Chapter 81: The Path of Blood
The night air was colder than it had any right to be. Not sharp, not biting—just heavy. The kind of cold that seeps under your skin and makes your bones feel older than they are.
The moon above wasn’t silver anymore. It glowed red, bleeding across the fog like an open wound. Every hybrid on the estate grounds stirred at once, their heads lifting, golden eyes catching the light in eerie unison. None of them spoke, but the silence was louder than screams.
“It’s starting,” Echo whispered. Her voice carried in the stillness.
I already knew. I could feel it in my chest, like a second heartbeat that wasn’t mine.
Elena stepped closer, blade strapped to her thigh. “So, where’s this ritual supposed to happen? Because I don’t see an altar, or a creepy circle of torches, or some demon choir waiting to start the show.”
No one answered.
Because the ground did.
The soil beneath the courtyard trembled, a low rumble that sent dust falling from the walls. Then, slowly, a path began to reveal itself—stone tiles pushing through the earth, glowing faintly red under the bleeding moonlight. The path wound away from the estate and into the forest beyond, like it had been there all along, just buried.
“Yeah, no,” Elena said, throwing her hands up. “Absolutely not. That’s literally the road to hell. We’re not walking on that.”
Ethan adjusted his glasses and frowned at the glowing stones. “Actually, it looks like an ancient rune sequence. Old wolf magic. If I’m reading it right, it’s guiding her to the trial site.”
“That’s worse!” Elena snapped. “You just said that in nerd-speak.”
Aidan turned to me, his hand brushing against mine. “Rox… this is it.”
I swallowed hard. My voice was thin, but steady. “I know.”
For a long moment, none of us moved. Then, finally, I stepped forward. The stone under my boot pulsed faintly, as if acknowledging me.
The others followed.
\---
The path wound deep into the woods, the fog growing thicker with every step. The trees leaned inward, their branches twisted and black against the red moonlight. It felt like walking into the ribs of a giant beast.
No one talked for a while. The silence pressed too heavy. Then, of course, Elena broke it.
“So… serious question,” she said, stepping carefully over a root. “If this ends with Roxanne sprouting horns and becoming Queen of Doom, what’s our backup plan?”
“Not funny,” Aidan muttered.
“I’m dead serious,” Elena insisted. “Do we exile her? Tie her to a tree? Form a book club in her honor?”
“Stop,” I said, though I couldn’t help the tiny laugh that slipped out.
Ethan smirked. “Honestly, I vote book club.”
Elena elbowed him. “Thank you.”
“You two are impossible,” Aidan growled.
But the weight in my chest lightened—just a little.
\---
We walked for what felt like hours, though Ethan swore it had only been twenty minutes. The deeper we went, the more the hybrids followed us, moving silently through the trees on either side of the path. They didn’t touch us, didn’t speak—they just shadowed us, like silent sentinels.
At one point, Rhea slipped her hand into mine. She looked up at me, her eyes wide but steady. “You don’t have to be afraid,” she said softly.
I squeezed her hand. “Aren’t you?”
She nodded. “Every second. But I believe in you more than I’m afraid.”
Her words hit harder than I expected. I blinked fast, refusing to let the tears fall.
Behind us, Elena sniffed loudly. “Okay, that was disgustingly sweet. Somebody write it down so we can quote it later.”
Ethan chuckled under his breath. “Already did.”
“Of course you did.”
\---
Eventually, the path opened into a clearing.
At its center was a stone circle, etched with the same symbols I had seen on the altar. Torches flared to life on their own, bathing the clearing in firelight that mixed with the red glow of the moon.
And waiting inside the circle—was her.
The sister.
She stood tall, cloaked in black, her golden eyes glowing brighter than the torches. The hybrids who had followed us knelt around the circle, heads bowed.
She smiled when she saw me.
“Welcome, little Harbinger,” she said. Her voice was calm, smooth, and full of something that wasn’t quite kindness. “I was wondering when you’d arrive.”
Every instinct screamed at me to run. But I stepped forward instead.
“I’m not here for your games,” I said, my voice sharper than I felt.
Her smile widened. “No games. A trial. The Blood Oath, as it has always been. You stand where the first did. Where the last will. Tonight, you will either rise—or you will break.”
Aidan growled low in his throat, stepping forward. “If you think I’m letting her stand in that circle alone—”
“You will,” she interrupted smoothly, her eyes flicking to him. “Because the trial is not yours. Nor yours,” she added, glancing at Elena, Ethan, Echo, Callum, even Rhea. “It belongs to her blood alone.”
Elena muttered something very rude under her breath.
The sister extended her hand toward me. “Step into the circle, Roxanne Devlin. And prove yourself worthy of the blood you carry.”
The torches flared higher. The ground beneath the stone circle glowed.
I stood at its edge, my heart pounding like war drums. Aidan’s hand caught mine one last time, strong and desperate.
“You don’t have to do this,” he whispered.
“Yes, I do,” I said.
And then I stepped inside.
\---
The world shifted instantly.
The trees vanished. The fire dimmed. I was standing in endless darkness, the ground beneath me glowing faintly with runes.
And in front of me—shadows began to take shape.
Not strangers.
Not monsters.
My family.
My mother. My father. My brother.
They stood in silence, their eyes glowing gold.
And then, one by one, they whispered the same word the hybrids had whispered before.
“Alpha.”
\---
And I knew.
The Blood Oath had begun.