Seris POV
I'm burning alive, but I'm not dying.
The fire wraps around me like a living thing, hungry and hot. It should be turning my skin to ash. Should be cooking my lungs. Should be killing me.
Instead, the flames are sinking INTO my skin.
I can't breathe. Can't scream anymore. My throat is raw. The heat presses against me from all sides, but it's not just outside anymore—it's inside too. Deep in my chest, something is cracking open. Like a door that's been locked my whole life is finally breaking.
Pain explodes through every part of me. Not the burn of fire on skin. This is worse. This is my bones reshaping, my blood boiling, my soul tearing apart and rebuilding itself into something new.
What's happening to me?
My vision flashes white. Then silver. Colors I've never seen before dance behind my eyelids. I hear voices—whispers in a language I don't understand but somehow FEEL. Ancient words. Old magic.
"Daughter of flame..."
"Blood of the Goddess..."
"Rise..."
The crowd's screaming fades to nothing. The world disappears. There's only the fire and the pain and the voices calling me toward something I can't name.
One final burst of energy rips through me—so bright, so powerful that even with my eyes closed, I see it. Silver light explodes outward like a bomb. The force of it throws me backward.
Then... darkness.
Complete and total darkness.
I stop screaming. Stop breathing. Stop existing.
For a moment, there's nothing.
Corwin POV
The light is so bright I have to shield my eyes.
When it finally fades, I lower my arm slowly. My heart pounds. My wolf is going crazy inside me, howling warnings I don't understand.
The pyre is still burning, but something's wrong. The flames aren't orange anymore.
They're silver.
Pure, glowing silver fire that doesn't look natural. Doesn't look RIGHT.
"What is that?" someone whispers behind me.
The crowd has gone silent. Three hundred wolves stare at the burning platform in horror. Even Elder Casta looks pale.
"The curse," Lyria says, her voice shaking. She grips my arm hard enough to hurt. "It's the curse manifesting. We need to add more wood—make sure the body burns completely!"
I nod slowly, but I can't look away from those silver flames. They're beautiful and terrible at the same time.
It takes another ten minutes for the fire to die down. When it does, I step forward carefully. My boots crunch on charred wood. Smoke stings my eyes.
In the center of the ashes, there's a skeleton. Small bones, blackened by fire. The skull is cracked.
She's dead. Seris is dead.
My chest tightens. I rejected her. Ordered her execution. Lit the pyre myself. But seeing her reduced to bones makes something twist inside me.
I loved you once, I'd told her. Past tense. Like our three years together meant nothing.
"Is it done?" Elder Casta's voice is cold. "Is the omega finally gone?"
I swallow the strange guilt rising in my throat. "Yes. She's dead."
The crowd begins to disperse, talking in hushed voices. Lyria stays close to me, her hand sliding into mine. "You did the right thing," she whispers. "You saved the pack."
I nod. But why does it feel like I just made the biggest mistake of my life?
Vaelor POV
The power hits me like a physical blow.
I stumble mid-stride, my massive black wolf form skidding in the dirt. My second-in-command Kael yelps in surprise as I nearly crash into him.
The surge of energy races through the air—ancient, forbidden, IMPOSSIBLE.
I know this feeling. I've read about it in books so old they crumble when touched. I've studied the legends my whole life.
Flamebinder magic.
But Flamebinders are extinct. The last one died three hundred years ago, hunted down by wolves who feared what they couldn't control.
Another pulse of power ripples outward, and this time I FEEL the direction. North. Toward Thornvale territory, the small pack that borders the wild lands.
I shift to human form in seconds, not caring that I'm naked. "Kael! Wake the others!"
Kael shifts beside me, confusion on his scarred face. "Your Majesty? What's wrong?"
"A Flamebinder just awakened." I can barely believe I'm saying the words. "In Thornvale."
Kael's eyes go wide. "That's impossible—"
"I know what I felt!" I snap. My heart is racing. If there's really a Flamebinder out there, everything changes. The power balance between packs. The old treaties. Everything.
And if I don't get to them first, someone else will. Someone who'll either kill them or use them.
I won't let that happen.
"Get horses. Full guard. We leave now."
"But Your Majesty, it's nearly dawn. We've been patrolling all night—"
"NOW, Kael!"
He bows quickly and runs toward the stables. I stand there in the pre-dawn darkness, staring north. My skin prickles with leftover energy from that magical surge.
A Flamebinder. After all these centuries.
I should be cautious. Should send scouts first. Should plan this properly.
But something in my gut—some instinct I can't name—tells me to hurry. Tells me whoever just awakened is in terrible danger.
I think of Ellara. Of how I failed to protect her when it mattered most.
I won't fail again.
Seris POV
Cold.
Everything is so cold.
I wake up gasping, my body convulsing. For a second I think I'm still on the pyre, still burning. But no—I'm lying in dirt and leaves. Trees surround me. It's dark except for moonlight filtering through branches.
I'm alive.
HOW am I alive?
I try to sit up and scream. Pain shoots through every muscle. My skin feels wrong—too tight, too hot, like I'm wearing someone else's body. I look down at my arms and freeze.
Silver lines cover my skin. Not scars exactly. They look like veins, but they glow faintly in the darkness. They start at my hands and spiral up my arms, disappearing under the burned remains of my dress.
I touch one gently. It's warm. The silver light pulses under my fingertip like a heartbeat.
What am I?
Memories flood back. The pyre. Corwin's rejection. The crowd screaming for my death. Lyria's guilty face. The fire consuming me.
The power that exploded from inside me.
I look around frantically. Where am I? How did I get here? The last thing I remember is being on that platform, surrounded by flames.
Now I'm in the forest. Miles from Thornvale, based on the trees. Did I... did I walk here? I don't remember anything after the light.
A twig snaps behind me.
I spin around, heart hammering. My hands heat up instantly and flames burst from my palms—actual fire, dancing over my skin without burning me.
I stare at the flames in shock.
Someone steps out of the shadows. A massive figure, at least six and a half feet tall. Broad shoulders. Dark hair. Eyes that reflect the moonlight like an animal's.
His voice is deep and sends shivers down my spine.
"Easy, little flame. I'm not here to hurt you."
He takes another step forward, and the moonlight hits his face fully.
He's the most beautiful—and terrifying—man I've ever seen.
"My name is Vaelor Rune," he says. "And you, Seris Holloway, are coming with me."
My flames flare brighter in panic. "How do you know my name?"
He smiles, and it's not comforting. It's the smile of a predator.
"Because I've been looking for you my entire life."