Chapter 5 The wolf And The Flame

Celeste's hands trembled.

She had just done the impossible.

The deep wound in Ronan's back-the silver poisoning that should have killed him-was gone. Not fading. Not healing. Gone.

And she had been the one to do it.

Her breath came in quick, uneven gasps. No. No, this wasn't happening. She wasn't special. She was a Beta, nothing more.

But then why

She curled her fingers, staring at them like they belonged to someone else.

Ronan watched her, unreadable, his red eyes flickering with something she didn't understand. Something dangerous.

"Celeste." His voice was low, calm, but it wasn't real calm. It was the kind people used when trying to soothe a cornered animal.

Because that's what she was now-trapped.

Her heart pounded. She forced herself to meet his gaze, to pull herself together, to pretend she wasn't completely falling apart inside.

"What the hell did you do to me?" she whispered.

Ronan tilted his head slightly. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

Celeste's jaw clenched. "I don't-" She shook her head. "I don't have magic. I've never been able to heal before. I-"

She stopped.

Because that wasn't true, was it?

She thought back-years ago, to the time she had found a dying fox in the woods. It had been barely breathing, its ribs visible beneath its russet fur, its body broken.

She had been just a child.

She had reached for it, her small hands brushing its head.

And then-warmth.

A strange, golden heat curling under her skin, something tugging, something changing.

The next day, when she returned to the same spot, the fox was gone.

She had convinced herself it had been a coincidence.

Now?

Her stomach twisted.

Ronan was still watching her. Too closely. Too intently.

Like he already knew the answer.

Celeste took a step back. "This doesn't mean anything."

His lips curled. "You're lying to yourself."

"I don't even know what I am," she snapped.

Ronan's eyes darkened. "I have an idea."

The words were quiet, but they landed like a blow.

Celeste's blood ran cold.

He knew.

She didn't know how, didn't know why, but somehow, Ronan Duskbane knew exactly what she was.

And she wasn't sure if that terrified her more than the bond still burning between them.

Before she could demand answers, the wind shifted.

The scent of smoke and iron curled through the trees.

Ronan's expression sharpened in an instant.

"Move." His voice dropped, sharp as a blade.

Celeste barely had time to react before he grabbed her hand and yanked her forward.

She stumbled, but he was faster, pulling her behind a massive oak just as the first arrow whistled through the air.

It buried itself in the tree where she had been standing seconds before.

Her stomach flipped.

They weren't alone.

Ronan's grip tightened on her wrist. "They weren't working alone."

Celeste barely had time to process his words before figures stepped out of the mist.

Not hunters.

Wolves.

Massive, hulking figures with glowing gold eyes. The Crescent Pack.

Celeste's blood turned to ice.

This was bad.

This was so, so bad.

Ronan let out a low, dark laugh. "Really?" His voice dripped with mockery. "You sent pups after me?"

The lead wolf shifted.

A man now stood in his place, tall and broad, his dark hair braided back. His amber eyes flicked between Celeste and Ronan, before settling on Ronan with amusement.

"I expected you to be dead by now, Duskbane."

Ronan's smirk didn't falter. "Sorry to disappoint."

The man sighed, almost theatrically. "You know how this ends. Surrender, and we'll make it painless."

Celeste's heart pounded.

Ronan turned to her, expression unreadable. Then, he murmured, "Close your eyes, little wolf."

Celeste swallowed. "Why?"

His smirk was pure sin.

"Because I don't want you to be afraid of me just yet."

Then-he moved.

Celeste barely had time to flinch before Ronan ripped through them.

She had seen Alphas fight before. She had seen Betas train, Omegas defend.

But she had never seen a Blood Alpha in his element.

It was terrifying.

It was beautiful.

Ronan was a shadow, a storm, a force of nature. His claws sliced through flesh, his body moving too fast, too precise, like a predator who had spent centuries perfecting the art of death.

Celeste couldn't look away.

Then-

Pain.

A sharp, brutal sting at her throat.

She gasped, reaching up-and felt a blade pressed to her skin.

A wolf behind her.

A blade at her pulse.

The world slowed.

And for the first time, Celeste felt it-the bond snapping.

Not breaking.

Activating.

Ronan stopped.

His head snapped toward her, his body going still.

His red eyes met hers, and something inside him broke.

The air changed.

And then, his voice wasn't human anymore.

"Let. Her. Go."

The wolf behind her laughed. "Or what?"

Ronan's entire body trembled.

And then-

His form shattered.

Not like a shift. Not like a transformation.

This was something else.

Something darker.

Something no wolf should be able to do.

And when the smoke cleared, the thing standing where Ronan had been was no longer a man.

It wasn't even a wolf.

It was something else entirely.

And Celeste realized, far too late, that she had never been trapped in a forest with a monster.

She had been trapped with more worst

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