Chapter 118

**ADAM**

Three days had passed since Austin’s interrogation of Caedmon, and though we hadn’t returned to press him further, the weight of the vampire’s words still hung over us. It lingered in Austin’s silence, in the tightness of his jaw when he thought no one was watching. It hovered over me as I watched Aria sleep each night, curled up like a fragile dream wrapped around something immeasurably precious.

I wanted peace. We all did. But Caedmon’s presence poisoned the air like smoke from a fire we hadn’t put out yet.

Still, the community kept moving forward. Our days were full: drills, patrols, strategy meetings, medical checkups for Aria, visits from other alphas who had begun to see the community as something more than an experiment. We were becoming a symbol—one of change, of risk, and of hope.

But all symbols have enemies.

This morning, I left Aria curled in a blanket on the couch with a mug of mint tea. She’d asked me to stay, but I needed to keep moving, to keep control. It was how I coped.

Austin and I met outside the council hall. The air was brisk and sharp, the sun fighting through the thin layer of morning fog. He was already pacing, and when he saw me, he didn’t smile.

"We need to go back in," he said.

I nodded. "I know."

Fares joined us a few minutes later, carrying a clipboard and a grim look.

"Surveillance has shown no new movement from the neighboring pack. They’re laying low. Either they’re waiting for Caedmon to report, or they’re planning something bigger."

"We can’t afford to wait," I said. "Let’s push him."

We made our way down to the secure chamber, the steel door cold beneath my fingers as I unlocked it. Caedmon was seated in the same spot, chained and impassive, his dark eyes unreadable.

"Come to gloat again?" he asked. His voice was smooth, but there was a slight tremor in it.

"No," I said. "We came to give you another chance."

He smirked. "How generous."

"Three days," Austin said, folding his arms. "You’ve had time to think. And we’ve had time to gather more information. You’re not the only one we’re watching."
Caedmon’s eyes flickered.

"You think you understand the game you’re playing," he said slowly. "But you don’t. You think this place is special because you’ve made peace between species. But you’re wrong. You’re sitting on a powder keg. Your peace is built on blind trust."

I leaned forward, my voice low. "And yet you came here. You spent months pretending to be part of that peace. So what were you doing? Waiting for it to fall apart? Or pushing it there yourself?"

"Neither," Caedmon snapped, losing his composure for the first time. "I was sent."

That single word tightened the room.

Fares moved forward, quick. "Sent? By whom?"

Caedmon’s jaw clenched. He realized he’d slipped.

I stepped closer, my tone still calm. "You were sent. So someone gave you orders. Someone with enough authority to risk your life and send you into a hybrid community."

He tried to recover, but I saw the panic rise. "I said too much."

"No," Austin said softly. "You said just enough. Who sent you, Caedmon?"

He glared at us, his silence thick and angry.

I crossed my arms. "We already know Ambrose is dead. He’s not the one pulling the strings. So who is it now?"

His expression shifted—just slightly—but it was enough.

"Tell us the name," I said.

Caedmon’s gaze flicked to me, then to Austin, and for a second, something in him faltered. Exhaustion, maybe. Defeat.

He exhaled and muttered, "Alaric."

My breath caught.

Austin went rigid beside me. Fares straightened.

Alaric.

The name echoed through my mind. He was a name we’d heard before, but only in whispers. A shadowy figure among vampire elders who had distanced himself from direct rule. No one had seen him in decades. Some thought he was dead. Others said he ruled from the dark corners of the old world, manipulating others from afar.

"He’s alive?" I asked.

Caedmon didn’t answer. But he didn’t need to. His eyes had already betrayed him.

"Why?" Fares asked. "Why would Alaric care about us?"

"Because your existence is an insult to everything he believes in," Caedmon growled. "To him, hybrids are not evolution. They are contamination. He thinks if he lets one community survive, the infection will spread."

Austin turned to me. His voice was low. "This changes everything."

I nodded. It meant we weren’t just dealing with a rogue vampire with a grudge. We were facing a force older and more dangerous than any of us had prepared for.

"Let’s get out of here," I said.

As we stepped out of the chamber and sealed the door behind us, I felt the full weight of what we had learned settle on my shoulders.

Caedmon wasn’t the end of our problem. He was just the beginning.

And now that we had a name, we had a new war to prepare for.

**ROSALIE**

I was steeping chamomile for Aria, humming under my breath as the kettle whistled, when the air around me shifted - thick, electric. The steam curled unnaturally, and my vision blurred. Suddenly, a face snapped into my mind like a flash in a storm - sharp, angular features, eyes like wet ash, and long blond hair pulled into a leather tie at the nape of his neck. His smile was thin and cruel. *"I'm on my way"*, he whispered, and just like that, he vanished. The teacup in my hand rattled against the saucer, and I gripped the counter to keep from shaking.

I stood frozen, the warmth of the kettle forgotten, my hand still clenched around the teacup as the final curl of Alaric’s whisper clung to the edges of my consciousness. I’d had visions before—flickers, fragments, riddles wrapped in metaphor and half-light—but this? This was no whisper of fate or puzzle meant to unravel in time. This was a message. Direct. Clear. Threatening.

The sensation that lingered in my bones wasn’t just unease—it was a warning.

I turned slowly, heart pounding, tea forgotten entirely. Aria needed to know. Adam and Austin too. This wasn’t a dream to journal and meditate on. This was something darker, something pressing. Something real.

I grabbed my phone with trembling fingers and sent a message to Adam:

"I just saw him. Alaric. He’s coming. This is different. We don’t have much time."