Chapter 3 The Blood Oath

The cold hits me first not the mountain air outside the temple, but the kind that seeps into your chest and settles there like it's planning to stay. It wraps around my spine as I stand in the courtyard, barely breathing, surrounded by soldiers who don't look at me like a Luna. They look at me like I slipped into the wrong ceremony. Like I stole something that wasn't mine.

I don't blame them. I feel the same way.

The Moon Flame still pulses faintly in my palm, the silver mark like a brand, warm and aching. Every now and then, it flares up like it's reminding me: You can't undo this. You were chosen.

Kade stands across from me, arms crossed, the lines around his eyes drawn tight like stretched wire. He's not saying anything. Not since we were escorted out of the Temple. Not since the High Seers whispered that we needed to be "protected." He hasn't looked at me since.

I wrap my arms around myself. "You can talk, you know. I don't bite."

His gaze finally snaps to mine. Sharp. Cold. Measured.

"Good. Because I do."

Oh.

I press my lips together, unsure if he's joking. But the look in his eyes says he never jokes. Not really.

A horn sounds somewhere in the valley below. Deep, haunting. Not a ceremonial one. A warning.

Kade tenses. His head turns slightly, listening.

"Move. Now."

He grabs my wrist and drags me across the stone walkway, through a narrow corridor lined with ancient moon runes. His grip is strong. Not gentle. Not cruel either. Just... determined.

I stumble to keep up. "What's happening?"

"They're dead."

My heart stutters. "Who?"

"The Seers."

We burst into a room filled with whispers and panic. Soldiers talk over one another, faces pale, weapons drawn. In the middle of it all is Commander Thorne, massive and unreadable, standing over a bloodstained scroll.

He looks up at Kade, then me.

"It was her. The sister. She"

I don't hear the rest. My knees nearly give out. Lira. Lira, who held my hand this morning. Who whispered, Don't be nervous. You're safe with me.

My stomach turns. "No. No, she wouldn't"

"She would," Kade says flatly. "She did."

Thorne clears his throat and nods toward the scroll. "She left a message. In blood."

I don't want to look. I already feel like I'm falling. But I do.

Only one twin shall live.

The room spins.

We ride out before dawn.

I'm thrown onto the back of a frost-coated stag wolfa lean, pale beast with eyes like cracked ice and a temper worse than Kade's. The saddle barely fits my size. My legs ache, my hands are raw from gripping the leather straps too tight, but I don't complain.

Because complaining would mean I still think this is fixable. That Lira can be reasoned with. That this is all a mistake.

And I know better.

Kade rides ahead, speaking low into the wind. Issuing orders. His soldiers flank me on both sides, close enough to trap me in, far enough to pretend they don't care.

I lean forward, whispering to the stagwolf. "Don't buck me off, okay? I'm new at this whole 'run-for-your-life' thing."

The beast snorts.

"I'll take that as a maybe."

The road curves through ice-bitten trees and into the Shadow Gorgea narrow pass where even the sun doesn't dare to linger. It's here that Kade pulls us to a stop.

"We camp here until dusk. We move under moonlight."

Thorne raises an eyebrow. "Ambush risk?"

"Higher than usual. They're following the bond."

A silence falls.

My voice is small. "The bond?"

Kade looks at me. Really looks. For the first time, there's something in his eyes that isn't disgust or disinterest. It's recognition. Like he's seeing me, not just the mark on my hand.

"Your sister was supposed to be my mate," he says. "But the Moon changed its mind. That kind of betrayal doesn't go unnoticed. She wants what you have. And she'll tear down the realm to get it."

I swallow hard. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"Neither did I."

His words sting more than I expect. And for the briefest second, I wish the Moon had stayed silent.

Night falls like a shroud, heavy and quiet.

I can't sleep. Not with the bond humming under my skin. Not with the dreams clawing at the edges of my minda white wolf, eyes like moonlight, calling my name.

Ayla.

I jolt awake, breath caught in my throat. The air crackles. My palm burns.

"Get up," Kade growls from somewhere outside the tent. "Now."

I don't ask questions. I stumble into boots and furs and throw myself into the snow.

Smoke curls from the ridge above us.

"Scouts," Thorne mutters. "Too many for a patrol."

Kade nods once. "We don't wait."

We run.

The attack comes fast. Fire arrows streak through the trees, turning snow into steam. Wolves crash down the hill, howling. I freeze.

Until I see her.

Lira.

Riding a black wolf the size of a bear, eyes glowing, hair loose and wild. She doesn't speak. She just points at me.

And everything explodes.

I run. Because that's all I know how to do.

But the forest twists. Trees blur. My lungs burn. The bond burns.

Voices chase me. Kade. Thorne. Soldiers yelling my name. But they're so far away now.

I stumble down a ravine, crash into a frozen stream. My hands hit ice. Blood smears the surface.

"Ayla."

I spin.

Lira stands at the edge of the water. Alone.

She smiles.

"You never did know how to keep up."

I stare at her. Her hair, tangled with leaves. Her eyes, too bright. Too sharp.

"Why?"

She tilts her head. "Why? Because you took what was mine. Because I was promised everything. And the Moon chose you. The soft one. The nothing girl."

"I didn't choose this."

"You didn't have to. You were born lucky. I was born ready."

I step back. The ice cracks under my heel.

"Don't do this. Please. You're my sister."

Lira laughs. It's the saddest sound I've ever heard.

"Not anymore."

She lunges.

I fell.

The ice shatters.

The last thing I hear is the bond screaming.

I wake in darkness.

Not the kind where you can still sense light behind your eyelids. Real darkness. Heavy. Wet. Underground.

My body aches. My head pulses. I'm cold.

Then I hear it.

Voices. Low. Whispering. Not in a language I know.

Something moves nearby. Slow. Heavy. Breathing.

A match flares. Then a torch.

And I see them.

Dozens of pale eyes staring back.

Ghost wolves.

And in the center, a throne of bones.

Kade isn't here.

And I'm not alone.