Chapter 65: CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE | PALE

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE | PALE

ASPEN

I sat on the wooden chair beside Rachel, the wood cold against my legs. The hut felt smaller now, like the walls were listening. Rachel tapped her fingers together and finally asked, “Do you think the plan will succeed?”

I breathed out slowly. “I really hope it will,” I said. “It has to. This is the only way to stop anything worse from happening.”

She looked at me, worried plainly on her face. “You sound like you already see the end.”

“I see the risk,” I replied. “And I don’t like it.”

Silence stretched. Then curiosity crept in. “Who are those people inside?” I asked. “The ones Brian took Ronan to meet.”

Rachel shifted on her seat. “They’re people from his pack,” she said. “Or what’s left of it.”

That made my chest tighten. “And how are they supposed to help?” I asked.

Before she could answer, a voice came from behind me. “By giving what they have,” Brian said.

I turned quickly. “What do you mean?”

“They’ll donate their manpower,” he said calmly. “It’s really needed if we’re going to stand a chance.”

I nodded, even though fear crawled up my spine. “Okay,” I murmured. “I hope it goes as planned.”

Rachel tried to smile. “When do things ever go as planned?”

Okay, that didn’t help.

I leaned back, staring at the weak lamp light. A thought wouldn’t leave me alone. “Brian,” I called softly. “Do you think Alettoi is behind all this?”

He paused, then shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “But it feels like he knows you.”

My heart skipped. “How?” I repeated. “How would he know me? I’ve never met him.”

Brian let out a short laugh. “Alettoi has his ways,” he said. “He sees things and also hears things. I don’t know the exact reason, but he doesn’t move without purpose.”

“That’s not comforting,” Rachel said.

“It’s not meant to be,” Brian replied.

I folded my hands together, trying to steady them. “If he really knows me,” I said quietly, “then this isn’t just about Ronan anymore.”

Brian’s eyes softened. “It never was in the first place.”

The hut creaked as the wind passed outside. I thought of Ronan in that room, facing people who once rejected him. I thought of the school, the secrets, and the blood ties…

“I don’t want anyone else to disappear,” I said.

Rachel reached for my hand. “They won’t,” she said, though her voice shook.

I wanted to believe her, I really did, but deep down, I felt it. Once Alettoi was involved, nothing stayed simple. Whatever he wanted from me, I knew one thing for sure: this night was only the beginning, and it was already asking for more than we were ready to give.

I listened to the forest breathe and counted my fears; each sound felt like a warning. If the plan failed, we would pay for it. If it worked, the cost would still follow us. Either way, I was already chosen.

After what felt like forever, the door finally opened and Ronan stepped out.

I was on my feet before I realized it, Rachel beside me, both of us moving toward him at the same time. Brian stayed back, watching like he already knew how this would go.

“Well?” Rachel asked.

Ronan exhaled, rubbing his neck. “It went well,” he said. “They’re willing to support me.”

The words hit my chest like fresh air after being underwater. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, my shoulders dropping. For a brief second, things felt lighter and possible.

Ronan looked at me, like he was about to add something else, his mouth parting…

And then it happened—a sharp pain slammed straight into my heart.

Without a dull ache or a warning. It felt like something reached inside me and twisted hard. I gasped, my hand flying to my chest as a scream tore out of me before I could stop it.

“Aspen?” I heard someone say, but it sounded far away.

My hands started shaking, fingers curling like they didn’t belong to me anymore. My vision blurred, then snapped into something else entirely.

I wasn’t in the hut. Instead, I was staring at a woman lying unconscious on the ground. Her hair was spread out beneath her, her face pale. There was blood near her temple. A man was kneeling beside her, shaking her shoulders, calling her name over and over, his voice cracking with every word.

I knew him. I didn’t know how, but I did.

The pain in my chest doubled, then tripled. I screamed again, my knees giving out as the world tilted violently. I felt hands grab me, felt myself falling, but the vision didn’t stop.

There was a fire. A house was burning.

Flames crawled up wooden walls, eating everything in sight. The heat pressed against my skin like it was real, like I could feel it. Smoke filled my lungs and I coughed, even though I wasn’t really there. Someone was crying inside.

I tried to move. I tried to run. My legs wouldn’t respond.

“No,” I whispered, though I didn’t know who I was begging. “Please.”

The man’s voice echoed again, louder this time, broken. The woman didn’t move.

The pain became unbearable.

I felt myself being pulled. I heard Ronan’s voice calling my name now, urgent and close. Brian was saying something sharp and fast, but it all blurred together.

The fire roared, and the house collapsed inward.

And then everything went dark.

When the sensation returned, it came slowly. I felt the cold ground under my back. The smell of damp earth and smoke that wasn’t really there. My chest still burned, but the sharpness had dulled into a heavy throb.

I blinked, staring up at shadows and worried faces.

Ronan was kneeling beside me, his hand hovering like he was afraid to touch me. Rachel’s eyes were wide, her face pale.

I swallowed hard as my throat felt dry.

“I… I just saw the burning house in my dream.”