Chapter 42: Stand in the Shadows

Chapter 42: Stand in the Shadows
Ronan POV

The cave lit up with torchlight so suddenly that it burned my eyes. Shadows leapt along the stone walls, turning the carvings into twisted shapes. Soldiers poured in first, teeth bared, hands gripping blades and spears. Behind them came the elders, Rowan’s shoulders stiff as iron, Jones grinning like he had already won, Thelma pale but steady.

“Seize her,” Rowan barked. His voice carried the weight of decades. The soldiers surged forward.

“Stop!” Kade’s command cut through the chamber like a crack of thunder. Every wolf froze. Even the torches seemed to pause. Kade stood tall, his presence raw and sharp, Alpha in full. “No one touches her. Not a hand,” Rowan turned, his brow drawn into a scowl.

“She has defiled the sacred stones. You would defend this? You would defend her?” Kade’s jaw clenched. His eyes flicked to me, then to Sasha, who stood behind me with her chin high, though I could see the tremor in her hands.

“She is under my protection until I say otherwise,” he said. Jones laughed, bitter and cruel.

“Your protection means nothing if she is the prophecy made flesh. You heard it, didn’t you? The stones themselves sang it. She is either salvation or ruin. Do you want to risk the latter?”

“She is my pack,” Kade snapped back. “That’s all you need to know,” the soldiers shifted uneasily. Marcus and Katherine, the two who had come with us, looked from me to Kade, torn between duty and belief. I caught their eyes.

“Leave,” I said quietly. “Now. Take the others with you,” Marcus hesitated.

“Ronan—”

“Go,” I ordered, sharper this time. “Take the guards. Get them out,” Kade backed me up with a nod, his authority sealing the command. The guards muttered, but Marcus and Katherine moved, shepherding them out. Their footsteps faded until only the elders and us remained. The cave grew heavier without the others. Thelma finally spoke, her voice low.

“It had to be revealed. The prophecy cannot be buried forever,”

“You knew,” Sasha whispered. Betrayal broke in her tone, thin but cutting. Thelma met her eyes, pain flickering in her own.

“I knew enough to be afraid. I did not want it to come to this,”

“You stood with Rowan when they voted to exile me,” Sasha said. “You wanted me gone,” Thelma’s jaw tightened.

“Better gone than bound in blood to a fate you cannot control,” Thelma said. I stepped in front of Sasha fully now. My fists itched to close, but I forced them open.

“You betrayed her. You betrayed all of us,” I stated firmly. Rowan slammed his staff against the floor, the sound echoing like thunder in the chamber.

“Enough. The mark is clear. The stones spoke. The True Luna rises when the fates are undone. She is that figure. She is danger,”

“She is choice,” I shot back. “And she chose to vow for the pack!” Jones sneered.

“And she could unmake it just as easily. I will not let an abomination and her cursed bond with you decide the fate of Nightveil. She must be cast out. Or killed,” Jones spat out angrily. Sasha’s breath hitched behind me. I steadied her with a glance.

“You will do neither,” I said. Rowan’s eyes narrowed.

“You do not dictate law here,”

“I dictate my vow,” I said. “And I swore she would not face this alone,” Jones stepped closer, torchlight sharpening the harsh lines of his face.

“Then you both die together. That bond makes you twice the threat,”

“Try,” I said flatly. Thelma’s staff tapped once.

“No blood in the cave. This place has seen enough death,” she said, but Jones ignored her. His gaze flicked to Kade.

“You are Alpha. Choose. Do you side with the cursed, or with tradition?” Jones demanded. Kade’s silence stretched. The torches crackled. My body coiled, ready for whatever came.

“I told you. She is under my protection. You move against her, you move against me,” Kade finally said, his voice cold and low. Jones’s lip curled.

“You would defend him, too? Your brother, who should have stayed exiled?” Kade’s eyes slid to me. For a heartbeat, I thought I saw something dark in his eyes. I heard Sasha inhale sharply, which only confirmed it. My brother was troubled. Plagued by darkness. But then it was gone just as quickly.

“He is still my brother. And he is still Nightveil,” he stated. Rowan looked between us, fury in his eyes.

“You are all blind. When she brings ruin, remember this night,” he spat out. I stepped forward until I was almost nose to nose with him.

“If ruin comes, it will not be her choice…it will be yours, for turning on the only one who can save you,” my statement was followed by silence. Only Sasha’s breathing filled the silence, ragged but steady. Rowan turned, cloak snapping, and stalked toward the entrance. Jones lingered a moment longer, his gaze sharp as a blade on Sasha. “This isn’t finished,” he promised. Then he left. Thelma remained, her face unreadable. Sasha looked at her, pain raw in her eyes.

“I trusted you,” she said softly. Thelma’s lips pressed thin.

“Trust me enough to survive this,” she said, and then she too walked out, leaving the three of us in the cave’s glow. I turned to Sasha, her face pale in the light of the stones.

“You are not alone,” I told her. “They will have to come through me first,” Sasha nodded, and then, without thought, I pulled her into my arms. “You are mine to protect. Always,” Kade watched us, and that same darkness shone brightly in his eyes. I realized it was jealousy. It was a conversation for another day. But just when I thought that the activities were over, the wind slipped into the cave, brushing past us like a whisper.

Remember. it said. The choice is coming.

Sasha and I pulled apart, and I frowned. But the wind wasn’t quite done.

You know nothing whole; the rest of the truth bleeds in kin. Chase your blood, or be hunted by it.

“Ok, seriously, what does that mean?” I asked.

“I guess we will have to figure it out,” Sasha said as she glanced at Kade.

“And we will,” Kade promised. “But for now, it’s time to leave. This place creeps me out,” I chuckled at that because I couldn’t help but agree with him. The three of us left the cave, and the forest almost seemed to greet us. I ignored it, because it wasn’t as if the forest was alive. Was it?