Chapter 34

Chapter 34
: The Knife’s Truth
(Alice's POV)
I jolted upright in bed, breath caught in my throat.My skin was damp with sweat, my pulse hammering like war drums in my ears. The sheets tangled around my legs felt like chains, holding me in place. I reached for my neck, almost expecting blood to be there—Selene’s scream still echoed in my head.But the room was quiet.Too quiet. Like the world itself was holding its breath.The moonlight cut across my floor in pale ribbons, lighting up my bedroom in silvers and shadows. My gaze drifted downward—

And froze.There on my nightstand laid a knife that I didn't remember ever leaving there or seeing physically before.I blinked once, then twice. Hoping it would disappear. That maybe it was a figment of my imagination.It didn’t.The blade gleamed, cruel and beautiful all at once. The hilt was carved in dark metal, ancient in design, and some strange runes etched across it glowed faintly like embers trying not to die.

I didn’t need to guess. I knew this blade. I had seen this blade. In the vision I had of Selene and Kael. The blood on Kael’s hands as well as the knife.A scream tore from my throat before I even realized I was screaming. It was crazy. I didn't expect what I had just seen.The door slammed open.Darius was already in a defensive crouch, shirtless, breathing hard like he’d sprinted through half the grounds. “Alice!” His eyes locked on the knife. “What the hell is that?”I couldn’t speak. I just pointed.

For the life of me, I couldn't tell who decided to put that thing in my room. The only people should know about this is Kael and I.Unless this was a prank he decided to play on me, I couldn't think of any other person who could've known about it and decide to do this. Darius crossed the room in two long strides and snatched the blade up, eyes narrowing as he turned it over. “Where did this come from?”“I don’t—” My voice cracked. “I don’t know. I just woke up and it was there. That’s the knife, Darius. The one from my vision.”He looked a bit confused, then I remembered he didn't know the full details of my vision except for the fact that Kael killed me in my past life.Before he could respond, the door banged open again. Kael stormed in, jaw tight, his presence a dark wave that filled the room.

One look at Darius and it seemed the temperature of the room had lowered. But then he averted his eyes.“What’s going on?” he growled, eyes flicking to the blade in Darius’s hand and the look of shock that appeared on his face was all I needed to confirm he had no hand in this.Darius’s body went rigid. “You tell me. This just showed up beside her bed.”Kael’s fists clenched. “I wouldn’t be so careless.”

“Oh, you mean like leaving a murder weapon lying around? That kind of careless?” Darius stepped forward, holding the blade like it was Exhibit A. “Did you think this would scare her back into your arms?”Kael’s voice dropped to a dangerous pitch. “Put that down, quit making foolish assumptions and stop asking questions you have no business asking.”

“Or what?” Darius’s lips twisted. “You’ll finish what you started with Selene?”The moment Darius said that, I knew trouble was brewing.“Stop!” I shouted, but my voice barely rose above theirs.They were already in each other’s faces, growling like they’d snap any second. Alphas. Wolves. One step from shifting.“You think I’d harm her?” Kael spat. “I’ve bled to protect her.”“You already did once!” Darius hissed.“I did what I had to! You don’t know what she saw in that memory!”“I know enough! You still chose—”“I chose her!” Kael barked, eyes blazing now. “Every single damn time, I chose her!”

I SAID STOP!”

This time, my voice wasn’t just noise. It was force. Enough to make them pause.The mirror on the far wall exploded in a hundred sharp pieces, raining down with a scream of glass. The air crackled and both men froze.My hands trembled in my lap. An aftershock of what just happened. What I did. The power had come from me.The room stilled. Darius turned first, slow and wary. “Alice…”

I couldn’t speak. My pulse was loud, my chest heaving. I wasn’t just scared. I was something else. I was in awe, a bit terrified by my powers but totally unsure of where to begin with them.Kael took a step forward. “Are you okay?”“I—I didn’t mean to.” I stared at the shards of mirror scattered like ice. My skin hummed like it was full of sparks. My vision felt sharp, too sharp.Footsteps thundered down the hall.Clara burst through the door, her robe flapping, eyes wide with panic. “I heard—” She stopped short when she saw the glass, the blade, the men.

But mostly… me.Her gaze locked on mine.Her mouth dropped open. “Your eyes…”Kael turned, staring. Darius’s brows furrowed.“What?” I asked, voice cracking.“No,” Clara whispered, taking a step back. “They’re glowing.”I blinked. “What?”Kael stepped closer. His breath caught.“Your irises,” he said softly. “They’re… silver.”

Panic clenched my chest. I stumbled to the mirror’s broken frame. There was a shard still big enough to show my face. I crouched and grabbed it, ignoring the sting as a tiny edge sliced my finger.And there it was.Silver. Bright and unfamiliar. My eyes weren’t brown anymore.I dropped the shard.

No one spoke. There was nothing they could say in that moment. I backed away from them all. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. My power. That mirror. The knife.“I don’t know who I was,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.Kael took a step toward me. “Alice…”I lifted a hand to stop him. This was not the time for his words and promises. I was changing and my brain was having a hard catching up.“I’m scared of who I’m becoming.”