Chapter #2 - Wolves and Whispers

The courtyard was quiet now, except for the low growl still thrumming in the air. I could feel it in my chest, deep in my bones, as if the world itself had shifted. Thane’s hands were still on my arms, steadying me, but the intensity in his gaze hadn’t faded. It was more than caution. More than relief. It was… hunger. Need. A primal edge that made my stomach twist.

I didn’t have time to think about it.

The wolves were impossibly fast, impossibly large and hadn't attacked, but they hadn’t gone either. They circled the edges of the courtyard like predators testing a new prey. And I had no idea what I’d done to make them pause.

“Alenya,” Thane said quietly, his voice almost a growl now. “You need to understand something.”

I swallowed hard, trying to force my voice steady. “I’m not, this isn’t, what is this?”

He exhaled sharply. His golden eyes, flecked with black, didn’t leave mine. “This is Vaelora. And you’re in it now. Not by choice.”

I blinked. Vaelora. The name rolled off his tongue like it was familiar, like the air itself knew it. But I had never heard of it before. Was this some… secret society? A new magic school? My head was spinning.

“Wha—wait, Vaelora? I don’t understand. You’re, what?” I trailed off as he took a half-step back, still holding my arms loosely but giving me space, and the wolves shifted as if they sensed the change in his posture.

“Magic doesn’t work on you, does it?” he said. His voice was calm, but the undercurrent of awe and fear, was unmistakable.

I shook my head. “No. What are you talking about?”

Thane’s lips pressed into a thin line. Then he stepped closer to the nearest wolf, and it sank down, submissive but alert. He gestured for me to follow. “Then you need to see. Everything.”

I hesitated. My gut screamed at me to run, screamed that whatever this was, it wasn’t safe. But a strange pulse in the air and the same pulse I’d felt the moment I touched him, kept me rooted. My feet moved before my brain could protest.

We walked through a massive iron gate at the edge of the courtyard. Beyond it lay a sprawling estate, more fortress than home. Towers twisted into the sky, carved with glowing runes I couldn’t read. Wolves padded along the walls, larger than any dog I’d ever seen, and magic hung in the air like static. My skin prickled.

“This…” I whispered. “This isn’t real.”

“It is,” Thane said simply. “And now it’s your life. Whether you want it or not.”

I had a sudden, sharp urge to laugh, but it stuck in my throat. My life? My ordinary, blend into the background life? This was insane. I’d delivered a stupid forgotten phone, and now I was here and somewhere impossible, with a demi-god, surrounded by supernatural wolves, and I had magic I didn’t understand.

Thane led me to the great hall. Inside, the air was thick with warmth and scent of woodsmoke, leather, and something sharp, like iron. Figures moved in the shadows, tall, powerful, and not quite human. I counted at least three more wolves, plus a woman who radiated authority, her eyes sharp and unyielding. They were watching us. Watching me.

I felt exposed. Naked, even though I was fully clothed. My stomach twisted.

“You are…” Thane began, and then paused, his voice low. “They’ll want to meet you. Carefully.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Meet me? Like… for tea?”

“No.” His jaw tightened. “They’ll test you. They’ll try to understand you. And some… they won’t like what they find.”

I shivered. Not from cold. From fear. And something else I couldn’t name.

The first figure stepped forward it was a woman with hair like silver fire and eyes like knives. She stopped in front of me and studied me like I was a puzzle she couldn’t solve. “You are the Null Blood,” she said, her voice crisp and dangerous.

I flinched. The words made my throat dry. “I… I don’t know what that is.”

Her lips curved in something that was almost a smile. “Oh, you do. You just don’t know yet.”

“Wait—” I tried, but Thane placed a hand on my back, stopping me. “Alenya,” he said. “Let it be. Don’t argue.”

I swallowed. Everything about him demanded obedience. Not the kind that scared me, but the kind that made my blood thrum in ways I didn’t understand.

The silver-haired woman’s gaze lingered on me, sharp and piercing, before she gestured to a side room. “We’ll see soon enough. Come.”

I followed, my heels clicking against the stone floor. The hall seemed endless. Wolves padded alongside us, silent shadows, and the air vibrated with power. I felt it tug at me, pull at something inside, and I realized I had no idea how to stop it, or even what it was.

Finally, we reached a chamber lined with runes, glowing softly like stars trapped in stone. At the center, a circle had been etched into the floor. A faint hum resonated through the room.

Thane turned to me, his expression unreadable. “Step inside.”

“Uh… what?” I asked, voice trembling.

“You have to. To show them. To survive. To… survive me,” he added under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear.

I wanted to argue. I wanted to run. I wanted to throw up. But something told me it wouldn’t matter. That instinct, the same one that had frozen the wolves outside had pulled me forward.

I stepped into the circle. The moment my foot touched the stone, a pulse shot through me. A shockwave of power I didn’t recognize. It was strange, alive, and completely terrifying. The air around me thickened, humming with energy that had nothing to do with me, but everything changed the instant I stood there.

The first test was simple, the silver-haired woman extended a hand, muttered something in a language I didn’t know, and magic spiraled toward me like a snake ready to strike.

I flinched.

It hit me.

And vanished.

Like it never existed.

The woman’s eyes widened slightly, but Thane’s face was calm, almost proud. “Do you understand now?” he asked softly.

I shook my head, trembling. “I… I didn’t do anything.”

“You did,” he said. “You erased magic on contact. You are the Null Blood. You are… the impossible.”

I swallowed hard, voice barely above a whisper. “Impossible?”

He took a step closer, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Yes. And the world wants to kill you for it.”

I felt my knees weaken. “Wait… what?”

He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he gestured toward the hall beyond, where shadows shifted and figures waited. Hunters. Gods. Monsters. The realm itself.

I realized then that my life had been ordinary for a reason. To protect me.

But that protection was gone.

I was Null Blood.

And I had no idea how to survive.