Chapter 117
The world was fire and ash.
But I wasn’t burning.
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I blinked weakly as smoke curled above us, the building a skeletal shadow behind my lashes. Damian’s arms held me like I was something breakable, like I might vanish if he loosened his grip. Every step he took trembled beneath my skin, and yet… I felt safe. Safer than I had
in days.
My body throbbed with pain, every limb heavier than it should’ve been, but all I could do was cling to the sound of his heartbeat–wild and erratic beneath his chest. The bond between us pulsed faintly, just enough to keep me tethered.
He didn’t speak at first. Just kept walking, whispering, “I’ve got you… I’ve got you… you’re safe now.”
His scent was like a balm–earthy, raw, and painfully familiar.
Back at the Estate Damian’s Room
Everything blurred after that.
The sound of doors crashing open. Mira’s voice yelling something. The feel of too many hands–gentle, urgent–trying to check my injuries. I was wrapped in a thick blanket, then carried again, this time into Damian’s bedroom.
His scent was everywhere. Musk and cedar and something darker. I felt small in his oversized bed, but also—safe.
Mira was pacing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed. Her eyes locked on mine the moment I stirred.
“Serene,” she breathed, rushing to me. “Oh god, I thought—” She dropped to her knees at the side of the bed, voice cracking. “I thought
we lost you.”
I reached for her hand. “I’m okay. I think…”
“No,” she snapped. “You’re not okay. You were chained up like an animal. You were-” She stopped herself. Pressed her lips into a hard line. “That bitch. Naia. I’ll rip her apart with my own hands.”
“Mira,” Damian warned gently from where he sat at the edge of the bed, one arm still around me. “Later.”
She swallowed and nodded, then leaned in to kiss my forehead. “You’re safe now. That’s what matters.”
A healer appeared beside us, quiet but focused. His fingers were cold and methodical as they brushed over my temples, my pulse, the soreness in my wrists where iron cuffs had dug into flesh.
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Chapter 117
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“You’re lucky,” he said softly. “That shift–whatever it was–it wasn’t ordinary.” He exchanged a sharp look with Mira. “That was ancestral.
Something ancient.”
Mira’s brow furrowed. “Is she in danger?”
The healer’s eyes flicked to me. “She is the danger, if awakened fully.”
Later That Night
The healer had come and gone.
My wrists were bandaged, the cuts cleaned. Mira had helped me into soft cotton clothes–one of Damian’s oversized shirts, probably–and left with a promise to bring food later. But I didn’t want food. I wanted silence. I wanted stillness.
I lay in Damian’s bed, staring at the ceiling, the scent of him wrapped around me like a second blanket.
He was sitting against the headboard, legs stretched out, silent. Watching me.
“I don’t understand what happened,” I finally said. My voice was low, rough. “I shifted. I felt it. But it didn’t feel like… me.”
“It wasn’t just a shift,” Damian said softly. “It was something else. The healer called it ancestral. Said your bloodline… woke up.”
I closed my eyes, the memory crashing into me–Naia’s voice, her laughter, the sting of her hand across my face. The silver chains. The
helplessness.
“I thought I was going to die,” I whispered.
“You didn’t,” Damian said. “You’re here.”
I turned to face him, eyes meeting his. “Because of you.”
His jaw flexed. “I nearly lost you.”
There was a pause. Then he said, quieter than I’d ever heard him, “If anything ever happens to you again… I swear, Serene–I’ll burn the fucking world.”
My breath caught. His eyes were fire. Honest, terrifying, and warm,
“Damian…” I reached out, fingers brushing his. “When I was trapped… I heard you. I felt you. It was the only thing that kept me from
giving up.”
He looked away like it hurt too much to hear. Then slowly, he laced his fingers with mine.
“You’re not alone,” he murmured. “Not anymore.”
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Chapter 117
That Night
I didn’t mean to sleep. I fought it. But exhaustion won.
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I found myself in a forest lit by blood moons and bone–white trees. My wolf form–towering and silver with glints of midnight blue–raced through the underbrush like I was born in shadows.
Golden eyes blinked at me from every direction. Voices whispered like wind in leaves:
“The bloodline lives… the curse awakens…”
Then I saw it.
A throne made of bones, stacked high beneath a night sky that pulsed like a living thing. On the throne sat a woman–tall, regal, with a crown of stars woven into raven hair. Her eyes were mine.
She opened her mouth to speak–but the world cracked apart.
Dawn at the Estate
I shot upright in bed, sweat gluing strands of hair to my skin. My hands shook. Damian’s arm was draped over my waist. His breathing slow, steady. I didn’t wake him.
The sun filtered gently through gauzy curtains. I stared at the ceiling, trying to hold onto the vision–but it was already fading.
When I finally joined the others in the small breakfast room, Mira was seated at the head of the table, her expression unreadable. A steaming cup of tea sat untouched in front of her.
“She’s awake,” Mira announced. “Finally.”
I nodded weakly. Damian was behind me, hovering. Always watching now.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“The Elders vanished,” Mira said. “Left no trace but… this.” She slid a folded photograph across the table.
I picked it up, Burned into the wall of the basement where I’d been held was a sigil–ancient, clawed, coiled like a serpent eating its own tail. It shimmered, even on paper,
“It’s a symbol,” Mira added. “A warning, Or maybe… a promise.”
My fingers trembled slightly. “And Nala?”
“Locked up,” she said. “But silent. She won’t speak. Won’t eat. Just stares.”
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Barco >
Sara Bare 7
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.

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