Scarlet chains

Chapter 24----the start of a war

Dominic POV

Bind her.

The words rattled in my skull like chains.

As if Nova was something to be caged. Owned. Controlled.

But I said nothing. Not yet. These were the Elders—lords of blood and silence, and I'd already stepped close to blasphemy by claiming Cayden's daughter as my mate.

One Elder circled me slowly. "You feel it, don't you?" he said. "The way your power stretches thin without her?"

I clenched my fists.

"I'm not here for politics," I said. "I'll find her. But I won't use her."

The central Elder's eyes darkened. "Then you'll lose her. To the wolves. Or the Cult. Or worse—herself."

Silence thickened.

"She is a captive," I added. "I'm not sure if she's still who she was."

That gave them pause.

"Then she's a blank slate. Vulnerable. *Dangerous.*" Another Elder hissed. "If they awaken her wrong, she won't be yours. She'll be theirs."

"I don't care what it takes," I said coldly. "I'll find her. Even if I have to burn through every realm doing it."

The central Elder finally nodded. "Then go. And take the blood mark."

A searing pain flared across my wrist—a brand, ancient and binding, appeared in crimson flame. It pulsed once with magic."She won't remember you," the Elder said. "But this mark will guide you to the last thread of who she was."

I bowed slightly, jaw tight. Then I turned.

I had a girl to save. One who might not even want to be saved.

---

*Dominic*

I left the Crimson Caves with the weight of the Elders' words clawing at my back.

The mark on my wrist still burned—subtle, but pulsing, alive. A beacon tied to Nova's soul. No matter how far they buried her… I'd find her.

But as I stepped into the moonlight, I wasn't alone.

A figure leaned against the black car waiting at the cliff edge.

"Fancy meeting you here," said a dry, familiar voice.

"Xara."

Cayden's sister straightened, her fiery red coat whipping in the wind. Her Alpha aura hadn't dulled one bit.

"I came to warn you," she said without preamble. "They're moving."

"The Cult?"

She nodded. "And the wolves. Cayden's gone into the depths. But there's unrest—some of the Clans are debating whether Nova should live at all."

I froze.

"She's not just some cursed prophecy, Dominic. She's a *threat* to their power."

"And to yours?"

She smirked. "I'm not scared of her. But I *do* care what side she ends up on."

I narrowed my eyes. "So which side are you on?"

She walked past me, slipping a glowing crystal into my coat pocket.

"I'm on *her* side. That'll let you track her if your blood mark fails."

Then she vanished into the mist, leaving me alone with more questions.

One thing was clear—this wasn't just a rescue mission anymore.

It was war.

---