Chapter 110: T he Silence Between

Chapter 110:

The silence after a fight was always unbearable.

Right now, it hung over them like a storm cloud, thick with the scent of spilled blood. Even the crickets and the birds stopped their chirping as Lucien wiped the blood from his blade and rose to his full height. The hunter’s body lay motionless near the broken wall, eyes still open, a dark smear of red spreading across the stone beneath him.

Kael leaned against the pillar, one hand pressed to his ribs, breathing hard. Aria crouched beside him, checking the wound at his temple. “You shouldn’t be moving,” she said softly, tearing a strip from her cloak to tie round his temple.

His head lolled slightly as he let out a weak laugh, then a cough. “If that’s an order, Alpha, I’ll… try.”

Before she could reply, Lucien’s shadow fell across them. He stood a few paces away, his expression unreadable, jaw clenched tight, one hand still red with blood from the kill. He’d wiped the blade, but not his hands. “Save your strength. We’re leaving.”

Kael let out a low, rough laugh. “And to where exactly? They already know who you are.”

“Lucien,” she started, but he didn’t answer. He turned instead, pacing toward the entrance, his shoulders rigid, every muscle wound tight. The tension coming off him was suffocating.

She finished tending to Kael, adjusting his weight against the wall. “Don’t move,” she murmured. He nodded faintly, eyes already drooping shut again.

Aria stood and followed Lucien outside, wiping her blood-streaked hands against her cloak. “We need to think, not rush. Killing the only lead we had only served to hinder us in the longrun.”

Lucien’s jaw tightened. “He was reaching for a weapon.”

“I know,” she said quietly, meeting his eyes. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t know who sent them or what they want from us.”

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The air between them was thick, filled with the tension of everything they weren’t saying. Guilt, frustration, fear.

“I won’t risk you,” Lucien snapped. “And I wouldn’t risk the man who would take care of you if I wasn't there.”

Aria’s breath hitched at the force in his voice. His wolf was close to the surface, close enough that the gold in his eyes flared brighter for a heartbeat.

“Lucien,” she whispered, softer this time. “Look at you.”

He frowned. “What?”

She gestured to his hands–shaking, blood-smeared, claws half-slid out without him realizing. “You’re shaking.”

His gaze dropped to his hands. For a second, his expression faltered, just a flicker of vulnerability before he forced it away. “I'm fine. I'm just coming down from the adrenaline.”

She didn’t buy it. “I don’t think that's it.”

He didn’t respond.

The air around them pulsed faintly, that same strange hum that seemed to follow whenever her Rune stirred. She didn’t realize she’d reached out until her fingers brushed his wrist. The moment she did, warmth flared beneath her skin, spreading from her palm up her arm. The Rune beneath her clothes pulsed once, bright, then steady.

Lucien stiffened, breath catching. The tremor in his hand stilled. The wild energy around him began to settle.

“Aria,” he said, his voice low, almost unsteady. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “It’s like it’s… responding.”

He exhaled, the tension in his frame easing just slightly. For a moment, neither of them moved. The only sound was the wind through the broken stones and the distant rush of the river far below.

Then Lucien pulled away, shaking his head. “We can’t stay here.”

“Lucien…”

“I mean it,” he said, sharper now. “If the hunters knew where to find Kael, they’ll come back. With more. We need to move before they circle back.”

Aria hesitated, then nodded. “He’s still weak.”

“I’ll carry him.”

Before she could argue, Lucien was already moving back inside. His movements were steady, but she could see the guilt in every line of his shoulders—the same guilt she’d seen before, every time he couldn’t protect the people he cared about.

Lucien moved to him, crouching down. “You can walk?”

“Barely.”

“Then lean on me.”

Kael hesitated, pride flashing in his eyes, but the look Lucien gave him left no room for argument. He slung one arm around Lucien’s shoulder and pushed himself upright.

Aria watched as he lifted Kael easily, the man groaning in pain. She glanced once more at the body on the floor. The hunter’s eyes had gone glassy, fixed on nothing. A part of her wanted to close them, to give him at least that much mercy, but another part of her whispered he’d never have done the same for them. For Kael.

When she turned back, Lucien was already leading Kael toward the tower’s exit.

Outside, the light was fading. The clouds had darkened, rolling low across the treetops. Distant thunder rumbled through the valley.

“We’ll head east,” Lucien said, steady but quiet. “There’s an old pass through the ridge. If we can reach it before nightfall, we’ll have cover.”

“And after that?” Kael asked.

Lucien didn’t answer.

Aria fell into step beside them, the weight of everything pressing against her chest. The rune beneath her skin burned faintly, a slow pulse that felt almost alive. She rubbed at it through the fabric, but it didn’t stop.

Kael noticed. “It’s reacting again?”

She nodded. “It always does when I’m scared.”

Lucien shot her a brief glance. “Then stay close. Don’t let it feed on it.”

The words were meant as a warning, but the softness in his tone almost made her flinch. She didn’t know which frightened her more — the rune itself, or how much he still tried to shoulder for her.

They reached the base of the hill just as rain began to fall. Cold drops slid down their faces, washing away the scent of blood and smoke.

Lucien slowed for a moment, eyes scanning the distance. “There’ll be more of them,” he said. “They won’t stop because one of their own didn’t return.”

Kael grimaced. “Then we need somewhere they can’t track us. Hunters use metal, not scent.”

Aria frowned. “There’s a ridge east of here — remember, Lucien? When we came through the first time. There was a cave, just before the ravine.”

Lucien nodded once. “That’ll do.”

The three of them pressed on through the rain. The forest around them darkened as dusk crept in, the sound of thunder rolling closer.

By the time they reached the ridge, Kael was pale and shivering, though he said nothing. Lucien helped him down near the mouth of the cave, lowering him onto a flat rock.