The night swallowed them whole.
Eloise's breathing was ragged as she guided Brandy and Alisa deeper into the mountains, her arms trembling under the weight of her half-conscious son. The trees thickened, their branches twisting into shapes that seemed alive, whispering in the dark. Somewhere behind them, a faint howl echoed through the forest. Damian's wolves. They were close.
Alisa gripped Brandy's other arm, trying to steady him. His body burned with fever, his skin clammy and pale beneath streaks of dirt and dried blood. He stumbled with every step, his strength fading fast.
"We can't keep running like this," Alisa whispered, her voice tight with fear. "He needs rest. He needs help."
Eloise's jaw clenched. She didn't respond, eyes scanning the shadowed path ahead. Then suddenly, she stopped and pushed aside a curtain of overgrown vines. Behind them stood an old stone hut pressed into the mountainside. Its roof sagged in places, but the walls still held.
"Inside," she ordered.
Alisa helped Brandy stumble through the doorway. The air inside was thick with dust and moss, the scent of old earth and abandonment. Eloise lowered him onto a mat of worn furs. His head lolled to one side, a weak groan escaping his lips.
"Stay still," Eloise said sharply.
Brandy's eyes fluttered open, the faintest spark of recognition cutting through the haze. But it wasn't warmth she saw, it was bitterness.
"You…" His voice rasped, but the anger in it was sharp enough to wound. "Why now?"
Eloise froze, her hand hovering near him but not touching. "Because Damian will not stop until you are dead."
Brandy gave a weak, bitter laugh that broke into a cough. "You left me. All these years, left me with strangers like I was nothing. And now you suddenly care?"
The words struck harder than claws. Eloise's throat tightened, but she steadied her tone. "I left you so you could live. If I had kept you with me, Damian would have killed you before you could even walk."
"So your plan was to abandon me?" he hissed. "To hope someone else picked up your mess?"
Alisa flinched at his tone. She had never seen Brandy like this before. His pain was raw, stripped of restraint. Eloise stood still, eyes glimmering with sorrow she could not hide.
"You think I don't wonder every day if I made the right choice?" Her voice trembled. "You think I don't remember your cries the night I left you? I gave you up because it was the only way. I chose your life over my heart, Brandy."
"Don't call me that." He turned his face away, blinking back tears that refused to fall. "You're no mother of mine."
Silence pressed down on the room.
Alisa bit her lip, torn between comforting him and understanding the grief in Eloise's eyes.
Eloise stood, pulling a rag from a shelf and dipping it into a basin of water. "Rest," she said quietly. "Your strength won't return if you waste it on anger."
Brandy said nothing. He shut his eyes, closing her out as if she were a stranger.
***
The next few days were thick with tension.
Eloise busied herself with repairs, patching the roof, gathering herbs, and preparing small meals. She moved like someone who'd lived too long in survival mode. Brandy stayed distant, nursing his resentment in silence. But Alisa, ever gentle, bridged the gap between them.
At night, when Brandy couldn't sleep, she sat beside him, whispering fragments of her past how she'd always felt bound to the forest, as if it called to her. She remembered no parents, no beginning. Only solitude.
And Brandy, despite himself, spoke too. He told her of the Janmans, the human couple who had raised him with kindness. Of the day he broke a door handle clean off without meaning to. Of the fear in his mother's eyes when his wounds healed faster than humanly possible. Of how he never fit anywhere.
"You sound like me," Alisa said softly one night as moonlight painted the floor between them. "Not belonging. Not knowing who you are."
Brandy's expression softened. "Maybe that's why we can't stand each other."
She smiled faintly. "Or maybe it is why we should."
Their fragile bond deepened, tangled with conflict and care. They argued often over firewood, food, training but behind every clash was connection neither of them wanted to admit.
And Eloise watched them in silence, her gaze lingering too long on Alisa, suspicion flickering behind her calm eyes.
***
On the fourth day, Eloise broke the silence.
"It is time," she said.
Brandy, pacing by the wall, looked up warily. "Time for what?"
"For you to learn control. If you can not master what you are, Damian will find you and when he does, you won't stand a chance."
Brandy's jaw tightened. "And you qre going to teach me?"
"Yes."
He hesitated but followed her outside. The forest spread wide around them, dappled in shifting light. Alisa lingered at the doorway, worry etched into her face.
Eloise's tone softened. "Close your eyes. Listen. Not with your ears listen with your blood. The forest speaks, Brandy. Your wolf will always hear it."
He clenched his fists but obeyed. Silence stretched, then the world sharpened he heard the flutter of wings above, the scurry of mice beneath roots, the far-off whisper of running water. His pulse quickened with the sudden clarity.
"Good," Eloise murmured. "Now control it. Do not let it consume you."
But the voices grew louder. His breathing hitched, claws pressing through his fingertips. His body trembled, half-man, half-beast.
"I can't..."
"Focus!" Eloise barked.
He roared, the sound raw and animal.
"Brandy!" Alisa cried, running forward.
Too late. His eyes blazed amber. He lunged, not at Eloise, but at the nearest movement. At Alisa.
She gasped, stumbling back. His claws caught her arm, tearing skin. Pain flared. She fell to the ground, clutching the wound.
Brandy froze mid-attack, horror flooding his features. "Alisa… no… I did not..."
Blood seeped between her fingers. She tried to speak, but no words came. Brandy knelt beside her, shaking. "I am sorry. I did not mean..."
Her blood smeared across his skin. The instant it touched him, time seemed to stop.
The wound on his arm, one he had not noticed from training sealed before their eyes. The torn flesh knitted together until nothing remained.
Brandy stared, breathless. Alisa blinked, realizing her own cut was closing too, the pain vanishing as if it had never existed.
Eloise gasped, her face paling. "It is true… the Ancient Blood…"
Brandy looked up, shaken. "What are you talking about?"
Eloise's eyes burned into Alisa. "She's no ordinary human. Her blood heals. She carries the mark of prophecy."
Alisa shook her head, panicked. "No… I don't know what's happening. I'm just me. I'm just human."
But Eloise only whispered again, awe and fear entwined in her voice. "So… you are the key."
The forest stirred. A howl rose in the distance low, haunting, far too close. Damian's hunters.
Brandy grabbed Alisa's hand, pulling her to her feet. His heart pounded for reasons beyond the danger outside.
For the first time he did not know which truth terrified him more the wolves hunting them, or the secret that Alisa's blood had just revealed.