Chapter Four: Fire Beneath the Skin
Selena stood in the middle of the clearing, heart pounding.
The sky above Blackridge was dark with storm clouds, the wind howling through the pines. All around her, trees swayed like they knew something was coming.
Kael stood ten feet away, arms folded, expression unreadable.
"Again," he commanded.
Selena clenched her fists. Her muscles screamed from the hours of sparring, but this… this was different.
This was about control.
"Feel the energy inside you," Kael said. "You were born with it. Stop trying to reach for it like it's separate. It is you."
She closed her eyes.
Tried to focus.
Tried to feel what he insisted was buried in her veins power from the Moon Goddess, dormant too long.
But all she felt was frustration. Grief. Rage.
A storm inside her own chest.
"I can't," she said through gritted teeth.
"You can," Kael snapped. "But you're afraid. Power doesn't respond to hesitation."
Selena's eyes flew open. "I'm not afraid."
"Then prove it."
She glared at him.
He was infuriating. Cold one moment, magnetic the next. And always in control. Always expecting her to fall in line.
He had no idea what it was like to have your whole life ripped away, only to be told you were something powerful you'd never asked to be.
She didn't want to be special. She wanted to go back.
Back to before her parents were burned alive.
Before her village turned on her.
Before Kael came crashing into her world and made her feel everything.
"I'm not your soldier," she hissed.
Kael's golden eyes narrowed. "No. You're something more. That's why you have to master this."
Selena's hands began to shake.
Not from fear.
From heat.
A strange warmth bloomed in her chest. Her fingers tingled. The world seemed to sharpen the wind louder, the trees clearer, her heartbeat thunderous.
"What what's happening?" she gasped.
Kael stepped forward. "You're on the edge. Let it come."
The heat surged, unbearable now.
And then
BOOM.
A pulse of light exploded from her skin, sending Kael stumbling backward.
The trees closest to her bent violently, some snapping. Dust and leaves flew into the air like a miniature tornado had touched down.
Selena dropped to her knees, panting.
The energy was gone as fast as it came.
Kael slowly approached, brushing debris from his shoulder.
"Not bad," he said, almost smiling.
"I didn't mean to," she whispered. "I wasn't even trying"
"You don't always need to try. Power finds you when emotion is raw. That's what makes it dangerous and necessary to control."
Selena looked at her trembling hands.
They didn't look any different.
But something had changed.
Something ancient had stirred.
And it terrified her.
That night, she couldn't sleep.
Not because of pain or noise but because of the way Kael had looked at her.
Not with fear.
With recognition.
As if some part of him understood what she'd unleashed.
She slipped out of her room and wandered into the library. The halls of Blackridge were dimly lit with torches, their flickering light casting shadows on the stone walls.
She found the section Kael had shown her before—one lined with old tomes about wolf history.
One book, bound in dark leather, caught her eye.
"The Moon's Chosen: Legends of the White Line."
She flipped it open and read by candlelight.
"The white wolf is not born of mere blood, but of celestial balance. For every shadow, there must be light. When the darkest alpha rises, so too must the purest wolf rise to meet him..."
"She shall burn with fire that heals and fire that destroys…"
Selena stared at the words, heart thudding.
Fire.
Just like today.
Was that what had pulsed through her?
She traced the faded ink with her fingers, trying to imagine herself as the girl described—light to match a darkness.
But what if she wasn't ready?
What if the power consumed her before she could control it?
Kael found her there, hours later.
He didn't say a word. Just walked in and sat across from her.
Selena looked up, startled. "Can't sleep either?"
"I never sleep much."
She closed the book. "Did you feel it today? The power?"
He nodded. "It wasn't just raw. It was old. Like something buried finally woke up."
Selena swallowed. "What if I lose control again?"
"Then we keep trying. Until you don't."
She studied him. His face was hard, but his eyes… they weren't cold tonight. They were softer. Distantly sad.
"You've lost someone," she said quietly.
Kael stiffened. "We all have."
"But you carry it like armor."
He didn't reply for a long moment.
Then, finally, he said, "When I was seventeen, Ruvan slaughtered half my pack. My sister included."
Selena's heart sank. "I'm sorry."
"She was like you. Strong. Stubborn. Bright. He made an example of her."
Kael's jaw clenched.
"I swore that day I'd never stop fighting him. Never let another white wolf die before fulfilling her fate."
"So that's why you protect me."
He looked at her, and something in his gaze shifted.
"I protect you because I want to," he said.
Silence stretched between them.
Selena's breath hitched.
Kael stood, too quickly, like the moment had become dangerous.
"Rest," he said, voice tight. "We train again at dawn."
He turned to leave, but paused at the door.
"You did good today."
And then he was gone.
Selena touched her chest where the fire had bloomed earlier.
And for the first time, she didn't feel afraid of it.
The next morning, Selena and Elira walked along the upper battlements of Blackridge.
"You're getting stronger," Elira said. "The pack is starting to accept you. Even the old warriors are talking."
"About what?"
"That Kael's bonded to you."
Selena blinked. "What?"
Elira gave her a look. "You really didn't notice?"
Selena shook her head. "I thought it was just… tension."
Elira laughed. "That's one word for it."
They paused as two scouts ran up the steps, breathless.
"Elira! We have movement near the northern ridge. A dozen cloaked figures fast and masked."
Elira's expression turned grim. "Deathfang scouts?"
"They didn't bear the sigil, but… they weren't human."
Selena's heart dropped.
"They're coming for me," she whispered.
Kael met them at the northern wall minutes later.
"They were testing our defenses," he said. "And leaving a message."
He held up a scroll with Ruvan's mark on it a bleeding black moon.
Selena read the words and felt a chill sink into her bones:
"White wolf, your fire belongs to me. I will extinguish it soon enough. Or worse... claim it for my own."
Kael crushed the scroll in his fist.
Selena's hands trembled—but this time not from fear.
From rage.
Let Ruvan come.
Let him try.
Because she was no longer the girl who ran.
She was learning.
Burning.
And she would never be his.