MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 45: Chapter 45
You are reading MARKED FOR PRETEND, Chapter 45: Chapter 45. Read more chapters of MARKED FOR PRETEND.
The halls of the Keepers’ stronghold were quiet too quiet.
Each corridor curved in strange directions, always circling back, no matter how far you walked, you always ended where you started. The walls pulsed faintly with enchantment. The windows, if they could be called that, showed no sky, just light, blinding and endless.
Chelsea moved in silence, barefoot, the hem of her cloak brushing the floor like a shadow.
Bevy walked ahead, candle in hand, her steps practiced and precise. She knew these halls; she had grown up in them, hidden behind doors and secrets. And now, she was risking everything.
“Where are you taking me?” Chelsea whispered.
“To the archives,” Bevy murmured. “They keep records. Portals. The old maps.”
Chelsea’s heart pounded. “You think there’s a way out?”
“If we find the old seal — the original tether point — you can open a breach. But you’ll need more than willpower; you will need magic. Bloodline magic.”
Chelsea swallowed. Her fingers tingled already. Her powers had been unstable since Kaden’s voice shattered through the bond. Her wolf paced restlessly beneath her skin now, no longer slumbering, awake, watching .
Hungry.
⸻
The archives smelled of dust and decay. Ancient scrolls lined the walls in strange scripts. Bottles of powdered bones and herbs glimmered faintly. Symbols were etched into the stone, glowing softly as Chelsea entered.
“Don’t touch anything unless I say so,” Bevy warned.
“I wasn’t planning to,” Chelsea muttered.
They moved quickly, pulling scrolls from a high shelf, spreading them across a table. Most were warded, but one — faded and charred at the edges — pulsed when Chelsea touched it.
The parchment unfurled on its own and symbols shifted.
A word glowed bright in the center.
“Kaelvarin.”
Chelsea’s breath caught. “What is that?”
Bevy leaned closer, eyes narrowing. “That’s not just a realm. That’s a tether point. A crossing. If your power surged there, it could tear a breach between worlds.”
Chelsea felt something stir inside her, not fear, nor power. Hope.
⸻
But the moment didn’t last.
The light in the room flickered. The air grew cold.
Then came the voice.
“Did you think we wouldn’t notice?”
Chelsea froze.
A man stepped from the shadows — one of the Keepers. Dressed in black and silver, eyes pale as bone.
He looked at Chelsea. But he spoke to Bevy.
“Traitor’s blood always finds its way back to betrayal.”
Bevy stepped in front of Chelsea, trembling. “I didn’t show her the exit. Only the name.”
“That was enough.”
The man raised his hand. Magic coiled in his palm like smoke.
Chelsea didn’t think. She moved.
The air around her pulsed. Her wolf surged forward. Her mark flared.
“You won’t touch her!” she shouted.
A blast of energy erupted from her chest — wild, raw, golden. It struck the Keeper hard, flinging him backward into the stone wall. He slid down with a groan, stunned but not dead.
Bevy gasped. “You… you didn’t even use an incantation.”
Chelsea panted, her skin shimmered with magic.
“I don’t need words anymore,” she said darkly. “I just need out.”
⸻
They ran.
Not fast enough. Alarms had already begun to ring — low and vibrating through the walls like a pulse.
But as they darted through the passageway, Chelsea felt something deep in her mark again.
He’s moving.
Kaden. He’s coming.
And for the first time since she arrived in this place, she felt the weight lift from her chest.
She wasn’t alone.
The cage was cracking.
Kaelvarin is an ancient tether point — a mystical location that connects the physical world of wolves and mortals to other hidden realms, including:
• The Witch Realms
• The Shadow Paths
• And the Void Between, where prophecy-born creatures (like Chelsea) were once exiled or sealed away.
It’s like a magical fracture point — a place where realms bleed together. Very old magic. Dangerous. Unstable. Forbidden.
It’s called Kaelvarin because in ancient wolf-tongue, “Kael” means soul and “Varin” means to divide or to veil. It’s the Veil of Souls ,a gate, a choice, and a risk.
Chelsea’s bloodline gives her access to it and her power is one of the few things that could tear it open or control it safely.
Each corridor curved in strange directions, always circling back, no matter how far you walked, you always ended where you started. The walls pulsed faintly with enchantment. The windows, if they could be called that, showed no sky, just light, blinding and endless.
Chelsea moved in silence, barefoot, the hem of her cloak brushing the floor like a shadow.
Bevy walked ahead, candle in hand, her steps practiced and precise. She knew these halls; she had grown up in them, hidden behind doors and secrets. And now, she was risking everything.
“Where are you taking me?” Chelsea whispered.
“To the archives,” Bevy murmured. “They keep records. Portals. The old maps.”
Chelsea’s heart pounded. “You think there’s a way out?”
“If we find the old seal — the original tether point — you can open a breach. But you’ll need more than willpower; you will need magic. Bloodline magic.”
Chelsea swallowed. Her fingers tingled already. Her powers had been unstable since Kaden’s voice shattered through the bond. Her wolf paced restlessly beneath her skin now, no longer slumbering, awake, watching .
Hungry.
⸻
The archives smelled of dust and decay. Ancient scrolls lined the walls in strange scripts. Bottles of powdered bones and herbs glimmered faintly. Symbols were etched into the stone, glowing softly as Chelsea entered.
“Don’t touch anything unless I say so,” Bevy warned.
“I wasn’t planning to,” Chelsea muttered.
They moved quickly, pulling scrolls from a high shelf, spreading them across a table. Most were warded, but one — faded and charred at the edges — pulsed when Chelsea touched it.
The parchment unfurled on its own and symbols shifted.
A word glowed bright in the center.
“Kaelvarin.”
Chelsea’s breath caught. “What is that?”
Bevy leaned closer, eyes narrowing. “That’s not just a realm. That’s a tether point. A crossing. If your power surged there, it could tear a breach between worlds.”
Chelsea felt something stir inside her, not fear, nor power. Hope.
⸻
But the moment didn’t last.
The light in the room flickered. The air grew cold.
Then came the voice.
“Did you think we wouldn’t notice?”
Chelsea froze.
A man stepped from the shadows — one of the Keepers. Dressed in black and silver, eyes pale as bone.
He looked at Chelsea. But he spoke to Bevy.
“Traitor’s blood always finds its way back to betrayal.”
Bevy stepped in front of Chelsea, trembling. “I didn’t show her the exit. Only the name.”
“That was enough.”
The man raised his hand. Magic coiled in his palm like smoke.
Chelsea didn’t think. She moved.
The air around her pulsed. Her wolf surged forward. Her mark flared.
“You won’t touch her!” she shouted.
A blast of energy erupted from her chest — wild, raw, golden. It struck the Keeper hard, flinging him backward into the stone wall. He slid down with a groan, stunned but not dead.
Bevy gasped. “You… you didn’t even use an incantation.”
Chelsea panted, her skin shimmered with magic.
“I don’t need words anymore,” she said darkly. “I just need out.”
⸻
They ran.
Not fast enough. Alarms had already begun to ring — low and vibrating through the walls like a pulse.
But as they darted through the passageway, Chelsea felt something deep in her mark again.
He’s moving.
Kaden. He’s coming.
And for the first time since she arrived in this place, she felt the weight lift from her chest.
She wasn’t alone.
The cage was cracking.
Kaelvarin is an ancient tether point — a mystical location that connects the physical world of wolves and mortals to other hidden realms, including:
• The Witch Realms
• The Shadow Paths
• And the Void Between, where prophecy-born creatures (like Chelsea) were once exiled or sealed away.
It’s like a magical fracture point — a place where realms bleed together. Very old magic. Dangerous. Unstable. Forbidden.
It’s called Kaelvarin because in ancient wolf-tongue, “Kael” means soul and “Varin” means to divide or to veil. It’s the Veil of Souls ,a gate, a choice, and a risk.
Chelsea’s bloodline gives her access to it and her power is one of the few things that could tear it open or control it safely.
End of MARKED FOR PRETEND Chapter 45. Continue reading Chapter 46 or return to MARKED FOR PRETEND book page.