Chapter 18 – Marked by Flame, Hunted by Blood
LYRA'S POV]
At first, I thought it was just the aftermath of the ritual.
The pounding headaches.
The flickering lights whenever I got too emotional.
The way fire responded before I even asked it to.
But by day three…
It became impossible to ignore.
---
The water in my glass boiled when I got angry.
The candles in the healer's hut wouldn't stay lit when I was afraid.
Even my dreams were bleeding into the waking world.
The last one had left a mark on my palm—
A black crescent that hadn't been there before.
Kairo saw it that morning.
He didn't say anything.
But his jaw clenched like he was trying not to break something.
---
"You need control," Elyna said, pulling me aside after training. "Power without direction? That's what starts wars."
"I didn't ask for this."
"No one ever does. But we either carry it with grace…"
She handed me a flame stone—a training tool used for young wolves who hadn't shifted yet.
"…or we get burned alive by our own magic."
---
[KAIRO'S POV]
I knew someone was watching us.
Even before I caught the scent.
Even before Elyna whispered, "We're being followed."
Someone in my own pack.
Someone who didn't like that I chose her.
---
Selene had warned me.
"Power draws loyalty," she said. "But fear draws knives."
And now?
Fear had taken root in their eyes.
Even in warriors I'd trained myself.
Even in elders I'd bled beside.
---
They didn't see Lyra as a girl anymore.
They saw her as a weapon.
And weapons, when uncontrolled, are either used… or destroyed.
---
[LYRA'S POV]
That night, I woke with my throat burning.
Not metaphorically—literally.
Smoke was curling under my door.
I shot up, stumbled into the hall—
Flames.
Everywhere.
The walls of the hut I was resting in were covered in fire.
I screamed—
And the fire pulled back.
Not out of mercy.
Out of obedience.
Like it had been waiting for my command.
---
Then I saw the shape through the smoke.
A hooded figure, back turned, stepping through the side door.
Fast. Silent.
But not before I saw the silver fang pendant swinging from their wrist.
A symbol of inner rank.
Of pack blood.
---
I tried to follow.
But Kairo burst in first, eyes wild, his shift threatening to break through.
"I smelled it," he growled. "Who the hell lit your hut—"
"I saw them," I said. "They ran."
"Who?"
I shook my head. "I didn't see a face."
But I knew what I saw.
And so did he.
---
[KAIRO'S POV]
Later, after the flames were gone and Lyra was safe in my bed, I went to Selene.
She didn't look surprised when I told her.
She just handed me a name.
One of my own elite.
> "She's not the only one they fear," Selene said.
"They fear what you'll do to protect her."
I stared at the paper in my hand.
My hand shook.
> "I trained him."
Selene leaned in.
"You taught him to kill. He just chose his target."
---
[LYRA'S POV] – THAT NIGHT
I curled under Kairo's fur-lined blanket, pretending to sleep.
But sleep wouldn't come.
Not when my body was still pulsing with heat.
Not when my own power was whispering through my bones.
And not when I realized something horrible:
> The fire didn't just protect me.
It had a voice.
And tonight… it whispered a name.