Chapter 10: The Mark Between Us
We spent the next two weeks preparing for the journey to the Black Moon Temple.
The temple was hidden beyond the northern mountains.
No ordinary wolf could find it.
But I could.
The mark on my wrist reacted whenever we traveled north.
It became warmer.
Stronger.
As though something was pulling me toward it.
Kael trained me every morning.
My control improved.
I learned to summon fire without losing myself.
I learned to communicate with wolves.
I could even sense the emotions of other werewolves.
But there was one ability I couldn’t control.
The bond.
Whenever Kael was injured, I felt it.
Whenever he was angry, I knew.
Whenever he was afraid…
I felt that too.
One evening, I found him sitting beside the river.
His shirt was stained with blood.
I approached him.
“You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You always say that.”
He looked at me.
“You’re becoming predictable.”
I sat beside him.
“Let me see.”
He hesitated.
Then removed his shirt.
I tried not to stare.
He had scars across his chest.
Too many.
Some were old.
Some looked like claw marks.
I gently touched one.
“This one?”
“The night your father saved me.”
I looked at him.
“And this?”
“The night my brother betrayed the kingdom.”
I traced another.
“And this?”
His expression changed.
“The Shadow Wolf.”
I stopped.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Sometimes.”
I placed my hand over it.
A silver glow appeared.
Kael inhaled sharply.
The scar began fading.
He stared at me.
“You healed it.”
“I didn’t know I could.”
He looked at my hand.
Then at me.
“You shouldn’t do that.”
“Why?”
“Because the more you heal me…”
He swallowed.
“The stronger our bond becomes.”
I didn’t move.
“Is that bad?”
“For me?”
He shook his head.
“For you.”
“Why?”
“Because if something happens to me…”
His voice became quiet.
“You’ll feel it.”
I looked into his eyes.
“I already do.”
He froze.
Neither of us spoke.
Then he reached for my hand.
His fingers intertwined with mine.
The marks on our palms glowed simultaneously.
A vision suddenly flashed through my mind.
A throne.
A crown.
Kael beside me.
Thousands of wolves kneeling.
Then blood.
Fire.
And me…
standing alone.
I gasped.
Kael pulled me closer.
“What did you see?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me.”
“I saw us.”
“And?”
I looked at him.
“I saw you dead.”
His face went pale.
“Visions aren’t always prophecy.”
“But this felt real.”
Kael touched my cheek.
“Then we’ll change it.”
“Can we?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He smiled.
“By refusing to follow the future.”
I leaned closer.
Our foreheads touched.
For a moment, the entire world disappeared.
Then he whispered:
“Elara.”
“Yes?”
“If we survive this…”
He stopped.
“What?”
He smiled.
“I’ll tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“Something important.”
“What?”
He shook his head.
“Not yet.”
I laughed softly.
“You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
For the first time…
I realized I wasn’t thinking about Damon anymore.
Not even once.
