The door didn't just break, it exploded inward like it was made of cardboard instead of thick wood. I didn't even get a scream out before Kael shoved me sideways. The claws of the beast ripped through the air where my head had been a heartbeat ago. The sound alone slid cold down my spine.

I slammed onto the floor, and my elbows was the first. This made a heavy pain shoot through my arm so sharp it made my eyes sting, I wanted to cry. I barely sucked in half a breath before Kael yanked me up again.

The creature filled the entire doorway. It had to fold itself down just to fit through, fur bristling, bones shifting under its skin like it was still deciding what shape to be. And its eyes... they locked straight onto me. Not Kael, not the hallway behind us, but only me.

Kael stepped in front of me, and the thing I could hear was a rough voice. "Elara. Behind me, do not move."

"I'm not stupid," I muttered, even though my legs trembled so badly I felt like they weren't mine.

The creature dropped onto all fours, lowering its head. It didn't look threatening, that was the terrifying part. It looked... curious, studying me, measuring me or maybe....., deciding how fast it would kill me.

"Kael..." I whispered. "Why is it staring at me like that?"

"Because the ritual tied it to your scent." He didn't even look back at me. "It wants what the ritual promised."

"What did it promise?" My voice shook.

He didn't answer, and he didn't need to. Before we could have a second for ourselves, the creature launched at us.

Kael shoved me aside again, and this time, I felt it hard. I crashed into a table and sent an old metal lantern flying, it clattered across the hall like someone ringing a giant bell. Kael met the creature mid-jump, he removed his knife and that flashed through my eyes. The blade slid along its fur like the creature was made of stone. The impact slammed both of them into the wall, plaster bursting.

I scrambled backward on shaky hands, my lungs refusing to cooperate, I was shivering. My heartbeat was a frantic, painful mess. The creature whipped around and snapped its jaws at Kael.

" Kael watch out" I screamed ontop of my voice as he swerved the beast. Missing his face by inches as it spat on the floor.

"Okay," I breathed, I was terrified and horrified at the same time. "What kind of wolf melts the floor with its spit?"

"You're not helping, Elara," Kael grunted, ducking another swipe. I was just there, doing nothing to help nor was I running. At this point, I knew I'm stupid. 

Kael slide under the wolf arms and drove the knife into its side, and thankfully, it actually cut through it this time.

" Oh oh.... I guess we just made him more angry" I whispered. 

The creature roared so loud, shaking its body aggressively. The walls were shaking, I could feel vibrations under my feet and dust were also raining on us like dirty snow. 

"Run!" Kael yelled.

"No." My voice cracked. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Elara, GO!"

"No!" I shouted back.

The creature slammed Kael again. He flew across the floor and hit the wall, the sound was... wrong. His face twisted with pain, and for a moment he couldn't get up.

Something hot and stupid overcame my fear.

I grabbed the lantern and hurled it at the creature's head. And from the look of things, what I just did wasn't smart nor helpful. But I couldn't just sit there and watch Kael die. 

The lantern bounced off its skull with a metallic THUNK.

"Well," I whispered, "that was unbelievably stupid........, very stupid."

" No no no no" I screamed as the creature snapped towards me, I couldn't breath for a second. I froze.

The creature growled: a deep vibrating sound that made my ribs ache. It turned fully toward me, its claws were dragging long scars across the floor as it walked.

My whole body shook, my eyes burned as I couldn't process what was actually seeing. My brain screamed RUN, but my legs ignored me. I wished all this was just a dream. Honestly, I wish. 

Kael rasped, "Elara... don't move."

The creature stepped closer, and that made ice fill every vein in my body.

"Please," I whispered. "Don't come closer." But it did anyway.

Its head dipped low, wanting to sniff the air around me like it wanted taste my fear. I was so scared it was getting closer so I took slow steps backwards. Unfortunately, I had reached the end as my back hit the wall. 

I started sweating prefusely, my heart was beating so fast and hard that the creature could hear it.

Kael tried to stand up but he couldn't. "Get away from her!"

The creature growled without even glancing at him, like it was telling him to mind his business.

I couldn't breath and think at all as the beast came very close to me, close enough for me to feel its breath on my shoulders. It was hot and strange.

The air shifted, and the wall felt like they were humming again, just like how it happened before the ritual broke. 

The creature inhaled slowly and deliberately. 

"Kael," I whispered, "what is it doing?"

His face rested immediately I asked that question, like he didn't want to speak. 

"It's smelling you."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it thinks... you're the one the ritual was supposed to mark."

My heart flipped,  like it was punched. "I didn't agree to anything! I didn't even know there was a ritual!"

"I know," Kael said. "But guardians don't care, they only trust their senses."

"I don't want it sensing me," I whispered.

The creature suddenly pulled its head back and made a low sound. It felt like something almost... respectful.

Kael threw himself onto me, tackling us both to the floor. The beat has started again.

" Uhhhh...., when will this drama end, the beast isn't stable ".... I whispered 

It's claws ripped through the air above where my head had been. We slid across the hall until we hit another door. Kael held me tight, shielding my body with his.

"Don't move," he whispered.

"I'm crushed under you. I physically can't move."

"Good."

The creature pivoted, ready to attack again, but then a piercing whistle cut through the air, and that made the creature freeze mid-step.

Kael lifted his head, confused. "What was that?"

Footsteps echoed from the stairs: slow, steady, too calm for everything going on.

Victor appeared first, tall and furious, his eyes looked sharp, enough to cut. Behind him came Riven, half-shifted into a wolf, his teeths were bared, chest heaving like he had sprinted through half the manor.

Victor held a carved staff. He pointed it out once.

"Stand down."

The creature let out a warning growl but lowered its head, shaking.

Victor turned to me. "Elara. You were not meant to enter the ritual chamber, your presence disrupted the binding."

My voice came out small. "I didn't know."

"You do now."

Kael moved off me slowly, still ready to throw himself between us if he had to. "Victor, she's hurt, this can wait."

"No," Victor said. "Mistakes are corrected immediately."

He stepped closer, eyes running over me like he was deciding my worth.

"Bring her," he said.

Riven started moving toward me.

Kael tensed. "Touch her, and I swear...."

"Kael," Victor warned, "do not make this worse."

But then Victor lifted the staff again, and the guardian didn't charge, but it rather turned toward me and bowed.

Victor's expression flickered; shock, anger, something else under it.

Riven stopped breathing, are Kael froze completely.

And that's when I understood the horrible truth: The creature wasn't trying to kill me.

It was choosing me.

I froze, completely.

The creature's amber eyes didn't blink once. They just stayed locked on me and made me nervous. It was heavy and aware like it had been waiting for this one moment since before I was even born. My chest hurt from breathing too fast, I wanted to look away, but I couldn't.

Kael's hand clamped down on my shoulder. His voice dropped into that sharp, urgent whisper he only uses when things are about to go very wrong.

"Elara!!! don't panic, and whatever you do... don't fight it."

"Don't fight it?" My voice jumped. "Kael, it's huge, it's glowing, it can kill me in literally one second."

"If you stay calm, it won't."

"Calm?" I almost yelled. "How do you expect me to be calm when THAT is staring at me like I'm dinner and destiny at the same time?"

Victor slammed his staff against the ground. The whole hallway trembled. His face didn't move an inch as he said, "You belong to her now."

Her?

My eyes flicked to him.

His tone dropped colder. "The guardian reacts to blood. Elara Fynn, your presence tied it to you, whether you wanted that or not."

Behind Kael, Riven let out a low, guttural growl. Half wolf, half man, fully ready to rip something apart.

"Don't touch her," he warned.

I was scared and confused at the same time. My legs started shaking as I couldn't contain what was happening. 

"Why me?" I whispered. "Why now?"

Victor didn't soften, he never does. "The ritual wasn't finished, you interrupted it. That is why it bows to you instead of obeying me. You have claimed it."

"Claimed it?" My heartbeat throbbed against my ribs.

"Yes," Kael said. His fingers dug slightly into my arm. "It's reacting to your bloodline, that's why it hesitated earlier."

I stepped back by instinct.

The creature stepped with me, same pace, same quiet focus, like we were connected by an invisible thread.

I grabbed Kael's sleeve without thinking. "It's... alive," I whispered. "Like alive-alive. It can think. It's choosing."

"It does choose," Victor said, walking closer. "And it chose you, that wasn't supposed to happen until you were ready."

Ready for what?

I was barely ready for breakfast most days.

The guardian: half wolf, half nightmare bowed again, this time deeper like I mattered, like I meant something.

Kael glanced at me. His eyes were sharp and scared, which made everything worse.

"Elara, listen. Follow my voice, don't fight it or..."

A loud crash echoed through the hall, I jumped in fear as my heart skipped. 

Riven barked sharply, his claws scraping the stone.

The creature started reacting again, becoming unstable as usual. Its muscles were coiling underneath shifting fur.

My stomach dropped. "Is it going to attack?"

"No." Kael's jaw was tight. "It's testing you, it wants to see if you can control your fear."

Control my fear?

My entire body was afraid. 

Victor's voice sliced through the air. "Step forward, Elara. Take command. If you don't, the guardian will be lost."

Command it?

Because of how heavy everything was to me, I couldn't utter a single word. My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Kael lowered himself next to me and held my hand, warm and steady.

"You can do this and I'm here with you, just breathe."

Breathing was suddenly the hardest thing in the world.

The guardian's amber eyes stared at me, its body gave off hot air and I just wanted to run and hide. But Kael held my hand and kept me steady.

I swallowed hard and stepped forward. 

"I... command you. Stop."

The guardian froze completely.

Its claws dug lightly into the stone and watched me with this terrifying patience.

"Stop and obey me," I said, my voice trembling and shaky.

Kael squeezed my hand. "Good, keep going."

The guardian lowered its head again. A low sound vibrated in its chest; not anger, not submission. It felt like something old.

My heart pounded in my ears so loudly I barely heard the scream.

A sharp, high voice cut through the hall, and it could be only one person: Selene.

She was on the balcony above us running, laughing, terrified, wild.

"Elara!" she shouted. "You didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, did you?"

The guardian growled, snapping its attention toward her.

Kael cursed. "Selene, what the hell...."

Victor lifted his staff, glowing brighter. "Catch her." Riven obeyed and went for Selene, as she was disrupting what needed to be done.

The guardian swung its head back to me and bowed again, its whole body went tight like it was ready for a fight.

"Control it, Elara!" Kael shouted. "Do it now!"

I wasn't trained for this nor was I chosen. My stubbornness led me into something I don't understand. 

I was just me: curious, reckless, scared, stubborn.

Then Victor's voice cracked through the hall, furious: "You will pay for interfering!"

This statement made the guardian roar angrily at him, loud enough to shake dust from the ceiling. 

Kael grabbed me and yanked me behind a pillar as the red symbols flared violently. 

"This is insane," I hissed through clenched teeth.

Kael brushed my hair from my face, I was breathing unevenly. "Welcome to your inheritance."

The guardian slammed into Victor, sending his staff spinning, this made it spark shoot across the floor. 

Selene sprinted down toward us, laughing and screaming all at once. 

" Oh gosh" " Elara!!!!" She screamed my name. 

And in that chaos, I realized something painfully clear: Nothing in my life was ever going to be normal again.

The guardian slammed into Victor's staff again, sparks shooting everywhere like angry fireflies. Victor stumbled back, his cloak ripping at the hem. The air smelled burnt: stone, metal, old magic, all of it mixed into something sharp enough to sting my nose.

Selene skidded to my side, she was panting so hard, widening her eyes with panic and excitement at the same time.

"What did you do?" she demanded, grabbing my arm.

"Nothing! I swear, nothing! It bowed and then everything just exploded!"

"That is definitely not nothing," she said, staring at the creature. "You woke it."

Kael yanked me behind him like a shield, stepping in front of both of us as Victor raised his broken staff.

"Selene, move, now!!!."

"I am moving," she snapped. "Just not fast enough for whatever madness this is."

Riven lunged at the guardian, he was half shifted. But the creature tossed him aside like he weighed nothing, he hit the railing with a sickening thud and groaned.

The guardian growled, pacing between Victor and me like it was deciding who to tear apart first.

My throat tightened. "Kael!!!!, can you control it?"

"No." His voice sank, grave. "Only you can."

"Me? I just got here! I don't even know what it eats!"

"You," Selene muttered.

"Selene," Kael warned.

"What? It's true."

The guardian snarled again. 

Victor lifted the half-destroyed staff to his chest. His eyes held this feverish, old hunger like he'd been waiting ages for this moment.

"The binding failed," he hissed. "She broke the order, take her to the sanctum. Now!!!."

Kael stepped in front of me, blocking Victor with his whole body.

"She is not going anywhere with you."

Victor didn't even blink. "You cannot protect her from her own blood."

Riven limped toward us again, still ready to fight. "We don't need your ancient speeches today."

Victor glared. "Stand down, beast."

"Make me."

Everything whirled too fast: voices overlapping, magic burning through the air, fear pressing into my ribs. I didn't know who to trust, Kael, Selene, Riven... or even myself. My hands were shaking, my heart was pounding too loud.

And then the guardian stopped pacing.

It turned... fully... toward me.

It bowed its head, slow and deliberate. Its eyes were pinned on mine: old, knowing, waiting, like it was expecting something from me.

Kael's voice softened, almost a whisper. "Elara!!!!!, talk to it."

"What am I supposed to say?" I whispered back. "Hello giant creature, thanks for not killing me yet?"

Selene rolled her eyes. "Say something before it decides you're a waste of time."

The creature nudged its head against my knee: gently, almost like a dog asking for direction. But this was heavier, hotter and older.

"Guardian... stand down. Please." It froze immediately when those words came out of my mouth. And then it moved back, slow and steady, listening to me. 

Kael exhaled sharply, like he'd been holding his breath the whole time. "Good, keep going....."

Victor slammed his staff on the floor and that made the stone underneath crack.

"Enough! Bring her to the sanctum or I swear I will....."

The guardian roared again. It seemed it hated it when Victor talks to me in a harsh manner. 

The roar wasn't just sound. It was ancient, bone-deep, a force that rattled the entire manor. 

"We need to leave. Now." Selene said as she grabbed my hand tightly. 

Kael nodded fast. "Riven west hall, guard her left."

Riven nodded but he had to shift fully into a wolf and that took him seconds. His eyes were glowing. 

"Move"

Victor lunged. "If you run now, you doom your family!"

"You doomed them when you hid everything," Kael shot back.

Victor's expression twisted. "You dare......"

"Kael," I whispered, tugging at his sleeve. "We have to go."

Because the guardian wasn't calming anymore, it was shaking, vibrating with energy I didn't understand.

"Elara," Selene whispered, voice tiny. "It's waking the house."

"What?" I asked.

Kael didn't even look at me. "It means if we don't leave right now, Lunaris Manor will close around us."

We had no time to think, because the walls were groaning and the floor was trembling as well. 

Red symbols crawled across the stones like living veins.

Victor screamed something in a language I have never heard before.

This made the guardian roar back louder.

Kael grabbed my hand. "Run!"

We sprinted: Selene at my side, Riven ahead. The hallway shook under our feet like the manor itself was breathing. Doors were slamming on their own and what even made my blood cold was the windows. It was getting dark. 

Shadows stretched across the walls like hands reaching for us.

"Don't stop!" Kael yelled.

I didn't. I couldn't.

"The house is closing the old wing!" Selene shouted.

Riven barked, pointing toward the only open doorway.

Kael pushed me toward it. "Go!"

We burst through, and the door slammed behind us so hard, that made the floor vibrate.

The silence afterward felt thick.

I bent over, placing my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"Kael..." My voice cracked. "What is happening?"

He leaned against the wall, trying to breathe. "The guardian woke because of you, the manor woke because of it and Victor knows what that means."

"What does it mean?" My throat tightened. "What am I now?"

Selene's face softened in a way that scared me more than the roar.

"The guardian didn't bow to Victor."

Riven's glowing eyes stayed fixed on me.

Kael stepped closer, studying me like I was a problem he couldn't solve.

"It bowed to you."

He swallowed hard.

"And that means the ritual chooses you next."

"Next... for what?" I whispered.

No one spoke, Kael's silence said everything.