Chapter 43

Chapter 43
We ran out into the hall. Smoke filled the air, thick and gray. The house groaned under the noise of fighting.

I could hear roars downstairs, the sound of claws on wood.
Kael led the way, moving fast. “Stay close,” he said.

“Where are we going?”
“The Basement. Safer there.”
We turned a corner and stopped.
Two rogues stood at the end of the corridor. Both half shifted, both glaring at us.

Kael pushed me behind him. “Run when I tell you.”
“Kael”
“Do it.”

The first rogue ran towards us. Kael met him halfway, slamming into him hard enough. The second came from the side, but Kael turned around, claws flashing. Blood poured across the floor.
“Now, Omari!”
I ran.

My feet pounded the stairs. I didn’t look back. I could still hear Kael behind me, fighting, growling, shouting.

The hall downstairs was chaotic. Guards were everywhere. The triplets too. Leighton’s wolf form tore through another rogue. Ashton had blood down his arm but kept fighting, eyes wild. Paxton saw me and shouted, “Get her out!”
I hid  behind the table as another rogue crashed against the wall. The noise was deafening.

Leighton shifted mid-run, his human form slamming into the rogue. His face was smeared with blood, his teeth bared. “Omari!” he barked. “Stay down!”
I did, bending low as the fight raged around me.

Then Kael appeared again, covered in dust and blood. He grabbed my wrist. “Come on!”

We ran through the smoke, through broken doors and shattered glass, until we reached a smaller hall at the back. Kael opened a trapdoor and pushed me inside.

“Wait,” I said, “what about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
But before he could follow, someone called his name. Ashton. “Kael! They’re breaking through the barricade”

Kael looked at me, then at the hall. “Stay here,” he said. “Don’t move until I come back.”
“Kael”
But he was already gone.

I sank against the cold wall, shaking, the echo of the battle still rumbling above. My hands were covered in dust and blood that wasn’t mine.
I pressed my palm against my neck again. The mark burned faintly.

Outside, I could hear the howls growing louder, closer.
And then, in the middle of the noise , I heard it again. 
That same voice from before. Low and cold .
“Found you.”
My blood froze.

The voice wasn’t Kael’s.
It wasn’t anyone I recognized.
It came from inside the basement.

The voice came from the dark corner of the basement.
I froze. My eyes searched the shadows, my breath caught halfway in my chest.
“Who’s there?” I whispered.

No answer.
Just the quiet scrape of shoes or maybe claws against the floor.

The small light from above didn’t reach this far. The air was cold. My fingers brushed against the wall as I slowly stood up. The space smelled like old stone and dust.
Something moved.
My heart raced. 

I could barely see, but I could hear him, slow steps, steady breathing, and that same rough voice.
“You shouldn’t be here, little Luna.”

The way he said it made my skin crawl.
I backed up until I hit the wall, my hands trembling.
“Show yourself,” I said, trying to sound brave even though my voice shook.

The figure stepped forward into the light.
He wasn’t a rogue.
At least, not anymore.

His body was tall and lean, wrapped in a long black coat. His eyes glowed faintly red, but his face looked almost human. Too calm. Too collected.

I swallowed. “Who are you?”
He smiled. “The one who marked you.”

The world tilted for a second.
My mouth went dry. “That’s not possible.”

He took another step forward. “Oh, it is. You wouldn’t be alive otherwise.”
“I don’t know you.”

He tilted his head slightly. “Not yet. But I know you, Omari.” He said my name like it belonged to him. “I’ve known you since the night they tried to hide you from me.”

My heart hammered. “You’re lying.”
His smile faded. “Am I?”

He lifted a hand, and I flinched. But he didn’t touch me. He just pointed toward my neck.

The mark burned, sharp and sudden. I gasped and stumbled back. The pain was intense, like fire under my skin.
“Stop!”

He watched me quietly, his voice low and 
calm. “It’s waking up.”
The pain flared again. I pressed my hand over the spot, trying to make it stop. My knees hit the floor.
“What are you doing to me?”

He crouched down a few steps away, his red eyes fixed on me. “Nothing you didn’t already agree to.”

“I never” I stopped, panting. “I never agreed to anything.”
His gaze softened, almost sad. “Not in this life, maybe.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, and I didn’t want to. The room felt smaller now, colder. The air around him seemed to shift, like shadows moved wherever he did.

“You’re lying,” I said again, my voice breaking.
He smiled faintly. “Believe what you want. But you’ll come to me soon, little Luna. The bond always holds”

Footsteps echoed from above Kael’s voice, shouting my name.

The man looked up toward the sound. His expression didn’t change. “Your guardian is coming. He always is.”

Then, just as suddenly as he’d appeared, the air shimmered around him. One blink, and he was gone like he had blended into the dark.

The pain in my neck faded slowly, leaving a dull throb. I pressed my palm against it, breathing hard, shaking from head to toe.

The door burst open. Kael dropped down, eyes blazing, chest heaving.
“Omari!”
I turned toward him, still gasping. “He was here,” I whispered.

Kael froze. “Who?”
“The man,” I said, my voice trembling. “He said he’s the one who marked me.”

Kael’s face drained of color. He crossed the space in two strides, his hands gripping my shoulders. “What did he do to you?”

“Nothing, just…” I swallowed hard. “He said I’d come to him soon.”
Kael’s jaw clenched. He looked around, scanning every corner, every shadow. Nothing.
“He’s gone,” I whispered.

Kael didn’t look at me right away. When he did, his eyes were darker than I’d ever seen them. “No,” he said quietly. “He’s not gone. He’s watching.”
And somehow, I knew he was right.
Even in the silence that followed, I could still feel the pain under my skin.  
I was afraid to confirm the truth but I was marked