Chapter Four
The sword came down in a silver arc
Canimal terror of survival. The blade screamed
I rolled Not with grace. Not with strength. Just blistering instinct and stone, missing my neck by inches I lashed out with a wild kick My leel struck Ryker’s shin, and he barked a curse, shambling
scraped
My arms burned as I scrambled upright. The air was thick with smoke, blood, and betrayal I couldn’t see straight, couldn’t breathe, but I ran anyway. К
Run Run Boots pounded behind me–Cala’s voice sharp with fury, Ryker’s deeper shout dising behind it. I didn’t dare look back.
The temple warped around me, all sharp comers and shifting shadows. The herb garden tore at my legs–briars bit into my thighs, vines caught at my ankles like ghost hands. The air reeked of crushed lavender and spilled rage
Islammed into the outer wall.
I’d discovered hiding from chores
Pain burst through my shoulder, but i shoved through it. I clawed at the familiar patch of stone–the one I’d as a girl. My nails split as I pried the slab foose. Earth and roots spilled into the gap 2 Behind me, Ryker roared, “She’s getting away!
I dropped to my knees and slipped into the darkness The tunnel closed around me like a throat, tight and damp and unrelenting. I dragged myself forward, splinters and dit grinding into open wounds. Roots clung to my hair, my clothes. The walls narrowed, but ther air Trees. The scent of rain and pine and something like mercy
Istumbled into the forest, lungs heaving X
The trees closed around me, tall and cruel, their branches clawing at my skin like punishment. My chess snagged and tore. I didn’t stop
Couldn’t. The wolfsbane in my veins kept my woll muzzled, limp beneath the weight of it. No strength. No claws. Just mell
And I was breaking I don’t remember falling. Only the world filling, knees sinking into wet moss, and my body collapsing at the edge of a ravine. I curled into the roots of an ancient pine, heartbeat staggering.
nover more than a
This is where it ends, I thought. Not with fire. Not with vengeance. But with me dissolving
ng into the dirt like I was never
whisper.
Then–Footsteps Not hurried. Not loud.
Measured Intentional
I couldn’t lift my head. But I smelled him before I saw him–pine smoke, cold steel, and something darker. Something ancient. Alpha, yes, but not the kind raised in polished courts and leather–bound laws.
He knelt. I felt the brush of his shadow. A calloused hand touched my brow, cool and carefull
“She’s burning up,” he murmured. “Wolfsbane silver gods, what did they do to you?”
I tried to ask who he was, to spit or scream or plead. Nothing come. Just the throb of blood and the pull of unconsciousness.
The world slipped
–
I woke to firelight
The scent of herbs and woodsmoke wrapped around me like b makeshift pallet beneath me.
balm. Soft luc blanketed my body. Pine needles poked gently through a
I blinked. Everything ached, but the pain had dulled. My arms were bandaged, the silver–bums smeared with solve that tingled faintly
He sat across from me. Dark hair Square shoulders. A dagger in one hand, a whetstone in the other. His profile was unforgiving–like it had been carved from a stormcloud and set with scars.
His eyes lifted “You’re awake,” he said
I flinched, pushing myself upright. A groan slipped past my teeth.
He didn’t move toward me. Just set down the blade and raised his hands. “You‘ safe. For now”
“Who are you?” Trasped
“My y name is Kade. Alpha heir of Ashridge Reaches.”
I stared. “You’re lying“:
He shrugged “You think I want to admit being born to ashes and exile?”
“Why help me?His eyes met mine k
“Because I know you Not the ghost girl they made you The real one. The one they said killed her cousin and tried to take her place”
My blood turned to ice “You’re wrong.
“I’m not But I also know stories lie And scars don’t”
I didn’t speak “Why are you really helping me?” I asked, bitter E
“Because you’re a storm waiting for a spine. And I think we want the same thing”
Kade looked at me for a long
a beats
