Chapter 27 Between Dawn and Dread

Elara's

I woke to the crackle of dying embers and the faint chill of morning. The cave smelled of smoke and damp stone, and for a heartbeat, I thought maybe last night had only been a dream. But then I saw him.

Kael, slumped against the wall, his skin pale but his jaw still sharp, his golden eyes half-lidded yet burning whenever they found me. And Dorian, already awake, standing guard at the cave’s mouth, his sword across his knees, back straight as if he hadn’t closed his eyes all night.

The silence between the three of us pressed heavier than stone.

“Morning,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

Dorian turned slightly, a ghost of a smile softening his face. “You should sleep longer. You barely closed your eyes.”

Kael let out a low growl, the sound rough with pain. “She doesn’t need coddling. She needs food, strength. Rest won’t keep her alive.”

I stiffened. “I can decide that myself.”

Both of them looked at me then, like wolves scenting the same prey. My stomach tightened.

Kael tried to rise, teeth gritted. I hurried to his side before I could think better of it. “Don’t. You’re still bleeding.”

His hand caught mine, firm and burning. “Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do.”

For a moment, our eyes locked—his gaze raw, almost pleading beneath the defiance. My chest tightened, heat rushing into my face, and I pulled my hand free. “Lie back. Please.”

Kael hesitated, then obeyed. Just like that, the storm in him eased, and for the first time, I saw the flicker of trust he rarely let anyone touch.

Behind me, Dorian cleared his throat. “If he keeps moving, he’ll rip the wound open again. Let him stay down.”

Kael shot him a glare sharp enough to cut steel. “And if I do? You’ll play the hero again? Pretend you know what’s best for her?”

Dorian stepped forward, his eyes dark, his voice steady. “I don’t pretend. I just don’t treat her like she’s a weapon to be wielded.”

Their words slammed into me from both sides. I stood between them, trembling, but not from fear. From frustration.

“Enough!” I snapped. “I won’t be dragged into your fight. If you want to tear each other apart, do it after we survive the day.”

The cave fell silent. Kael’s jaw flexed, but he leaned back against the wall, biting down his rage. Dorian exhaled slowly, then turned away, scanning the trees beyond.

The Codex shifted in my satchel, its presence a pulse against my ribs. Two wolves. One prey. The whisper coiled in my mind, sweet as venom. They’ll destroy each other. Unless you destroy them first.

I pressed my palm to the leather, hard enough to hurt, and forced my thoughts away.

Dorian’s voice broke the silence. “We need to move soon. Hunters won’t stop searching.”

“To where?” Kael challenged. “Toward your precious city? Straight into the Elders’ hands?”

“At least it’s shelter. And walls,” Dorian shot back.

Kael snarled, shifting despite his wound. “Walls are cages. You’d chain her in stone and call it freedom.”

“And you,” Dorian snapped, “would drown her in blood and call it destiny.”

Their words tore through me. My lips trembled, but I forced them into sound. “Stop talking as if I’m not here. Stop deciding my fate like I’m some coin you can toss between you.”

Both men went silent again. This time, their gazes softened when they turned to me, but the fire in them didn’t dim.

I turned away, desperate for air. The forest beyond the cave seemed to breathe with me, branches creaking in the wind. For a heartbeat, I thought maybe—just maybe—we could slip away unnoticed.

Then the sound came.

A long, low howl. Not from Kael’s kin. Not from any wolf I had ever heard. It was deeper. Older. It rolled through the trees like thunder, raising every hair on my arms.

Kael froze. Dorian’s sword was in his hand before the echo even faded.

“That,” Kael said, his voice harsh, “isn’t a hunter. That’s Bloodbound.”

My heart lurched. “What does that mean?”

Kael’s golden eyes snapped to mine, unflinching. “It means the Elders sent their oldest hounds. Wolves twisted by oath and blood. They won’t stop. Not until they taste yours.”

Dorian cursed under his breath. “We can’t stay. We move. Now.”

Kael forced himself to his feet, swaying but refusing to fall. “We go east. The Bloodmoon forest. My kin can shield us.”

“No,” Dorian growled. “That’s exactly where they’ll herd us. We head south, to the ruins. I know the ground there. We’ll have the advantage.”

Both turned to me, waiting. Expecting.

I stood frozen in the mouth of the cave, staring at the two paths twisting into the forest. East—Kael’s promise of blood and kin. South—Dorian’s vow of steel and freedom.

Behind my ribs, the Codex pulsed with cruel laughter. Choose. Or be chosen.

My knees nearly buckled. I clenched the satchel tighter, my voice breaking on the question that had been clawing at me since the moment they found me.

“How am I supposed to choose between the fire that burns me… and the shield that saves me?”

Neither Kael nor Dorian answered. They only watched me, waiting for a decision that could shatter us all.

Then Dorian stepped forward, lowering his sword but not his gaze. “There’s another way,” he said quietly.

Both Kael and I looked at him.

“Moonvale,” Dorian continued. “It’s my pack’s territory. A valley hidden in the east, green fields, forests wide enough to swallow an army. It’s not strong like Bloodmoon, not brutal—but it’s just. Fair. They’ll shelter us, Elara. Shelter you.”

Kael let out a derisive laugh, sharp and bitter. “Moonvale? A pack of sheep playing at wolves. They’ll fold the second the Elders breathe down their necks.”

Dorian’s jaw tightened. “Better sheep who stand together than wolves who tear their own apart.”

His words hung heavy between them, heavier still in my chest. Moonvale. A place safe enough to breathe. A choice far from Kael’s fire or Dorian’s steel. But the road would be long, and every step would be hunted.

I looked from one man to the other. Kael’s golden eyes burned with possession, with fate. Dorian’s steady gaze held promise, of freedom, of safety.

Behind my ribs, the Codex pulsed, whispering its cruel refrain. Three paths. One heart. Choose.

The howl rose again, closer this time. The Bloodbound were coming.

Kael growled, already turning east. Dorian reached for my arm, steady, pointing south. And now… Moonvale shimmered between them, the third path no less dangerous, yet tempting.

My lips trembled as I whispered into the night, “If I choose wrong… it won’t just break me. It could break the world.”

And the darkness answered with silence, until the forest itself erupted with snapping branches, the Bloodbound closing in, leaving me no time, no breath, no choice.