CHAPTER SEVEN

MIRA

The forest was too quiet.

Kael and I moved through the shadows like prey pretending to be predators. My skin prickled with every crunch of leaves beneath my boots. He didn’t say a word, but I could feel the tension in his body like a storm waiting to burst.

We weren’t alone.

It started with whispers. Not real ones, not human. It was like the air itself was breathing down my neck, cold and damp. I spun around, claws half out, but nothing was there. Only the trees swaying like they were mocking me.

Kael grabbed my wrist. His grip was steady but strong enough to remind me I was only here because he allowed it.

“They are hunting us,” he said simply, voice low.

My chest tightened. “Who?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. The woods gave me the answer soon enough.

A woman stepped out from behind the trees, her black hair whipping in the wind, her lips curved in a sharp smile. Her eyes were pale gray, the color of ash. She wore silver armor that clung to her body like a second skin, and in her hand was a jagged blade dripping with poison.

“Paige,” Kael hissed.

She tilted her head, amused. “Ah, so you do remember me. I was beginning to think the great Kael had forgotten all the little pests he crushed on his way to the throne.”

Her voice slithered into me like oil. I hated how calm she sounded, like this wasn’t an ambush but a play she’d been rehearsing for years.

Kael stepped in front of me, his arm slightly outstretched as if to shield me. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

Paige laughed. “Oh, I didn’t come alone.”

The ground shivered beneath us. From the left, a tall man in crimson robes emerged, his eyes glowing faint blue. He carried a staff made of bone, and each step he took made the forest whimper. His face was scarred, half of it burned away, leaving only melted skin.

“Anderson,” Kael muttered under his breath.

Anderson tapped his staff on the ground, and the earth cracked. “You’re weak, Kael. I can smell it. The wound still festers. You will not make it back to your people alive.”

My stomach knotted. Two of them. And from the way Kael’s body stiffened, I knew these weren’t just enemies. They were monsters who had probably stood beside him once.

Paige’s smirk deepened as she glanced at me. “And who is this little pet you’re dragging along? A wolf? Really? My, how the mighty have fallen.”

Her words were knives. I wanted to snap back, to claw her face, but Kael’s hand on my arm kept me still. His grip wasn’t gentle. It was a warning.

Before I could think of a reply, another voice echoed through the woods. Feminine, but sharp as glass.

“Paige, don’t toy with them. Kill her first.”

From the shadows, a woman with white hair and red lips stepped forward. She wore a long velvet gown that should have looked out of place in the forest, but instead it made the trees bow in her presence. Her eyes were the darkest shade of blue, colder than ice.

Kael stiffened. “Freya.”

Freya’s lips curled in a slow smile. “Brother.”

The air in my lungs froze. Brother?

I stared at Kael, searching his face for denial, but he didn’t correct her. He didn’t even flinch. He just stood there, shoulders tense, as if he had expected this.

“You—” I whispered, my throat dry. “She’s your sister?”

Kael didn’t answer.

Freya chuckled softly, the sound like icicles breaking. “You didn’t tell her? Oh Kael, always keeping your secrets close. No wonder Vincent wants your head. You’ve made too many enemies, and even your blood can’t save you now.”

Vincent again. The name cut through me like broken glass.

Paige moved closer, dragging the tip of her blade across the dirt. Sparks flared. “I’ve been waiting for this moment. To see you crawl, Kael. To see you beg.”

Kael bared his teeth, his fangs glinting in the moonlight. He didn’t look scared, but I could feel it. The wound in his chest had weakened him, and facing three of them at once would be suicide.

I stepped forward before I could stop myself. “If you want him, you’ll have to go through me first.”

Paige laughed so hard it echoed through the trees. Anderson tilted his head, studying me like a specimen. Freya just smiled, as though I had amused her.

“You?” Paige sneered. “A banished wolf bitch? What could you possibly do?”

Something in me snapped. Maybe it was the memory of Lily’s smirk when she ruined my life. Maybe it was the ghost of Lucas shoving me away. Maybe it was just the fire I had been burying for years, the fire that refused to die.

“I survived when your guards tried to throw me off a cliff. I survived betrayal. I survived Kael biting my neck. And I’ll survive you too.” My voice shook, but it was fire all the same.

Paige’s eyes narrowed. “Then let’s see how long you last.”

She lunged at me, blade flashing. I ducked, claws tearing through the air. The clash of silver and fang rang loud, too loud. My heart pounded in my ears, drowning everything else. She was faster, sharper, trained. I was only alive because I had desperation burning in my blood.

Kael ripped Anderson’s staff out of his hands and slammed him into a tree, the wood splintering under the impact. But Anderson wasn’t fragile. He grinned through the blood in his teeth and whispered something in a language I didn’t know. Roots burst from the ground, coiling around Kael’s legs, dragging him down.

Freya didn’t even move. She just watched, arms folded, as though she owned the night.

Paige slashed at my cheek, hot blood spilling. I grabbed her wrist and twisted, but she shoved me hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. I hit the ground and gasped, the taste of iron thick on my tongue.

Kael roared, ripping free of the roots, his eyes glowing crimson. He slammed Anderson down again, this time snapping the man’s staff in half. The forest howled with the break.

Freya finally moved, her voice smooth as honey. “Enough.”

Her power rolled through the woods, thick and suffocating. My knees buckled. Even Kael flinched, his chest heaving.

“You can’t win here,” Freya said softly. “You can barely stand, brother. Let us finish it. Hand yourself over, and maybe I’ll let the girl live.”

Kael’s lips curled back. “Over my dead body.”

“That can be arranged.” Paige raised her blade again, but Freya lifted a hand. Paige froze mid-step, her body trembling as though invisible chains held her back.

I stared at Freya in shock. She wasn’t just powerful. She controlled them. Paige’s fury burned, but she didn’t resist. Anderson dragged himself up, bloody but grinning, waiting for Freya’s command.

Kael’s hand tightened around mine suddenly. I startled at the contact, but his eyes burned into mine with something fierce. “When I move, you run.”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I’m not leaving you.”

His grip hardened. “Mira, if you stay, they’ll kill you.”

“Then we fight together,” I shot back.

For a heartbeat, his expression cracked. Something raw flickered in his eyes, something almost human. But then it was gone.

Freya stepped closer, her gown whispering across the leaves. “You’ve grown weak, Kael. You were once feared by all. Now look at you—bleeding, limping, clutching the hand of a wolf.” She tilted her head, gaze sliding to me. “She’ll break you. Just like Mira was broken by her own pack.”

The words stung sharper than Paige’s blade. My fists trembled.

“I wasn’t broken,” I snarled. “I’m still here.”

Freya’s smile widened. “For now.”

She lifted her hand again, and the air itself pressed down on me like iron chains. I couldn’t breathe. My chest screamed. Kael growled, pulling me behind him, but even he staggered under the weight of her power.

Then the ground shook violently. A howl split the night, loud and furious.

Shapes burst through the trees—wolves. Not from my old pack. These wolves wore silver collars and their eyes glowed faint red. Controlled. Enslaved. They surrounded us, growling, teeth bared.

“Vincent’s pets,” Kael spat.

My stomach dropped.

We were outnumbered. Outpowered. Out of time.

Freya raised her chin, looking satisfied. “Now it ends.”

But before she could strike, another howl pierced the chaos. This one was different. Not Vincent’s slaves. Stronger. Wilder.

A pack burst into the clearing, led by a tall woman with golden hair braided down her back. Her eyes locked on me first, sharp and calculating.

“Enough,” she shouted. “This is our territory.”

The enslaved wolves froze at her command. Even Freya glanced at her with irritation.

The woman stood tall, radiating authority. “I am Paige of the Silvercrest,” she declared.

My mouth fell open. Paige? Another Paige?

The dark-haired warrior snarled at her, eyes flashing. “You dare use my name.”

The golden-haired woman smirked. “Because I earned it, and you are nothing but Vincent’s dog.”

The forest exploded into chaos again. Wolves lunged at wolves, blades clashed, and the night burned with screams and blood.

Kael pulled me close, his breath hot against my ear. “Stay with me, Mira. No matter what happens.”

I wanted to tell him I wasn’t afraid. But I was.

And for the first time since I’d been banished, I realized fear wasn’t my enemy. It was my weapon.