Chapter 5: The Weight of Blood

The battlefield was silent. The panting of wolves, the taste of blood between her teeth, the low growls echoing off the walls of the night — was it enough to remind her the fight wasn’t over? My muscles buzzed from the change, and my skin tingled where the last remnants of power coursed through me just moments before. But now, the rush was gone, leaving in its wake something more profound, something chillier — reality.

David was gone. Disappeared into the night the second he knew he was outgunned. His pack had blown apart like rats, those who survived, anyway. But his absence had not offered relief. If anything, it left an emptiness, a sickening pit in my stomach, because I knew this wasn’t over. He would return. Stronger. Angrier. More prepared.

Maxwell transformed first, the black wolf vanishing into the man in front of me. His breathing was shallow, his chest rising and falling fitfully. He was bleeding — a gash along his ribs, claw marks streaking his arms — but his eyes were on me only.

“Lena.”

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. I was still suspended between worlds, between who I had been and who I was becoming. I wanted to tell him I was OK. I wanted to assure him that I had it in hand. But that would be a lie.

I wasn’t fine.

I wasn’t even certain I was still myself.

The golden shimmer of my fur faded as I shifted back, my body obeying before my mind could stop it. The chilled night air stung my bare skin, though I hardly noticed. I looked down at my hands, trembling. They weren’t claws anymore. Just fingers. Just human.

So why did I continue to feel as if I were on fire?

Maxwell was in front of me in an instant, shrugging off his jacket, enveloping me in his body with his jacket over my shoulders. His touch was firm on my knee, grounding, but the worry in his eyes had something inside me fracturing.

“You are trembling,” he said softly.

With deep breath, I exhale the shaky breath from my lungs. “I-I really do not know how to stop all this..”

He let out a breath, resting his forehead against mine. His warmth, the smell of something familiar and safe, steadied me for a moment. But it wasn’t enough to silence the voices in my head.

What have I become?

What happens now?

A few footsteps broke the silence, and my father walked up to us. He was bloodied, bruised, but on his feet. My mother was right behind him, her face a careful mix of relief and concern.

“It’s done,” Dad said, his voice steady but weary.

“For now,” Maxwell corrected. “David ran, but he’ll never stop. He can’t. He needs Lena’s blood. And he needs that baby.”

I flinched at the reminder; instinctually my arms coiled around my stomach. That child who’s growing in my belly—the reason for all of this. Why David had married me. Why he had attempted to murder me. The reason he still would.

It was then my mother stepped forward, putting her hand on top of mine. “We have to get you to safety.”

Safe. The word felt foreign now.

“I don’t think there’s a ‘safe,’ anymore,” I whispered. “Not for me. Not for the baby.”

Dad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “There is one place. The old sanctuary.”

Maxwell stiffened beside me. “Absolutely not.”

I furrowed my brow, glancing back and forth between them. “What sanctuary?”

Dad paused, casting a look at Mom, then answering. “It’s a destination designed for Guardians. Shielded from all other supernatural forces, including the Blackwoods. It’s where your grandmother went when she was pregnant with you.”

I swallowed hard. “And why does Maxwell look like he’s ready to rip your throat out at the mention?”

Maxwell’s jaw tightened. “Because once she goes in, she may never come out.”

A silence fell, thick and heavy.

“What do you mean?” I asked carefully.

He turned fully toward me, his eyes stormy with frustration. “It’s not just a place, Lena. It’s a test. It’s a place that strips you of everything you know, everything you think you are, and forces you to confront what you contain. It will take you to the ends of yourself. And if you fail…”

I sucked in a breath. “If I fail, what?”

Dad’s expression darkened. “Then, don't ever come back here."

I felt a cold chill run through my spinal cord.

Mom rested a hand on my forearm, her clasp strong though gentle. “It’s up to you, sweetheart. But you need to know what’s at stake. David won’t stop hunting you. You’re not safe with the Council. If you remain here, if you attempt to contend him on your own terms, he will triumph.”

My gaze flickered to Maxwell. “And if I go?”

His fists clenched at his sides. “Then I can’t protect you.”

Those words weighed on me unbearably. I had lived my entire life caged without knowing it, my power shackled, my past withheld. Now, I was free. But in that freedom came the paralyzing discovery that I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it.”

Did I run? Did I fight? Did I hide?

Or was I willing to risk it all to see what was over the next hill, praying that whatever I found there, I could reconcile with?

I looked down at my stomach, at the life that was growing inside me. It became bigger than me. It never had been.

I raised my chin, my mind made up.

“I’ll go.”

Maxwell let out a sharp breath, shaking his head. “Lena—”

“I have to.” My voice was steady now. “I need to know who I am, Maxwell. What I am. I have to be strong enough to deal with whatever’s coming because if I’m not…

I never finished my thought; I trailed off.

His face was conflicted and torn between understanding and refusal. At last, he exhaled slowly, deliberately. “Then I’m going with you.”

Dad stiffened. “No. It doesn't work that way, dear."

“Screw how it works,” Maxwell spoke with a steel edge to her voice. “She’s my mate. Think I’m gonna let her face that alone?”

“She has to face it alone.”

“Like hell she does.”

“Enough.” A voice, my voice, broke in on their argument, and I surprised even myself. I looked up at Maxwell and reached for his hand. “You said it yourself — this is something I have to do. And I believe you. But I need you to trust me too.”

His jaw was clenched, but after a beat, he nodded. “Always.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and faced my parents again. “Then let’s go.”

As I was speaking, the wind outside changed, and then the wind was howling through the broken windows. It smelled like rain, of earth, of something else. Something ancient.

The sanctuary was waiting.