Maren's POV
Get up.
Kael's voice is ice. No warmth. No mercy.
I'm still kneeling beside my father's body, blood on my hands, the world spinning around me. The Council horns are getting louder. Closer.
I said get up. Kael grabs my arm and hauls me to my feet. The bond screams at his touch pain, fury, betrayal. All his. None of it directed at me.
All of it because of me.
Kael I start.
Don't. His grey eyes are empty. Don't say anything. Don't apologize. Don't explain. Just move.
Ronan appears beside us, breathing hard. They're three minutes out. Maybe less. If we're going to run, we run now.
We're not running. Kael's jaw sets. We're going to the sanctuary.
That's suicide, Ronan says flatly. They know where it is. They'll be waiting.
Then we fight.
Against the entire Council? With what army?
The two hundred wolves who trusted me to keep them safe. Kael's voice cracks just slightly. I'm not abandoning them.
The bond pulses with his determination. With his absolute refusal to let anyone else die for his mistakes.
Even though this one is mine.
It's my fault, I whisper.
Kael doesn't look at me. Yes.
The word hits like a fist to the stomach.
But, he continues, you didn't know. And blaming you won't save them. So move. Now. Or I leave you here.
He means it. The bond tells me he means it.
And somehow, that hurts worse than anything.
We run.
Not toward the sanctuary. Away from it. Ronan leads us through back alleys and over walls, moving like he knows this city by heart. The Council horns fade behind usbut that just means they're spreading out, surrounding the area, cutting off escape routes.
Where are we going? I gasp.
Anywhere but here, Ronan mutters.
We burst into the forest at the city's edge. Trees swallow us whole. Darkness closes in like a fist.
Kael sets a brutal pace. I struggle to keep up. My lungs burn. My legs shake. The Ember Gift is exhausted from bending fire, and my body is paying the price.
I stumble.
Kael catches me before I fall. The bond flares then dies just as fast. He releases me like I burned him.
Can't stop, he says.
I know.
Can't slow down.
I know!
Then keep moving.
He's already walking away. Not looking back. Like if he looks at me, he'll see my father's face. See the trap. See everything he lost tonight.
The bond hums with guilt mine this time, not his.
I force my legs to move. One step. Then another. Then another.
We walk for hours.
The forest grows thicker. Darker. Ancient trees with trunks as wide as houses block out the moon. Strange sounds echo through the shadows howls that aren't quite wolves, rustlings that might be wind or might be something worse.
The Shattered Wilds.
I've heard stories about this place my whole life. About the things that live here. Things that even wolves fear.
Why are we going this way? I ask. My voice sounds too loud in the silence.
Because the Council won't follow, Kael says without stopping. Not at night. Not here.
Why not?
Because they're smart.
That doesn't sound reassuring.
Ronan moves ahead, scouting. His voice drifts back: Old roadhouse two miles north. Abandoned. We can rest there.
No rest, Kael says. We keep moving until dawn.
Kael
I said we keep moving.
Ronan falls back beside me. Lowers his voice so only I can hear: He's going to run himself into the ground.
I know.
And you're barely standing.
I know that too.
So what do we do?
I look at Kael's back. At the rigid set of his shoulders. At the way he holds himself like he's carrying the weight of the world and refusing to let anyone help.
The bond shows me glimpses of what he's feeling grief for the wolves he thinks he's failed, rage at himself for being tricked, fear that he's already too late.
And underneath it all, a small, stubborn thread of something else.
Hope.
He still thinks he can save them.
We follow him, I say quietly. Until he collapses or until we reach the sanctuary. Whichever comes first.
Ronan studies me for a long moment. You care about him.
I barely know him.
That's not what I asked.
I don't have an answer for that.
We walk in silence for another hour. My feet go numb. My vision starts to blur. The Ember Gift whispers in my blood, trying to heal my exhaustion, but there's nothing to heal. I'm just human. Just breakable.
Just the girl who destroyed everything.
Then Kael stops.
So suddenly that I almost walk into him.
What I start.
He holds up one hand. Listening.
The forest has gone quiet.
Too quiet.
No birds. No insects. No wind.
Just silence.
And then footsteps.
Slow. Steady. Coming from ahead.
Ronan's hand moves to his weapon. How many?
One, Kael says softly. But that's worse.
Why?
Because nothing in the Wilds travels alone unless it's strong enough not to need a pack.
The footsteps get closer.
A figure steps out from behind a massive oak tree.
She's tall. Thin. Wearing a cloak made of feathers that seem to move on their own. Her eyes are black not brown, not dark grey, but pure black, like holes in her face.
And she's smiling.
Rogue King, she says. Her voice sounds like leaves rustling. I've been waiting for you.
Kael goes very still. Lira.
My heart stops.
Because that name I know that name.
Lira Foxen. Kael's second-in-command. The woman who runs the sanctuary when he's away.
She shouldn't be here.
Unless
The sanctuary, Kael says. His voice is barely a whisper. What happened?
Lira's smile doesn't waver. You should ask her. She points at me. Since it's her fault.
The bond floods with Kael's confusion. His dread.
Lira, he says slowly, what are you talking about?
The Council came, she says. Just like the traitor said they would. With soldiers. With fire. With chains. Her black eyes fix on me. They killed sixteen wolves before we even knew what was happening.
My stomach drops.
No, I whisper.
Oh yes. Lira steps closer. Sixteen dead. Thirty more wounded. And do you know what they were screaming as they burned our homes?
I can't speak.
They were screaming her name. Lira's finger stabs toward me. The Ember carrier. The one who betrayed the Rogue King. The one who led the Council straight to us.
That's not true! I shout. I didn't know! I didn't
Doesn't matter what you knew. Lira's voice turns cold. Matters what you did. And what you did was bring death to our doorstep.
Kael hasn't moved. Hasn't spoken.
The bond is a frozen wasteland in my chest.
How many survived? he asks quietly.
Lira's smile finally drops. Enough. Barely. We evacuated through the northern tunnels. Most of the pack made it out.
Most.
Not all.
Silence.
Then Kael turns to me.
His eyes are empty again. Colder than before.
I should have left you on that platform, he says.
Each word is a knife.
I should have let someone else buy you. Let someone else fall into the trap. Let someone else watch their people die.
The bond throbs with pain his, mine, I can't tell anymore.
But I didn't. He steps closer. I bought you. I saved you. I let you follow me. And now sixteen wolves are dead because I made the wrong choice.
Kael
Don't say my name. His voice is raw. Don't look at me like that. Don't act like you didn't know this would happen.
I didn't! Tears burn my eyes. I swear I didn't know!
Then you're either a liar or a fool. He turns away. Either way, you're a liability I can't afford.
He looks at Lira. Take her to the camp. Lock her up. Keep her under guard.
My blood turns to ice. What?
You're a prisoner now, Kael says flatly. Until I decide what to do with you.
You can't
I can. I did. And if you fight me on this, I'll make sure you regret it.
The bond screams.
But his face stays empty.
Ronan, he says. Stay with me. We're going to the sanctuary ruins.
Kael Ronan starts.
That's an order.
Ronan's jaw tightens. But he nods.
Lira grabs my arm. Her grip is iron. Come on, traitor. Let's go.
I'm not a traitor!
Tell that to the dead.
She drags me into the darkness.
I look back once at Kael.
He's already walking away.
And the bond between us is screaming so loud I think it might break.
But then something else catches my attention.
Something Lira said.
They were screaming her name.
But how?
How did the Council know my name?
I never told them. My father sold the location of the sanctuary not me.
So how did they know?
Unless
My blood freezes.
Unless someone else told them.
Someone who wanted me blamed.
Someone who wanted Kael to hate me.
Someone who's been inside the sanctuary this whole time.
I look at Lira.
At her black eyes.
At her smile.
And suddenly, I understand.
The trap didn't end when my father died.
It's still happening.
And I just walked right into the next part.