Chapter 5 Bound by fate.

Snow crunched beneath heavy boots as the six hunters came towards their leader's camp, heads lowered, and their breath mixed with bitter night air.

They had failed. Again.

Darius stood before the burning fire, his back to them, a gigantic figure in thick furs. His fingers tightened around his blade as he held on tightly sensing what they were about to say. He had been waiting.

The hunters moved several paces back, hesitating and scared of what he might do to them. The tension in the air thick, heavy silence hung between them. They stared at each other as no one wanted to be the first to speak.

Finally, Draven, the tallest and lead hunter among them, stepped forward and knelt.

"My lord",he said, voice choking with shame. "The hunt was lost. He escaped."

A long silence followed. The fire crackled. The wind whistled through the trees.

And suddenly,

CRACK!

Darius's fist struck the wooden table beside him, splitting it completely.

The sound echoed through the entire mansion and the hunters flinched in fear because they knew what he was capable of, he might decide to snap off their necks out of fury.

"What do you mean escaped?" His voice was low and bitter.

No one dared to move an inch.

Draven swallowed hard." We had him cornered, my lord. At the ravine. Arrows should have pierced his flesh, but he moved-like a shadow, like he knew where the strikes would land before they left our bows."

Darius turned facing the burning flames again, the shadows of the fire casting a dark mark on his face. " you had him, yet he escaped ??"

No one could give an answer.

The youngest and most naive hunter amongst them then replied, The was the curse, my lord," he whispered. "The elders warned us. He was...."he spoke hesitantly."

Darius moved before he could complete his statement. A fist struck his gut, ripping out his throat sending his body on the floor.

The other hunters shivered at the sight of the boys body and fear ran through their spine.

"We do not speak of traitors as kin." His voice was ice. "That thing-keal-chose damnation. He was blessed with the hunt, with the bond of the pack, and still, he betrayed us. He bears the mark of the cursed. He is no longer human. No longer ours."

The name sat heavy on the air. KEAL. The wolf who was cursed to bring doom upon them all.

Darius exhaled sharply, "Can't you all see and observe that each day he spends breathing on the surface of the earth, we draw closer to our doom. Our fate darkens, and his death is the only way to sever it."

His fingers curled around the hilt of his sword. "

Draven hesitated, but spoke out. "He was with a girl", my lord.

Darius paused, a feeling of fear and shock moved past him but he couldn't let his soldiers see this.

"What do you mean, he was with a girl"? He enquired.

"Yes my lord", "a healer". Draven answered.

Darius knew what this meant, The prophecy was slowly manifesting. Kael shouldn't meet the healer as their bond was the beginning of the prophecy happening.

"We go now, the more time we give him, the more he reinforces and gains more strength moving further away from us". Driven declared. And we must capture the healer, if they are apart, the prophecy has lesser chances of manifesting.

Draven hesitated. "My lord, the darkness..."

Darius's eyes burned hotter. "Then let the cursed one fear us."

Without another word, he strode into the night, vanishing into the shadows of the trees.

The hunters, though weary and shaken, had no choice but to follow.

Meanwhile .......

Lila and Keal sat on the windfall while he carefully tried to tend to the wounds she sustained during the hunt.

Blood dripped from the wound on her arm, staining the snow beneath them. His breath came in broken breaths, each one laced with pain.

She stood before him, eyes wide, refusing to move. She is a healer and can definitely handle her pain, she wouldn't let him worry about her.

"You can't stay next to me", he exclaimed, his voice covered with both pain and fury. " I will only cause you danger...and problems just like I am cursed with".

His fingers curled into fists, nails digging into his palms as he forced himself to stand and get away from her. His body and heart protested, he knew he wanted her by his side but he had to do what was best for her if he wanted her safe. This is his fight, not hers.

She took a bold step forward, but he flinched back as though her presence itself was now a blade against his skin.

"Go," he groaned, though his voice wavered with pain.

"Before it becomes too late".

She could feel his pain, but she wasn't about to let him push her away.

A rush of wind swept through the trees, scattering snow into the air, the cold wind heating harshly again her skin. For a long moment, Lila said nothing, her gaze locked onto his as if searching for the truth beyond his words. A true bond of connection ran through their veins and she stared and him.

Then, slowly but very determined, she shook her head.

"No".

The word was soft but strong, carrying more weight than any word he had heard before now.

Keal's chest tightened. He could feel his heart pounding hard against his chest, shocked by her reply. "Lila-"

"I'm not leaving you", she interrupted before he could say another word. "I promised you that I would stand by you and I intend to keep my promise, you think you're cursed? Fine. Then let me bear it with you".

His expression hardened. "You don't understand."

" I understand enough." She stepped closer, ignoring the way he tensed and closing the gap between them. "I know exactly what you are trying to do. You want to protect me from any harm, you want to keep me away from the dangers that lure around you, you think sending me away is protecting me, but pushing me away won't change anything. I chose this. I chose you."

Keal's breath paused for a moment. He could hear the sincerity and honesty in her words, all his life he had been chased, haunted and always looking over his shoulders but he could feel the warmth of her words breaking through the cold that had hardened his skin.

"You... don't know...what you're saying," he hesitated, voice low. "You don't know what I am."

Lila lifted a hand, his fingers barely grazing his cheek and pressed a finger on his lip. He stiffened but remained calm without pulling away from her touch.

"I know exactly what you are and who you are, you are a kind, strong, and brave man. One who puts his pain away to fight for others, one who is determined to put an end to the cruelty of the elders and leaders. That is who you are".

His heart pounded with fast beats.

No one has even spoken to him this calmly before, no one has ever wanted to be by his side. She should be afraid. She should turn and run while she still could. But instead, she was look at him with something else in her eyes.-

Something that unsettled him more than fear ever could.