Mira’s POV

I woke before dawn, my breath ragged and heart hammering in my chest. The sheets were tangled around my legs like damp vines. It clinging to me with a weight I couldn’t shake. My hand burned, and when I pulled it free, I froze. A fresh cut marked my palm, blood crusted but faint, as if it had sealed hours ago. I had no memory of the pain, no sense of how it had appeared, only the unsettling certainty that something in the night had left its mark.

I sat up slowly, glancing around the guest room Blackridge had prepared for me. Nothing felt disturbed. There were no signs of forced entry and no strange scents in the air. But there were deep silence and repeated dreams I could shake off.

As I got up, I grabbed the paper close by me and wrote down everything I remembered. A ring of ash. Hooded figures standing still as statues. A flame in the center that wouldn’t burn out. And me, standing there with my hand outstretched, bleeding into the fire.

I stared at the words once I finished. They made no sense. But my wolf stirred beneath my skin, agitated, restless. Like it recognized something I didn’t. I closed the journal and stood. My body ached as if I’d run through the night. By midday, I sat across from Blackridge’s council inside the granite-walled chamber.

The diplomatic meeting had begun with formal greetings and structured small talk. Now, I was presenting Windermere’s position.

Kael was sitting at the head of the council table. I looked at him many times, but his face was unbearable. Every time I looked at him, it was like staring into a familiar and dangerous fog. “To be clear,”

Seraphine Vale interrupted, folding her hands, “Windermere proposes shared patrols along the southern ridge and joint control of the pass?”

“Yes,” I answered. “It reduces risk on both sides and opens trade routes. It’s efficient.” Seraphine smiled tightly. “Efficient. But also... personal, wouldn’t you say?” The air stilled. I met her eyes. “My personal life doesn’t interfere with my position.” She didn’t look away. “Some would argue it defines it.”

“Enough,” Kael said, voice low but final. “We’re not here to debate character.” He didn’t glance my way, but the sharpness in his tone spoke volumes. Seraphine leaned back, smile still in place. “Of course, Alpha.”

The meeting went without further incident, but I could feel her eyes on my back long after I’d walked out. I headed to the archives wing. The scent of old paper and dust grounded me. Inside the dim room, an aging wolf with silver-streaked hair looked up as I approached.

“I’m looking for symbols found recently near your perimeter,” I said, unrolling a sketch I had copied from the dream. He studied it, his face paling. “Where did you get this?”

“I drew it. It came to me in a dream.” He hesitated, then stepped back to retrieve a thick, weathered book. “This glyph belongs to an old bloodline, exiled centuries ago. They practiced rituals that… twisted the bond.” My fingers tightened on the table. “Twisted how?”

“They could sever fated mates. Reforge connections. But it came with a price, madness, often death.” My stomach dropped. “Were they from Blackridge?”

“No, but they passed through, and they were last sighted here, over sixty years ago.” I left because I didn’t need more confirmation to know that something was following me. Back in my quarters, I noticed it immediately.

Someone had been inside. There was no visible damage, nothing out of place, except for one thing. A torn piece of parchment lay on my pillow. The same symbol from the dream, etched in dark ink. There was no name or scent, and there was no trail.

I wanted to know what exactly happened. My wolf howled inside me, demanding we shift. She wants us to either fight or flee. But I held it back. I burned the paper in the sink. Watched the ink curl to ash. Kael joined me not long after, but he didn’t speak at first. Just stood a few feet away, silent.

I didn’t acknowledge him. “I didn’t know you still came up here,” he finally said. I didn’t respond. He shifted, hands in his coat pockets. “Do you ever regret leaving?” I turned slowly to face him. “Do you ever regret making it necessary?” His eyes flinched. Just for a second. Then he exhaled, like the truth stung more than he expected. “I thought I was protecting you.”

“By breaking the bond?”

“I thought it would fade,” he said. “That you’d forget me. That I’d forget you.” I laughed, quiet, sharp. “Did it work?”

“No.” We stood there, quiet again, but this time it was a heavy silence. Not peaceful. Just full. He stepped closer. “I’ve seen the symbols. The scouts found more yesterday. They’re not random.” I looked at him. “You think they’re connected to me.”

“I think something is amiss. Then figure it out. I nodded slowly. That’s your territory. Your threat.” I held his gaze. “I’ve done it alone for six years.” And then I walked away. That night, sleep didn’t come easily. When it did, it came with darkness.

The air was thick with smoke and silence. It came with its dusty ash. I stood in the circle of it. Hooded figures surrounded me. One stepped forward. “You brought it back with you,” I asked, forcing myself to speak.

“You never left it behind.” He raised his hand, and I saw my own face beneath the hood. My eyes snapped open. I noticed that the room was dark. I looked for the paper, and it was no longer there. It had been removed.

It sat neatly on my desk, closed. I had left it open on the bed. My hand went to the mark on my palm. The cut had reopened. Blood dripped onto the floor.