Chapter 10 – Kael
Whispers in the Dark
When Alera left the hidden chamber, the silence she carried with her stayed behind like fog.
She was still the fiercest person I knew. The fire in her hadn't dimmed over the years; it had only been forged sharper by heartbreak and responsibility. But I also saw the tremble in her fingers when she took the pendant. She hadn't let herself break in front of me, but the cracks were there, spiderwebbing beneath her armor.
And I hated that I was the one who caused them.
I leaned back against the stone wall and closed my eyes. The fire hissed softly beside me, casting long shadows across the chamber. This place—the hidden wing beneath the packhouse—used to be a place of refuge. Alera and I had spent hours here when we were younger, sneaking in to read, to plan, to dream.
Back then, we thought the only war we'd ever face would be against the aging Council and its outdated laws.
Now, death was walking in through the trees, silent and cloaked in ancient magic.
And we didn't have time to heal what was broken between us.
I pulled the remaining fragments of the prophecy scroll from my bag. There were symbols I still didn't understand, markings that didn't match anything in the witch tomes or the northern archives. But they matched what I'd seen in the visions—the dreams that had started the moment they carved that mark into my chest.
Dreams of fire. Of wolves burning under blood-red skies. Of Alera, standing alone in a field of bones, her eyes glowing white, her hands soaked in blood.
I didn't know what they meant yet.
But I knew she was the key.
Suddenly, I felt it—a flicker of presence. Not a sound, not a movement, just… a shift in the air.
I stood slowly, the wolf in me waking instantly.
Someone was down here.
I doused the fire with one hand, plunging the chamber into darkness. I moved by memory, silent, pressed against the wall as footsteps echoed faintly from the upper corridor. They weren't heavy enough to be Rane or Jace. These steps were careful. Measured.
A spy.
They paused outside the chamber door. I waited, heart steady, muscles coiled.
The door creaked open an inch, then two.
I struck.
My arm wrapped around the intruder's neck, dragging them in before they could scream. I slammed them against the wall, one hand over their mouth, the other ready to crush a throat if I had to.
Then I saw her face.
Naya.
Alera's youngest cousin.
Barely twenty. Too smart for her own good. And terrified.
I eased off slightly but didn't let her go.
"What are you doing down here?" I hissed.
Her eyes darted toward the scrolls on the ground, then back to me.
"I… I heard you and Alera. I followed her. I had to know what was going on."
"Eavesdropping isn't a game, pup."
She shoved at my arm, trying to look braver than she felt. "You think I'm stupid? I smelled the blood magic on the border last week. I saw the sigils. No one believed me."
I narrowed my eyes. "So you decided to sneak around and play detective?"
"I didn't come down here to betray the pack," she snapped. "I came because I want to help."
I stared at her.
She was scared. But determined.
Like Alera used to be, before duty made her hard.
"What do you know about blood sigils?" I asked, lowering my hand.
Naya stepped back, rubbing her throat. "Only what I've read. But I remember one thing clearly—blood sigils tied to wolves need a bond to work. A connection. Someone inside the pack is feeding them."
A traitor.
The word echoed in my chest again.
I gathered the scrolls quickly and locked them back in the metal chest. Then I turned to Naya.
"You breathe a word of this to anyone, you'll risk lives—including Alera's."
"I understand," she said, suddenly serious. "I'm not a kid anymore."
"Prove it."
She tilted her chin up, challenging.
"Tomorrow, you're training with me. No excuses."
Her eyes widened. "You're serious?"
"Deadly."
She gave a small, excited nod and bolted for the stairs, disappearing like a whisper.
I watched the shadows swallow her, then turned back to the cold chamber.
If Naya could sense the rot in the pack, then the witches were getting bolder.
We were out of time.
Tomorrow, we'd prepare for war.
But tonight, I'd watch the shadows.
Because the enemy was already inside.