Chapter 8 An old name
Sera's Pov
“Run, Sera!”
The moment Caden shouted for me to run, my legs moved before my mind did. I sprinted through the trees, heart pounding hard enough to shake my ribs. Behind me, the forest exploded with growls, shouts, and the heavy thud of bodies colliding.
“Get her!” Elder Rowan’s voice rang out.
Branches slapped my arms as I pushed deeper into the woods. I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I couldn’t be caught. Not by them. Not by Rowan. Not when he had spoken my old name like it was carved into me.
Selene Ashford.
My lungs squeezed painfully, but I didn’t stop. The enforcers were fast, but not faster than me. My reborn body was stronger, more precise, built by the moon itself.
Still, I heard one getting closer.
Heavy footsteps, the breath was too steady to be human.
“Stop running!” he barked.
“Then stop chasing!” I snapped back, not slowing down for any reason.
I cut left, slid under a low branch, and jumped over a fallen log. The forest blurred, the cold air burning my throat as I risked a glance back.
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath and pushed harder.
A large hand suddenly grabbed the back of my shirt. I twisted violently, elbowing him in the throat. He stumbled. I kicked his knee and he fell, cursing.
Before I got far, another enforcer blocked my path and reached for me.
I spun, trying to slip past him, but he caught my arm.
“Come quietly,” he grunted.
“Not happening loser!”
I slammed my forehead into his nose and blood spurted, and he let go with a shout. I turned to run again, but Rowan stepped out from between two trees like he’d been waiting the entire time.
“Enough,” he said. And I froze out of fear, this feeling wasn't new, it was the way I felt when Brielle killed me.
I flinched, not because of Rowan but because Caden crashed out of the shadows behind him, shifting midair, slamming into Rowan with all the fury his wolf possessed.
Rowan hit the ground hard. Caden’s wolf snarled and snapped at him, forcing him back. The two enforcers stepped forward immediately, raising their weapons toward Caden.
“Don’t touch him!” I shouted.
One of them turned toward me, and that split second of distraction was all Caden needed. He lunged, claws tearing through armor. One enforcer went down. The other stumbled back.
“Caden, stop!” Rowan shouted.
But Caden wasn’t listening. His wolf had taken complete control, eyes glowing with rage. He circled Rowan, growling deep from his chest.
Rowan wiped dirt from his coat and glared at me instead of Caden.
“You cannot run from what you are,” Rowan said. “You cannot hide behind that body. You cannot pretend to be someone else.”
“I’m not pretending,” I said sharply. “I am Sera.”
“You are Selene Ashford,” he replied calmly, “and you belong to the council.”
Caden’s wolf let out a roar so loud the trees shivered.
Rowan turned, irritated. “You never should have been allowed to live, boy. Stand down.”
Caden lunged at him, jaws snapping, claws slicing the air.
“Caden!” I yelled. “Stop! You’ll get killed!”
He didn’t stop. He tore through another enforcer instead, ripping the man’s weapon from his hand. The last enforcer hesitated, clearly deciding whether the fight was worth it.
Rowan lifted his hand.
The enforcer lowered his weapon instantly, it was a binding order.
“Caden!” I shouted again. “Shift back. Please!”
For a moment, it looked like he heard me. His massive form stilled, trembling. His wolf stared at me intensely, desperate and protective and furious all at once.
Rowan stepped forward. “Move, Sera. Come with us now.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“I do,” I snapped. “And I choose not to.”
Caden’s wolf growled loudly enough to shake the ground.
Rowan frowned. “Enough of this.”
Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a thin silver rod etched with lunar runes.
My breath caught, Is that…a binding weapon?
“Don’t,” I whispered.
Rowan looked straight at me. “Your reborn body may hide you, Selene, but your soul is still the same. This spike will bring it out.”
Caden roared and threw himself at Rowan, but Rowan flicked his wrist and a blast of silver energy struck the ground between them. Caden stumbled back, whining in pain. The weapon burned him.
“Caden!” I shouted.
Rowan turned toward me again. “If you don’t come willingly, Sera, I will use this on him instead.”
The threat snapped something inside me.
“Don’t you dare touch him.”
“Then come,” Rowan said simply. “Step forward.”
I clenched my fists. My pulse was hammered. My entire body trembled with the urge to shift, to protect Caden, to destroy Rowan for even hinting he would hurt him.
Rowan stepped closer, spike in hand.
“Selene,” he said quietly, “don’t make this harder.”
“I’m not Selene,” I said through clenched teeth.
“You are,” he insisted.
“No,” I whispered, voice shaking. “I’m not her anymore.”
Rowan sighed. “Then we will force the truth out.”
He raised the spike toward my chest.
Caden let out a scream of rage and launched himself between us.
Rowan twisted and drove the spike downward.
I ran fast, not away but towards them.
“Stop!” I screamed. But I was too late.
The silver spike plunged down, Caden’s wolf threw himself in front of me. And the spike pierced his side.
Caden let out a howl that ripped the world apart,His entire body convulsed.
I reached for him as he collapsed to the ground, trembling violently.
“Caden!” I screamed, dropping to my knees.
He shifted back, bleeding, gasping, gripping my shirt with shaking fingers.
“Sera…” he whispered, eyes wide with agony. “Run.”
Before I could move, Rowan grabbed my arm and yanked me backward.
Caden tried to reach me but he couldn’t lift himself.
Rowan tightened his grip.
“You are coming with me now.”
I screamed and fought him with everything in me as Caden collapsed to the floor.
Rowan dragged me away but Caden didn’t move.