Chapter 5 The Witches's Eyes

Kael hadn't slept.

Not since Selene's scream shattered the air like glass-silent, but thunderous through the bond.

She lay curled in his bed now, unconscious again, pale but glowing faintly with silver light beneath her skin. The runes on her arms had faded into bruised ink, but the energy-the raw, ancient power-still pulsed around her.

Kael stood at the edge of the room, staring at her.

He didn't know what scared him more.

That she had a wolf inside her after all.

Or that something far older might be waking with it.

The knock on the door came just after dawn.

Ronan entered without waiting for a reply. "She's here."

Kael nodded once, grabbing his coat. "Keep an eye on Selene. If she stirs-"

"I'll know."

Kael followed Ronan through the back corridors of the packhouse, out into the forest where the veil between realms thinned.

The seer was already waiting by the river.

She wore no cloak, no jewels, no mask-just pale skin, bone-white hair braided with feathers, and eyes like frostbitten sky. She stood barefoot in the snowmelt, runes painted across her arms and throat.

"Alpha Kael," she greeted without turning. "You bring heavy questions."

"I need answers," he said simply.

The seer finally turned.

"You have no idea what you've brought into your home."

Kael's jaw tightened. "She's my mate."

"She's a blade forged in shadow," the seer murmured, stepping onto the bank. "And you've unsheathed her."

Kael's wolf growled beneath his skin.

"Tell me what she is."

The seer knelt, dragging her fingers through the mud, drawing an ancient sigil that sparked green and gold.

"You saw her glow," she whispered. "You felt the shift inside her."

Kael nodded.

"She's not just a shifter. Not anymore. The witches did more than bind her-they altered her. Infused her bloodline with magic meant to be lost."

Kael frowned. "Her bloodline?"

"She is the last of the Selari," the seer said, lifting her gaze. "A line bred for war. Half-wolf, half-witch, with the potential to destroy the balance between realms."

Kael's heart hammered in his chest. "The Selari were wiped out in the Witch Wars."

"No," the seer whispered. "They went into hiding. Buried beneath flesh and fire. Only one remained."

"Selene."

The seer nodded. "And now she's waking."

Kael stared at the ground. "Her wolf is sealed."

"For now," the seer murmured. "But the bond you forced awakened something ancient. Her body remembers pain. Her soul remembers rage."

Kael swallowed hard.

"What happens if she unlocks it fully?"

"She will either become salvation..."

"Or?"

"Or she will unravel the world."

Silence settled between them, thick as smoke.

Kael's fists clenched. "How do I protect her?"

"You can't." The seer stepped closer. "You can only love her, and pray she chooses light over ruin."

Kael turned away, jaw flexing.

"There's more," she said quietly. "You're not the only one searching."

Kael turned slowly. "Who?"

The seer's voice dropped, almost inaudible.

"Lilith."

The name hit like a thunderclap.

The witch queen.

The last daughter of the Old Blood. Rumored dead. Whispered in nightmares.

"She lives?"

"She endures," the seer said, voice shaking. "Hidden in the Wastes. Watching. Waiting. She's searching for the Selari. For Selene."

"Why?"

"Because only Selene can break the curse she cast on the bloodlines. Only the Selari can destroy her."

Kael's pulse thundered in his ears.

"She'll come for her," he said.

The seer nodded. "The moment Selene's power rises, Lilith will feel it."

Kael's voice dropped to a snarl. "Then we hide her."

"You can't hide something that burns like a star," the seer said.

"I'll protect her with my life."

"She doesn't need your protection," the seer said softly. "She needs your truth."

Kael blinked. "What truth?"

The seer turned her head slowly.

"That you fear her."

She was gone before he could respond-melted into mist, into shadow.

Kael stood alone by the river, heart pounding.

Back at the packhouse, Selene stirred.

Her eyes fluttered open.

Her body ached like she'd been set on fire and frozen all at once.

Silver light flickered beneath her skin.

The bond hummed quietly, a soft pulse of Kael's presence.

She sat up slowly, reaching for the journal on the nightstand. Her hands trembled. Her lips moved.

But no sound came.

Still mute.

Still sealed.

Still something... more.

She looked down at her hands.

The runes on her arms had changed-subtly, but enough that she knew. They weren't just remnants now. They were active.

She traced one with her fingertip, and a faint blue spark crackled across her skin.

Power.

Untamed. Uncontrolled. Surging beneath the surface.

A memory rose-Kael between her thighs, his voice low and savage, calling her his.

The pleasure had torn something open.

And now it couldn't be closed.

She heard footsteps.

Kael.

He stopped at the threshold, eyes scanning her body like he wasn't sure if she was real.

"You're awake."

She nodded.

He walked in slowly, sitting beside her.

"Did you feel it?" he asked.

She wrote:

It woke something.

He nodded. "I spoke to the seer."

Selene stilled.

"She said you're Selari."

Selene's pen paused. Then she wrote:

I always knew I wasn't normal.

"You're not just not normal," Kael murmured. "You're... dangerous."

She froze.

He reached for her hand.

"But I don't care."

Selene blinked.

"You're mine," he said again. "And I'll walk into hell with you if that's what it takes."

Her fingers trembled as she wrote:

I don't want to hurt anyone.

He touched her chin, turning her to face him. "Then don't. But if anyone comes for you-witch, wolf, or demon-I'll kill them myself."

She swallowed hard.

He leaned closer, mouth brushing her temple.

"I need to show you something."

He took her to the old vaults beneath the packhouse. Hidden beneath stone and wards, behind iron doors no one had opened in years.

Inside, the air was thick with dust and magic.

Kael lit a torch, revealing the walls.

Selene froze.

Dozens of sigils covered the stone. Drawn in ash. Burned in wax.

And in the center-

A mural.

Of her.

Not exactly-but close enough.

A silver-eyed woman wrapped in chains, surrounded by wolves and flames. Her mouth stitched shut. Her skin glowing.

She reached out, brushing trembling fingers over the painting.

"It's you," Kael said quietly.

She nodded.

He stepped beside her. "The prophecy says the Silent One will rise when the blood moon returns."

Selene looked up sharply.

The next blood moon was in five days.

She turned back to the mural and gasped.

Because now she saw the second figure behind her.

Not a wolf.

A woman.

Tall. Pale. With eyes like empty stars.

A shadow queen.

Lilith.

Selene staggered back.

Kael caught her.

"What is it?"

She didn't write.

Didn't move.

Because something had shifted in the air.

A scream echoed across the world-not hers, but distant. Dark.

Selene shuddered.

Somewhere far away, across the Wastes of the Forgotten, in a temple carved of bone and ruin-

A woman opened her eyes.

Lilith.

Her irises were black flames.

She stood from her altar of skulls, cloaked in tattered red, hair like shadows, lips bloodstained.

"She's awake," Lilith whispered, voice echoing like a thousand knives.

The candles around her exploded into black fire.

The witches in her court knelt instantly.

Lilith smiled slowly.

"Bring me the Silent One."