Dawn bled slowly across the horizon, painting the sky in shades of gold and crimson. Mist curled like silver serpents around the edge of the cliffs, but it wasn't the cold that sent shivers through my spine.
It was the feeling that we weren't alone.
I turned to Rhydan, who was crouched near the edge of the ridge, scouting the forest below. His bare back was still streaked with blood from last night's battle, though he hadn't said a word about the pain.
Wolves were always like that. They bled silently.
But even silence had its limits.
"We can't keep running," I whispered.
He looked over his shoulder. "You say that like we have a choice."
"I'm not afraid anymore."
"You should be."
"No," I said. "They should be."
His gaze lingered on me longer this time. There was something unspoken in his eyes — pride, maybe, or awe — but it vanished before I could name it.
"We'll rest here," he said. "Just for an hour."
I nodded and sat against a large boulder, the carved mark of two crescent moons still glowing faintly beneath my fingertips. The energy of this place calmed me, steadied me.
But it didn't last long.
Because within that silence… I heard something.
A twig snapping.
Not an animal. Too precise.
Then I caught the scent.
Wolves.
Close.
Too close.
I stood, muscles tense. "We're not alone."
Rhydan had already shifted halfway, claws extended, eyes glowing. He positioned himself between me and the treeline.
Three shadows stepped into the clearing.
I recognized one instantly — the sharp-boned face, the hooded eyes, the calculating stillness.
Liora.
She looked different now. Not the strict healer. Not the cold observer. She wore dark leather. A sword across her back.
And beside her… two Crimson Fang warriors.
"I didn't expect to find you here," she said casually.
Rhydan didn't move. "You followed us."
"No," she replied. "I led the hunt."
My heart dropped.
"You betrayed us," I said.
"I protected the pack," she snapped. "Garrick is unstable, yes. But you? You're a walking catastrophe."
"I never asked for this."
"And yet here you are — glowing, burning, waking the mountain." Her voice trembled, not with fear… but fury. "You're not the first girl to tempt an Alpha, Aeryn. But you might be the first one to destroy him."
Rhydan growled. "You dare threaten her in front of me?"
"I dared once to stay and serve you when everyone else fled," she hissed. "But I see now — you were always going to fall for the fire."
The two guards stepped forward.
Rhydan shifted fully in an instant — black fur, teeth bared.
But I stepped between them.
"I won't let you take him," I said.
"This isn't about him anymore," Liora said coldly. "It's about the flame inside you. The prophecy is real. And you are its trigger."
"Then why not help me?" I cried. "Why try to kill me?"
"Because you cannot control it," she shouted. "And I won't let you burn us all to ash."
The runes on the stone beneath my feet began to glow again.
Liora's eyes widened.
"You feel it, don't you?" I said. "This mountain remembers her. The one I used to be. And it remembers what was taken from her."
"You don't understand," Liora said, stepping back. "The Flame of the End didn't just destroy a kingdom. She betrayed the Alpha bond. She turned her rage on her mate."
That stopped me.
"No," Rhydan whispered.
"She killed him in her final burst of magic," Liora said. "And now she's back. In you. And if history repeats itself, you'll kill him too."
I froze.
The runes under my feet pulsed violently.
A warning? A memory?
"No," I whispered. "I'd never hurt him."
"But she did."
And then Liora pulled her sword.
I didn't think.
I reacted.
Magic exploded from my chest like a storm.
Wind howled through the trees. Fire — blue and silver — erupted from my hands and sent the guards flying backwards. The earth split beneath us, revealing glowing symbols beneath the stone.
I felt… everything.
Pain. Power. Love. Loss.
Like a thousand lives flooded into my bones at once.
Liora shielded herself barely, her blade trembling in her hand.
"You see?" she screamed. "You're losing control!"
"I'm not," I said. "For the first time… I am in control."
Then I raised my hand.
And the sword in her hand melted.
Literally melted.
Liora gasped, stepping back.
"I don't want to kill anyone," I said. "But if you force me… I will protect him."
The clearing went silent.
The guards didn't rise.
Liora dropped to her knees.
"I… I only wanted to keep us safe," she whispered.
"So do I," I said.
She fled into the forest.
Rhydan shifted back, his breaths heavy, face unreadable.
"You okay?" I asked him.
He didn't answer at first.
Then: "She wasn't wrong, you know."
"What do you mean?"
He stepped closer, eyes searching mine. "If the prophecy is true… you'll lose control. You'll destroy everything. Including me."
"I won't."
"How can you be sure?"
"I don't know," I whispered, stepping closer. "But I'd rather die than hurt you."
He looked at me like I was the only thing anchoring him to the world.
"You don't have to say that," he said.
"I'm not saying it for you," I said. "I'm saying it for me."
He reached out, slowly, and brushed his fingers across my cheek. "You are the most dangerous thing I've ever seen."
"I'm aware."
"And I've never wanted anything more."
He kissed me.
Soft, at first.
Then deeper.
Like I was fire and he wanted to burn.
Like he knew we didn't have time, didn't have a future — but wanted the moment anyway.
And gods help me, I wanted it too.
Because no matter what the prophecy said…
No matter what fire lived inside me…
I chose him.
And if the world burned for that choice?
So be it.