s too mean.”

Aunt Nelly’s eyes flicked toward her. “You talk too much.”

Elara closed her mouth.

Elric swallowed hard. “Understood ma.”

Aunt Nelly exhaled and touched my cheek one last time. “Go, Mira. Don’t fight where fate wants you to walk.”

I didn’t want to cry but the tears floods anyway.

“I’ll come back for you,” I said.

She shook her head. “Just survive first.”

Before I could reach for her again, she stepped backward. Mist wrapped around her like fingers pulling her away. Her body blurred, then faded, then vanished as if she had never stood there at all.

Elara let out a slow breath. “Your aunt is scary.”

Elric nodded. “She’s… something.”

I swallowed the emptiness in my chest. “She’s the only family I have left.”

Elara touched my arm gently. “Then we keep her safe by keeping you safe.”

Elric gave me a small smile. “You’re not alone. Not anymore.”

Something warm pressed into my chest at his words.

He reached out and took my hand. “You’re safe with us. I promise.”

A breeze swept past. For the first time since exile, I let myself believe it.

_ASHBACK PACK — COUNCIL TOWER_

Kira sat on the edge of her bed, hands gripping her shawl so tight her knuckles turned white. She stared at the wall as if the truth might bleed through it.

The door opened quietly and Alpha Rael stepped in. His face was unreadable.

“Kira,” he said. “I have news.”

She looked up slowly. “What is it?”

“The Moonbrand bronze glowed last night.”

Her breath caught. “What?”

“It’s been twenty-four years since it last glowed,” Rael said. “And that glow was strong.”

Kira shook her head. “No. No this can’t be…”

“It can,” he cut in. “And it means one thing. A Moonbrand heir lives.”

Her voice trembled. “Are you saying… Mira… could still be…”

“I don’t know,” Rael said. “But if she is alive, we cannot let history repeat itself.”

Kira stood, her whole body shaking. “Rael, if she’s alive, she deserves…”

“What she deserves doesn’t matter,” he said sharply. “If the Moonbrand rises again, every pack on this side of the border will look to her. She can unseat everything we built. I won’t allow it.”

Kira stared at him with something almost like fear.

“Find her,” Rael said. “Before someone else does.”

_BACK TO THE FOREST_

The wind brushed through the trees as Elric tightened his grip on my hand.

“We need to move,” he said. “The rogues won’t stop.”

I nodded, even though my heart was still heavy. “Let’s go.”

We took the first step toward Shadowfang territory.

Then something rustled behind us. All three of us turned sharply.

Elric whispered, “Mira… what did you awaken?”