Chapter 39
The night was so cold because of the rain that fell earlier. However, Kayla didn’t mind. She continued moving forward without a backward glance.
Her boots sank slightly into the soft forest floor, wet leaves clinging to the soles.
Mist clung to the trees like a ghostly veil, and the branches overhead were thick, black lines drawn across the moon.
A steady wind moved through the woods, hushing the night like an unseen hand pressed gently over its mouth.
Kayla’s gaze drifted upward, and she froze.
Perched on the gnarled branch of a tree was the same ten-year-old girl she had seen the day she first stepped into the Azure Moon Pack.
Same hollow eyes. Same deathly stillness.
She never spoke. Only one word ever passed her lips—Lucien. Whispered like a curse.
Kayla had stopped trying to question her long ago.
There was something deeply wrong about the mysterious girl. Something ancient.
Kayla didn’t know who she was, or why she kept appearing.
All she knew was that her presence twisted the air, left the forest colder, and filled her chest with a fear she couldn’t explain.
Kayla didn’t slow her steps.
She had one goal.
To reach the Alchemist of Lythos before midnight.
And no amount of cold or fear would stop her now.
Inside the thick woods, the only signs of life came from the occasional hoot of an owl or the rustle of birds shifting in their nests.
No wolves. No whispers. Just silence. Until something moved behind her. A twig broke and Kayla froze. She didn’t breathe.
Her body turned stone-cold as she slowly turned around, her eyes scanning the darkness behind her.
“Who’s there?” she asked.
But no one spoke.
Only the hush of wind and the wet rustle of leaves.
Kayla took a step back, her hand sliding to her side where she had tucked her small blade.
But then, just as she turned again, her heart slammed against her ribs.
Someone stood before her.
She was totally unclad and stood so still like she was carved from ice.
Her long hair hung wild down her back, dripping with rain.
Her skin glistened in the moonlight, the raw edges of her wolf form still lingering in her fierce eyes.
She had clearly shifted moments ago, tracking Kayla through the woods.
Kayla narrowed her eyes.
“I told you not to follow me.”
Seraphina said nothing.
She didn’t even blink. She simply extended her hand.
Something thin and wrinkled rested in her palm.
Kayla looked down and slowly lifted her head.
“A map?” she asked.
Seraphina finally spoke.
“This is the map of Lythos. I drew it last night. Without it, you’ll get lost in the cave.”
Kayla didn’t reach for it yet.
“I told you to go back.”
“You’d die,” Seraphina said bluntly. “And not even realize it.”
Kayla frowned.
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“You don’t need a burial, either,” Seraphina snapped, pushing the rolled parchment into her palm.
“Take it.”
Kayla held the map.
It was new, drawn in strange lines and symbols she didn't recognize.
There was a path marked in red that ended at a cliff.
Seraphina’s eyes turned darker as she stepped closer.
“That cave isn’t what you think,” she warned.
“It’s alive. It breathes. It watches. And it listens.”
Kayla’s lips parted slightly.
“What does that mean?”
“The Vyrekins,” Seraphina whispered.
“They guard the path. You can’t see them. You’ll only hear them.”
“The Alchemist’s guards are Vyrekins?”
“Yes,” Seraphina nodded.
“The real ones. Loyal to the Alchemist, speak only once. One sentence. One voice. And they vanish. But the desperate ones roam the cliffside. They haven’t fed in decades. They’ll whisper your name, offer you things you’ve dreamt about. But if a voice speaks more than once... it’s not a guardian.”
Seraphina locked eyes with Kayla.
“If you are trying to scare me, then you won't succeed,” Kayla said with a light chuckle.
“Moon flower, don’t answer voices that speak twice. Don’t look around when you hear laughter. And if your name is spoken more than once, run.”
“Do not let them distract you,” Seraphina said, her tone deadly serious now.
“They feed off confusion. Fear. Blood.”
Kayla’s heart beat faster, but she held her ground.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because I may not follow you in,” Seraphina said, stepping back.
“But I’ll never stop protecting you from the outside.”
“Lastly,” Seraphina said, her voice quieter than before, as if the trees themselves might be listening.
From the folds of her cloak, she pulled out a small object, a round vessel no larger than her palm, made of blackened stone veined with gold.
Its surface shimmered faintly as though alive, the patterns never still.
Kayla blinked and took a step forward.
“What is that?”
“A Kelsari Ember,” Seraphina answered, holding it up with reverence.
“Crafted by the sentinels of the Eastern Dusk. It’s older than most of the bloodlines we know.”
Seraphina struck a match against a rock and touched it to the vessel’s mouth.
The Ember hissed and came alive, releasing thick, swirling smoke in a shade of ghostly silver laced with indigo.
It spread too fast, too thick.
The air changed, damp, humming with old magic.
Kayla coughed, stepping back and covering her mouth.
“What the hell, Seraphina?”
“Take it,” Seraphina said, stretching the Ember toward her.
Kayla narrowed her eyes.
“No. I can't!”
“You have to, Moon flower.”
“I said no.”
Seraphina stepped closer.
“Kayla, this will disperse your scent. Completely. No trace, no trail. Not even the wind will remember you walked through these woods.”
Kayla shook her head.
“So? I’m not hiding.”
“You should be,” Seraphina snapped.
“Because if Zayron finds his way to the Alchemist of Lythos while in the state he’s in, gods help us all.”
Kayla flinched.
Silence stretched between them, heavy as the smoke crawling through the underbrush.
“You know what he’ll do,” Seraphina continued, softer now.
“He’ll kill the alchemist. Out of instinct. Rage. Fear. He won’t even think, Moon flower.”
“Then her curse will claim him. Not a simple blood debt. Not one a pack can negotiate. Her curse is ancient.”
Kayla exhaled shakily.
She was not aware of this.
“What curse, Seraphina?” Kayla asked.
“First, isolation. He will be banished by the winds, rejected by earth, and scorned by the moon. No territory will hold him. No pack will shelter him.”
“What?”
“Calm down, Moon flower. That's not all. Second,” Seraphina went on, “Alpha Zayron's wolf will be trapped between forms—never man and never beast.”
Kayla’s lips parted, but no words came.
“Third,” Seraphina said, voice now like cracked ice, “his blood will become fire to anyone who touches him. Mate, child, stranger, he will burn everyone who tries to love him.”
Kayla’s knees almost buckled.
“And last,” Seraphina whispered, “he will hear her voice in his head, always. The alchemist. Mocking him. Laughing.
Forever guiding him to places he cannot escape from. Even in dreams. So, you must not allow him to follow your scent. He must not know where you have gone to,” Seraphina said.
“Remember the vision, Moon flower. Remember the silver locks that would have landed on Zayron's table but, because of your stubbornness, landed on the alchemist's table. Do not give her anything. Hear the price and come home. Remember, the price is the solution.”
Kayla looked down at the smoking Ember.
The scent was sharp now, pine, sulfur, and something sweet beneath it.
Kayla lifted her head and stared at her aunt.
“Do you think she will demand for my blood?” Kayla asked.
Seraphina held her gaze.
“Moon Flower, you are the key to saving Zayron. The alchemist might demand that you serve her for eternity in exchange for the potion that can heal Zayron's mind.”
“When she makes her demand, ask for time to return home and put a few things in order,” Seraphina said.
“If I come home… how will I save Zayron?” Kayla asked.
“We’ll place him on the potion, mixed with your blood, every night and wait. See what happens over the years,” Seraphina replied.
Seraphina gave a small nod, then stepped back into the shadows.
Kayla turned, stepped beyond the tangled underbrush, and walked into the deep, whispering forest, alone.
The smoke clung to her like fog as she disappeared into the night.
“Moon flower!” Seraphina called a few feet away.
Kayla turned and looked at her aunt.
For a moment, she saw something human flash in Seraphina’s eyes.
A quiet kind of love.
“Be careful,” Seraphina added, her voice softer now.
“That child inside you... it’s a gift. Don’t lose yourself before they even take their first breath.”
Then, without waiting for Kayla’s response, Seraphina took a step back.
Her body bent forward, her hands dropped to the ground, and in one swift breath, her wolf erupted.
Fur covered her skin, bones shifted and cracked into place, and seconds later, the silver-black wolf stood proud before Kayla.
The beast stared at her for a heartbeat longer, then vanished into the darkness, her paws barely making a sound as she ran.
Kayla stood still.
The map trembled slightly in her hand.
And for the first time that night, Kayla felt the weight of what she was about to do.
Behind her, the forest was silent again.
But ahead, beyond the trees and past the cliffs, something ancient waited for her.