Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Kael stared at me like I was something impossible.
I felt like I was.
His blood was still dripping. His breathing was slow. But his eyes-his eyes were locked on me like I was the only thing left in the world that made sense.
“You came back,” he rasped.
“I shouldn’t have left in the first place.”
“Why didn’t you run?” he asked, barely audible.
I pressed my forehead to his, ignoring the chaos behind me. “Because you’re mine. And I don’t run from what’s mine.”
His eyes flickered.
“I don’t deserve you.”
“No,” I whispered. “You don’t.”
Then I smiled. “But neither did anyone else.”
I broke the chains. The metal hissed under my fingers as the silver burned, but I didn’t flinch. The pain didn’t matter.
Kael collapsed forward into my arms. I held him tightly, cradling him against my chest.
And then the Shadowborn members came back.
“Move,” one of them snarled. “Step away from the traitor.”
I rose slowly, Kael’s body in my arms.
“Try me.”
They hesitated.
Just for a second.
And in that second-I struck.
I didn’t even raise my hands. The power rushed from me in a wave, blowing back half the front line. The ground cracked. Trees split. Fire tore through their banners.
I moved forward.
Every step radiated energy. My pendant glowed like a heart. The mark on my palm burned like a
star.
One Shadowborn tried to attack from behind-I turned and sent him flying with a single glance.
Another lunged with a dagger. I didn’t dodge. I let it come close.
Then I shattered it with my voice.
A third raised a chain to trap me-I melted it with a flick of my wrist.
All while holding Kael in my arms.
“You should’ve killed me when I was weak,” I shouted.
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Their leader stepped forward. His robe was torn. His mouth curled in disgust.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” he snarled.
I ignored him and walked away with Kae. They could all do nothing.
Kael groaned softly. I looked down at him.
“Just hold on,” I whispered. “I’ve got you.”
The forest closed around us like it knew I needed cover.
Kael stirred as we reached the river’s edge. I set him down beneath a tree, crouched beside him, breathless.
His eyes fluttered open.
“You’re still here,” he whispered.
I nodded.
“You didn’t leave.”
“I couldn’t,” I said. “Even if I wanted to.”
He winced. “I thought you’d hate me forever.”
“I wanted to,” I said softly. “But it’s hard to hate someone when your soul’s trying to pull itsel
into theirs.”
A pause.
Then he smiled.
“But you’re not scared of me?”
“I should be,” I said. “You’re the Shadowborn’s son. You betrayed me.”
“Then why save me?”
I leaned closer.
“Because you’re also the man who made me believe I was worth protecting.”
His breath hitched.
Then he whispered, “You’re not just worth protecting, Alice. You’re worth fighting the whole damn
world for.”
I kissed his forehead. “Good. Because the world’s about to find out.”
If power changed anything, it only revealed who was most afraid of it.
They called the meeting two days after the pendant flared into the sky.
The Council of Elders. Representatives from Silverclaw, Red Fang, and a few of the neighboring pack.
Beta Zane kept me informed. He sat in the back row, his jaw clenched tight as the meeting spiraled into chaos.
“She’s too strong,” Elder Mara from Grey Hollow park said. “This kind of unchecked power shouldn’t be allowed.”
“She’s unstable,” growled one of the Silverclaws elders. “Burned down a storehouse. Poisoned
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children. Her record speaks for itself.”
“She saved a Red Fang scout two nights ago,” Alpha Jareth snapped.
“And she lit up the entire sky with forbidden energy,” Mara countered. “The prophecy warned u: of this. ‘She who breaks the seal shall rise in blood and choose ruin or reign.’ That was never about her sister. It was always her.”
“She’s not the threat,” Beta Zane said from the back. “The Shadowborn are.”
“The Shadowborn wouldn’t be stirring if she hadn’t awakened,” Mara said.
“Then we should be thanking her,” Alpha Jareth growled. “Because now we have a chance to fight back.”
“But what if she chooses ruin?” asked a cold tone.
The room went still.
And that’s when Elder Rider rose.
“I call for a vote.”
“Alice Rivers. Daughter of fire. Bearer of the mark. Do we let her remain… or do we remove the threat before it consumes all?”
“Remove her?” Zane stood up. “She’s not a rogue wolf. She’s saved lives you people were to afraid to touch.”
“And now she has power enough to level this entire region,” Mara said. “Today it’s the Shadowborn. Tomorrow it could be any one of us.”
Alpha Jareth’s voice was sharp. “You forget who she is.”
“I think we’re finally realizing it,” someone muttered.
Far from the council chamber, deep inside Silverclaw’s old war wing, Damien sat alone.
Papers covered his table. Maps, reports, lists of who was siding with Alice and who wasn’t.
He hadn’t slept.
He stared out the window, his jaw tense, his hand twitching as if it ached to crush something.
Then the shadows stirred.
A figure stepped into the room, faceless under the hood.
Damien didn’t even turn. “What else do you want again?”
The voice that answered was cold. “You’re failing.”
“I voted against her.”
“But she still lives.”
“She won’t for long. The Council-‘
“The council is weak. Our leader is running out of patience.”
Damien finally turned, his eyes bloodshot. “Tell your ‘leader’ he can send someone else, then.”
The figure moved closer. “He doesn’t want someone else. You know her patterns. Her weaknesses. Her heart.”
Damien clenched his fists.
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“She’s too powerful now. You said she was ordinary. She’s not. You lied.”
The figure tilted its head. “She’s still bound by the same thing all wolves are. Emotion. Love.
Fear. Guilt. Use it.”
Damien exhaled slowly.
And then he got an idea.
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apter 24
