Ancient Runes

The First Wolf’s fingers curled around Liora’s throat. Not squeezing, just holding. It's touch like frost on bare skin.

"Well?" it murmured, its voice velvet and venom. "Will you let your loyal Bardan die for you? Or will you give yourself to me... body, blood, and soul?"

Bardan snarled, surging forward but the creature flicked its wrist, and invisible chains wrenched him to his knees. "Ah-ah," it chided. "No interruptions."

Liora’s pulse hammered against the thing’s palm. "You’re not Lorcan."

The First Wolf laughed, low and intimate. "Oh, but I am. Or at least, what’s left of him." Its free hand traced her collarbone, leaving trails of ice in its wake. "Poor, brave Alpha. He thought he could control me when he took my power. But now I wear him like a second skin."

Bardan’s eyes met hers, desperate. "Liora, don’t"

The creature tsked, tightening its grip. "Silence." Bardan’s voice cut off mid-word, his mouth moving soundlessly.

"Better." The First Wolf leaned in, its lips brushing the shell of Liora’s ear. "Here’s the truth, little witch: Lorcan is still in here. Screaming. He fights me every second... especially when I touch you." Its hand slid down her side, possessive. "He hates it. But his body? His hunger?" A dark chuckle. "Those remember you very well."

Liora’s breath hitched. "If I say yes... you’ll let Bardan go?"

"Mmm. Eventually." Its teeth grazed her neck. "But first, I want him to watch."

---

Bardan was breaking.

He could see it in Liora’s eyes, the moment she considered it. The moment she weighed his life against her own ruin.

And worse?

He saw the flicker of heat when the creature’s stolen hands touched her.

Because it still wore Lorcan’s face.

Because part of her still wanted him.

The First Wolf smiled, sensing it too. "Say the word, and I’ll spare him. All you have to do is... surrender."

Liora closed her eyes.

Then spat in its face.

---

The creature recoiled with a hiss and in that split second, Bardan moved.

His silver dagger found its mark, plunging into the First Wolf’s ribs.

But it laughed.

"Oh, Bardan," it sighed, almost fond. "Did you really think silver could kill me?" It yanked the blade free, black blood oozing from the wound then licked the metal clean. "But this?" It pressed the dagger to Liora’s chest, right over her heart. "This could kill her."

Bardan froze.

"New deal," the First Wolf purred. "You walk away. Never return. Or I carve her heart out and eat it while you watch." Its gaze dropped to Liora’s lips. "Unless she begs me to stop...?"

Liora trembled, but her voice was steel. "Bardan. Go."

---

Bardan’s hands shook.

He could leave. Save himself. Let her become the monster’s plaything.

He could do something stupid.

"No."

The First Wolf blinked. "What?"

Bardan smiled, bloody and broken. "I said no." Then he lunged. Not for the creature, but for Liora, his arms wrapping around her as he twisted, putting his back to the blade.

The dagger struck home.

Right through his heart.

---

Liora’s scream shattered the night.

The First Wolf staggered back, its stolen face flickering between horror and fury. "You, you idiot!"

Bardan collapsed into Liora’s arms, his breath wet and ragged. "Told you... I’d choose you... every time..."

The creature screeched, its form unraveling at the edges.

Because Bardan’s blood was dripping onto the ancient runes.

And the altar remembered its true purpose.

—

Bardan’s blood was alive.

It slithered across the ancient runes like liquid mercury, igniting them one by one in a pulse of crimson light. The First Wolf howled. Not in triumph, but in rage.

"No! This was not the pact!"

Liora barely heard it.

She cradled Bardan’s lifeless body, her tears splashing onto his still-warm skin. "Come back," she begged, her voice breaking. "You don’t get to leave me like this."

Then.

A heartbeat.

Not hers.

His.

---

Bardan’s eyes flew open but they were no longer gold.

They were black.

Not the empty void of the First Wolf’s gaze, but the deep, endless dark of a starless sky. His fingers twitched against her waist, his nails lengthening into obsidian claws.

"Liora," he rasped and his voice was wrong. It echoed, layered with something older, hungrier.

The First Wolf snarled. "What have you done?"

Bardan. No, not just Bardan anymore, lifted his head. When he smiled, his teeth were too sharp. "Finish what you started."

---

The chamber door burst open.

Lorcan, the real Lorcan, staggered in, his body gaunt, his eyes wild. He was a ghost of the Alpha, his skin stretched too tight over bone, as if something had been eating him from the inside.

"Liora," he gasped.

The First Wolf whirled. "You!"

Lorcan didn’t even glance at it. His gaze locked onto Liora, desperate. "The runes, they’re a cage. But it needs an anchor. A soul to hold the lock." His voice broke. "It has to be me."

Liora recoiled. "No!"

"He’s right." Bardan’s new voice was calm. Terrible. "The First Wolf wore him like a glove, but Lorcan’s soul is still the key. Always has been."

Lorcan stepped forward, his hand trembling as he cupped Liora’s face. "I’m already dead, little witch. Let me do this one thing."

Her breath hitched. "I hate you."

He grinned, weak but real. "Liar."

Then he kissed her before turning to the First Wolf. "You want a vessel?" he spat. "Take me."

---

Lorcan met it mid-air, his body blazing with silver fire. They crashed into the altar, and the runes exploded to life, chains of light wrapping around them both.

"NO!" The creature thrashed. "I WILL NOT BE BOUND AGAIN!"

Lorcan laughed, even as his skin cracked, even as the light consumed him. "Too late, bastard."

His eyes found Liora’s one last time.

"Remember me."

Then.

Silence.

The First Wolf was gone.

So was Lorcan.

---

Bardan or whatever he was now, knelt beside the scorched altar, his black eyes unreadable.

Liora collapsed next to him, her body numb. "Is it over?"

He didn’t answer. Not at first. Then…