Mira’s POV

I heard the door open. I recognized his steps. Kael. He came in alone. He waited until the others were gone. He pulled the chair closer. He didn’t speak right away. Then, softly, “I didn’t want you to remember.”

He took a breath. “You were seventeen. You were already stronger than most alphas. You didn’t know it yet. You were reckless. You charged into a Hollow Claw ambush with me and two scouts. You shouldn’t have survived it.”

He paused again. “They caught you first. I saw them dragging you. I tried to reach you, but I was cut off. I kept hearing you scream. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t help.”

Silence stretched. “They didn’t kill you. They made a deal.” He shifted his weight. “They told me I could walk out with you alive. That they wouldn’t touch you again. All they wanted was a trace. A piece of your essence. Something small. Blood. Hair. A drop of your power.”

He exhaled. “I gave it to them.” He waited. “They said they needed it for prophecy. That you were a part of something coming. I didn’t ask questions. I just said yes.” He leaned forward.

“When we escaped, you didn’t remember anything. You thought you blacked out. I let you believe that.” He swallowed hard. “I told myself it was the right call. That I saved you. That nothing else mattered.” He looked down and remarked. “I never expected them to use it like this. To tie something to you. To bind a mark, I didn’t even see.

I didn’t want to lose that.” His voice cracked. “I thought keeping the truth was protecting you. But now you’re here. Silent. Broken. And I did this.” But I need you to know if I could trade places, I would.” I listened to all of it. The wolf inside me stirred. Quiet. Not yet present. But listening. That memory, I had felt pieces of it. The pain. The fear. The betrayal. The missing time.

Now it made sense. The silence in the room deepened. Then the door opened again. Cyrus walked in. “You told her,” He said. Kael nodded. “She deserves the truth.” Cyrus folded his arms. “You think the truth makes this easier?”

“No,” Kael replied. “But it makes it real.” Cyrus approached the bed. “She already knows part of it. She’s not blind in there. She’s just trapped.”

“She moved her hand,” Kael said. Cyrus looked at me. “Prove it.”

“She did. Barely. But it was movement.” Cyrus turned back to Kael. “If she’s waking, we don’t have much time.”

“I know.” Cyrus hesitated. “I found the name of the caster.” Kael straightened. “Who?” He asked. someone from the Northern Sect. They call her the Voice. She was exiled years ago. Hollow Claw gave her sanctuary.” Kael’s jaw tightened. “Location?” Cyrus shook his head. “Not yet. But she’s the one who anchored the mark.” Kael paced. “Then we find her. Drag her back. Make her reverse it.”

“It’s not that simple,” Cyrus said. “She won’t cooperate.” Kael snapped, “Then we make her.” Lyra entered. She was pale. Still recovering from the mind link. “I heard,” she said. “The Voice.” They turned to her. “She’s not just a caster,” Lyra said. “She’s a soul-binder. If she anchored the mark, it’s woven into Mira’s spirit. Removing it could destroy her.”

“She’s already dying,” Kael said. “I know,” Lyra said. “That’s why I’ll go with you. If we reach the Voice, I might be able to isolate the mark’s core.”

Cyrus frowned. “You’re barely recovered.” Lyra nodded. “But I’m still the best chance you have.” Kael turned to me. “I’ll bring her back,” he whispered. “I promise.” They left the room together. I stayed still. But I wasn’t quiet. The wolf inside me began to stir more. The confession changed something.

I didn’t forgive Kael. But I understood him. It didn’t make the pain less. But it made the truth sharper. And I needed sharpness now. I focused on the mark. I could feel where it lived. It wasn’t just inside me. It was laced through every decision I’d made sense that day. Every outburst. Every silence. Every moment of confusion. Every fear I couldn’t explain.

I began to pull back the layers. Memory by memory. I saw the dream again. The shadow. The bleeding palm. I felt the words again, “You’re not ready yet.”

They’d been watching me for years. Waiting. The Voice didn’t just mark me. She was trying to remake me. The next memory hit harder. My wolf, snarling, trying to surface during a training match, only to be suppressed. Not by me. Not by instinct. But something invisible. Pulling her back. It wasn’t my fear that silenced her.

It was the mark. I remembered the day I screamed and couldn’t remember why. The time I lost time. The day I walked into Cyrus’s quarters and didn’t remember leaving. Each moment was a fracture. And behind all of them. That third presence. They were watching, whispering, and guiding. I hated it. I focused on the center of my being.

The bond with Kael was frayed. The bond with Cyrus was raw. The third was smooth. Clean. Deceptive. I dug toward it. It resisted. It pushed back. A whisper came, soft, feminine. “You are safer this way.” I pushed harder. “You are not made for war.”

I pushed again. “You were never meant to choose.” The chains tightened. But I kept pushing. Then I heard it. It was a distant snarl. I forced the memory of her to the front.

In her eyes was fury, and her loyalty. The mark tried to silence it. I held the truth.

And for one second, just one, the third mark pulsed. Then flickered. Just once. Then darkness returned. But I knew now. I could reach it. I could fight it. Kael’s truth gave me that much.

He failed me. But he never stopped choosing me. And even if I didn’t know whose side I was on. I knew I still had one.