Chapter 5 The Ghost Beneath the Ashes

The stars burned above like old scars. Scarlett stood alone on the ridge where the silver mine had collapsed just days ago. Smoke no longer rose, but the land still remembered-its air tasted like ash and bone.

She clenched her fists.

Victory had come at a price: three scouts dead, Mael injured, and Thorn-missing. But the greater cost wasn't in blood. It was in memory.

Because the whispers had returned.

That night, while her warriors slept, while Kaelen prowled nearby like her shadow-wolf, a voice echoed through her dreams.

"Scarlett..."

It wasn't her mother's voice, though she wished it had been.

The entrance to Black Hollow Keep was nothing more than a jagged ruin tucked between dead mountains. The old stones were scorched black, bones half-buried in the dirt. The very air vibrated with forgotten magic and decayed moonlight.

Scarlett's boots crunched over ancient ash as she approached the rusted iron gate. It groaned like something alive, protesting her presence.

Behind her, Kaelen followed in silence, his wolf restless beneath his skin.

"This is where it happened," she whispered. "Where she died."

He nodded grimly. "And where Calen first tasted blood."

---

The Descent

Inside, the air thickened. Shadows stretched unnaturally. Whispering voices slid down the walls, some weeping, others chanting. The deeper they went, the colder it became-not just in temperature, but in spirit.

They passed murals etched into the walls-wolves devouring their own, the moon weeping blood, a woman cradling twins beneath a dying star.

Scarlett stopped at the altar in the center of the ruined throne room. Silver candles sat on either side, their flames still flickering, as if time had paused in this single breath of eternity.

"This is it," she murmured. "The altar of broken vows."

Kaelen reached for her arm. "Be careful."

She stepped into the center.

The ground shifted beneath her.

And Scarlett fell.

---

Into Memory

She hit nothing-but landed somewhere. Wind howled. The air was gold and black, as if the sun and night fought for control. She stood in a ghost world.

Her mother's voice called her. "Scarlett..."

And then, she saw her-Selene Morran, standing at the edge of a field of wolves. Her hair was wild, moonlight poured from her eyes. She looked exactly like Scarlett-only older. Wiser. Broken.

"You came," Selene whispered. "My little moon-born flame."

Scarlett's knees buckled. "Mother-"

Selene held up a hand. "No time. Listen."

"I need to know why. Why Calen turned. Why Kaelen didn't stop it."

Selene's gaze darkened.

"Because fate is cruel, daughter. Kaelen was our blade-but the blade cuts both ways. He was ordered to protect the prophecy... not the heart."

"I could've saved you," Scarlett choked.

"No." Her mother stepped forward, brushing a phantom hand across her cheek. "But you can save them. The pack. The future. Calen still carries the Eclipse Blade-but it can be shattered... by one of blood and bond."

"Me?"

"You," Selene said. "And him."

Scarlett turned.

Kaelen stood behind her in the memory now-real, alive, aching.

Selene smiled softly. "You are soulbound... but to win this war, you must first break the bond."

---

The Choice

Scarlett's heart froze. "Break it? Why?"

"Because the bond will be Calen's weapon," her mother said. "He will use your love to control Kaelen... and your pain to destroy you."

Scarlett's voice cracked. "I... I don't know how."

"You will." Selene began to fade. "Just remember-sometimes love must bleed before it can heal."

---

Back to Reality

Scarlett awoke at the altar, gasping.

Karlene held her, his face pale. "You were gone for hours. I thought-"

"She said... we're soul bound. But to save everything, I'll have to break it."

Karlene stared at her, torn between agony and understanding.

"If it saves you," he said, voice raw, "I'll let you go. Even if it kills me."

Scarlett's breath caught.

And for the first time, she didn't know whether to run from him...

...or fall into him completely.

It was his.

Her brother.

Calen.

---

The Dream Realm

She stood in a forest soaked in moonlight. The trees dripped red. Time bent here, the sky stitched with flickering stars and dying suns. Across the clearing, he stood-tall, dark-haired, the mirror of her... if her soul had been split in half and left to rot.

"Scarlett," he said again.

His eyes weren't just obsidian-they swallowed light.

"Is this real?" she whispered.

"No. It's worse."

She stepped toward him, but the ground cracked. Roots reached for her ankles.

"You let them lie to you," Calen said. "You believe our parents were heroes. That Varin just stole the throne."

His voice curved with bitterness.

"They were traitors. And now you wear their sin like armor."

She trembled. "That's not true. They died protecting this pack."

Calen smiled-but it wasn't kind. "Ask Kaelen what really happened. Ask him where he was the night our mother was murdered."

Scarlett's breath hitched. "What do you mean?"

But Calen was already fading, like mist through fingers.

"Not all mates are saviors, sister. Some are executioners in disguise."

---

Back in the Present

Scarlett woke with a cry, heart hammering. Sweat clung to her skin, her wolf snarling in her chest. She stormed out of her tent, ignoring the guards, following the scent that pulled at her blood like a compass.

Kaelen stood near the river, shirtless, blade in hand, carving runes into bark.

She didn't speak.

He turned before she did.

"You saw him," he said quietly.

Scarlett's voice cracked. "You knew?"

"I felt it. The blood between twins runs deeper than prophecy."

"Then answer me." Her eyes burned. "Where were you the night my mother died?"

Kaelen froze.

She stepped closer. "Tell me it wasn't you. Tell me you didn't stand with Varin."

His jaw tightened. A long silence passed.

Then he said, "It wasn't me. But I was there... and I didn't stop it."

---

Truth and Tremble

Scarlett staggered back as if slapped. "You-"

"I was a spy, Scarlett. Deep in the Eclipse Pack. Varin trusted me then." He stepped forward, voice trembling. "I didn't know she was your mother. I didn't even know you existed."

She clenched her teeth. "And yet... you were there."

"I couldn't save her. But I swore I'd never fail the Alpha's blood again. That's why I sought you. Why I stayed."

Scarlett turned away, every part of her shaking. Rage. Hurt. Confusion. Her wolf howled in her head, snarling Mate or monster? Mate or monster?

Behind her, Kaelen whispered, "I would burn every oath, every life I've taken... if it means earning yours."

She didn't respond.

She walked away.

But her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

And the bond between them? It pulsed stronger than ever.

Dawn cracked over the camp, spilling pale gold across tents and armor. The howls of training wolves echoed through the clearing, but Scarlett stood still at the center of it all-surrounded by her council.

Crimson, Alina, Jareth, Mael... all stared at her with grim anticipation.

"I need answers," she said, voice sharp as a blade. "Truth. No more secrets. No more shadows."

The wind shifted.

"I saw my brother in the dream realm," she said. "He spoke of betrayal. Of lies. He said... our parents weren't heroes."

Jareth exchanged a glance with Alina.

"You knew something," Scarlett accused. "Didn't you?"

Crimson spoke first. "We knew Varin once fought beside your father. That they shared blood oaths... and broke them."

Alina added, "There were rumors that your mother held something powerful. A relic. One the Eclipse Pack was willing to kill for."

Scarlett stepped closer. "What kind of relic?"

Jareth closed his eyes. "A lunar shard. Said to be carved from the original Moon Stone. Said to bend time... and memory."

Scarlett froze.

The vision. The time travel. Her fragmented childhood.

All connected.

The Hidden Tomb

The council followed her deep into the forest. Guided by instinct-no, by blood. Her feet moved without command, drawn by whispers on the wind, memories not her own.

They found it beneath the twisted elder tree-its bark marked with the symbol of her family: a wolf, pierced by three silver arrows.

With Kaelen's help, they unearthed the stone beneath the roots. It slid open with a groan of ancient magic, revealing a stairway carved into the earth.

Torchlight flickered against walls lined with bones and symbols.

At the end of the tomb, an altar stood. Upon it: a silver pendant glowing faintly with moonlight, suspended above a pool of still water.

Scarlett stepped forward, hand trembling.

Jareth whispered, "The lunar shard..."

As her fingers brushed the pendant, visions flashed through her.

Her mother, bleeding, cradling a child-not Scarlett, but Calen.

A blade descending in the dark.

Kaelen's younger face, watching from the shadows, his eyes filled with guilt.

A voice: "You cannot change destiny... unless you remember it first."

Scarlett gasped, falling to her knees. The relic pulsed in her hand, now glowing with her blood.

Kaelen caught her. "What did you see?"

She looked up, fury and clarity burning in her eyes.

"I saw what my uncle tried to erase. I saw why Calen hates us all. And I saw the beginning of the war... and how I can end it."

The Vision's Aftershock

Back at camp, Scarlett sat alone in her tent, the pendant on her chest. It burned like a second heartbeat.

Karlene entered without asking. "Scarlett..."

"You should've told me," she said softly.

"I didn't know how."

"Then start now. All of it. No half-truths. No protecting me."

Kaelen's voice was hoarse. "Your mother died because she tried to hide the relic. She knew it could reverse a blood bond. Or erase one."

Scarlett's breath caught. "She wanted to use it on Calen?"

"She was going to break his soul binding to Varin," he whispered. "But she was too late."

"And my father?"

Karlene looked away. "He made a deal. One that cursed both of you."

Scarlett stood, gripping the pendant. "Then I'll undo it. I'll finish what they couldn't."

Karlene took her hand. "If you go down that path, Scarlett... there's no return."

She looked at him. "There's no future if I don't."