Chapter 156: Bloodline of the Bound
Chapter 156: Bloodline of the Bound
The moon had just begun its descent when I found myself alone in the old stone archives beneath the keep, fingers running over the worn spines of books older than most packs. The chamber was lit only by a pair of flickering wall sconces, their flames casting jittery shadows across shelves brimming with dust-laden knowledge. The silence here had weight, a kind of reverence that pressed against my chest.
I was searching for truth.
Not about the monsters clawing at our walls or the tremors echoing from the deep.
But about me.
Because if I was to be the seal—as Seris had warned—then I needed to know what exactly ran through my veins.
I stopped in front of a tall black ledger marked only by the ancient symbol for “Binding.” The moment my fingers touched the leather, a jolt sparked up my arm.
A key.
The lock recognized me.
Inside were names. Hundreds of them, scrawled in looping, fading ink. Generations of those who had been born under sacred signs, those chosen by the Firstborn to anchor the monolith seals scattered across the world.
And there—near the bottom of the last page—was mine.
Evelyn Storme.
Daughter of the Moonflame Lineage.
Bearer of the Fifth Seal.
I blinked, my hand trembling as I traced the entry. My heart beat faster, a thunderous rhythm against my ribs. Not only was I chosen—I was descended from those who sealed the darkness long ago.
That’s why the enemy wanted me.
Not just because I held power…
…but because I was power.
I brought the book to Seris at dawn. She took one look at the page and nodded as if it confirmed everything she’d feared.
“You come from the Storme line,” she said quietly. “They were the ones who bound the Hollowed One beneath the Vale.”
“And now it’s my turn,” I whispered.
Alec entered the chamber just then, his armor half-buckled and a sharpness to his gaze that said he hadn’t slept.
“You’re not going alone,” he said, already knowing what I was thinking.
I handed him the book, watching as his brows knit. “The Fifth Seal is in me. I have to go where the others went.”
He looked up at me, fierce and unrelenting. “Then I go too.”
Preparations were swift.
The deepest caverns in the world lay beneath the Cradle Peaks to the south. An ancient rift scarred by the fall of the Firstborn themselves. That’s where the ley lines converged. That’s where the final battle would begin.
Only a handful of us would go.
Alec, of course.
Seris, for her knowledge.
Logan and Daria, for protection.
And me—because I was the key to unlocking what was bound.
The Council didn’t argue. They were too afraid. Not for us—but for what might rise if we failed.
I didn’t blame them.
I was terrified too.
Before we left, I stood one last time on the southern wall, staring at the horizon as the sun broke through storm-heavy clouds. The wind pulled at my cloak, and I breathed in the scent of morning dew and steel.
Alec stepped behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“You’re quiet,” he murmured.
“Just… remembering.”
He pressed his lips to my shoulder. “After this, we’ll have peace.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“I have to.”
I turned to face him, my heart aching with the weight of what we hadn’t said.
“If I don’t make it—”
“No,” he growled softly. “You will. We both will.”
I kissed him then, long and slow, pouring every word I didn’t dare say into that kiss. Every apology, every promise. Every ounce of love I couldn’t afford to carry into the unknown.
We rode out at first light.
Six riders.
Five blades.
And one seal.
The last tether between this world and whatever darkness slumbered beneath it.
As we crested the first ridge, the mountains loomed ahead, ancient and waiting.
I felt them calling to me.
Whispering in a voice older than time.
Come home, child of the storm.
Come and face what your blood remembers.
And I would.
For the pack.
For Alec.
For the world.
For myself.