The forest was quieter now.
Too quiet.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as Ember sat alone by the ancient roots of the Moonshade Tree, her back pressed against the gnarled bark. The full moon hung low above her, bright and unyielding, bathing her in its silver glow. Her fingers were clenched around the locket Kael had given her the night before his first mission as Alpha, a locket that now felt like a chain around her neck.
Her child was the price fate demanded. And the Council? They were its executioners.
"You're trembling again," Ronan's voice cut through the stillness. He emerged from the brush, a satchel slung across his back, herbs spilling slightly from the flap.
Ember looked up. "I'm not cold."
He knelt beside her without asking. "I know. You're angry."
"No," she whispered. "I'm terrified."
For a moment, he said nothing. Then, gently, he set down the satchel and took her hand in his. "Then we run."
Ember blinked. "Run?"
"To the southern pass. I have contacts in the outlands, rogue packs, and old alliances. We can disappear until the child is born, until we figure out what to do. The Council won't risk crossing into no-man's land."
She pulled her hand back. "Running means abandoning Kael. Abandoning everything we built."
"Staying means handing your child to those monsters," Ronan said, voice rising. "You don't think I saw what they really meant? 'Test her'? 'Bind her'? They mean to chain her the way they tried to chain you."
Ember's fire flared beneath her skin. "I won't let them touch her."
"Then we run," he repeated, quieter now.
She looked away, her thoughts caught in a storm. Visions of the child came to her unbidden eyes glowing with both Kael's golden fire and her own scarlet flame, tiny fingers sparking in her sleep, a laugh that could shatter stone and warm hearts.
But visions alone could not protect her daughter.
"We don't even know what she'll become," Ember murmured. "What if they're right? What if she's dangerous?"
"She's your child," Ronan said firmly. "That means she's strong. But it also means she'll be hunted, feared. Even before she takes her first breath."
Ember stood, slow and deliberate, brushing the dirt from her tunic. Her eyes lifted to the moon.
"Then we need to decide tonight," she said. "Before the eclipse."
A howl split the sky. Kael's voice, raw and commanding, echoing through the valley like thunder.
"Back at the gate," Ronan said instantly. "He's returned."
Without another word, they ran.
When they arrived, the pack grounds were in chaos. Wolves paced in both forms, some injured, others bloodied. Kael stood at the center, his chest heaving, his eyes wild with fury.
"They came for her," he growled when he saw Ember. "Council scouts. Two cloaked bastards. I caught their scent near the den. They were trying to mark it."
Ember felt her knees weaken.
"They were going to take her before she's even born," Kael roared.
She crossed the clearing, laying her hand on his arm. "You stopped them?"
"I killed one. The other vanished."
Behind them, warriors whispered. Not everyone would stand with them if defying the Council became war.
"They've made their choice," Kael muttered. "Now we make ours."
"We have one option," Ronan said grimly. "Get out. Tonight. All three of us."
Kael's gaze sharpened. "We don't run."
"She'll die if we stay," Ember said softly. "Or worse."
That silenced him.
The pack began to quiet as they noticed Kael falter. That was rare. Their Alpha indecisive? That was unheard of. And dangerous.
Ronan stepped forward. "We're not fleeing forever. We're buying time. We find the old mage, the one from the Flamebound legends Liora. She knew how to bind power without killing the vessel. If we can reach her"
Kael held up a hand. "Enough."
His eyes met Ember's. "I swore I'd protect you. Our child. I'll do it the only way I know how."
Her heart stuttered.
"Do you agree to run?" she asked.
"I agree to survive," he said. "Until I can destroy every damn elder who thinks they can rule over our bond."
A shiver passed through her at his words not from fear, but from the gravity of his oath.
By midnight, the moon turned red.
The cursed moon.
Ember, Kael, and Ronan stood at the border, where the forest gave way to the fog-covered lands of exile. Behind them, pack members howled low farewells. A few would follow. Most would stay behind.
"Keep the scent trail broken," Kael told Ronan. "We double back near Rivershade, then cut east. No fire unless you need it."
"I'm not a pup," Ronan muttered, though the tension in his face betrayed him.
"And you," Kael turned to Ember, brushing a strand of hair from her face, "you hold onto me, no matter what."
She nodded, barely able to speak.
Then, from the shadows, a figure stepped forward.
Malric.
"You're too late," Kael growled.
"I know," Malric said. "That's why I'm here to help you vanish."
Ember stepped closer. "You're on the Council."
"They think I am," he whispered, handing over a stone covered in runes. "Place this near the Hollow Oak two miles east. It'll scramble all tracking spells for a day."
Kael frowned. "Why are you helping us?"
"Because your child isn't the end of the world," Malric said. "She might be its last chance."
And then he disappeared into the trees.
As they ran into the fog, Ember felt her daughter stir inside her warm, strong, alive.
But even that warmth couldn't quell the question curling like smoke in her chest:
.....
When fate has already chained you… can you ever be free?