All Chapters of The Wolf Who Shouldn’t Love: Chapter 21

The Fire That Awakened Her ••• The first scream reached the camp like a jagged slash through the night. Aella heard it before anyone else. She was standing near the boundary markers, scanning the forest for movement, forcing herself to pretend her heartbeat wasn’t reacting to Thalen’s confession from the night before. The trees were silent. The air was still. The moon hung pale and round above the canopy. And then… a single scream tore through the stillness. Aella’s head snapped up. Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her blade. Another scream followed. Then another. Not animal. Not rogue wolves. Human. Terrified. Burning. Before she could call for anyone, a burst of orange flared in the distance the unmistakable flicker of fire. A village was burning. Aella’s stomach dropped. She didn’t think— she ran. Leaves whipped past her face as she sprinted between the trees. Her breaths came hard and fast as the air began to smell of smoke. Bright sparks drifted upward like fi