Chapter 32: Bound in Silver

When I opened my eyes again, it wasn’t to pain.

It was to quiet.

Soft daylight filtered through the tall window, spilling pale gold across the white walls of the recovery room. For a second, I didn’t move. I just lay there, listening.

No roaring in my ears.

No burning in my veins.

No crushing weight in my chest.

Carefully, I turned my head to the right.

Ayara was sitting beside my bed on the wooden chair. At some point, she must have fallen asleep. Her head rested on the edge of the mattress, one arm folded beneath her cheek. Her blue hair spilled across the white sheets, slightly messy.

She looked… peaceful.

Slowly, I pushed myself up.

I expected pain.

Instead, there was only a dull soreness — the kind that lingers after a hard fall, not a near-death encounter with venomous wolves.

I looked down.

The bandages wrapped around my torso and shoulder had been changed. Fresh. Clean. No blood seeping through.

“Wow,” I muttered under my breath.

Ayara stirred immediately.

Her head lifted, eyes adjusting. “You’re awake.”

“Yeah,” I said, flexing my fingers experimentally. “I guess I am.”

She straightened in her chair. “How do you feel?”

I rotated my shoulder carefully. “Most of the pain is gone.”

Relief washed over her face.

“Thanks for staying,” I said.

She shrugged lightly. “I have to look after my boyfriend after all.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

To correct her.

But she had been sitting there for hours. Watching over me. Probably refusing to sleep properly.

So I let it go.

Instead, I shifted the subject.

“So… how are you handling your new abilities? You’re a vampire now.”

She leaned back slightly. “I don’t really feel different.”

“Not different?”

She shook her head. “Maybe I’m defective.”

I laughed softly. “A defective hybrid. That would be tragic.”

“I’m serious,” she insisted. “My senses were already heightened because of my wolf side. Hearing. Smell. Reflexes. They’re stronger now — much stronger — but they don’t feel new.”

“So there isn’t much difference?”

“There is,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m stronger. A lot stronger. I’m pretty sure I’m stronger than you now.”

“That’s offensive.”

“And I have your speed,” she added with a small smirk. “So I’m fast.”

I narrowed my eyes playfully. “What about the sun?”

She looked toward the window where sunlight streamed in. “It has no effect on me. I feel great under it.”

“No migraine? No dizziness?”

“Nope.”

I leaned back against the pillows.

“That’s… very strange.”

She shrugged. “I’m part wolf. Maybe that balances it.”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “You’re basically breaking every rule.”

She smiled faintly.

Then her expression shifted.

“But I get hungry,” she admitted quietly. “A lot. And I don’t know what to do about that.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry. Timi will teach you. He knows more about this than anyone.”

We fell into a comfortable silence after that.

Just sitting.

Then the door burst open.

Juliet stormed in.

The moment I saw her face, I knew something was wrong. Her eyes were red. Not from tears — from anger.

“Ayara,” she said tightly, “I need to speak to him. Privately.”

Ayara glanced at me, then stood without argument and walked out.

The door closed.

Juliet crossed the room quickly and sat beside me. She took my hand in both of hers.

Her grip trembled.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m so sorry, Daniel. I shouldn’t have brought you here. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”

“It’s okay,” I said gently.

“No, it’s not. You almost died.”

I smiled at her.

“Honestly? I’m having the time of my life.”

She stared at me like I was insane.

“I get to discover an isolated civilization in Antarctica, of all places,” I continued. “I find out werewolves are real. I turn someone into a hybrid. I fight mythical wolves. I almost die. It’s incredible.”

She blinked. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Life is good,” I added.

She shook her head, half frustrated, half amazed. “I don’t know how you stay this positive.”

I squeezed her hand. “It’s a talent.”

Her expression darkened again.

“We’re leaving,” she said quietly.

I frowned. “Leaving?”

“Yes. Soon.”

“What about the queen? The prince? Have they been interrogated?”

She hesitated.“Somehow… the queen convinced the king that we are the enemies. The warriors we went with have all been executed.”

My stomach dropped.

“And Timi?” I asked quietly.

“He’s being punished.”

The room felt colder.

“We’re all leaving the kingdom,” she said firmly.

“What about the war between the two kingdoms?”

“That’s none of our business anymore.”

I studied her face.

She meant it.

I nodded slowly. “Okay.”

She looked me over. “Are you able to move?”

“Yes.”

She helped me to my feet. My legs held easily — stronger than before.

We stepped into the hallway.

Ayara was standing near the entrance.

She looked like she had been waiting.

Her eyes were red.

Juliet’s voice softened slightly. “How much of that did you hear?”

Ayara didn’t answer.

Tears slid silently down her cheeks.

Juliet swallowed. “I’m sorry. But this might be the last day you see us. You can say your goodbyes later.”

She turned and began walking.

I looked back at Ayara.

She just stood there.

Crying.

We barely made it around the corner when guards blocked the hallway.

Juliet exhaled sharply. “What do you want this time?”

Then she appeared.

The queen.

Stepping from behind the guards with a slow, poisonous smile.

“And where,” she asked smoothly, “are you headed in such a hurry?”

“That’s none of your business,” Juliet snapped.

The guards moved forward, weapons ready.

“Stop,” the queen said calmly.

They froze instantly.

She tilted her head slightly. “I’m not sure what you have planned… but you are not going anywhere.”

Juliet slowly released her hold on me.

I stood on my own.

She stepped forward, placing herself between me and the queen.

“Who will stop me?” she asked coldly.

A low growl answered her.

The sound came from behind us.

Three massive wolves burst into the hallway — so large they barely fit. Their fur brushed the walls as they forced their way through.

Two lunged at me from behind.

I barely had time to react before they slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. Their weight crushed the air from my lungs as they pinned me, teeth inches from my throat, growling.

The third wolf leapt at Juliet.

But she moved.

She caught it mid-air by the ears and twisted, using its own momentum. She hurled it forward with brutal force. It crashed into the guards, sending bodies flying, barely missing the queen.

Juliet crouched, ready to spring toward the queen—

“If you touch me,” the queen said softly, “your friend dies.”

Juliet froze.

She turned.

The two wolves on top of me pressed their jaws closer to my neck, their growls deep and threatening.

She had no choice.

Her shoulders lowered slightly.

The queen smiled.

“Arrest her.”

The guards surged forward.

They forced strange metallic cuffs onto Juliet’s wrists.

She screamed.

Not from fear.

From pain.

“What is this?” she hissed.

The queen stepped closer, pleased.

“Silver,” she said. “Did you think we would not have our means of protecting ourselves against your kind?”

Smoke curled faintly from Juliet’s wrists. The skin beneath the cuffs burned visibly.

The wolves stepped off me.

The guards hauled me up and locked the same silver restraints around my wrists.

Pain exploded through me.

White-hot.

We were dragged through the palace corridors.

Down.

Down.

To the same dungeon Timi once brought us to feed on prisoners.

And when the doors opened—

We saw him.

Timi.

Chained to the wall.

Bound in thick restraints made from the same white silver material.

His head lifted slowly when we entered.

And for the first time since I had known him—

He looked defeated.