Chapter 24 Two Wolves, One Prey

Elara spun to run, but the street behind her flooded with armored guards. Her escape was gone. The Codex throbbed in her arms, hotter, louder, its pages rattling as if caught in a storm. A whisper slithered into her mind, not soft this time, but a command.

Now.

The cover split open. Pages flared, vomiting black light that carved symbols into the night. The Hunters screamed as the darkness wrapped them, skin blistering, chains of shadow binding their limbs. Panic rippled through the crowd.

Elara stumbled back, breath torn from her lungs. The Codex pulsed like a living heart. Far beyond the Keep, Kael froze. The power slammed into him like a brand, searing his blood. He tasted her fear in the wind.

“Elara…” His voice was a vow. He pushed through the wards, smoke rising from his skin. Nothing would stop him.

In the northern woods, Dorian halted mid-strike, blade buried in a mercenary’s chest. Above the treetops, black fire curled into the sky. His heart clenched.

“She’s here.” He tore through the last of the Guild hunters and sprinted toward the city.

Inside the Keep, chaos reigned. Bells clanged, Elders shouting orders. Elara ran through twisting alleys, clutching the book that burned against her skin.

You showed them power, the Codex whispered. Now they will never let you go.

“No…” she gasped, forcing her legs to move faster.

She turned a corner and froze. A dead end. Stacked crates, sheer walls. Boots thundered behind her.

“There! The girl!”

Hunters poured into the alley, eyes glowing with the Elders’ mark. Elara pressed back against stone, knuckles white around the Codex.

Blood shall open the way. Yours… or theirs.

“No,” she hissed. “I won’t...”

The first Hunter stepped forward, sword raised. “Cornered prey.”

A growl rolled through the alley, low and thunderous. From the shadows, Kael emerged, eyes burning gold.

Before Elara could breathe, another figure slipped in from the far end, sword drawn, sweat streaking his jaw. Dorian.

Her heart stuttered.

Two predators. Both here for her.

The Hunters hesitated, caught between monsters.

The Codex thrummed with cruel laughter.

••

Kael struck first. He ripped a man from his feet, claws shredding through armor, blood splattering the walls. His golden gaze locked onto Elara. “Mine.”

Dorian’s blade cut another down with swift precision. He glanced at her, relief flashing in his eyes. “I’ve got you.”

Kael snarled. “Don’t touch her.”

“She’s not yours to claim,” Dorian snapped back.

The Hunters charged, ending the standoff. Kael unleashed brutal savagery, tearing through bodies with feral rage. Dorian moved like a storm, his sword carving clean, efficient arcs.

Side by side they fought, a furious rhythm of beast and blade.

“Elara, stay behind me!” Dorian shouted, blocking a strike aimed at her chest.

Kael roared, snapping another Hunter’s neck. “Behind me.”

Blood sprayed. Bodies fell. The alley stank of iron and smoke. Then a blade grazed Elara’s arm. She cried out, stumbling. Both men reacted instantly.

Kael crushed the attacker against stone, voice like thunder. “Don’t touch her!”

Dorian caught her before she fell. His hand lingered on her waist. “You’re safe now.”

Her breath hitched. Kael’s snarl shook the walls. “Take your hands off her.”

“She deserves freedom, not chains,” Dorian spat. “And not you.”

Kael’s laugh was dark. “You think she’ll choose you over fate? Over me?”

“Elara...” Dorian turned, but horns blared, cutting him short. Reinforcements thundered closer.

Elara’s pulse raced. “We have to move!”

Neither Kael nor Dorian looked away from each other, fury sparking hotter than the blood around them. For a breath, Elara thought they would tear each other apart.

The next wave of Hunters surged in, forcing their hands.

Growling, Kael and Dorian fell back into battle, guarding her from both sides. Blood slicked the stones. The Codex burned against her chest, whispering prophecy.

Two wolves will bleed for you. One shall bind. One shall burn.

The words carved themselves into her skull. At last, with the alley littered in corpses, Kael shoved open a side passage. Smoke and fire spilled through the gap. “Move.”

Elara staggered forward, Dorian close at her side. Kael’s eyes never left her. Not for a second. Neither did Dorian’s.

And between them, the Codex pulsed, alive, hungry, waiting.

••

The forest was silent, save for the ragged sound of their breathing. Branches snapped under Kael’s boots as he paced, restless, while Dorian knelt beside Elara, tearing a strip of cloth from his own shirt.

“Hold still,” Dorian murmured, his touch steady as he wrapped the makeshift bandage around her arm.

Elara flinched but didn’t pull away. Her body screamed in pain, yet the gentleness in his hands anchored her. “You don’t have to—”

“I do.” His eyes flicked up to hers, sharp with unspoken things. “You’re bleeding, Elara. That’s reason enough.”

Kael let out a low growl, stepping closer. “Enough.” His golden eyes burned in the fading light. “You think she needs your pity? She doesn’t. She has me.”

Dorian rose slowly, meeting Kael’s glare without flinching. “She needs someone who actually listens to her, not someone who keeps dragging her into battles she never asked for.”

“You arrogant bastard—” Kael’s voice broke with anger. He pointed at Elara, his chest rising and falling like a storm barely contained. “She’s bound to me. By blood. By fate. Nothing you say can change that.”

Elara’s lips parted, breath caught between them. “Kael…”

Dorian cut in, his voice low, dangerous. “Fate doesn’t decide who she belongs to. She does.” His eyes softened as he turned to her. “Elara, you don’t have to be a pawn in his destiny. You can choose.”

Silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating. Elara’s pulse thundered in her ears. Dorian’s steady gaze, Kael’s fiery claim, both pulled at her, tearing her in two.

Kael stepped closer, voice raw. “Tell me you don’t feel it, the bond. The fire every time I’m near you.” His hand hovered near hers, trembling with restraint.

Elara’s throat tightened. She wanted to deny it, to push him away, but her skin still burned from the memory of his touch.

Dorian’s voice was softer, almost pleading. “And tell me you don’t feel safe with me. That your heart doesn’t ease when I’m here.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “Stop it…” Her voice cracked, breaking the fragile air. “Both of you. I can’t—”

But before she could finish, a low whisper slithered from the depths of the Codex in her satchel, curling through the night like smoke.

“Two hearts will burn for you. One will shatter. One will remain. Choose, or the world will choose for you.”

Elara froze, her hand clutching the leather strap of the bag. Kael and Dorian exchanged a sharp glance, both sensing the darkness in the words.

Her voice trembled as she whispered into the gathering dark, “How am I supposed to choose… when losing either of you feels like breaking myself in half?”

The forest answered with silence, an aching, dangerous silence that promised nothing but heartbreak ahead.