KOL

We had been walking for what felt like hours.

Yet we still hadn’t found a single trace of Eric. The worst part was that we kept returning to the exact same spot, no matter which direction we took.

"Rule number three," Elliott said, stopping in front of the familiar tree. An arrow was carved into its bark, pointing simultaneously right, left, upward, and downward.

If confusion had a physical form, this arrow would be it.

Elliott jabbed a finger at the mark. "Remain on the marked path at all times."

The rest of us stared at him, waiting for the point he was trying to make.

"This is a marked spot, correct?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered. The others nodded in agreement.

"But we’ve been walking in circles," Elliott continued, frustration bleeding into his voice. "I’m not the only one who noticed. We left this damned tree an hour ago, only to come right back to it."

We had all noticed. Especially me. But I had kept quiet. I didn’t want to feed Elliott’s ego or admit that he might have been right about not searching for Eric in the first place. Even though it was the right thing to do.

"I was sure we followed every mapped area and sign," Elliott said, raking his fingers through his hair. "We haven’t deviated from the path, yet..." He trailed off, staring at the mocking arrow. "We keep ending up back here!"

We must have missed something. Something crucial. My brows furrowed as I scanned the trees around us.

The marked paths had been here long before our parents were born — enchanted by the academy founders themselves. The seven sons of Lykaon. They were supposed to be impossible to lose.

Yet here we were.

Rule number three didn’t just say we had to remain on the marked path. It warned that if we left it, we’d be exposed to unmarked areas where the forest itself became the predator.

The consequences were brutal — students becoming hopelessly disoriented, wandering in endless circles, or vanishing completely. I had heard stories of bodies discovered miles from where they had entered, twisted and broken in ways that made no sense.

But we had been careful. I was sure of it.

Elliott pushed away from the tree, letting out a deep, irritated sigh. His eyes locked onto mine, sharp and accusatory. "You know I’m right."

"What are you talking about?" I grunted.

"What am I talking about?" he mimicked, his tone dripping with mockery. "You fucking know exactly what!"

"Is this about going after Eric?"

"Hell yeah!" Elliott snapped. "I told you we needed to find her first. But no, you fucking insisted on chasing after your damned boyfriend!"

"My boyfriend?" I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward, anger simmering hot in my veins.

Elliott matched me, closing the distance. "Did I stutter?" he snarled. "Or should I rephrase it? The bastard you’ve been obsessed with since you were five!"

"That’s harsh..." Lance murmured from the side.

"You know what’s harsh?" Elliott hissed through clenched teeth, still glaring at me. "It’s all of you agreeing to everything he says like he’s our fucking master on this quest!"

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Ashford?" I murmured, my voice low and dangerous, the wolf inside me stirring restlessly.

Elliott pumped his fists, refusing to back down. "Bring it on."

Azrael jumped between us, hands stretched out. "Knock it off, both of you!"

"No, you knock it off!" Elliott and I shouted at the same time.

Azrael snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "Did you forget what Headmaster Alaric said?"

Neither of us answered.

"Don’t die," he quoted, voice heavy. "Do you even understand what that means in a place like this?"

"I do," Elliott said coldly. "Someone clearly doesn’t."

I ignored the insult, even though he was the one being stupid here.

Azrael stepped aside, looking from Elliott to me and back again. "I’ll try not to add more fuel to the fire, but Headmaster Alaric simply didn’t want us fighting over who should lead. We are all leaders by right of our houses."

He paused for a beat, the oppressive silence of the forest pressing in around us. "This is the first quest all seven House Alphas have ever gone on together. You understand he’s risking his entire position by sending us out here? Some of our parents sit on the council. With a single snap of their fingers, he could lose everything. The Goddess forbid that happens," he muttered the last part under his breath.

"We are meant to work together. No leaders here. No one is better or smarter than the other." Azrael stared pointedly at Elliott. "I agree with what Kol did. Going after Eric was the right thing."

This was the first time Azrael had spoken so reasonably. Not that he was usually unreasonable, but not like this calm, trying to hold the group together.

Elliott clearly didn’t like it. He let out a short, incredulous laugh. "You talk about the council stripping Alaric of his job if one of us dies. Tell me," he turned, eyes hardened, "don’t you think it’s better for one to die than all seven of us at once?"

"I mean, one death might cost a job. Seven would be a death sentence for the Headmaster," Elliott continued. He searched Azrael’s face, but the other boy only stared back blankly. "Come on. Am I the only sensible person here?"

"If we keep looking for Eric, we’ll all die," Elliott let out an exasperated sigh, gesturing around but at nothing in particular. "For all we know, he’s still alive somewhere. He’s strong enough to fight for himself. But Dash and Elyse are alone. A.L.O.N.E!"

"Don’t you think you’re putting too much trust in Eric?" Raphael said quietly. The second time he had spoken all day. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

He dipped his hands into the pockets of his black pants. "This situation is such a drag. But after what happened back there, I’d say whatever took Eric is far stronger than we can imagine. He was clearly in pain. Dash and Elyse are still in this forest for sure. As long as they’re together, I believe they’ll survive long enough for us to find them. Unlike Eric."

That was exactly what I had been thinking too.

Raphael gave a slight shrug and added quietly, "That’s my opinion. I don’t know if anyone agrees with me. But us fighting each other will only make things worse and more difficult."

"And maybe the enemy is trying to sow seeds of discord," Lance chimed in, "knowing the rivalry between us. It’s probably a delay tactic to keep us from reaching our goal on time."

Elliott grimaced, his lips twisting into an annoyed scowl. I expected him to disagree, to accuse everyone of blindly following my lead and being too stupid to think for themselves.

Instead, he murmured inaudibly, "I’m sorry."

I heard him. I raised my brows in surprise.

"I’m not apologizing because I’m wrong," he said quickly. "We can both be right. I’m only apologizing because... because... never mind."

"I’m sorry too," I said. "I think my ego got the best of me."

Elliott huffed but said nothing more. We were even now.

"Great," Azrael clapped his hands together, sounding far too excited for our current situation. "Can we continue our journey? But first," he turned toward the tree with the confusing arrow, "We need to break out of this circle we’re stuck in."

"And we need to review the rest of the rules," Raphael said. "Even if we can’t prevent getting trapped, at least we’ll have a better idea of how to get out alive."

I knew the truth no one wanted to say out loud: no matter how many rules we memorized, no one had ever successfully escaped the Forest of Death once it decided to claim them. The trees, the paths, the very air — they all turned against you.

But we could only try. We had known the risks when we stepped past the treeline, even though Headmaster Alaric had tried to warn us.

Azrael slipped his hand out of his pocket. In his palm rested an old scroll. A yellowish-brown parchment that looked like it had survived centuries. Before he even unrolled it, I already knew what it was. I had seen that exact guide countless times in the academy library, gathering dust on the highest shelves.

"You had the guide with you this whole time?" I asked, disbelief coloring my voice.

The solution had been right in front of us, and we had been stumbling around like idiots.

"I wanted to see how far our own knowledge could take us before bringing it out," Azrael said with a casual shrug. "Now that we’re properly stuck, it seems like the only option left."

"Asshole," Elliott clenched his jaw, balling his hands into fists at his sides. "I knew you playing peacekeeper was weird."

Azrael grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Yeah, an asshole with the only way out of here. Take it or leave it. Who’s with me?"