Chapter 4
The healer stepped into the cave like he belonged there.
Eamon Crowspire moved carefully, hands open, palms visible, the soft glow of healing light already gathering around his fingers. Calm and measured. Kind in the way that made wolves lower their guards without realizing it.
Behind him, two elders hovered at the mouth of the cave. They didn't come closer. They didn't need to. Authority pressed heavier than any blade.
"Elowen," Eamon said again, gently. "You're in pain. Let us help you."
My wolf snarled.
"Don't," I said. My voice shook, but I didn't back away. "Don't pretend this is about helping."
Eamon's gaze flicked to Kael. Just for a heartbeat. Something unspoken passed between them.
Kael's shoulders stiffened.
That did it.
I laughed. It burst out of me sharp and cracked. "You planned this," I said. "All of you."
"No," Eamon replied softly. "We prepared for possibilities."
"By bleeding me?" I snapped.
His expression didn't change. That scared me more than anger would have.
"This ritual is meant to stabilize you," he said. "The bond failed. The rejection caused an imbalance."
"The rejection didn't fail," I said. "It was a lie."
Kael flinched.
I turned on him fully. "You said you felt nothing," I accused. "You stood there and said it like I was nothing."
His eyes burned. "I had to."
"No," I shot back. "You chose to."
The cave pulsed faintly, responding to my anger. Silver light flickered across the walls like veins lighting up under skin.
Eamon's calm finally cracked. "Elowen, please. You don't understand what you're triggering."
"Then explain it," I demanded. "All of it. Right now."
Silence stretched.
The elders exchanged glances.
That was answer enough.
"You don't want me to understand," I said quietly. "You want me compliant."
"Alive," Eamon corrected. "You want to live, don't you?"
My wolf laughed, low and dangerous.
"I already died," she whispered.
I sucked in a sharp breath. The words hit something buried deep in my chest, rattling bones that shouldn't remember anything.
Kael stepped forward then, just one pace. "Elowen," he said, voice rough. "Look at me."
I did.
His eyes were wrong.
They were steady. Controlled. But there was something underneath. Panic. Guilt. Fear so sharp it almost hurt to look at.
"You said you didn't feel anything," I said softly. "But your eyes are screaming."
His jaw tightened. "I meant what I said."
"No," I replied. "You meant what they needed you to say."
The healer inhaled sharply. "This is going nowhere."
"Because you won't let it," I snapped.
Eamon raised his staff, the sigils along its length glowing faintly. The air thickened instantly, pressure pressing against my skull like invisible hands.
Kael swore. "Stop."
Eamon hesitated. "Alpha…"
"I said stop," Kael growled, power rolling off him in a wave that made the cave shudder.
The elders stiffened but didn't intervene.
"Not yet," one murmured.
Not yet.
I felt it then. The ritual forming. Threads of magic tightening around me, subtle and invasive, like a net settling over my skin.
My wolf slammed against it.
The backlash was instant.
Pain tore through my spine, white-hot and blinding. I screamed, dropping to my knees as power ripped free of me in an uncontrolled surge. The cave walls cracked violently. A fissure split the ground between me and Eamon.
Blood splashed stone.
Not mine.
Kael staggered back with a sharp grunt, clutching his side. Dark blood soaked through his tunic, dripping onto the cave floor in heavy drops.
The world went very still.
"Elowen," he gasped.
I stared at him, horrified. "I didn't touch you."
"I know," he said, breath ragged. "That's the problem."
The elders recoiled.
Eamon's face went pale. "That shouldn't be possible."
I looked down at my hands. They were shaking violently, faintly glowing with silver light that pulsed in time with my heartbeat.
"You're bleeding for me," I whispered.
Kael forced a grim smile. "Seems that way."
The bond flared painfully, brighter than ever. Not pulling. Not tethering.
Responding.
Eamon stepped back slowly. "This changes things."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," I snapped.
The healer swallowed. "The bond is… redirecting."
"Redirecting what?" I demanded.
He didn't answer.
Kael did.
"The curse," he said hoarsely. "It's reacting to you. Not me."
The words slammed into me like a blow.
"That's not possible," I said. "You said it was your bloodline."
"I said that's what we were told," he replied.
The elders shifted uncomfortably.
"Tell her," Kael growled. "Now."
Eamon's lips pressed into a thin line. "This isn't the time."
"It's exactly the time," I snapped. "Before you try to cut me open."
The healer closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, something had changed. Fear. Real fear.
"There are records," he said slowly. "Old ones. Sealed. The kind that don't make it into official history."
My stomach dropped.
"They speak of a Luna," he continued, "who became… incompatible with pack law."
"Incompatible," I echoed. "Is that what you call execution now?"
Kael went rigid.
Eamon didn't deny it.
"She wasn't killed," the healer said. "Not exactly."
The cave trembled again, harder this time.
"She was erased," he continued. "Her power severed. Her memory fragmented. Her existence rewritten across generations."
My head rang.
"That's impossible," I whispered.
"No," my wolf said softly. "It's familiar."
I staggered, catching myself against the cave wall. Memories flickered at the edges of my mind. Stone. Blood. Voices chanting. A blade raised high.
Mine.
"You're lying," I said weakly.
Eamon met my gaze. "We hoped she wouldn't return."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kael looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. Like the ground had just shifted under everything he believed.
"You're talking about her like she's someone else," I said.
Eamon's voice dropped to a whisper. "She was called Luna Ashfall."
The name hit like a thunderclap.
Ashfall.
My knees buckled.
Kael caught me without thinking, arms wrapping around me instinctively. The contact sent a violent jolt through the bond, power surging between us like a live wire.
He gasped.
I clutched his tunic, breath coming fast and shallow. "That's my name," I whispered.
"No," Eamon said. "It's her title."
My vision blurred.
"You look like her," the healer continued. "Sound like her. And now… you bleed like her."
Kael stared down at me, horror dawning in his eyes. "What did you do to her?"
The elders stepped forward sharply. "Enough," one barked. "This conversation ends now."
"Too late," I said hoarsely.
Something inside me snapped into place.
The power surged again, controlled this time. Calm. Cold.
The elders froze.
"You erased her," I said slowly. "And you buried her under me."
No one spoke.
That was confirmation enough.
"You rejected me to stop this," I said to Kael. "Not because you didn't feel the bond."
His voice broke. "I felt everything."
Tears burned my eyes. "Then why didn't your words match your eyes?"
"Because if I hesitated," he whispered, "they would've killed you on the spot."
The cave shook violently.
Outside, wolves howled.
The moon brightened suddenly, silver light flooding the cave mouth.
Eamon backed away, shaking. "The circle," he said urgently. "The old one. It's reactivating."
I lifted my head, power humming through my veins, memories clawing their way back.
"Good," I said.
Kael stared at me. "Elowen…"
"No," I corrected softly. "Not yet."
I stepped out of his arms.
"And when I remember," I added, meeting his eyes, "you're all going to bleed for what you did."
The ground split wide open.
And somewhere deep beneath the pack, the sacred circle drank blood again.