Chapter 36: THE PULL OF BLOOD

Ciara did not remember standing.

One moment her palms were pressed into the earth, the next she was on her feet again, breath coming in uneven pulls as though she had run a great distance.

But she had not moved.

The clearing had.

That was the only way she could explain it.

The air hummed faintly, like a plucked string still vibrating long after the sound should have faded. The trees leaned inward ever so slightly, their branches creaking as if straining to listen.

To her.

Ciara lifted her hands slowly and stared at them.

They looked the same.

But they did not feel the same.

Her skin tingled. Her veins felt warm. Her wolf was no longer pacing restlessly beneath her ribs.

It was alert.

Awake.

Watching.

Eryx approached carefully, as though nearing a flame he was unsure would burn him.

“Can you feel it?” he asked.

Ciara nodded once. “Yes.”

“What does it feel like?”

She searched for words and failed. “Like… I’m no longer alone inside myself.”

Eryx’s expression darkened with something close to reverence. “That is how the first Queen was described in the oldest records.”

Ciara exhaled shakily. “Stop calling her that.”

“Why?”

“Because every time you do, it sounds like you’re talking about me.”

Eryx did not reply.

He didn’t need to.

The silence said enough.

A sudden sharp ache struck Ciara’s chest.

She gasped and staggered back a step, gripping her sternum.

Her bond.

It had gone from a faint thread in the background of her mind to something painfully present.

Levion.

She could feel him.

Not his thoughts.

Not his emotions.

His awareness.

Like he had suddenly lifted his head somewhere far away and realized something had changed.

Eryx saw the shift in her face. “The king?”

Ciara swallowed hard and nodded.

“He felt that.”

“Yes.”

Eryx’s jaw tightened. “Then we do not have much time.”

“For what?”

“For him to come looking.”

A strange emotion flickered in Ciara’s chest at the thought.

Not fear.

Not anticipation.

Something complicated.

Because for the first time since she had met him, she did not feel small in comparison to Levion.

She felt… equal.

Maybe even more.

The realization startled her.

They left the clearing quickly.

But Ciara kept glancing back over her shoulder, half expecting the stones to glow or the earth to split open behind them.

Nothing happened.

The forest returned to its quiet, ancient stillness.

Yet the change remained inside her.

By the time they reached their camp, the hunters were watching her with something new in their eyes.

It was no longer curiosity.

It was respect.

And something close to awe.

She hated it.

She did not want to be looked at like she was no longer one of them.

“I’m still Ciara,” she muttered as she sat on a fallen log.

No one responded.

Because none of them believed that anymore.

Night fell quickly.

The fire crackled softly between them, but Ciara could not focus on it. She sat apart, staring into the darkness, trying to understand the storm of thoughts inside her head.

Her parents.

What had they known?

What had they hidden from her all these years?

Was this why they never pushed her about not having a wolf?

Was this why they protected her so fiercely from pack politics?

A slow, painful realization dawned.

They had not been ashamed of her.

They had been afraid for her.

Tears burned her eyes again.

Eryx sat beside her quietly. “You are thinking too loudly.”

She gave a humorless laugh. “I can’t help it.”

“Yes, you can. The more emotional you become, the louder your presence will be to him.”

She stiffened. “You mean Levion.”

“Yes.”

Ciara pressed her fingers to her temples. “I don’t know how to control this.”

“You will learn.”

“When?”

Eryx looked at her steadily. “Very soon. Because he is already on his way.”

Her heart skipped.

“You can’t know that.”

“I do.” He tilted his head slightly. “The forest has gone restless. Animals have been fleeing south for the past hour.”

Ciara’s stomach dropped.

“He’s coming here.”

“Yes.”

She stared into the darkness ahead.

Part of her wanted to run.

Part of her wanted to wait.

And a dangerous part of her wanted him to see her now.

To see what she had become without him.

“What happens when he finds us?” she asked.

Eryx’s gaze was steady. “That depends on what you choose to be when he does.”

Ciara frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Eryx said calmly, “that when he stands before you next, he will no longer be the only ruler in the room.”

The words settled heavily into her chest.

For so long, she had been the girl begging him not to leave her at an auction platform.

The girl he threatened with a dungeon.

The girl no one in his castle respected.

But now—

She felt something rising inside her that no one could push down again.

Not even a king.

A branch snapped somewhere in the distance.

Every hunter in the camp went still.

Ciara’s head lifted slowly.

Her wolf stirred.

Not with fear.

With recognition.

He was close.