Kaiden's POV
"Get a grip, Kaiden," I muttered, staring out over the cold, fog-drenched cliffs beyond the tower. "You've killed Alphas without blinking, burned entire packs to the ground... and now one stubborn, silver-eyed wolf has your spine twisted in knots?"
I laughed dryly, the sound scraping in my throat.
"Gods, if Vanya knew…" I shook my head. "She'd never let me hear the end of it. 'Big bad Kaiden brought to his knees by a wild-eyed she-wolf with a death wish.' She'd probably knit it into a damn tapestry."
A gust of wind whipped at my coat, carrying the scent of rain and smoke—and beneath it, her. Faint, but there. Like the bond was mocking me.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. "I should've thrown her in the sea, not the dungeons."
No response. Just the wind.
I kept talking to myself anyway.
"She looked at me like she knew me. Not just from this life… no. It felt... older. Deeper." My voice dropped. "She died in my arms. I saw it. I felt it. And I ended her."
I paused. The words hung heavy.
"Unless this is just the bond twisting my head off."
Footsteps.
Shit.
I didn't even need to turn around. I felt her smug presence before she spoke.
"Find out what?"
My spine stiffened. "Vanya," I muttered under my breath, dragging my hands from the stone ledge and turning.
There she stood, arms folded, long braid swinging behind her, one brow raised in pure mischief.
"I'm sorry, what was that, brother dearest? Who's bringing you to your knees now?"
I cleared my throat. "Wolves," I said flatly. "Wild ones. Causing trouble near the borders. Just… strategy talk."
She blinked.
"Strategy."
"Mm-hmm," I nodded, way too fast. "Thinking through options. War stuff. You wouldn't understand."
"Oh, I understand plenty," she said, eyes glittering. "I understand you're up here talking to yourself about some she-wolf, looking like someone stabbed your favorite sword."
I gave a humorless chuckle. "I don't have a favorite sword."
"Exactly. That's how serious it is."
I shot her a glare. She smiled sweetly.
"You know," she said, stepping beside me, "if she's got you this rattled, maybe she's not the problem. Maybe you are."
"I don't get rattled."
"Mmm." She smirked. "Tell that to your pacing. And your tragic monologue just now. I swear, Kaiden, if you start writing poetry, I'll drown you myself."
"I wasn't…. It wasn't…." I groaned, raking my fingers through my hair. "She just… she reminds me of something."
"Something?" Vanya echoed.
"Someone," I corrected. "A mistake. A memory."
"A mate?" she offered innocently.
I stared at her.
Her grin widened. "Gods, I'm good."
"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" I asked, already regretting not staying in the war room.
She shrugged. "Nowhere more fun than here. Watching the Warlord of Duskfang get all soft over a girl in chains? Priceless."
I turned away before she could see the heat crawling up my neck.
Chains or not, Selene was in my head.
And I didn't know how to get her out.
Just then the bells rang, I didn't move when the first bell sounded. Not even when the second ran.
But when the third hit like a blade to the bone, I knew it wasn't a drill.
Moments later, the guards burst through the tower doors, armor clanking, faces pale.
"My lord," one said, panting. "Uninvited guests at the gates."
I didn't like guests. I especially didn't like the ones who didn't ask permission to step on my land.
"Who?"
"They won't give names. But they wear the mark of the Eclipse."
I stilled.
"…The Council?"
He nodded.
By the time I reached the gates, dusk had devoured the last of the sun. Shadows stretched long and deep across the courtyard, curling around the seven figures who had entered without ceremony.
The Eclipse Council.
Each wore robes stitched in ancient sigils that moved on their own, threads of magic alive and breathing. I didn't need to see their faces to know they could end me with a thought.
The one at the front raised his head, and for a second, his eyes caught mine.
"Warlord Kaiden," he said, voice like brittle wind. "You've been harboring something."
I narrowed my gaze. "I don't harbor anything I'm not aware of."
He took a step forward, and the fortress flinched beneath his feet.
"Lies don't sit well on sacred ground."
Another stepped beside him, whispering to no one. "We felt it."
"All of us did," another added. "Like a fault line cracking through the world."
Then the first one spoke again, gaze slicing into me.
"The Sacred Born has awakened."
I said nothing.
"And she is within your walls."
I stared at him. My hands clenched slowly at my sides.
Seraphina muttered beside me, "What the hell is a Sacred Born?"
The Council leader didn't even look at her. His focus stayed on me.
"You have until dawn," he said softly, "to bring her forward."
"And if I don't?" I asked.
He smiled, a thing made of shadow.
"Then this fortress will fall. Brick by brick. Bone by bone."
Then they turned. All seven. Walking straight into the dark as if they owned it.
I didn't move.
Behind me, Seraphina muttered, "So. Just to be clear… your mysterious dungeon girl is apparently some ancient apocalypse key?"
I exhaled slowly. "Apparently."
She whistled. "Mother's going to kill you."
"Mother's dead," I muttered.
"I know," she said. "Which makes it worse."
I almost laughed.
"I was still figuring out how to deal with the Witchborns who raised her," I said, eyes tracking the path the Council had taken. "Now I have to deal with them too."
Seraphina crossed her arms. "Oh, don't worry. It's not like we're already knee-deep i
n civil war, undead sightings, and half your army whispering about omens."
She turned and began to walk away. "By all means, add 'divine prophecy' to the pile."