Chapter 37: The Time Is Near

Kael pushed the door to their chamber open without knocking.

The room was quiet, the lamps already dimmed, and for a second he assumed she was asleep.

But the bed was untouched. The blanket was still folded the way it had been left earlier, and the chair near the window was empty too.

Only Ivy was there.

She was lying on the other side of the room, sleeping peacefully as if nothing had happened that day. Her breathing was slow and steady, completely calm, and that alone made something inside him tighten.

"Liora?" he called quietly.

No answer.

He stepped further into the room and looked around again, checking the corners, the balcony door, even the bathroom, even though he already knew what he would find.

She wasn’t there.

That part unsettled him more than he wanted to admit. Liora rarely left the room unless someone called her.

Even during the day she stayed close to the chamber like she was still trying to understand her place in the fortress. The fact that she was gone now, in the middle of the night, didn’t feel normal.

His mind went somewhere he didn’t like.

The forbidden chamber.

He didn’t waste time thinking about, her ancestors might be assigning her to a deadly task and that thought alone was enough to make him move faster.

The corridor outside was silent, and he reached the hidden passage within minutes. The stone door opened the moment he pressed his hand against the marking, and the cold air inside greeted him immediately.

She wasn’t there.

The chains along the wall were still sealed. The symbols carved into the stone hadn’t changed.

Everything looked exactly the same as it had the last time he stepped inside, and yet something about the place felt different tonight, like the silence itself was waiting for something.

He turned to leave.

"Alpha."

The voice didn’t come from behind him. It came from everywhere at once.

He froze.

"You are too late to pretend nothing is changing," the voice continued, low and steady. "The time is near. The white wolf will now rise."

Kael didn’t respond. Whoever was speaking was not someone he could see, but he understood what it meant.

The chains were not only holding bodies. They were holding memories, power, and something far older than the pack itself.

He left the chamber without saying a word.

The moment he stepped back into the corridor, the feeling hit him again.

Heat. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Sharp, sudden, and familiar.

It burned along his ribs like something pulling from inside his chest, and he recognized it immediately. It was the same sensation he felt whenever Liora’s hidden power reacted to something. The bond didn’t just react to fear anymore. It reacted to her strength too.

He closed his eyes for a second, trying to focus on the direction instead of the pain.

The pull was stronger now, not inside the fortress but outside it, somewhere far enough to make his jaw tighten.

"She left the territory," he muttered under his breath.

The heat surged again, stronger this time, and he understood something else immediately.

Whatever she was doing, she was pushing herself too far. The bond didn’t react this violently unless she was close to collapsing.

He didn’t think about it again. He moved immediately, following the direction the bond was pulling him toward, his pace faster than before.

He couldn’t allow her to die. Not now. Not after everything had already changed.

---liora

"Elera, stay with me," I said, trying to keep my voice steady even though my hands were shaking.

Her head was still lowered, and the moment I touched her shoulder, I realized how cold she had become.

Her breathing was barely there, shallow and uneven, and every second that passed made it worse.

"I thought they sent for you from home because of your sister," I whispered, my voice breaking before I could stop it. "Why are you here? Who did this to you?"

She tried to speak, but the sound didn’t come out properly. Her lips moved, and I leaned closer, hoping I could at least understand something.

Instead, her body went weak again.

"No," I said immediately. "No, you’re not dying here."

The words came out before I even thought about them.

Elera wasn’t just a maid to me. Since the day I arrived in Blackmoor, she had been the only person who spoke to me without hesitation.

The only one who didn’t look at me like I didn’t belong. The only one who stayed when everyone else kept their distance.

Watching her die in front of me wasn’t going to happen.

But the only way to save her was the one thing I wasn’t supposed to use.

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to calm the fear rising inside my chest. No one could know about it. Not Kael. Not Seraphina. Not anyone inside the fortress. If they found out, everything would change in ways I wouldn’t be able to control.

But if I did nothing, Elera would die.

And that wasn’t something I could accept.

"I’m sorry," I whispered quietly, even though I wasn’t sure who I was apologizing to.

I placed my hand gently against her chest.

The heat came immediately.

It started deep inside my ribs, spreading slowly until it felt like something sharp was pressing against my skin from the inside. I tried to ignore it and focused on her breathing instead, forcing myself to stay calm.

One burn appeared.

Then another.

I didn’t stop.

Three.

Four.

Five.

The pain was worse than before, stronger than anything I had felt the last time I used it, but I forced myself to stay focused. Elera’s breathing became slightly stronger under my hand, and that was enough to keep me going.

Six.

Seven.

The seventh burn hit harder than the others, and the strength in my legs disappeared suddenly. I stumbled backward, coughing before I could stop myself, the taste of blood rising in my throat.

It was the first time I had used this much at once.

But when I looked at her again, it still wasn’t enough.

Her breathing had improved, but the damage was too much. If I stopped now, she wouldn’t survive until morning.

I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand and forced myself to focus again.

"I still have four more," I whispered to myself.

Four more burns before I died.

The thought didn’t scare me as much as it should have.

I stepped closer again and placed my hand against her chest once more, forcing myself to ignore the pain that was already starting to spread through my body.

One more burn appeared.

Then another.

The pain became unbearable this time, sharp enough to make my vision blur completely, but I refused to stop. If I stopped now, everything I had already done would be meaningless.

Just one more—

A hand grabbed my arm suddenly and pushed me away from her.

I lost my balance and fell back slightly, my chest still burning as I struggled to understand what had just happened.

I looked up immediately.

Kael was standing there.

For a second, I couldn’t even speak. The shock alone was enough to make my mind go blank.

"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly.