Chapter 96 I know

Chapter 96 I know

/Edlyn/

The moment we stepped outside the pack house, I knew something had changed.

It wasn't just the atmosphere around the pack, or the way the warriors were suddenly moving with more urgency than I'd seen from any of them before. Something inside me felt different too, like my body already understood we were walking straight toward something that had been waiting for us long before we even knew it existed.

Nelson walked on my left, his sword strapped across his back, the set of his jaw grim and focused. Luca stayed on my right, his expression unusually serious as his eyes swept over everything around us, missing nothing.

I looked between them and almost laughed despite everything.

A few days ago, these two couldn't stand being in the same room without arguing, and now they were walking beside me like some terrifying supernatural security detail assigned to keep me alive, moving in a rhythm that looked almost practiced.

"I can walk by myself, you know," I said.

Neither of them looked at me.

"I know," Nelson replied simply.

"Then why are you both walking so close?"

Luca finally glanced over, one eyebrow raised. "Because you have a habit of running toward danger."

"I do not."

Nelson gave me a look that needed no words.

"You literally ran toward a dragon."

"That was different."

"How?"

"I was trying to help."

Luca shook his head slowly. "Exactly what someone who runs toward danger would say."

I rolled my eyes and kept walking, though the corner of my mouth betrayed me.

Moon stirred inside me, her voice quiet but certain. They're right.

I frowned. "You're supposed to be on my side."

I am on your side. That's why I'm agreeing with them.

Vamp laughed, the sound curling through my mind like smoke. For once, Moon is making sense.

"Oh, shut up," I muttered under my breath.

Both men looked at me instantly.

"What?" Nelson asked.

"Nothing."

Luca's mouth twitched, the closest thing to a smile he'd allowed since we'd left the room. "Talking to them again?"

"Unfortunately."

The humor drained away almost the moment we reached the edge of the pack.

Hundreds of warriors were already waiting there, gathered in the dark like a living wall. Some were from the Rangers Pack, others had arrived from nearby territories after Nelson's emergency call went out. Vampires stood among them too, and even now, seeing the two species standing shoulder to shoulder still felt like something out of a story rather than reality.

Wolves and vampires had spent generations hating each other, tearing each other apart on principle alone.

Now they were preparing to walk into the same battlefield, side by side.

Because of me.

I looked around at the warriors and felt the full weight of it settle over my shoulders. These people weren't just soldiers standing in formation. They had families waiting somewhere behind them. People counting the hours until they came home. Children who probably believed, with the unshakable faith only children have, that their fathers were invincible. Mothers who were likely praying at this very moment, not knowing what their prayers were being spent on.

And we were about to lead all of them straight into an enemy's territory we barely understood.

"Are you okay?" Nelson asked quietly, his voice low enough that it felt just for me.

I looked at him, and for once I didn't reach for a easy lie. "I don't know."

He stepped closer, close enough that his presence alone felt steadying. "You don't have to pretend with us."

I swallowed hard. "I'm scared."

His expression softened into something gentler than I expected. "Good."

I frowned, caught off guard. "Good?"

"It means you understand what's at stake."

Luca joined us then, his voice quiet but firm. "Fear isn't weakness, kitten. It keeps you alive."

I looked between them, something warm cutting through the fear for just a moment. "You two are suddenly full of wisdom."

"Don't get used to it," Luca said, and I caught the faintest ghost of a smile before it vanished again.

A warrior approached Nelson, bowing his head. "Supreme King, the scouts are ready."

Nelson nodded, all business now. "Good. Keep the formation tight. Nobody moves ahead without orders."

The warrior bowed again before hurrying off to relay the command.

I looked toward the northern forest, and my stomach twisted instantly. The trees stood dark and jagged against the night sky, their branches shifting slightly in a wind that felt wrong somehow, too deliberate, like the forest itself was breathing.

"Edlyn?"

I blinked and realized everyone had turned to look at me, waiting.

"What?"

Nelson's eyes narrowed with concern. "You're feeling something."

I hesitated, unsure how to explain the pull already tugging at something deep in my chest. "I don't know."

"Try."

I closed my eyes.

The moment I did, everything around me fell away. The voices of the warriors faded into nothing. The wind disappeared entirely. Even Nelson and Luca's presence beside me seemed to grow distant, like I'd stepped through some invisible membrane into a quieter, colder space.

Then I felt it.

A pull, deep and insistent, tugging at me from somewhere beneath the forest floor.

My eyes snapped open.

"They're there."

Nelson stepped forward immediately, urgency sharpening every line of his body. "Who?"

"The Northern Pack."

His expression hardened into something unbreakable. "Where?"

I pointed toward the forest, my hand trembling slightly. "Underneath it."

Luca's eyes narrowed to slits. "How far?"

I closed my eyes again, reaching for the pull once more. "Not far."

The ground beneath my feet suddenly vibrated, and I stumbled hard.

Nelson caught me around the waist before I could fall, his grip iron-tight. "What the hell was that?"

I stared at the tree line, my heart hammering. "I don't know."

Then it happened again, stronger this