Chapter 37: The Ti Is Near
Kael pushed the door to their chamber open without knocking.
The room was quiet, the lamps already dimd, and for a second he assud she was asleep.
But the bed was untouched. The blanket was still folded the way it had been left earlier, and the chair near the window was empty too.
Only Ivy was there.
She was lying on the other side of the room, sleeping peacefully as if nothing had happened that day. Her breathing was slow and steady, completely calm, and that alone made sothing inside him tighten.
"Liora?" he called quietly.
No answer.
He stepped further into the room and looked around again, checking the corners, the balcony door, even the bathroom, even though he already knew what he would find.
She wasn’t there.
That part unsettled him more than he wanted to admit. Liora rarely left the room unless soone called her.
Even during the day she stayed close to the chamber like she was still trying to understand her place in the fortress. The fact that she was gone now, in the middle of the night, didn’t feel normal.
His mind went sowhere he didn’t like.
The forbidden chamber.
He didn’t waste ti thinking about, her ancestors might be assigning her to a deadly task and that thought alone was enough to make him move faster.
The corridor outside was silent, and he reached the hidden passage within minutes. The stone door opened the mont he pressed his hand against the marking, and the cold air inside greeted him imdiately.
She wasn’t there.
The chains along the wall were still sealed. The symbols carved into the stone hadn’t changed.
Everything looked exactly the sa as it had the last ti he stepped inside, and yet sothing about the place felt different tonight, like the silence itself was waiting for sothing.
He turned to leave.
"Alpha."
The voice didn’t co from behind him. It ca from everywhere at once.
He froze.
"You are too late to pretend nothing is changing," the voice continued, low and steady. "The ti is near. The white wolf will now rise."
Kael didn’t respond. Whoever was speaking was not soone he could see, but he understood what it ant.
The chains were not only holding bodies. They were holding mories, power, and sothing far older than the pack itself.
He left the chamber without saying a word.
The mont he stepped back into the corridor, the feeling hit him again.
Heat.
Sharp, sudden, and familiar.
It burned along his ribs like sothing pulling from inside his chest, and he recognized it imdiately. It was the sa sensation he felt whenever Liora’s hidden power reacted to sothing. The bond didn’t just react to fear anymore. It reacted to her strength too.
He closed his eyes for a second, trying to focus on the direction instead of the pain.
The pull was stronger now, not inside the fortress but outside it, sowhere far enough to make his jaw tighten.
"She left the territory," he muttered under his breath.
The heat surged again, stronger this ti, and he understood sothing else imdiately.
Whatever she was doing, she was pushing herself too far. The bond didn’t react this violently unless she was close to collapsing.
He didn’t think about it again. He moved imdiately, following the direction the bond was pulling him toward, his pace faster than before.
He couldn’t allow her to die. Not now. Not after everything had already changed.
---liora
"Elera, stay with ," I said, trying to keep my voice steady even though my hands were shaking.
Her head was still lowered, and the mont I touched her shoulder, I realized how cold she had beco.
Her breathing was barely there, shallow and uneven, and every second that passed made it worse.
"I thought they sent for you from ho because of your sister," I whispered, my voice breaking before I could stop it. "Why are you here? Who did this to you?"
She tried to speak, but the sound didn’t co out properly. Her lips moved, and I leaned closer, hoping I could at least understand sothing.
Instead, her body went weak again.
"No," I said imdiately. "No, you’re not dying here."
The words ca out before I even thought about them.
Elera wasn’t just a maid to . Since the day I arrived in Blackmoor, she had been the only person who spoke to without hesitation.
The only one who didn’t look at like I didn’t belong. The only one who stayed when everyone else kept their distance.
Watching her die in front of wasn’t going to happen.
But the only way to save her was the one thing I wasn’t supposed to use.
I closed my eyes for a second, trying to calm the fear rising inside my chest. No one could know about it. Not Kael. Not Seraphina. Not anyone inside the fortress. If they found out, everything would change in ways I wouldn’t be able to control.
But if I did nothing, Elera would die.
And that wasn’t sothing I could accept.
"I’m sorry," I whispered quietly, even though I wasn’t sure who I was apologizing to.
I placed my hand gently against her chest.
The heat ca imdiately.
It started deep inside my ribs, spreading slowly until it felt like sothing sharp was pressing against my skin from the inside. I tried to ignore it and focused on her breathing instead, forcing myself to stay calm.
One burn appeared.
Then another.
I didn’t stop.
Three.
Four.
Five.
The pain was worse than before, stronger than anything I had felt the last ti I used it, but I forced myself to stay focused. Elera’s breathing beca slightly stronger under my hand, and that was enough to keep going.
Six.
Seven.
The seventh burn hit harder than the others, and the strength in my legs disappeared suddenly. I stumbled backward, coughing before I could stop myself, the taste of blood rising in my throat.
It was the first ti I had used this much at once.
But when I looked at her again, it still wasn’t enough.
Her breathing had improved, but the damage was too much. If I stopped now, she wouldn’t survive until morning.
I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand and forced myself to focus again.
"I still have four more," I whispered to myself.
Four more burns before I died.
The thought didn’t scare as much as it should have.
I stepped closer again and placed my hand against her chest once more, forcing myself to ignore the pain that was already starting to spread through my body.
One more burn appeared.
Then another.
The pain beca unbearable this ti, sharp enough to make my vision blur completely, but I refused to stop. If I stopped now, everything I had already done would be aningless.
Just one more—
A hand grabbed my arm suddenly and pushed away from her.
I lost my balance and fell back slightly, my chest still burning as I struggled to understand what had just happened.
I looked up imdiately.
Kael was standing there.
For a second, I couldn’t even speak. The shock alone was enough to make my mind go blank.
"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly.
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