CHAPTER FIVE

ELIO

Call it a twin thing, but I swore I could hear my sister screaming my name.

A chill raced down my spine.

Cinder’s voice—high and desperate cut through the festival’s steady hum like a blade in my mind.

In just a few minutes we'd turn under the full moon and roam and run free. I was supposed to lead that run...

No one reacted. The wolves around me kept drinking, laughing, lost in the night’s warmth. No heads turned. No bodies stiffened.

So I resolved it was just in my imagination.

But after a beat I heard her again.

I swallowed hard, scanning the tree line just beyond the clearing. The night had shifted, charged with something I couldn’t name. There was a whisper in my bones. A tension in my skin.

Beside me, Kael—my second-in-command, my closest friend—caught my eye. His mate leaned into him, murmuring something, but he was looking at me, his brow furrowed.

“You good?” he asked, low enough that no one else would hear.

I forced a grin, shaking off the unease. “Cinder’s probably just screwing with me.”

I wanted to believe that.

Then...

The scream came again, shattering the night.

My breath hitched.

This time, I felt it, deep in my chest like something tearing open.

I didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate.

I ran.

The festival blurred past me. Voices called out in confusion as I shoved through bodies, knocking over drinks, sending startled wolves stumbling aside.

The scent of pine and damp earth hit me as I crossed into the trees, the heavy drum of my heartbeat drowning out everything else.

My legs were performing muscle memory at a point cause I didn't know how long and how far I'd run.

I was worried, goddammit. She had no wolf to protect her.

She liked to act tough but many knew the level of her capabilities. I just pray I'm way over my head.

Valkas, my wolf, was clear-headed while I was frantic. He tried to steady me, whispering through the bond. But I barely heard him.

I tried to catch Cinder’s scent, but it was faint, scattered.

And then—

I saw her.

Cinder.

Covered in blood with a stubborn expression on her face.

A deep gash on her arm poured crimson, dark and slick in the moonlight. Her chest heaved, her face twisted with pain. And behind her—

Gods.

My stomach lurched.

That thing was not natural.

It loomed behind her, taller than any man, its limbs stretched too long, its body twisted and wrong. A guttural snarl curled from its gaping maw, black saliva dripping onto the forest floor.

Cinder staggered forward, barely staying on her feet.

The thing wasn’t just attacking her.

It was playing with her. Like a cat would a mouse it's sure to have.

I didn’t hesitate.

I lunged at it.

We hit the ground hard, my claws sinking into its flesh—or whatever passed for flesh on this creature. 

It shrieked, twisting, its strength inhuman. I bit my lips till they drew blood. The monster’s blood burned where it touched my claws, corroding, eating through flesh like acid.

I was sure my eyes had changed from it's cobalt blue to a fiery gold.

I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t small. But it was winning.

My body screamed in protest as I struggled beneath it, sharp limbs slashing, fangs snapping inches from my throat.

A bolt of panic shot through me.

It kept trying to put me down to get to Cinder.

This wasn’t just an attack. This wasn’t random.

It was hunting her.

“Cinder, RUN!” I roared.

For once in her damn life, she listened. She'd be more of a burden in this scenario.

She ran.

I fought.

I struggled to open the pack link and reach father while evading the jaws of the beast.

Once I did, I kept it brief

"A breach."

The link severed as my mental energy drained.

I gritted my teeth, fighting harder. But my limbs were failing me. The weight of the creature pressed me into the dirt, its gaping maw descending.

No. No, no, no. No!

As my limbs refused to obey, a thought hit me—cold and final.

I’m going to die here.

My vision blurred. My breath came in sharp, ragged gasps.

She would have gotten far enough by now.

I wasn’t by any means a self sacrificing person, But if it meant Cinder got away—

I could live with that.

The creature loomed over me, the night swallowing its form.

And then unbelievably,

I heard a foolhardy, reckless, absolute-moron-of-a-shout:

“GET YOUR HORRIDLY UGLY TEETH OUT OF MY BROTHER’S FACE!”

Cinder.

I whipped my head around. She was running. At the monster. With a godsdamned tree branch.

“You fool!” I snarled with rage. Panic. Clenching my jaw so tight my teeth ached.

Everything stilled when the creature moved. 

Its arm swung fast, too fast—and Cinder hit a tree with a sickening crack.

She didn’t move.

!! !! !! !! !! !!

CINDER

Something inside me snapped.

One moment, I was running towards the creature with a huge branch. My lungs burning, my legs barely carrying me forward.

Then, Impact.

I saw black

I didn’t know how long I was gone. Maybe seconds. Maybe lifetimes.

But I knew somehow that Elio had stopped fighting.

I don’t know how I knew. I just did.

My chest caved in. My breath hitched. My vision blurred.

My body felt wrong.

Too hot. Too tight. Like my skin wasn’t enough to hold me anymore.

I gasped.

Then,

It burned.

Heat roared through me, molten, alive. It crawled through my veins, spread into my bones, seared every inch of my being. I choked on the heat, gasping.

And suddenly...

I wasn’t just burning.

I was fire.

The creature turned, its soulless eyes shifting from my brother to me. It displayed an eerie like intelligence.

Elio layed still. He looked knocked out. Blood was pooled beneath him and his arm was bent at an unnatural angle. 

I lifted my gaze.

I inhaled.

And exhaled.

Flames poured from my mouth.

Like an inferno unleashed.

The thing shrieked, its cries splitting the night as it twisted and writhed. The fire consumed it without mercy, without pause, burning so hot the air itself shimmered.

I looked to the sky and as if the gods themselves had struck judgment...

Lightning tore through the clouds.

A deafening crack split the air. The force knocked me backward, my vision flashing white.

I heard. Footsteps. Shouting.

And I saw darkness.