TWO
The words tore out of me before I could soften them.
"No."
Maelis stopped mid step.
The cavern seemed to inhale with her, the soft glow along the roots dimming just slightly as she turned back to me.
For the first time since I had met her, surprise crossed her face and she didn’t look pleased.
At all.
"No?" she echoed quietly. "You were ready to leave moments ago."
"I was," I said, my voice shaking despite my effort to steady it. "I thought I was. But I can’t. Not like this."
She watched me carefully, saying nothing, giving me the space to speak or break.
I pressed a hand to my stomach, feeling the pressure against on my tummy.
"If I don’t unlock my wolf," I continued, swallowing hard, "I won’t be able to give birth to my son."
Maelis’s brow furrowed.
I laughed weakly. "I know what you’re thinking. You think it’s fear talking. But it isn’t."
I drew in a slow breath, every memory clawing its way up.
"My last pregnancy..." My voice cracked, but I forced myself to go on. "I lost the baby. I was only a few months along. They told me it was sudden. Unavoidable."
I shook my head. "That was a lie. My body couldn’t handle it. I nearly died."
Maelis’s expression softened, but I couldn’t look at her.
"I bled for days," I whispered. "I couldn’t shift. Couldn’t heal. My pelvis... it wasn’t built for it. A wolf’s body changes for birth. Mine never did."
My throat tightened painfully.
"This child isn’t just a baby," I said. "He’s a pup. And my body won’t be able to push him out like this.". Maelis stepped closer, the glow at her fingertips gathering into a trembling white knot.
Silence pressed in around us, heavy and suffocating.
"I can’t leave if I can’t give birth to him," I finished quietly. "What’s the point of escape if my child dies along the way?"
Maelis exhaled slowly.
"You are the only one who can unlock your wolf," she said at last. "No one else can do it for you."
I looked up sharply. "Then you understand why I can’t run."
Her gaze hardened, just slightly.
"And do you understand what you’re choosing instead?" she asked.
She stepped closer, her voice low but unyielding.
"Would you rather go back to your father? Let him use you until there is nothing left? Until your power is drained and you are discarded?"
My chest tightened.
"Is that what you want?" she pressed.
I said nothing.
The truth lodged too painfully in my ribs to be spoken aloud.
Maelis’s voice softened again, but the words cut deeper.
"And even if you survive," she said, "even if you give birth... he will take your son."
My head snapped up.
"He will raise him as his own," she continued. "He will mold him. Train him. Feed him lies until your child becomes the very thing you are running from."
My breath came shallow and fast.
"He will be used," she said gently. "And one day, he will be corrupted."
I turned away, my vision blurring. The cavern walls swam as I stared into the glowing pools, my reflection fractured and unfamiliar.
I couldn’t speak.
Every future she described felt like a blade pressing closer to my throat.
Maelis rested a hand on my shoulder.
"You don’t have to decide alone," she said quietly. "But you must believe me when I say this: only you can unlock your wolf."


Before I could take another step, I felt it.
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