Chapter 4: The Man in the Mountains

Three years had passed since the night Kael fell.

Deep in the frozen mountains, far from Shadowhaven City, snow fell soft and silent around a small wooden cabin. No roads led here. No one came unless they were meant to.

Inside, fire crackled in the stone hearth. A man sat on the floor, shirtless, sweat pouring down his back even in the cold. His body was covered in scars—old ones from that warehouse fight, new ones from endless training. Muscles hard as steel. Silver eyes sharp and cold.

Kael drove his fists into a heavy log over and over, knuckles bleeding, breath steady. Pain was nothing now. Pain was his teacher.

Across the room, an old man watched. Master Ronan. White hair, face like carved stone, eyes that saw everything. He had found Kael half-dead on the riverbank three years ago—body broken, barely breathing, washed miles downstream.

Ronan had dragged him out of the water, carried him through the storm, and brought him here. For weeks, Kael hovered between life and death, burning with fever, whispering one name in his sleep:

Liora.

When he finally woke, the first words out of his mouth were, “Did they think I died?”

Ronan had nodded. “Everyone does.”

Kael’s eyes had turned hard. “Good.”

From that day, the training started.

Ronan was no ordinary man. He had once been a warrior for clans long forgotten. He knew how to fight with fists, blades, guns—and with the wolf inside. He taught Kael to control his shift fully, to make it faster, stronger. To hide his silver glow when he needed to. To move like a ghost.

But more than fighting, Ronan taught him to survive the hate.

“Revenge will eat you alive if you let it,” he said one night by the fire.

“Use it. Don’t become it.”

Kael listened. But deep down, the fire still burned.

He remembered everything.

The betrayal in that warehouse. The moment he realized Liora had known—had maybe even helped set the trap. The way her face flashed in his mind as he fell.

He hated her.

He loved her.

Both feelings lived in him like poison and air.

Now, three years later, he was ready.

Kael stopped punching the log. His knuckles healed slowly in front of his eyes—faster than before, thanks to Ronan’s training and his old shifter blood.

Ronan tossed him a towel. “You’re leaving soon.”

It wasn’t a question.

Kael wiped the blood and sweat from his hands. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure about this?”

Kael pulled on a black shirt, movements smooth and strong. “I’ve been sure since the day I woke up.”

Ronan sighed. “The city’s changed. The Crimson Shadows are stronger. Vortigern sits at the top like a king. And the girl…”

Kael froze at the word. “What about her?”

Ronan hesitated. He’d kept tabs through old contacts. “She’s with someone now. One of Vortigern’s men. Dax. They say she’s happy.”

The room went silent except for the fire.

Kael’s jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists again. Happy. After what she did. After letting him fall.

He grabbed his coat from the hook by the door. “Doesn’t matter.”

Ronan stepped in front of him. “It does. You go back full of rage, you’ll make mistakes. You want revenge? Be cold. Be smart.”

Kael met the old man’s eyes. “I’ll be both.”

He opened the door. Snow swirled in. The path down the mountain waited.

“One more thing,” Ronan said quietly.

“I heard something last week. Wedding plans. She’s getting married soon.”

Kael didn’t turn around. His voice was low, dangerous.

“Then I better hurry.”

He stepped out into the storm and didn’t look back.

Days later, a train rolled into Shadowhaven City station late at night. Rain fell again, same as always.

A tall man in a dark hood stepped off. Face hidden in shadow. Silver eyes scanning the platform.

No one noticed him.

No one knew the last Silverfang had come home.

But across the city, in a cozy apartment lit by warm lights, Liora stood in front of a mirror trying on a veil. Dax smiled behind her, arms around her waist.

“You look perfect,” he whispered, kissing her neck.

She smiled back in the mirror, but for just a second—something cold ran down her spine.

Like someone was watching.

She shook it off. Just nerves. Wedding jitters.

Nothing more.

She had no idea that death had just walked back into her city.

And it was coming for answers.

To be continued…