CHAPTER 33: COST OF BETRAYAL

My heart felt as if it would burst with every step.

The forest was dense and damp, the light mist drifting low over the ground.

My mother’s hand was tight in mine as we ran deeper into the woods.

I knew where the path led. If we kept east, it would bring us to the cliff where the wooden bridge stretched across. Beyond it, the slope dropped toward the lower edge of town.

From there, we could slip past and find our way out of Levian lands.

I didn’t know what lay after that. The thought of tomorrow, of the weeks or years ahead, was all a blur.

All I could think of now was to go anywhere that wasn’t here.

The forest was dark, the canopy swallowing the moonlight, but Leika’s presence sharpened my sight.

I could see the narrow way between roots and brambles, the pale shimmer of the path through the mist. My mother stumbled more than once, her breath uneven, but she never let go of my hand.

We kept running until our lungs burned.

Branches scratched against my arms, and the hem of my dress caught on the undergrowth, tearing slightly. None of it mattered.

"Where would we go?" my mother asked at last, her voice strained, broken by gasps for air.

"Somewhere far," I managed, not slowing my pace.

The answer wasn’t enough, but it was all I had.

I remembered the stories I had overheard in the manor. How the neighboring Hestian pack was known for its warmth, how they welcomed those who had no home. Maybe that could be the place. A resting point, at least, until we found something better and permanent.

A sharp sound broke through the night. A howl, long and cutting.

Then another, and another, echoing over the trees.

My stomach dropped.

I knew those voices. They came from our pack warriors. It came from the estate, ringing out in signal.

"They’re going down to the town," I muttered. Another howl followed, carrying urgency. "They are ready for a war."

The sound chilled me. The estate would be emptied of its guard, its warriors scattering through the streets below. It meant pursuit might not come right away, but it also meant fire and blood had swallowed more than just our lands.

Guilt worked at me as we ran.

The kind that gnaws without teeth yet still manages to wound. The town was burning. People were shouting for water, for help. And I was taking advantage of the tragedy.

I told myself what I had told myself all day: live first. Think later.

The trees began to thin. A wash of silver light spilled between trunks and bracken.

We were close.

"Someone’s on our trail," Leika said.

The breath I’d been saving left me in a thin sound.

The next gust carried the scent, sharp and iron-clean beneath smoke and damp earth.

Damn it.

Finn.

He was with his wolf.

I tightened my grip on my mother. "We keep moving."

A howl tore the quiet, not a call to gather but a line of fury thrown through the trees. Birds burst from a nearby spruce, black silhouettes scattering over the cliff.

My mother flinched.

"He’s close," she whispered.

The forest broke open at last, and the night poured over us.

I stumbled into the clearing, dragging my mother with me, breath sawing in and out of my chest.

The cliff stretched wide before us, a ragged scar of stone cutting off the way forward.

For one blessed moment I thought we had made it, that freedom lay across that span.

Then I saw.

The bridge was gone.

Only ropes dangled from the posts, their ends frayed and swinging faintly with the night breeze. The planks that once connected the two cliffs had vanished, stripped away or burned.

Across the empty space, the other side gleamed pale beneath the moonlight, so close I could almost touch it, and yet impossible to reach.

My relief collapsed in on itself. My knees weakened.

"There’s no way..." My voice broke against the emptiness.

"Vien." Leika’s voice trembled inside me. "He’s here."

The warning was unnecessary. I already felt him.

His scent threaded through the mist, familiar and ominous. A presence pressing against the back of my neck until I shivered.

And then it came. A howl, deep and furious, split the night. The ground seemed to carry it, vibrating under my feet. Birds burst from the nearby trees in a rush of wings, scattering into the dark sky.

My mother clutched my arm, her nails digging into my skin.

Then his voice slammed into me, not through my ears but through my mind itself.

"Vivien."

It rang like iron against stone.

"You dare run? During the rite that binds you to me? During the fire that devours my land?"

My breath hitched. My heart pounded so loud I thought my ribs might crack. "Stay out of my head," I whispered.

"You opened it yourself when your wolf awakened. You cannot close me out unless you are out of the lands I rule."

Beside me, my mother tugged at me, whispering frantically, "Vivien, we must turn back, there must be another way through—"

"There’s nowhere," I said. My eyes fixed on the broken ropes, the drop beneath them. "The bridge is gone. We’re trapped."

Branches tore open behind us, and he stepped into the clearing.

Finn in wolf form.

The sight of him stole my breath in fear. His shoulders seemed broader than I remembered, his paws heavy enough to splinter branches beneath them. His eyes, gold and searing, were fixed on me with such intensity that my body froze where I stood.

"Vivien," my mother whispered, pulling me close.

She stepped forward. My lips parted, but no sound came.

The wolf moved faster than sight. A blur of dark fur, a flash of fangs.

The sound was sharp and sickening.

"Mother!"

She crumpled to the ground, blood spreading across her pale shawl. Her eyes widened once, then dimmed as she fell still.

"No—no!" I stumbled forward.

"This is the cost of betrayal." Finn’s voice lashed through me, savage with rage.

I screamed until my throat burned.

Leika’s howl answered inside me, a storm of fury and grief, but even she was helpless.

The wolf turned his gaze back to me. His muzzle was wet with blood. His eyes glowed brighter, unblinking.

"Run, if you dare." The words thundered through my skull, steady as a vow. "No distance will save you. No border will hold me out."

Tears blinded me, my legs trembling as if they might give way.

"Move, Vien," Leika urged, desperate now. "She gave her life for you. You must live."

I stood frozen at the cliff’s edge, my mother’s body cooling on the stone.

Amd Finn, his wolf form vast, dark, and merciless, was blocking every way back.

"You killed my mother," she whispered, disbelief cracking through every word. Her stomach churned, her fury rising like fire in her chest. "You are nothing but a ruthless scum!"

Her voice broke into a shout. "Go on then, kill me! I’d rather die than be anywhere you!"

Finn’s wolf eyes blazed, molten gold searing through the dark.

His muscles tensed, ready to strike, each step a threat as he began to edge closer.

Then a roar shattered the night.

It came from across the cliff, so loud it seemed to shake the stone beneath her feet.

Finn froze mid-step, his ears flattening, his gaze snapping toward the sound.

Vivien turned her head.

On the opposite side of the broken bridge stood five wolves.

In their center loomed a massive beast, its fur black as raven feathers, its eyes burning red like embers in the dark.