[POV: Ruvan]
Pain cracked down his spine like lightning as his bones contorted and his skin stretched. His wolf was clawing its way to the surface, emboldened by his fury.
How dare he?
How dare Thalos touch her, speak her name, walk freely in this place with no signs of madness while Ruvan had rotted in silence?
It had been so long since Ruvan shifted last, he forgot what it felt like. The transition itself was always painful. Claws split through his fingertips and his vision narrowed, the scent of Solenne's skin lingered too close to Thalos.
'So this is what you've become.'
The voice didn't come from Solenne or Thalos.
It came from within, but it wasn't a voice borne of his insanity. It came from the deepest, darkest corner of himself.
Ruvan froze mid-shift, and every muscle locked. The transformation came to a screeching halt.
'Snarling at ghosts and threatening the one who woke us.'
Ruvan's knees buckled and he stumbled back, clutching the stone wall, claws scraping deep into it as his vision pulsed with light.
"Kairas…?" he stammered.
The name tasted bitter on his lips. He hadn't spoken it aloud in over a thousand years.
'Finally remembered me.'
The voice was calm and heavy. It was a low, distant thunder rumbling from behind a sealed door that had begun to crack open.
Ruvan's body resumed transforming as he wrestled with the realization that his wolf, Kairas, had finally manifested again... and was speaking!
—
[POV: Solenne]
He was no ordinary beast—far from it.
When Ruvan's wolf emerged, it wasn't a transformation. Rather, it was an unveiling. It was the breaking of a seal that held something terrifying at bay.
Solenne's body trembled with both fear and excitement at the sight of him. It was the first time she had ever seen such a beautiful wolf.
His fur was the color of winter frost—neither white nor gray, but something caught in between, as if designed with moonlight. Patterns shimmered faintly beneath his coat, pulsing with a pale blue glow—likely marks of the ancient curse that bound him.
Ruvan's wolf stood taller than a horse. Just as in his human form, he was broad-shouldered, muscular, and when he moved, it was with the kind of grace that would make other predators uneasy. It wasn't wild, but regal.
His eyes were the same in every form. Golden, cold, and bottomles orbs that did not just see, but judged. They burned with sorrow, exposing that, beneath his beautiful exterior, he was a man who had seen a hundred lifetimes' worth of suffering.
His fangs were long, even for a wolf, shaped to rip through flesh and bone. His claws scraped the stone floor when he walked, and mist curled from his breath in the cold.
This was no wolf born of the forest. It was a tormented beast, cursed by fate and shaped by centuries of madness.
Solenne felt her own wolf stir in reaction to the transformation. Her wolf, Serai, had been forced back into the recesses of her mind and had been unable to speak after the godsforsaken sacrifice. The elders injected her with so much wolfsbane that it nearly killed her—both of them.
'Serai? Are you okay?' Solenne asked, unsure if her counterpart would be able to respond.
'I'm… okay,' came Serai's pained response. She added quietly, almost affectionately, 'He's here.'
'He?' Solenne asked.
Thalos interrupted her internal conversation when he greeted Ruvan's wolf politely. "It's good to see you again, Kairas."
"I have nothing to say to you, Thalos. Where is Vaelen?" boomed a thunderous voice in both Solenne and Thalos' minds — Kairas.
"He… hasn't woken up," Thalos answered, his typically neutral expression becoming pained. "I don't think he's dead, just... buried or asleep."
"She is here," Kairas answered thoughtfully, glancing at Solenne from the corner of his eye as he padded toward her and Thalos. He added, "There is hope."
"She?" Thalos echoed.
"Yes, she," Kairas said cryptically. "I can't stay out long… Ruvan is unstable."
Displeased by Kairas' withholding of information, Thalos frowned. "I am sure you mean Solenne?"
Kairas sat on his hind legs, the massive beast only a few feet from Solenne. He tilted his head, "Solenne… that is a fitting name."
Then, before Thalos could demand his answer again, Kairas was gone. His transformation reversed, leaving Ruvan where the great wolf had been seated.
Ruvan's brows were furrowed, and his eyes were clouded with confusion and madness. "Kairas… Kairas abandoned me… now he's back?"
He muttered several bitter things about his wolf before suddenly snapping again. He paced several steps to and fro, then stopped in his tracks. "No, he didn't abandon us. We were cursed. It's not his fault…"
Solenne's heart ached watching the Alpha's pitiful display. What would it be like to live with your heart and mind splintered into hundreds of pieces?
"Ruvan," Thalos addressed the King with surprising care and patience in his voice.
Ruvan whipped around and glared at the warrior. "I'll kill you! Kill… kill all of you… traitor. Traitor!"
Suddenly, Serai whispered weakly in the back of Solenne's mind: 'Take… his hand.'
'What?' Solenne was stunned by the suggestion, but Serai didn't clarify anything. Solenne reasoned that she probably couldn't speak much since their mental connection was still struggling.
So, Solenne took a deep breath and took her wolf's advice, even if it was terrifying. She took a few apprehensive steps toward Ruvan, who turned to look at her, but his gaze went through her like he didn't see her at all.
Thalos furrowed his brows and took a step forward to try to stop her, "He's volatile-"
Solenne shook her head determinedly at him and signed, [Let me try this.]
The General looked at her with a troubled frown but stepped back. "As you wish…"
Ruvan had a thousand curses on the tip of his tongue, just waiting to escape, Solenne could tell. Just as he opened his mouth, she closed the distance between them and grabbed his large, calloused hand in both of hers.
Electricity shot between them from where their skin met. She looked up at him pleadingly, her soft, light eyes full of concern. Warmth flowed between them unabated, their physical contact sending a wave of calm over them both.
From the outside, it looked like the Alpha had short-circuited. He stood still as if he had been frozen in time. His golden eyes met hers, but the amber pools were focused and clear this time. He was grounded.
Ruvan glanced down at his hand in both of hers with an unreadable expression. She half-expected him to pull away, but he leaned forward slightly instead. Solenne's heart nearly burst, but she held firm.
She stared up at him… wait, was it a trick of the light? Solenne could have sworn she saw a tear escape the corner of his eye…
"It's quiet…" he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. Almost inaudibly, he added, "I missed the quiet."