Chapter 49 Take Me Instead

Chapter 49 Take Me Instead
Bram

Instead of being thrown back into the dungeon, the guards shove me down a corridor lit by torches, walls lined with black banners trimmed in crimson. The air smells of incense and smoke, too rich and cloying. They stop at a set of heavy oak doors with carvings of wolves locked in combat. One pushes them open, and I’m shoved inside.

The door slams shut behind me, iron bolts sliding into place, though, this definitely isn’t a cell.

The chamber is enormous, more like a guest room than a prison. Velvet scarlet curtains drape over tall windows, though the view is nothing but intimidatingly thick fog hanging over sharp peaks. A fire roars in the hearth, casting warm light across polished floors and tapestries. A large bed waits against the far wall, its crimson quilts turned down as though in invitation.

I scan it all, feeling uneasy. The guards are outside, and I can feel their presence. I could shift, break the lock, and try to fight all of them, but where would I run? Down sheer cliffs into a fortress crawling with Blood Moon wolves? This is a cage, no matter how gilded.

The door opens again.

She enters without hesitation, wearing a low cut, fitted gown the color of steel. Kiayara. Lyra’s mirror, in appearance only. I see the differences now. Her eyes are colder, and her posture is honed to a blade’s edge.

“All this could be yours, Bram,” she says. 

I clench my fists. “Why did you bring me here?”

Her lips curve. “We brought you here for so many reasons. Which one would you like? So that you’d become one of us, of course. And so you’d lure your mate here, too. I do get awfully tired of chasing my sister around everywhere.” 

The anger in my chest sparks hotter. “How is it Lyra never knew she had a sister?”

“It was decided before either of us were born. A pact was made when our mothers were girls. Maelis made my mother swear her firstborn would remain with Running River; the second would belong to Blood Moon. My mother honored it under threat of death. She gave me up to her sister, and I was raised as heir to this pack.”

The words knock against my skull. “So your mother gave you away.”

“A promise is a promise,” Kiayara says flatly. “Maelis demanded a child to shape into her heir. She’s barren and didn’t want the whole world to know about it. So, she made my mother hand me over.”

I pace once, fury burning low in my veins. “And yet you fight for Blue Raven. Why?”

“Blue Raven held the key to Running River’s survival. Their influence, their alliances… they could have kept your pack safe.” She leans against the table, folding her arms. “I tried to preserve what was yours, but then you and Lyra tore it all apart.”

Her calmness makes my jaw ache. “Running River destroyed me and Lyra long before that. We were fighting to survive.”

Kiayara’s eyes gleam with something colder than pity. “Oh yes, I know. I started that ball rolling.”

“It was you.”

Her expression doesn’t change.

“It was you who killed Arica,” I whisper, fury rising like fire. “You look so much like Lyra—Tessa must have thought it was her.”

For the first time, Kiayara smiles, and it chills me more than any denial. “Lyra was in the way. I had to get her banished. And yes, resemblance can be useful.”

I want to tear the room apart and to rip up those quilts and strangle the smirk from her lips. Instead, I hold still, my chest heaving, fists clenched. 

She steps closer. “You’re stronger than I expected, Bram. Fierce. Loyal. I could use a wolf like you at my side.” She brushes the front of my shirt–bold, deliberate. “Lyra isn’t here. No one would know. You could have more than scraps here. You could have power, and you could have me.”

I grab her wrist, shoving her away. “I’ll fight you again if I have to, but otherwise, I won’t touch you. Not like that. I don’t care who you look like—I won’t cheat on Lyra.”

Her evil smile doesn’t falter. “That loyalty will be your undoing.”

She studies me a moment longer then turns, her heels clicking against the floor. “Enjoy your gilded cage, Bram of Running River. You’ll learn soon enough, every vow has a breaking point.”

The door slams shut behind her. The fire pops in the hearth, and I’m left alone again,  my chest tight, rage burning hotter than ever.



Lyra

The mountain air grows colder and thinner with every step, the mist clinging low against the jagged rocks. My paws ache from the climb, and Jorin’s ragged breath tells me he feels the same. The scent trail that’s been guiding us all day is a wisp now, barely there, but it still points uphill. Toward Blood Moon–and Bram.

“We should stop here for the night,” Jorin says finally, his wolf-voice edged with weariness.

I resist at first, pacing at the ridge’s edge, scanning the forest below. Shadows leap between the trees, or maybe it’s just a trick of the moonlight. Still, I know he’s right. My muscles burn, and if I push us further, we’ll stumble straight into an ambush, exhausted.

I use Song’s mind-link: “Mack, Rain, Fen, stop for the night. We’ll regroup at Blood Moon at dawn. Take turns keeping watch. Stay alert and hidden.”

Acknowledgements ripple back, faint but firm. “Understood.” “We’ll be ready.”

Together, Jorin and I turn our backs to one another and shift, bones snapping and reshaping until I stand on two feet again, shivering in the cold. I tug on the spare clothes from my satchel, and Jorin dresses quickly, too. 

We settle near the base of a crooked pine, the roots forming a makeshift shelter. Jorin strikes flint to spark a small flame, careful to shield it from open view. The warmth licks at my hands, but I can’t find ease. My gaze keeps straying back to the tree line.

“Rest,” Jorin murmurs, stretching out on the bed of pine needles. “We’ll need strength for tomorrow.”

But I can’t rest. I pace, every nerve bristling. The forest feels alive with eyes. Leaves twitch where no wind blows. 

“Did you hear that?” I whisper.

Jorin rises, scanning the trees. He waits, listening, but the night answers only with silence. “It’s nothing,” he says, though doubt seeps into his tone. He steps closer, laying a hand on my shoulder. “You’re trembling.”

I hadn’t realized it, but he’s right. I’m shaking with the cold, fear, and the constant pressure of knowing Bram is so close yet impossibly far.

Without asking, Jorin pulls me into his arms. His chest is warm, his grip steady, and for the first time in days, the tension in my body slackens. I let my forehead rest against him, breathing in his scent. 

“It will be all right,” he says quietly. “There’s no one out there.” 

I close my eyes, clinging to the words, but then, before I can pull away, he tilts my chin up and kisses me.

My stomach lurches. I shove him back hard, breaking free, anger flaring white-hot. “What are you doing?”

He stares at me, his lips parted, and his expression unreadable. “Lyra—”

“No!” My voice cuts sharp through the night. “Don’t you dare. Bram is my mate. Not you.” My hands shake as I point at him, the betrayal burning deep. “He’s the only one for me. Do you hear me? The only one.”

I don’t even bother to undress, as I stumble backward, the shift coming fast, bones breaking, fur bursting across my skin. My wolf takes form, and I shake out my pelt, ignoring Jorin’s voice calling my name.

The satchel, the fire, the safety of the group—I leave it all behind. None of it matters if Bram is locked away in Blood Moon.

I run.

The forest blurs around me, wind whipping past, paws slamming into earth and stone. Every muscle screams, but I push harder, faster. The mountain rises ahead, black against the star-pierced sky. The castle looms above it all, a crown of shadows and firelight.

I don’t stop to think. I don’t stop to breathe. I run until my chest is tearing open, and my vision tunnels, until the only thought left is Bram.

But I don’t make it to the gates.

A wall of scent crashes over me. I taste blood, steel, and wolfsbane. Before I can dodge, they’re on me, and a net weighted with silver cords slams into my flank, dragging me down. I thrash, my claws tearing earth, teeth snapping, but the burn of wolfsbane toxins sear into my hide, robbing me of all strength.

Someone kicks me in the ribs with a heavy boot, forcing me still. Hands grip the cords tight, binding me until I can’t shift, can’t move, can barely breathe.

“Got her,” a voice says, rough with triumph. “The Luna will want to see this one right away.”

The last thing I see before the sack drops over my head are the castle towers glowing faintly in the distance, so close I can almost scream his name across the wind.

Bram.