The wind carried the scent of blood before I heard the scream.
Not a scream of pain. A howl. Twisted. Betrayed. Filled with rage.
I bolted upright in bed, my heart racing. It was still night — the moon hovered low and red in the sky, casting a strange glow over the stone floor. The runes etched into the walls flickered faintly, reacting to the pulse inside my chest.
Something was wrong.
I wasn't alone.
"Rhydan?" I whispered into the silence.
No response.
I threw the blanket aside, ignoring the soreness in my limbs. My instincts screamed — move, now.
Then the door exploded.
Literally.
A surge of magic — or maybe brute force — blasted the heavy wooden door off its hinges and sent it crashing into the wall. I barely dodged it, stumbling back, eyes wide.
Garrick stepped through the smoke.
His eyes glowed like molten silver. His chest was bare, his claws extended, and blood streaked his jaw.
And he was smiling.
"You shouldn't be here," he said calmly.
"I gathered."
He took a step forward. "The Council voted. You're to be handed over to the High Wolves at dawn. But I'm afraid… you won't make it to dawn."
"I'm not afraid of you," I said, though my voice trembled.
"You should be."
He lunged.
I raised my arms out of instinct, but something else rose first.
Light.
Blinding silver light erupted from my palms, flinging Garrick across the room and into the far wall. He hit it hard, leaving a deep crack in the stone.
I stared at my hands. They glowed, faint and trembling.
What did I just do?
Garrick growled, slower to rise this time.
"You little witch," he spat, blood on his lip. "You don't even know what you are."
"I'm learning fast."
He charged again.
This time, I didn't run.
I didn't know how to fight. Not really. I'd never been trained, never held a weapon with real purpose — but something deep inside me responded.
Instinct.
Blood.
I moved faster than I should've. Ducked beneath his swipe, rolled across the floor, and extended my hand again — the rune-light returning, stronger.
"Enough!" I shouted.
Magic exploded from my chest like a wave, slamming into him and sending a shock through the entire chamber. Torches blew out. Walls trembled.
And he stopped moving.
Not unconscious. Not dead.
Just… paralyzed.
He stared at me in horror.
"What are you?" he whispered.
"I wish I knew," I said honestly.
Then I ran.
The mountain halls were chaos.
Wolves in half-shifted forms clashed in the shadows. Some wore Rhydan's mark. Others wore none.
There was no order now. No law. Only blood.
I slipped through the corridors, heart racing, trying to reach the main gate. If I could make it to the outer trail, maybe I could vanish.
But someone caught my scent.
A shadow leapt from above — claws slashing toward me.
Before I could react, a blur of darkness tackled him mid-air.
Rhydan.
He crushed the attacker beneath him, snarling like a beast unhinged. Blood splashed across the stone.
He turned to me, eyes glowing.
"You left your room," he growled.
"You weren't there."
"I was finding a way out."
"You're bleeding."
"So are you."
I looked down.
A shallow cut along my arm. I hadn't even felt it.
"There's a coup," he said, wiping blood from his lip. "Half the Council sided with Garrick. They want you dead, and they want me stripped."
"Stripped?"
"Of my title. Of my life."
My breath hitched. "What do we do?"
"We run."
We moved through secret tunnels carved beneath the mountain — the kind only Alphas knew about.
The deeper we went, the colder it became. The walls were older here, covered in thick vines and ancient symbols that pulsed faintly as I passed.
"They're reacting to you," Rhydan murmured.
I kept my eyes forward. "They did the same thing the night I awakened."
He glanced at me. "There's more power in you than I've ever seen. It terrifies them."
"Does it terrify you?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then: "Only when I think of what it would feel like to lose you."
I stumbled.
He caught me.
His hand on my arm was warm, steady.
"I didn't mean to say that out loud," he muttered.
"I'm glad you did," I whispered.
Because I was afraid too. Afraid of the bond forming between us. Afraid of what I'd become. But more than anything, I was afraid of what losing him would do to me.
Because I knew — deep down — I'd burn this whole world down if they took him from me.
We reached a small exit carved into the mountainside. A path led into the wild forest below — dark, wet, and full of unknowns.
"Will they follow?" I asked.
"Of course."
"Then we don't stop."
He nodded.
We stepped out into the storm.
Rain pelted us as we ran through the trees. Thunder cracked above. The moon, still blood-red, flickered behind clouds.
I didn't ask where we were going.
I didn't care.
All that mattered was running. Breathing. Living.
Rhydan ran ahead, clearing the path, his body tense, senses sharp. I kept close, barely able to see through the rain, my body screaming in exhaustion.
Then we reached a ridge — a stone platform overlooking the valley.
He stopped.
I did too.
Not because I wanted to… but because I felt it.
Magic.
Old. Twisting. Waiting.
"This is sacred ground," he said, voice low.
"What kind of sacred?"
He knelt and brushed aside moss and dirt, revealing an ancient carving — a symbol of two moons wrapped in flame.
"It's the Seal of Aeras," he said. "Where the first Alpha and the first witch swore a blood oath. The last place your ancestor stood before she disappeared."
I knelt beside him.
The moment my fingers touched the carving, my vision exploded.
Fire. Smoke. A woman in silver robes screaming my name. Wolves howling. Chains around her wrists. Her eyes — my eyes — blazing white.
"Hide the child."
"They must not find her."
"The flame must sleep until the Alpha bleeds…"
Then it faded.
I gasped, falling back.
Rhydan caught me again.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I remember her."
His eyes widened.
"She gave me up. To save me. She hid me in the human world."
"That means…"
"I'm not just her descendant, Rhydan. I am her."
Reborn.
And that changed everything.
We didn't sleep that night.
Not with lightning cracking above and wolves hunting us below.
But when dawn broke over the valley, I stood at the cliff's edge and felt no fear.
Because I finally knew who I was.
Not just a girl. Not just a human.
Not just the Alpha's bride.
I was a legacy of magic and blood.
And I was done running.