Raven stepped closer. "It's not passing," his voice stayed calm, but the sound carried power. "It's hiding."He looked down at his hand, at the faint red trace on his own wrist. He didn't let them see the mark matching hers."Both of you," he said finally, "Come with me. You'll answer at the keep."Eveline lifted Sera up, her legs barely held. Raven watched every movement as something inside him pulled again. The curse ached again in his veins. As they walked away, the river murmured behind them, softly carrying her name. He didn't look back, but his body did.
****************************************************The keep was made of stone and stillness. All sound disappeared when they walked in. Sera's bare feet left little marks across the dark floor. Water still clung to her hair, she shivered not from cold, but from the weight of the man who led them. Raven walked ahead as if each step was calculated. Guards lined the hall but no one dared to meet his eyes. He stopped before a narrow chamber. "Go inside."Eveline moved in first, acting calm but scared underneath. Sera followed, looking tired and shaky. The door closed behind them with a heavy sound. Raven didn't sit, he stood near the fire as it flamed across his face. "Speak."Eveline folded her hands. "She sleepwalks, I told…""Then explain this."He caught Sera's wrist and turned it toward the fire.The mark was still there glowing softly under her skin with each heartbeat. When he touched her, it lit up again.A wave of sound rolled through the room, soft and heavy, as if the air was folding on itself.Eveline's breath skipped. "Alpha…""Quiet."The light throbbed again, brighter this time, and the air smelled faintly of lightning.Raven let her go.The mark dimmed to a soft glow but didn't disappear.His voice was low and calm. "What is she?""A girl," Eveline said carefully. "Broken, frightened. Nothing else."He looked back at Sera. "A simple girl wouldn't trigger the wards. The forest wouldn't move for her."Sera swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to…""It doesn't matter." He stepped closer, close enough that she could see the small line circling on his wrist. "You crossed into my land, and the bond answered."She frowned. "Bond?"He didn't answer. The fire hissed between them. The sound filled the silence. Eveline stepped in front of her, her voice steady but soft. "She's exhausted. Let her rest. You can question her once she wakes up."Raven looked at her one more time… he looked at the way her eyes reflected the flames, at the strange noise in her pulse, and then he turned away."Fine. She stays here. You.." his eyes turned to Eveline. "…don't leave her side."Eveline bowed her head. "Thank you, Alpha."When the door closed behind him, Sera exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she held. Her body still trembled where his hand had touched her. Eveline guided her to a narrow bed near the fire. "Lie down. Don't speak. Not until morning."Sera obeyed. The blanket smelled of smoke and ash. Her skin settled beneath it. "Eveline," she whispered. "He had the same mark."Eveline's hand paused. A long silence followed, then she said softly. "Don't say that again. Not here."Sera turned her face toward the ceiling as shadows moved above her like waves in deep water.The room was too calm. Too quiet. And beneath her skin, the like pulsed once more.She felt it move up her arm and settled close to her heart. It beat once, twice, matching the sound she had felt by the river.Sleep came slow, heavy, dragged by the ache of questions she couldn't answer. But when she fell asleep, she fell deep.The last thing she saw before the dark closer in the mark on her wrist glowing faintly again, and then a whisper of gray light curling like smoke.Then a voice came from the dark, low and unfamiliar. "Sera."Her breath caught. The dream opened… and her father, Malachai, was waiting.