MasukFionaThe fire did not burn the way fire should.It moved like it was alive. Like it was thinking. It rushed past the warriors and curled around Lucian and Orion, leaving the rest of us standing in a circle of heat and fear. The air smelled sharp and bitter. My eyes burned and my throat hurt, but I could not look away.Lucian stood tall, his shoulders wide, his wolf pushing hard under his skin. Orion stood across from him, half man and half flame, his body flickering like he might disappear any second and then come back stronger.My son screamed behind me.That sound broke something in me.“Stop it,” I shouted. “Both of you stop it now!”Neither of them looked at me.Orion smiled. It was not the smile I remembered from childhood. This one was cruel and sad at the same time.“You see,” Orion said, his voice echoing like it came from deep underground. “Even now he chooses the pack over you.”Lucian growled low. “Do not twist this. I am doing this to end you.”“End me,” Orion laughed sof
FionaThe night did not feel like night anymore. It felt awake. Like the darkness itself had eyes and ears and teeth.Lucian and I stayed on the broken balcony for a long time. Neither of us spoke. Smoke drifted past us in slow lazy curls. The stone under my feet was warm, like the fire had sunk deep into it and refused to leave.Lucian finally stood up. His hands were shaking.“We need to move,” he said quietly. “Before he comes back.”I nodded even though my legs felt weak. Every sound made me flinch. Every shadow made my heart jump.We walked back inside the pack house. The halls looked wounded. Cracks ran through the walls. Burn marks stained the floor. Warriors rushed past us carrying water and injured wolves. Some cried. Some stared ahead with empty eyes.One warrior bowed quickly. “Alpha. The borders are still burning.”Lucian’s jaw tightened. “Send more guards. Double them. No one walks alone.”The warrior nodded and ran off.Lucian turned to me. His eyes softened when he look
FionaI screamed. I did not even know what word came out of my mouth. It could have been Lucian’s name. It could have been Orion’s. It could have been nothing at all. My voice felt small compared to the cold wind and the dark below me.My feet dangled over the edge of the balcony. Stones looked tiny from up there. Too tiny. My heart was beating so fast that it hurt. I could feel my wolf clawing inside me, panicking, crying, begging me to fight.“Lucian please,” I sobbed. “This is me. This is your mate. Look at me.”His hands were tight around my arms. Not gentle. Not loving. His fingers dug into my skin like he was afraid I would disappear. Or maybe like he wanted me to.“You chose him,” Orion’s voice said again through Lucian’s mouth. “You watched me burn. You walked away.”“That’s not true,” I cried. “I tried to save you. I screamed for you. I loved you.”Lucian’s face twitched. His jaw tightened. His eyes flickered yellow then dark then yellow again. For a second I saw my mate ther
FionaEverything felt too fast. Too loud. Too bright. My heart was beating so hard that it almost felt like it would jump right out of my chest. My wolf kept whimpering inside me, saying the same thing over and over again like a broken drum.“He’s not dead. He’s not dead. He’s not dead.”And I could not even push the voice away, because a part of me already knew it was true.Orion was alive. Somehow. Someway. And he was coming for me.The flames around the borderland were still dancing high in the air, burning everything in sight. Wolves were screaming. Some falling and some rising again before falling once more. The heat stung my skin like tiny needles. My fingers shook as I held my son close to my chest. Lucian stood in front of me with a snarl so deep that the ground vibrated.“There! Right there!” a warrior shouted suddenly.Every warrior’s eyes turned to the moving shape inside the flames. Lucian stiffened. My breath caught in my throat. The shape moved closer and closer, until
Three years later,FionaI do not know when it really started. Maybe it was the night the wind sounded like someone crying. Or maybe it was the morning my little boy woke up with tears on his cheeks and said something that made every part of me freeze.“Uncle’s cold.”Just like that. Soft. Like he did not even know the words he said.Lucian turned to me so fast that I almost stepped back. His eyes were wide like he expected me to explain it. But how was I supposed to explain something I did not understand myself. I only reached for my son. He climbed into my arms quickly and hid his face on my shoulder like the world was too heavy for him.“Maybe he was dreaming,” Lucian whispered. But his voice shook too.I nodded but I knew he was not dreaming. I knew it in the deepest part of my chest because I heard it too, sometimes, when everything was silent. A voice. A voice that sounded like Orion but also did not sound like him. A voice that felt like it was made of smoke and fire and old pa
FionaOrion.It can’t be. It’s impossible. He burned. I saw the flames consume him. I watched that fire eat through every piece of him until there was nothing left.But those eyes… I’d know them anywhere.The warrior beside me grips his sword tighter. “Should I pursue, Luna?”I couldn’t even answer. My lips parted, but the words refused to come out of it. In that moment of fear and hesitation, the figure turns and it vanishes into the fog behind the tree lines, disappearing as if the forest swallowed it whole.“Wait—!” I take a step forward, but the warrior’s hand catches my arm.“Whatever that was, it is gone now, Luna,” he says, scanning the area cautiously. “It might’ve even been a stray rogue.”No. No. I shook my head absentmindedly. It wasn't. I can still feel it—the weight of that gaze, the silent accusation buried in those eyes. It’s……terrifying. By the time we get back to the pack house, the image of that wolf has somehow burned itself into my mind like a scar that refuses to







