Chapter 5 The Call Of Blood

Smoke still clung to the night like it refused to leave. It poured from the shattered windows, curling into the rain before vanishing over the rooftops. Lila couldn’t move for a moment, couldn’t quite convince herself that what she’d seen had been real.

Sienna.

Her sister.

Still alive.

The same woman who had smiled under the moonlight while Damon slipped a ring onto her finger instead of Lila’s. Golden hair pulled back, lips curved, in that same half smile that could mean anything and nothing.

That same smile now looked colder, sharper. Her eyes, once gold and warm, burned too bright like someone had replaced her soul with fire.

“Lila.”

Aiden’s voice cut through the ringing in her ears. He was leaning against the wall, blood running down the side of his face, but his stone was steady, somehow that steadiness pulled her back to herself.

She knelt beside him, heart pounding. “You shouldn’t move.”

He gave a dry laugh, low and cracked. “I’m not planning to.”

She tried not to let the worry show. She pressed a shaking hand against his shoulder, checking for deeper wounds. His skin was hot beneath her palm.

“You need a healer,” she said.

“Later.” He muttered. First tell me who she was.

She looked back out the window, but the street was empty. The figures were gone. The only sound left was the rain.

“They were here,” she whispered. “She was here, I saw her.”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “Your sister.”

“Yes.” Lila swallowed. “And she shouldn’t be.”

He studied her for a long moment, then sat up and said quietly, “Tell me everything.”

“She was supposed to be Luna of Iron Fang Pack.”

Aiden’s gaze sharpened. “Supposed to be?”

“She died,” Lila said. “Or I thought she did. The night the council started its trials, everything burned. I heard from random people talking about in the bar one of the nights. Her voice cracked despite herself. “But she looked at me like she knew I’d come.”

Aiden wiped blood from his brow with the back of his hand. “Then someone wants you to see her again.”

Before Lila could answer, footsteps echoed from the hall. She spun, ready to strike, Lila turned sharply, hand tightening around the metal rod she’d grabbed earlier. A shadow crossed the doorway.

Rye appeared, coughing hard through the smoke. “You two alive?”

“Barely,” Aiden muttered.

Good then, “If you two are done bonding over trauma,” he said, “the building’s about to cave in.”

Lila helped Aiden to his feet, slipping her arm under his. He didn’t resist. Together they made their way down the damaged stairs and out into the street, where the air felt cold, raw and real again.

Rye whistled low. “Someone’s got a flair for drama.”

Lila ignored him. Her gaze stayed on the empty street, her pulse still caught between disbelief and fury. “This isn’t random,” she said. “Sienna being here means something.”

Aiden’s tone was steady. “It means the council’s closer than we thought.”

They walked back toward Luna’s Den. The streets were nearly empty now. Sirens wailed faintly in the distance, but the people of Mystic Drops had a way of ignoring trouble that wasn’t its own.

Back inside Luna’s Den, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. The club still smelled like smoke and scorched wood. Lila helped Aiden into a chair by the bar. She soaked a towel in whiskey and started cleaning the blood from his face. Her fingers brushed his skin lightly, careful but deliberate.

“You’re lucky,” she murmured. “Could’ve been worse.”

He met her eyes, unflinching. “You’re calm for someone who nearly got blown up.”

She shrugged, though her hands still trembled. “I’ve had worse nights.”

His mouth twitched almost a smile. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Depends,” she said softly. “Does it?”

He didn’t answer. But when her fingers brushed his jaw, his breathing hitched for just a second.

Rye cleared his throat loudly from the doorway. “Hate to ruin whatever this is, but we’ve got company.”

He held out a damp envelope, The paper was wet and dirty around the edges but sealed. “Found it under the door.”

What is it this time, Lila frowned and tore it open carefully. Inside was a single photograph, the center showing a familiar place: her old pack house “the Iron Fang Pack”. Or what was left of it. The roof had collapsed and in the picture, it was burning.

On the back, written in sharp black ink, were five words.

Come home before it’s gone.

She stared until the letters blurred.

Aiden reached for it, his hand brushing hers. “This was sent tonight?”

Rye nodded. “While you two were out playing hero.”

Aiden gave him a quick death stare, took the photo, studying the ink. “Council code. Crescent origin.” It’s the same ink they use for the Crescent Moon archives.”

Lila’s head snapped up. “Your pack.”

He didn’t look away. “That’s what I’m telling you.”

Her throat tightened, for a second the room seemed to tilt “You kneww…. she stammered.

“You knew them,” she said slowly.

“I know their methods,” he replied.

No,” she said, stepping closer. “You knew about this. You knew someone would come.”

“I came here because I knew something was coming,” he said evenly. “Not this. Not you.”

She laughed softly, bitterly. “You expect me to believe that?”

Aiden’s eyes darkened. “Believe whatever keeps you breathing.”

The air between them thickened. Neither moved.

Lila wanted to believe him, but trust had never been her strong suit. Not since the night the moon turned her into a ghost of herself.

Then, outside, something hit the front door hard. Once. Twice.

Rye jumped out of fear. “What now?” Please tell me that’s the wind.

The third impact rattled the frame. Lila moved first, pulling the latch open before anyone could stop her.

The street outside was empty again just rain, puddles, and a faint echo of footsteps fading fast. Then a single object rolled across the floor and stopped against her boot.

A phone.

Her breath hitched. Slowly, she bent and picked it up.

The screen glowed to life on its own.

A video started playing.

Sienna’s face filled the screen perfect, polished, and wrong. Her hair was slicked back, her golden eyes glowing faintly like candlelight through glass. “Little sister,” she said, her voice soft and melodic. “You should have stayed gone.”

The feed was cut out.

The phone went black.

Then it started to ring.

The sound was shrill in the silence, echoing off the walls of the bar. Lila didn’t move. She couldn’t.

Aiden’s voice came from behind her, low and steady. “Don’t answer it.”

Rye swallowed hard and added sharply almost crying “Yeah, I second that.”

But Lila’s thumb touched over the screen anyway. Her reflection shimmered across the glass, pale and wild-eyed.

She didn’t pick up. Not yet.

Instead, she whispered the only thing she could think, her voice shaking but fierce. “You wanted me home, Sienna?”

She looked toward the storm still raging outside.

“Then come get me.”

The phone kept ringing.

And somewhere beyond the rain, a wolf howled loud, deep, and unmistakably familiar.

The three of them yelled in unison, what is that!!!!