Chapter 6: Wolves at the Gate
The forest that bordered the Veiled City stretched like a living nightmare—dark boughs tangled overhead, and the earth whispered warnings with every step. Elara had never ventured beyond the vampire walls until now.
Kael had insisted.
"If you want the truth," he'd said, "you have to see where it all began."
The Ruins of Hollowfern
The place Kael brought her was nothing like she imagined. Hollowfern was a shattered village hidden in the mist-drenched valley beyond the city. Charred ruins. Abandoned altars. Symbols of both witch and wolf carved into stone.
"This was once a sanctuary," Kael murmured. "Before the witches' pact twisted us."
Elara walked through the remnants of a long-dead peace. A child's toy lay blackened in the dirt.
"It was your kind who turned us into monsters," Kael said bitterly.
"And yours who chose blood over unity," she shot back.
They stared at each other, raw truths between them.
"I was born from both," she whispered. "So what does that make me?"
The Wolf Elder
Kael took her to the Den beneath Hollowfern where the Wolf Council gathered in secret. There she met Elder Varik, Kael's mentor—a weathered beast with eyes like dying stars.
"She bears the mark," Varik said, voice like gravel. "The blood that binds and breaks."
He leaned close.
"You are the Veil's fulcrum, girl. Even the witches do not see clearly. But the wolves remember."
"What do you remember?" Elara asked.
"Enough to know a storm's coming."
Lucien's Fury
By dusk, Lucien had found her.
He descended from the trees in a blur of black silk and fury. The wolves bristled. Elara stood between them.
"You had no right to leave," he said coldly.
"You don't own me," she replied.
Lucien's eyes darkened. "They'll twist you. Fill you with lies."
"And you'll keep feeding me half-truths in a gilded cage?"
Kael growled. Lucien stepped forward. For a moment, Elara thought they would tear each other apart.
"I'm not choosing between you," she said. "I'm choosing me."
The Dream of Fire
That night, as she lay under the stars between wolf ruins and vampire shadows, Elara dreamed.
In her vision, the sky burned red.
A woman stood at the center of it all—hair of starlight, eyes of flame. She wore the same mark as Elara… only larger, glowing, pulsing with power.
"Elara," the woman said. "It's time."
When Elara woke, the mark on her shoulder was bleeding.