Lyra's POV
The night had broken, but dawn came dull and gray its light strangled by the clouds that still hung heavy over Riverbend's borders. The world smelled of blood, smoke, and wet earth. I stood near the edge of the courtyard, staring at the line of bodies laid out beneath rough linen sheets.
The war was over for now, but the silence that followed felt worse than the clash of blades.
Kaelan stood a few feet away, his shoulders rigid, his cloak stained dark along one sleeve where his blood had dried. He hadn't said much since they dragged the last body in. He didn't need to. The air between us pulsed with everything we couldn't put into words.
I forced my gaze to the corpse at my feet the one the scouts said had led the attack. His armor bore the mark of Ironclaw, but the scent was wrong. Beneath the metal tang of blood lingered something older, fouler warlock magic.
"Careful," Luna murmured beside me. Her voice carried that soft warning tone that always made me feel like a child again, even though I hadn't been one in a long time.
"I've seen worse," I whispered, kneeling anyway.
When I reached to pull back the cloth covering the man's chest, Kaelan moved closer, the faint heat of his body pressing against my back. I pretended not to notice, even as my pulse betrayed me.
The symbol carved into the corpse's flesh stopped me cold.
A wolf sigil, drawn in silver ink that shimmered faintly under the morning ligh its edges forming a crescent shape identical to the old Silverfang crest.
My breath caught. "This"
"I see it," Kaelan said, his voice low and rough. "It's the same pattern your brother used on the old banners."
I stared, every instinct screaming that something was wrong. I reached out before I could think, brushing my fingertips against the mark and the sigil flared, silver lines pulsing once like a heartbeat.
Pain sliced through my chest. I gasped, jerking back as Kaelan grabbed my wrist.
"Lyra!" His grip was firm, grounding me even as the world blurred for an instant. I saw flashes shadows of wolves, blood on snow, my father's voice shouting a name I couldn't hear.
Then it was gone. The courtyard returned, the scent of smoke and Kaelan's fear pulling me back.
"I'm fine," I lied, swallowing hard. "It just reacted."
Luna stepped forward, her expression grave. "It reacted to you, child."
Kaelan frowned. "What do you mean?"
Luna's gaze lingered on me. "Your mate bears Silverfang blood. That symbol was forged through bloodline magic. Only a true heir could awaken it."
A shiver crawled up my spine. "So it's connected to me?"
"To your family," she said softly. "But not as you think." Her eyes flickered briefly to Kaelan, and something like sorrow crossed her face. "This isn't a curse meant to destroy it was meant to bind."
Kaelan's jaw tightened. "Bind to what?"
"To power," Luna replied. "And perhaps… to vengeance."
The words lodged in my chest. I looked down at the corpse again. The sigil still glimmered faintly, almost alive.
"Could someone be using my bloodline's power?" I asked.
Luna nodded slowly. "There are few left who remember Silverfang's rituals, but if your family's essence was ever capturednthrough blood or relic it could be manipulated. Whoever marked this body wanted it found."
Kaelan straightened, his tone dark. "Meaning this wasn't an ambush."
"No," Luna said. "It was a message."
Kaelan's POV
I'd seen blood magic before. Enough to know it always left a trail. But this this was personal. The mark wasn't just Silverfang it bore the faint spiral of Ironclaw steel, the kind my father used to seal oaths decades ago.
The realization chilled me to the bone.
I kept my expression neutral as I knelt beside the corpse. The faint silver shimmer pulsed once more when Lyra moved closer, as if drawn to her heartbeat.
Her scent was sharper no wild rain and ash. The wolf beneath my skin stirred, restless. It wanted her, needed to anchor to her warmth. But there was something else now, something beneath her scent that whispered danger.
"What are you thinking?" she asked quietly.
I hesitated. "That this isn't just about Silverfang. My father's sigil was forged the same way iron ink bound by oath blood. Someone's mixing the two houses."
Her eyes widened slightly. "To what end?"
I met her gaze. "To resurrect something that should've died with your family."
The silence that followed was thick. Luna said nothing, only stepped back as if giving us space. Lyra's hands trembled, and I could smell her fear the sharp kind that comes before fury.
"Kaelan," she whispered, "if your father was involved"
"He was," I said quietly. "At least in part. But I don't think he understood what he was binding himself to."
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. I reached out, brushing my thumb along her wrist. "Lyra, look at me."
She did. Reluctantly.
"This what's happening it's not your fault. Or mine. But if someone is using our bloodlines to bind this power, then we need to find where it began."
Her eyes darkened. "Silverfang."
I nodded. "We'll go back."
The word home hung unspoken between us.
Her home. Her ashes. Her ghosts.
Lyra's POV
The moment Kaelan said "We'll go back," the air seemed to thin around us.
Back. To the ashes. To the graves I left behind.
For a heartbeat, I couldn't breathe. Then the weight of his words settled in the quiet certainty behind them. Not an order. A promise.
"You don't have to," I said softly. "You've already done more than
"I'm not leaving you to face that place alone," he cut in, voice low, rough as gravel. "Not again."
His gaze held mine steady, unflinching. And the bond between us stirred like a living thing, curling heat through my chest. It frightened me, how easily he could burn through every wall I'd built.
Before I could speak, the Luna stepped forward. "If you intend to travel north," she said, "you'll need guidance. The ruins are not what they were. The land remembers blood it feeds on it."
"Then it'll remember mine," I murmured.
Her eyes softened, but she didn't argue. "Elias and Mira will go with you. Elias knows the mountain paths better than any scout."
At the sound of his name, my chest tightened. Elias my old sparring partner, my friend who'd once pulled me from the river when I nearly drowned. I hadn't seen him since before the war council was called.
Kaelan's brow furrowed. "Elias? The warrior who trained beside her?"
"Yes," Luna said simply. "And one I trust."
Kaelan's silence stretched a beat too long. His jaw flexed, the muscle ticking near his temple. I caught the faint shift in his scent protective, possessive, almost primal.
The bond pulsed, thick and hot under my skin. My wolf pushed closer to the surface, wanting to test his dominance, wanting to answer it.
I stepped back, forcing distance between us. "I can take care of myself," I said.
His eyes flicked up to mine, a glint of humor and frustration mingling in their silver depths. "I know. That's what worries me."
Luna hid a faint smile and turned away, giving us privacy that felt deliberate.
The courtyard emptied slowly, leaving only the wind and the faint hum of the bond between us. I felt his gaze linger as I bent to wipe the blood from my hands, every movement charged with unspoken things
Finally, he said quietly, "When we go to Silverfang, I want you to promise me something."
I looked up. "What?"
"That you'll let me in. All the way. No half-truths, no walls."
His voice had softened, but the meaning wasn't lost on me. He wasn't just talking about the mission. He wanted access to the part of me I'd kept locked away my pain, my rage, my longing.
"I can't promise that," I whispered.
"Then don't." His hand brushed against mine. "Just don't shut me out."
The touch lingered bare skin against bare skin and the bond flared so suddenly that I gasped. Heat coiled in my stomach, fierce and sweet. I felt him tense too, a growl low in his throat as if fighting the pull.
"Lyra," he murmured, my name a rasp between his teeth.
I should have stepped back. Instead, I stood perfectly still, watching the battle in his eyes the Alpha barely leashed under the man.
For a moment, the world shrank to the space between us
Then Luna's voice carried from across the courtyard, breaking whatever spell had wrapped around us.
"Prepare to leave by nightfall. The storms are shifting north again."
Kaelan drew a slow breath, stepping back, his gaze still locked on mine. "We'll talk later," he said, though his voice betrayed how much he didn't trust himself to.
As he turned away, I felt the ache of distance like a bruise under my ribs.
The bond hummed, quiet but relentless.
We'll go back.
The words echoed in my mind long after he was gone.
Back to the ashes. Back to Silverfang.
And somewhere deep inside, my wolf whispered: Home is waiting.