Bella’s heart raced as she walked into the dimly lit room, the stone walls closing in around her like the weight of her past. Kael had led her here, to the elders’ chambers, where she was about to learn things she never expected to hear. The tension in the air was thick, and Bella could feel her pulse in her ears, her nerves on edge.
The elders sat around a large wooden table, their faces grim. At the head of the table was Elder Veyra, her sharp eyes glinting with something unreadable. The rest of the council was silent, waiting for her to speak.
“You wanted answers,” Elder Veyra said, her voice steady but laced with an undercurrent of something dark. “And you will have them.”
Bella stood at the edge of the room, her gaze locked on the floor. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a precipice, ready to tumble into a void of unknown truths.
“You were found near Crescent Howl’s borders as a baby,” Elder Veyra continued, her voice cold and distant, as though she were speaking about a stranger. “Along with the medallion you now wear.”
Bella’s breath caught in her throat. The medallion. The one that had glowed on her skin, pulsing with power and ancient symbols. It had been a mystery since the moment she first found it, and now, hearing it mentioned by the elders made her feel like her whole life had been built on lies.
“How did you find me?” Bella asked, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and fear. “Why did you hide me?”
The elder’s eyes softened for a brief moment, but her expression quickly hardened again. “We found you abandoned at the edge of our territory. Alone. Vulnerable. And with the medallion, we knew it was no coincidence.” She paused, looking down at the table as if the next words were difficult to speak. “The medallion is tied to an ancient bloodline, one that the elders have been trying to keep buried for centuries. A bloodline that, if revealed, would spark a war.”
Bella felt her stomach drop as the weight of the words hit her. “A war?” she whispered. “Why? What’s so dangerous about me?”
The room grew colder, the tension rising with each passing second. Elder Veyra exchanged glances with the other elders before speaking again.
“The bloodline you carry is one of immense power,” she said, her voice low. “The prophecy speaks of a ‘Wolf of Two Worlds,’ someone who has the ability to bridge the gap between our world and Nyxthorn’s. That’s why you were hidden. If the truth had come out sooner, the pack would have been torn apart. Nyxthorn would have come for you. They would have taken you, or worse, they would have destroyed us.”
Bella’s mind reeled. A “Wolf of Two Worlds”? What did that even mean? And why had they kept her hidden for so long?
“And what about Kael?” Bella asked, her voice rising with frustration. “Does he know about this? Did he know what I am?”
The elders remained silent, their eyes averted as if the question was too heavy to answer. Bella’s heart pounded in her chest. Kael—did he know? Was that why he was so protective of her? Why he had kept her close?
Elder Veyra’s eyes flicked up to meet Bella’s. “Kael only knew fragments,” she said quietly. “But the truth of your origins… it was something we had to keep from everyone, even him. We couldn’t risk anyone else knowing until it was absolutely necessary.”
Bella felt a surge of anger. “And now it’s necessary?” she spat. “Because Nyxthorn is after me?”
“Yes,” Elder Veyra said. “But there’s more to it. You’re not just a threat to Crescent Howl. You’re a threat to Nyxthorn itself.”
The words hung in the air, and Bella’s mind raced, trying to piece everything together. What did that even mean? How was she a threat to Nyxthorn? And why had they gone to such lengths to hide her existence?
Before she could ask another question, the door to the chamber creaked open, and Bella froze, her senses sharpening. She could hear the faint sound of hushed voices outside the room, and something about it made her blood run cold. The voices were too low, too careful—like they were trying to avoid detection.
She motioned to the elders, her eyes narrowing. “There are spies outside,” she murmured. “Nyxthorn’s spies.”
The elders exchanged looks, panic flickering across their faces for a split second. “Stay here,” Veyra whispered urgently. “We’ll handle this.”
But Bella didn’t listen. Her curiosity and fear combined, pushing her to act. She slipped out of the room before anyone could stop her, moving quietly down the hallway. She crept toward the source of the voices, her breath coming in slow, controlled exhales. She knew that this moment—whatever she was about to overhear—would change everything.
As she neared the corner of the hall, Bella heard two figures talking in hushed tones, their words sharp and venomous.
“She’s here,” one of them said, his voice low but unmistakable. “We need to move quickly. The elders are hiding something, and if they find out we know, they’ll kill us.”
“We have to tell Shadowbound,” the second figure replied, a sense of urgency in his voice. “The Wolf of Two Worlds can’t be left alive. We can’t let her grow stronger. If she is who we think she is, she’ll bring war to all of us.”
Bella’s heart thudded in her chest as the pieces clicked into place. Nyxthorn had known about her all along. They had been watching her, waiting for the right moment to strike.
She stepped out from the shadows, her presence making the spies freeze mid-sentence. Her voice was low, but it carried a dangerous edge.
“You’re going to tell me everything,” she growled.
The two spies turned to face her, their eyes widening with fear. Bella felt the power within her rise, the medallion pulsing against her chest like a heartbeat.
This was only the beginning.