Chapter 8 Eight
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sara’s POV**
The word hung in the air between us like a strike.
Hunt.
Xenon’s voice carried no hesitation. No doubt. No fear. Only intent. Dangerous intent. The kind that made warriors ready themselves without being told twice. The kind that warned every wolf in the pack that their Alpha was done being patient.
Ryker straightened immediately and left to prepare the patrol teams. The moment the door shut behind him, the tension in the room deepened.
Xenon remained still, shoulders tight, breathing steady in a way that looked practiced rather than natural. He stared at the crushed note in his hand, his knuckles white.
I stepped toward him carefully. “They think I took something from them.”
“No,” Xenon said without looking up. “They are lying.”
“How do you know?”
His eyes lifted slowly to mine. “Because if you knew anything about them, you would never have left your old pack alive.”
The air left my lungs. “You think they were watching me even before this?”
Xenon stepped closer. “Yes.”
I felt the floor tilt slightly beneath my feet. “Then why now? Why come here? Why follow me to BloodRidge?”
“Because they were waiting,” Xenon said. “For the right moment.”
“What moment?”
“When you were within reach.”
A chill crawled up my spine. “You think I am the reason they came here.”
“I know you are.” Xenon’s voice was low. “That second note was not for me. It was for all of us. They want something from you they believe belongs to them.”
“I do not have anything.”
Xenon’s gaze softened for a fraction of a moment. “You might not know what you carry. But they think you have it.”
I swallowed hard. “Then tell me what they think I am.”
He stared at me, jaw tight. “Not here. Not yet.”
I wanted to argue, but his expression was unreadable. Controlled. He was protecting something. Information. Or me. I could not tell which.
Suddenly, the door pushed open and Adrian entered without knocking. His face was set, his brows drawn tight.
“Alpha. The patrols found something in the forest.”
Xenon turned fully toward him. “What.”
“A trail,” Adrian said. “Fresh. They marked the trees with symbols from the pendant. Leading deeper into the woods.”
A cold feeling washed through me.
Xenon stepped forward. “And you followed it.”
“Yes,” Adrian said. “But the trail stops. Abruptly. Almost as if they wanted us to see it.”
“An invitation,” Xenon muttered.
“Or a trap,” Adrian added.
Xenon nodded once. “Prepare the teams. We leave within the hour.”
Adrian left as quickly as he came.
Xenon turned to me. He looked like a man torn between rage and restraint.
“You are not leaving my sight,” he said.
“I am coming with you,” I replied quietly.
He stiffened. “No.”
I stood straighter. “You said this concerns me.”
“It does.”
“Then I go.”
His eyes sharpened. “You do not understand the danger.”
“Then explain it to me,” I said. “Instead of hiding it.”
He inhaled slowly. His wolf pressed against his control again. I could feel it in the air. Heavy. Restless. Protective.
“You come with me,” he said at last. “But you do not leave my side.”
My heart raced. “I will not.”
Xenon moved past me, toward the weapons cabinet built into the wall. He pulled out two blades and strapped one across his back. He handed the other to me.
My fingers trembled. “I am not trained with this.”
“It is not for skill,” he said quietly. “It is for last resort.”
The seriousness in his voice made my throat tighten.
“You will not need it,” he added. “Not while I am here.”
We stepped outside his quarters.
The pack house had changed. Warriors moved with urgent precision. Guards positioned themselves along the walls. The air buzzed with tension. Every wolf in the pack could feel it.
The Alpha was preparing for war.
Xenon walked ahead of me with Ryker at his side. Adrian joined them, murmuring strategy. I followed closely, watching the pack shift into formation.
The forest beyond the walls looked darker than usual. Thicker. Waiting.
Ryker noticed me watching. “Stay near us. If anything feels wrong, even for a second, say it.”
“I will,” I said.
Xenon turned his head at the sound of my voice. His eyes flicked over me, checking again that I was unharmed. It was the same look he had given me twice already.
Finally, he spoke. “We move.”
The gates opened. The forest swallowed us almost instantly.
The deeper we went, the colder it grew. The trees grew denser. The shadows thicker. The silence sharper. The pack moved as one, but my heartbeat was louder than all their footsteps combined.
Xenon walked ahead, following the faint marks carved into the trees. The symbols matched those on the pendant. Old. Dangerous. Intentional.
Every few feet, he glanced back at me.
He was checking my breathing. My steps. My eyes. Everything.
At one point he slowed, falling into step beside me.
“How do you feel,” he asked quietly.
“Scared,” I admitted.
He nodded. “Good. Fear keeps you alive.”
“And you,” I said. “Are you scared?”
His eyes stayed fixed ahead. “I am furious.”
“Because of the rogues.”
“No,” he said. “Because they left that note outside my door.”
His voice held something cold and sharp.
A warning.
As we reached a clearing, Adrian raised his hand. Everyone stopped.
The trail ended here. Just as he had said.
Xenon crouched and touched the ground. His face darkened.
“They were here recently,” he said. “Very recently.”
“What do you smell,” Ryker asked.
Xenon hesitated.
Then his gaze snapped toward the trees.
“We are not alone.”
A shiver tore down my spine.
The forest went still.
Not wind still.
Wolf still.
Hunter still.
Xenon moved faster than I thought possible. He stepped in front of me, blocking my body with his.
Something shifted in the shadows.
A figure stepped out.
Hooded. Tall. Silent.
My breath caught.
Xenon growled. Low. Cold.
“Identify yourself,” he said.
The hooded figure didn’t speak.
Xenon shifted his stance. Ready to attack. “This is your only warning.”
The figure lifted a hand slowly.
In it was something small.
A folded piece of paper.
Xenon froze.
So did every warrior.
The forest waited.
The figure dropped the paper to the ground.
Then turned and vanished into the trees as if swallowed by the air.
Ryker sprinted after him, but the figure disappeared completely.
Xenon didn’t chase.
He went to the paper.
His fingers tightened. His chest rose and fell hard.
He unfolded it.
His eyes dropped to the message.
I watched fear ripple through me before he even spoke.
He lifted his head slowly and met my eyes with something close to devastation.
“It is a name,” he said quietly.
My heart stopped. “Whose name.”
He swallowed hard.
“Yours.”
I stepped back. The world tilted. “What does it say.”
He held the note toward me.
One sentence.
The bloodline wakes with her.
My breath shattered.
Xenon caught my arm before I fell.
“We are leaving,” he said. “Now.”
“Why,” I whispered.
“Because they know who you are,” he said.
His voice was calm. Controlled. Terrifying.
“And they are not hunting you anymore.”
My heart pounded. “Then what are they doing.”
Xenon met my eyes.
“They are coming to claim what they believe you carry.”
A cold wind cut through the clearing.
And for the first time since arriving in BloodRidge, I realized something terrible.
The rogues did not stumble into my life.
They had been waiting for me.
Waiting for the bloodline they believed I belonged to.
Waiting for me to awaken something I did not understand.
And now they wanted it back.
