Chapter 25 “The Echo Between Worlds “
The world tastes of ash.
Every breath I take is a reminder that I am no longer whole.
The chains of the Shadowmother’s magic coil around my soul — invisible, unbreakable. I can still feel her laughter lingering in the dark corners of my mind, soft as poison.
You wanted to save her. Now you will serve her.
I stagger through the Silverfang wilds, claws carving lines through the frost. The wind carries the scent of her — Elera — faint, fading, but there.
It hits me like a heartbeat, too sudden, too sharp.
“Elera…” I try to speak, but all that leaves my throat is a growl that splits the air.
Somewhere deep inside, the man in me claws at the surface. But the beast is stronger now. I can feel the shift coming and going like tides — sometimes I remember who I am; sometimes the wolf takes everything.
When I look up at the moon, pale and indifferent, I feel her presence flicker across the bond. Faint as a whisper. Distant as a dream.
She’s alive.
That’s enough to keep me moving.
I follow the pull — through the ruins, across the river where the Heartstone once glowed, into the woods that remember our names. My paws leave marks that burn faintly in the frost, crimson edged with silver.
The magic hums with each step.
Somewhere beyond the veil, she is calling.
And I — I am still hers, even as the darkness inside me grows hungry.
Elera
It’s been three nights since the Blood Moon, and sleep has turned into something cruel.
Every time I close my eyes, I hear him — not words, but sounds. The thrum of a heartbeat too wild to be human. The scrape of claws through snow. The echo of a howl that lives in my chest long after I wake.
Liam has stayed close since that night. Too close.
He moves around the cabin quietly, fixing what doesn’t need fixing, chopping wood long after dusk. Sometimes, when he thinks I’m not looking, his gaze lingers. Soft, aching, wrong.
Tonight, the firelight catches the shadows under his eyes. He looks tired — not from sleeplessness, but from something heavier.
“You’re hurting yourself,” he says finally. “Every time you reach for him, it drains you.”
“I can’t stop,” I whisper. “If I stop, I’ll lose him completely.”
He sets down the blade he was sharpening and turns to face me. “You already have.”
The words slice deep, but I don’t look away. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand more than you think.” He steps closer, voice rough. “I’ve watched you break for him. I’ve watched you bleed for a bond that might destroy you.”
“Then why are you still here?”
His eyes meet mine, and for the first time, I see the truth he’s been hiding — the reason his silence cuts deeper than any anger.
“Because I’d rather bleed beside you,” he says quietly, “than watch you die loving someone who isn’t here.”
The room tilts. The fire pops, sending sparks between us. I can feel the tension in the air — not romantic, not exactly. It’s grief reshaped into something fragile and forbidden.
I step back, shaking my head. “Don’t,” I whisper. “Don’t say that.”
He moves closer anyway, slow, hesitant. “Elera—”
“No.” My voice trembles, but I stand firm. “Don’t turn this into something it isn’t.”
His expression breaks. “You think I chose this?” he says hoarsely. “You think I wanted to love someone who can’t love me back?”
Silence. Only the crackle of fire and the storm beginning outside.
Finally, I say the only truth I have left.
“My heart isn’t mine to give.”
Something in him falters. He looks away, jaw tight. “He’s gone, Elera.”
I swallow hard, feeling the bond pulse faintly beneath my skin — weak, but alive. “No. He’s changed. But he’s not gone.”
He doesn’t argue. Maybe he’s too tired. Or maybe he knows that some loves don’t die, they just find new ways to haunt you.
Outside, thunder rolls.
I walk to the window, watching the forest sway. For a heartbeat, lightning splits the sky — and there, between the trees, I see movement.
A flash of silver fur.
My breath catches. The mark on my collarbone burns, bright enough to make me gasp.
“Liam…”
He’s already at my side. “What is it?”
I can’t look away. “He’s here.”
He follows my gaze, but where I see the ghost of the wolf, he sees only rain. “There’s nothing out there.”
But there is. I feel it.
A heartbeat calling to mine through the storm.
“I have to go.”
“Elera—”
I turn to him, eyes burning. “You can’t protect me from this.”
He looks like he wants to argue, to beg, to hold me — but he doesn’t. He only says, quietly, “Then I’ll follow.”
Aiden
The rain cuts through the trees like whispers.
Through it, I see her — distant, blurred, but real.
Every instinct in me screams to run to her, but the chains around my heart tighten. The Shadowmother’s voice curls through my thoughts like smoke.
You wanted her safe. You cannot have both.
I fight it. The beast within me howls, shredding the silence. She looks up then — eyes wide, searching.
Our gazes meet across the storm, across worlds.
For one impossible moment, the bond hums alive again.
Her lips move — Aiden.
My body burns against the invisible tether, the spell fighting to keep me bound. Pain tears through me, but I don’t care. For that single heartbeat, I remember who I am.
Then the vision shatters, the world pulling me back into darkness.
And all that’s left is her voice, fading on the wind.
“Find me.”