⚔️ Chapter Four: The Forced Journey and the Chase
Alpha Gareth turned white, stumbling back from me and dropping the leather belt like it was a live snake.
"Alpha Blackwood! I—I was just… testing her alertness! A small training exercise, to ensure she is a suitable partner for your great pack!" Gareth stammered, scrambling to save face.
Kael didn't even twitch. He simply stepped into the room, and the air of suppressed violence was so profound it made my head spin. His silver eyes were fixed on the belt on the floor, then on Gareth's shaking hand.
"You were defying a direct, Alpha-level command," Kael stated, walking slowly toward Gareth. "I stated no one was to touch the Omega until I departed. You are either deaf, foolish, or a suicidal pack leader."
Gareth fell to his knees, utterly defeated by the display of power. "Forgive me, Alpha! I meant no disrespect! I was just..."
"Enough," Kael cut him off, his authority absolute. "The negotiation is over. My debt is called."
He turned his back on the humiliated Gareth and looked at me. "Ember Thorne, you will gather only what you can carry in your hands. You are leaving Shadow Creek. Now."
I stared at him, stunned. "Leaving? But... the alliance?"
"The alliance was a feint. The meeting was a distraction," Kael confirmed, the admission completely public and uncaring. "I was here to retrieve what Shadow Creek stole from my pack's history generations ago. That 'item,' as I called it, is you."
He gestured to the door. "Five minutes. Elias will be allowed to assist you briefly. Move."
I raced back to the laundry room, my mind reeling. I quickly packed the few changes of clothes Elias had bought me and grabbed the emergency medical kit he'd hidden for me. Elias was already there, his hands flying as he taped the rune locket securely to my chest.
"He moved the timeline up!" Elias whispered urgently. "I can't believe he's just taking you! We need to go with the original plan!"
"It's too late, Elias! He has his guards everywhere. He's taking me by Alpha command!"
"Then I'm coming with you," Elias insisted, grabbing his own small duffel bag.
"No!" I pulled him back, looking him straight in the eyes. "He didn't give you a command, Elias. You stay here. You are the only one who can get to Mother's belongings and find out what that journal means! If he's a threat, you're my backup. If you leave, I'm alone."
The door opened again. It was Lyra, Kael's Beta.
"Time is up. The Alpha is waiting. Beta Elias, the Alpha offers you a position as a mid-ranking Warrior in the Silver Moon Pack, provided you remain here to 'assist with transition.'"
Lyra's offer was Kael's classic move: offer a false olive branch to maintain control. Elias knew it, and so did I. If he went to Silver Moon, he would be under Kael's thumb and unable to research my mother's secrets.
Elias looked at me, then at Lyra, his face a mask of disappointment.
"I accept the Alpha's offer," Elias said stiffly. "But I must bid my sister a proper goodbye."
Lyra nodded, stepping back slightly.
Elias pulled me into a fierce, desperate hug. He pressed something cold and smooth into my palm. "A locator," he breathed into my hair. "If you are in danger, press it once. If you need me to come for you, press it twice. Don't let him take the journal."
I nodded against his shoulder, biting back a sob. This felt final.
I walked out of the laundry room, my small bag in hand, and found Kael waiting by a heavy, black SUV idling outside the Pack House. He didn't look back at the Shadow Creek wolves watching in stunned silence.
"Get in," he commanded.
I slid into the back seat. Lyra took the passenger seat, and Kael got behind the wheel. In a moment of sheer audacity, I pulled the journal out and opened it on my lap.
"What is the Silver Shard?" I asked, looking up at his reflection in the rearview mirror.
Kael's lips barely moved. "A question better saved for the journey. It's an artifact your ancestors stole to neutralize the Silver Moon's lineage. We are simply taking it back."
"And why am I the 'unblooded female'?"
"Because your mother, in her cleverness, used the ritual to hide the Shard inside the one person no Alpha would ever touch: the wolf-less failure. The Shard is housed within your unshifted essence, making you magically invisible to every wolf in the continent—save for one."
"You."
"Me," he confirmed, putting the vehicle into gear. "Only the true Silver Alpha can sense the connection. It is part of the prophecy. Now, silence. We are still within hostile territory."
The moment the heavy, armored SUV crossed the Shadow Creek boundary line, the atmosphere inside the car changed. Kael's posture became rigid, his scent—the cold musk that defined him—suddenly sharper, more aggressive.
"Lyra, report," he ordered, his eyes sweeping the darkened forest.
"Confirmed, Alpha. The Shadow Creek patrols are too stunned to follow. However, we have two unknown scents crossing our trail rapidly. North-East quadrant. Fast movers."
"Ambush," Kael stated, not asking. "They knew. Someone here betrayed the negotiation."
Lyra grabbed a specialized rifle from beneath her seat. "The Scavengers, Alpha? They hunt artifacts."
"Likely. They smelled the disruption. They know Shadow Creek is vulnerable." Kael pressed a button on the dash, and the SUV's doors locked and sealed with a heavy mechanical thud.
The next ten minutes were terrifying. The SUV, driven by Kael like a professional racer, was slamming through the dense forest, ignoring the path. I was thrown against the door, clutching the journal and the small locator in my hands.
Suddenly, the vehicle slammed into something enormous. The airbags deployed, slamming into my face. The world tilted violently.
Through the haze, I heard glass shattering and the snarls of multiple wolves.
Kael's door was ripped open with a sound like tearing metal. He didn't hesitate. "Lyra, protect the Omega! I'll take the perimeter!"
He shifted instantly. I didn't see the transformation, only a massive, shimmering Silver Wolf—the color of liquid moonlight—leaping out of the car. The snarling of the other wolves immediately turned into terrified yelps.
Lyra unsealed the back door on my side. "Out! We need to move! The Scavengers only care about the artifact—they'll tear the car apart!"
I scrambled out, hitting the cold forest floor. The scene was chaos: a black SUV crippled against a tree, the overwhelming scent of blood, and the terrifying, echoing snarls of Kael's fight. He was a whirlwind of silver fur, moving too fast to track, leaving a trail of broken bodies.
Lyra grabbed my arm and dragged me deeper into the woods, away from the fight.
"The Scavengers are not affiliated with any pack," Lyra gasped as we ran. "They are mercenary wolves who hunt magical artifacts. They must have followed the Silver Moon's trail, sensing the power of the Shard. They think Kael is transporting it!"
She pushed me into a small, dark crevice beneath a collapsed rock formation—a secure, temporary bunker.
"Stay here. Do not make a sound," Lyra commanded, her eyes dark with determination. "I need to assist the Alpha. He is strong, but they are too many."
She left me, disappearing into the blood-drenched darkness. I was completely alone, trapped in a cold, stone cage, listening to the agonizing sounds of an Alpha fighting for his life—and for the 'item' he needed to retrieve.
I clutched the locator in my hand, my thumb hovering over the button. Should I call Elias?
A deep, chilling howl echoed through the trees—a sound of triumph. But I couldn't tell who had won.
Then, I heard heavy footsteps approaching my hiding spot, followed by a voice that wasn't Kael's, and wasn't Lyra's.
"I smell her. The non-scent. The Omega. The Shard is here."