Darkness swallowed everything.
I didn't know if I was screaming or silent. My ears rang. My heart pounded like a drum. My arms were still chained, but the ropes had loosened. Something exploded. Smoke surged into the great hall like a wave of nightmares. thick, choking. I couldn't see. Couldn't think. The air burned in my lungs.
Lucien was shouting.
The crowd snarled, shifted, panicked.
Then… silence.
A silence not empty, but full of movement.
Of something.
Someone.
It moved fast, too fast to follow. Shadows within shadows. Smoke folding over itself like it was alive.
My chains snapped.
Cold hands pulled me up.
I kicked, thinking it was them again. But the hands were different. Gentle. Familiar.
Before I could ask. Before I could see….
I was gone.
The world spun, blurred, vanished.
And when I opened my eyes…
I was in the forest.
Alive. Or... dead?
I blinked in confusion.
The sky above was bruised with dusk, shades of violet and deep gold. Birds chirped in the distance. Trees loomed overhead like giants. The scent of pine and damp earth grounded me. My dress was torn. My hands scraped.
But I was breathing.
I was free.
I sat up slowly, my head pounding, my thoughts scattered.
Then I saw him.
At first, I thought I was hallucinating. A man leaned against a tree, arms crossed, eyes locked on me.
Not just anyone.
Jereth.
Taller now. Broader. His hair longer and messier. But still the same deep brown I remembered. And his eyes… molten hazel, just like before.
The same ones that promised me, years ago:
"I'll come back for you."
I stared like I was seeing a ghost.
"Jereth?" My voice cracked.
He didn't smile. Just nodded once. "You remember."
Tears stung my eyes. I stumbled forward, and he caught me in an embrace that shattered me. I sobbed into his shoulder, chest heaving with years of grief, betrayal, and now… impossible relief.
"You kept your promise," I whispered, overwhelmed. "It's him… it's really him," I repeated to myself.
"I told you I would."
Time passed in silence, heavy with emotion. Finally, I pulled back.
"How?" I asked. "How did you find me? How did we escape?"
He exhaled, eyes drifting to the woods as if the answers were carved into the bark.
"Smoke and shadows. I escaped the Russian army not long ago. When I heard the Bloodline was coming... I moved."
"But how? I didn't see anything. Just smoke. I couldn't even…."
"You weren't meant to see. That's the point. No one did. Not even Lucien."
His voice dropped when he said Lucien's name.
"I need you to listen now," Jereth said, tone shifting. "Everything you thought you knew... it's just the surface. That mansion. That country. Lucien. Luthor. They're part of something ancient. Something buried in secrecy."
I froze.
"I need to tell you about Setvastl."
My heart twisted. "Our home?"
He nodded. "It wasn't just a village. It was a cage. A hidden place where people like us were kept away from the world."
"People like us?"
He pulled up his sleeve.
Silver-blue markings lined his arm, shimmering faintly when the wind touched them.
"We were born of a bloodline. A tribe of werewolves, hybrids. Not monsters from stories. Not beasts. We were something else. Beings with speed, strength, and senses beyond both human and werewolf."
I stared, breath catching.
"No. That's not…"
"Yes," he cut in. "But Setvastl... the land was cursed. Something called neon in the soil suppressed our powers. It was designed that way. We weren't protected. We were imprisoned."
My mouth went dry. "Why?"
"Because of men like Lucien and Luthor. If they knew what we were, they would come for us. For our powers. Especially yours, Elira. You are the daughter of the last Alpha. The only surviving heir to the bloodline."
My heart pounded. "Me?"
"You are the last," Jereth said. "The source. The prophecy they fear."
I shook my head. "What prophecy?"
Jereth hesitated. "I don't know all of it. Only that it begins with the Alpha's blood… with you."
Silence stretched between us.
Finally, I asked, "So… what do we do?"
"We run. We hide. We survive. For now. But soon…" His gaze darkened. "We rise."
A howl echoed in the distance. Low. Hungry.
Jereth's posture shifted instantly. Alert.
"They're hunting," he said. "Lucien's army is close."
I turned toward the sound, fear gripping my spine.
"We're still in Russia?"
Jereth nodded. "Deep in it. But I know these woods. I've lived in the shadows. There are safe places. For now."
"For how long?" I whispered.
He looked at me, something flickering behind his eyes.
"As long as we need."
And just like that, the wind shifted. The trees groaned. The shadows whispered around us.
And I knew…
This was only the beginning.
Of truth.
War.
Awakening.