Chapter 10 Enemies in the Mist

The morning fog clung to the forest like a living thing, curling around Amelia's ankles and swallowing sound. Every step she took beside Rael felt heavier, the silence between them pressing in as much as the cold. Her fingers traced the smooth edges of the obsidian pendant at her throat. It was warm too warm as if it sensed danger long before she did.

She hadn't slept. How could she, knowing shadows with teeth were on her trail?

Rael's cloak shifted with his strides, his movements sharp, alert. "There's a path ahead," he murmured, eyes scanning the mist. "Hidden. Only accessible through scent and fire. You'll learn to feel it soon."

Amelia forced a dry laugh. "And if I can't?"

His voice was blunt, stripped of comfort. "Then you die. Or worse you're taken."

The words hung between them like frost. She swallowed hard, the metallic taste of fear in her mouth. Yesterday, she'd been a girl tangled in heartbreak. Now, she was walking headfirst into a destiny that felt like a trap.

Rael stopped so abruptly she nearly ran into him. His hand shot up a signal. "Stay low."

She dropped into a crouch, hiding behind a fallen log slick with dew. Through the white haze, shapes emerged three wolves, their pelts shimmering silver in the dim light, violet eyes burning like cold fire.

"Trackers," Rael whispered, his voice almost a growl. "Scouts for the ones who want your blood."

The wolves moved like shadows, sniffing the air, growls vibrating low and dangerous. Amelia could feel them not just hear them, not just see them. It was deeper, stranger. Something inside her stirred, a heat blooming in her veins, her heartbeat falling into a rhythm she didn't recognize... but the wolves did.

"They're drawn to your fire," Rael said, not taking his eyes off them. "Don't use it unless you're ready to burn everything."

But Amelia was already standing.

The lead wolf's gaze locked with hers, and the forest seemed to still. No lunge, no snarl just silence. Then, with a strange, hesitant whimper, it lowered itself to the ground. The others followed, bowing as if before a queen.

Rael's expression hardened, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of something like awe. "This... shouldn't be happening."

Amelia's chest rose and fell, steady now. Her voice was quiet but sure. "Maybe it should."

The mist curled around them, and for the first time, she didn't feel hunted. She felt... claimed.

The fire was not just her weapon. It was her crown.

And the enemies in the mist? They might just be the first to kneel.