Avelyn felt a tug, not on her arm or her clothing, but on her spirit, a pull that yanked her consciousness from the cave and into something far deeper. Damien's grip on her hand was the only thing anchoring her.
Then the world fractured.
And everything went dark.
Avelyn's Vision
She stood in a cold forest, fog thick as wool surrounding her. The trees whispered her name.
"Avelyn…"
She turned in every direction, heart pounding. Then she saw them, her pack.
Dozens of wolves with coats like moonlight, eyes like hers. Her people. Her family.
But they weren't alive.
They stood in a circle, eyes vacant, blood soaking their throats. One by one, they fell to ash.
"No!" she screamed, rushing forward, but her feet wouldn't move.
"You failed them," said a voice behind her.
She turned.
Her mother stood there, stern, sad-eyed.
"You ran. You survived. But you didn't save us."
Avelyn's knees buckled.
"I was a child"
"You were born to lead. And you hid like prey. You don't deserve the Luna mark."
The forest turned to fire.
Her mark burned.
She screamed.
Then
Damien's voice broke through.
"Avelyn, breathe. You're not alone."
Damien's Vision
He stood in the middle of a battlefield. Blood soaked the soil. The sky was black, the moon shattered into pieces. Bodies of wolves, men, women littered the field.
And at the center of it all…
Avelyn, lying motionless in a pool of her own blood, her mark scorched out of existence.
"No," he whispered, dropping to his knees.
"You killed her," said another voice. His own.
He turned and saw himself. A mirror image. Same face. Same eyes. But the doppelgänger wore a black crown, its edges stained with blood.
"You chose duty over love. Power over truth."
Damien shook his head. "I would never"
"But you did. You always do. You push everyone away. You think love is weakness."
"I was trying to protect her!" he shouted.
The other Damien grinned. "Then why is she dead?"
Fire rained from the sky.
The battlefield burned.
But then, her hand.
Warm. Real. Anchoring.
"Damien," she said, her voice shaky but there. "Come back."
Back in the Sanctum
The Guardian's runes dimmed.
The bloodred pool shimmered and turned clear.
Damien and Avelyn staggered back into reality, drenched in sweat and silence. Their breathing was ragged, their hands still intertwined like it was the only thing holding them together.
"You saw it too," she whispered.
He nodded. "We both carry guilt."
"But truth isn't meant to destroy us," she said, her eyes fierce through the tears. "It's meant to free us."
The Guardian bowed its head.
"You have faced your truths. One burdened by loss, the other by legacy. And yet, you chose each other."
The water in the pool surged, then stilled into a perfect mirror. Reflected in its surface was not just Damien and Avelyn, but the First Alpha and Luna, standing behind them like shadows of the past.
"The curse was never in the bond," the First Luna said, her voice echoing from the depths. "It was in the refusal to accept its strength."
"What once began in blood," the First Alpha added, "may now end in unity."
The pool lit up.
The marks on Damien and Avelyn's shoulders glowed brighter, syncing gold and silver threads intertwining like a braid.
A strange warmth spread through them, not painful, but profound. Like the final click of a lock.
The bond had completed its first phase.
They had survived the Trial of Truth.
Later in the Cave
They sat by a small fire, silence lingering between them. The pool now lay dormant, the Guardian gone. Moonlight filtered in through the cracks in the ceiling, casting shifting patterns across the walls.
Avelyn stared into the flames. "I saw my mother. I saw… what I carry."
"I saw you die," Damien said quietly. "And it nearly broke me."
She looked at him, really looked.
"You act like you're made of stone," she said. "But you're not. You're fire under pressure."
He glanced at her, his jaw ticking. "You scare me."
"I know."
"Not because of the prophecy. Because you see me, even the parts I'd rather bury."
She reached over and took his hand again.
"You saw mine too. I was running for so long, I forgot what it meant to stay."
He stared at their fingers, interlocked.
"I don't know what comes next, Avelyn. The hunters. The council. The prophecy still hanging over us like a noose."
"Then we face it together."
He smiled faintly. "You're stubborn."
"You love it."
"I do."
The cave hummed softly, as if the stone itself sighed with relief.
But outside, far beyond the safety of the Sanctum, storm clouds gathered.
The prophecy had awakened.
And others had felt the shift.
Enemies.
Allies.
And something far more ancient.
Watching.
Waiting.