Silence.
That was the Council's response to my declaration.
I stood at the center of the sanctuary's ancient chamber, the runes beneath my feet still pulsing faintly from the raw power I'd unleashed hours before. My chest still ached from the firestorm I'd barely controlled.
But I stood tall.
My voice had not wavered.
"I am the Alpha now."
The silence shattered with a scoff from Elder Brynn. "You? Alpha of what? You carry the flame, girl, not the crown."
"Then give me the crown," I said evenly. "I'm not asking. I'm claiming."
Another voice rose — calmer. Wiser. My mother's.
"She saved the sanctuary from the Hollow Howler," she said. "She exposed traitors in our own ranks. She harnessed the flame without destroying us. And she's still standing."
"She's not wolf," Elder Caen growled. "Alpha blood runs through the moonline. Not… human fire."
"I carry both," I replied, stepping forward. "You want to keep living in the past. That's fine. But the war that's coming? The darkness waking up? It won't care if I'm wolf enough for you."
Rhydan's voice came from behind me, steady and low. "She's the only one who can lead us now."
"She can't lead alone," Elder Brynn said coldly. "The packs won't accept her without a mate by her side. Without a bond."
I didn't flinch.
But inside, something cracked.
They would never accept me for who I was — only who I was with.
I turned to Rhydan.
Our eyes met.
There was a flicker of something I couldn't name in his gaze.
Then he said, "I'll stand with her."
A murmur spread through the council.
"She is not your fated mate," someone protested.
"No," he replied. "But she is mine by choice."
Later, I stood by the moonlit pool outside the sanctuary. Alone. Or at least, I thought I was.
Until I felt him behind me.
"You shouldn't have said that," I said quietly.
"I meant every word."
"You don't owe me anything, Rhydan."
He moved closer. "I know."
"You could've walked away."
"I didn't want to."
I finally turned to face him. "You chose me. In front of everyone."
"I would choose you again."
And still, I couldn't look at him.
Because there was a truth eating away at me.
A secret I hadn't dared to say aloud.
"I saw her again," I whispered.
He blinked. "Who?"
"The other me. In my dream. The Flame. She keeps warning me. Telling me I'll break. That I'll become her."
He reached out, brushing his fingers against my jaw. "You're not her."
"But what if I am?" I asked. "What if everything I'm building… I burn down with my own hands?"
"Then I'll stand in the ashes with you," he said.
My breath hitched.
His touch lingered.
The fire between us no longer wild, no longer erupting — but pulling.
We stood like that for a moment too long.
And I would've stepped forward.
But he pulled back.
And said the words that froze the blood in my veins.
"There's something I have to tell you."
The moment shattered.
I stepped away, heart thudding. "What is it?"
He hesitated. "The night you awakened — the night the mountain cracked — it wasn't just your power."
"I know that already. You told me you watched me, protected me from afar."
He shook his head. "No. I meant… that night. When the prophecy activated. When the fire chose you."
My chest tightened. "Go on."
He took a breath. "I wasn't just passing through that mountain. I was there because the High Wolves sent me."
"What?"
"They knew something was awakening. They sensed a shift in the magic of the land. They thought it was a relic or an old enemy returning. I was ordered to investigate and report. Not interfere. Not rescue."
I stared at him.
"You knew I was down there. Trapped. Dying. And you were just supposed to watch?"
"I didn't know it was you until I felt the bond snap."
"But you didn't tell me this. You let me think fate brought you to me."
"It did. I just… I wasn't ready for it to be you."
My stomach churned. "You lied."
"I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you everything."
"That's the same thing, Rhydan."
He ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't want to lose you. And I thought if you knew—"
"You thought I'd hate you."
He didn't answer.
And that said enough.
I stepped back, pain bubbling beneath my skin.
Not anger.
Not rage.
Just hurt.
"You promised to protect me," I said. "But you were part of the ones who hunted me."
"No. I defied them for you."
"Did you?" I asked softly. "Or did you just trade one loyalty for another?"
He flinched.
I turned away. "I need air."
"Aeryn—"
"Don't follow me."
I wandered into the cliffs until the light from the sanctuary disappeared. The moon rose like a silver ghost above the trees, and the wind whispered secrets I didn't want to hear.
My hands glowed faintly.
The fire inside me stirred.
Not from anger.
But confusion.
How many more secrets were buried beneath this bond?
How much more could I take before I broke?
And that's when the scent hit me.
Smoke.
Burning pine.
Blood.
I turned just in time to see a shadow moving through the trees.
A hooded figure.
Fast.
Too fast to be human.
I chased them, leaping over rocks, heart pounding.
But then they stopped.
And I skidded to a halt.
Because the figure removed their hood.
And I saw a face I hadn't seen in years.
My foster sister.
Cassia.
But she wasn't human anymore.
Her eyes glowed silver.
Her smile was fanged.
"I've been looking for you, little flame," she said sweetly. "Daddy always said you were special."
And then she shifted.
Not into a wolf.
Into something else.
Twisted. Starved. Wrong.
The Hollow Howler hadn't been stopped.
It had found a new host.
And it had brought her to me.