MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

Chelsea’s POV
There was no sun in Kaelvarin.
Only light that filtered from nowhere and everywhere pale, silvery, timeless. It never warmed. It never faded.
Chelsea stood barefoot in the moss, facing the stone outcrop Kaden had chosen as their training ground. Her cloak lay discarded, her mark visible now. It pulsed faintly, like a living ember beneath her skin.
Kaden circled her slowly, silent and unreadable.
“Again,” he said.
Chelsea took a breath. Stretched out her palm.
Her magic stirred.
The air shimmered faintly.
“Focus,” Kaden murmured. “You’re calling it, but you’re not shaping it.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder.”
Chelsea’s jaw tightened.
The energy flared again then snapped, flickering out like a flame caught in wind.
She cursed under her breath.
“You’re not letting your wolf speak,” Kaden said.
“My wolf is silent.”
“She’s not. You’re afraid to hear her.”
Chelsea turned, eyes flashing. “I’ve been chained, hunted, lied to. Now I’m supposed to trust the part of me I’ve never even heard?”
“Yes,” he said evenly. “Because she’s you.”
Silence.
Chelsea looked away, shoulders stiff.
“What if I can’t control her?” she whispered. “What if I become like them the ones who burn without care?”
“Then I’ll stop you,” Kaden said without hesitation. “But I don’t think I’ll have to.”
She looked up at him and for a moment, the pain in her chest wasn’t so heavy.
⸻
Kaden’s POV
He watched her.
Not just her body, poised and strong but the way she trembled when she didn’t think he saw. The way her magic flared brightest when she was angry. The way her lips parted just before she let go of fear.
Kael stirred in his chest, restless.
She is not prey, the wolf growled.
She is storm.
Kaden knew that.
But he also knew storms could tear themselves apart if no one taught them how to move.
“Let’s try something different,” he said.
He stepped closer. So close, she had to tilt her chin to meet his eyes.
“Don’t summon power.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Let me provoke it.”
Chelsea blinked. “What?”
“Fight me.”
She stared. “You’re kidding.”
“Do I look like I joke?”
She raised a brow. “Not even in your sleep.”
He smirked just a little then stepped back, eyes glowing gold.
“Come at me, Chelsea.”
She hesitated… then moved.
Fast.
He parried her strike with ease, but the second one came sharper — laced with magic that tingled across his skin. He ducked, spun, caught her wrist — but she flared again, pushing him back.
Their breathing grew heavier.
She moved on instinct now. No incantations. No fear. Just motion and will.
And then she stopped.
Frozen in place, chest rising, fingers glowing.
Her eyes widened.
“I hear her,” she whispered.
“Your wolf?”
Chelsea nodded slowly. “She’s… angry. Protective. She wants to tear through everything that ever hurt me.”
Kaden stepped toward her carefully.
“What’s her name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ask her.”
She closed her eyes. A shudder went through her spine. And then
“Nyra,” she whispered. “Her name is Nyra.”
The moment she said it, the light around her shimmered.
And somewhere deep in Kaelvarin, something ancient answered.
⸻
Chelsea’s POV
She felt it in her blood a beat, like a second heart. The world tilted.
Kaden caught her before she fell, wrapping his arms around her.
“What was that?”
He didn’t answer.
Because the sky above them the sky that had never existed was starting to crack.