The Forgotten Pulse of the Bond-Chapter 52: BLOOD SIGNALS

"Don’t move him yet."

Magnolia’s voice cracked through the fog as she dropped to her knees beside Beckett’s bloodied form, her hand already pressed hard against the wound in his thigh. Her fingers trembled, but her face remained stone.

"He’s poisoned," Rhett said behind her, crouched low, his jaw set with fury. "There’s a residue on the blade. Something dark. It smells like clover rot and ashroot."

"He’s burning up," Magnolia whispered. "I can feel it under the skin, his blood’s racing too fast."

Lucien stood guard a few paces away, blade drawn, eyes scanning the treeline like a hawk in a storm. The forest beyond them was too still. The kind of stillness that followed violence, and dared more to come.

Beckett stirred slightly, his breath catching with a sharp groan. "She... she was here..."

Magnolia leaned closer. "Who, Beck?"

His eyes fluttered, unfocused. "Camille. But... not her. Her body. Different eyes. She didn’t speak like Camille. Her voice... was older. Like bone cracking."

"Possessed," Rhett muttered. "They’re hollowing her out."

Beckett’s hand clutched Magnolia’s sleeve with more force than she expected. "She dropped something... in the clearing. Find it. It wasn’t for me. It was for you."

"Me?"

He nodded, face contorted with pain. "She said... you’d remember it when you touched it."

Magnolia looked at Rhett. "We need to get him back to the estate."

"We don’t have time."

"Then you need to make time," she snapped. "Or I swear I’ll burn this whole forest down to keep him breathing."

There was silence.

Then Rhett gave a single nod. "Lucien, call for the healer. Fastest route, west ridge. Signal them to prep for blood cleansing."

Lucien didn’t argue. He took off through the brush with supernatural speed, already pulling a flare stick from his side pouch.

Rhett looked back at Magnolia. "You’re staying?"

She brushed Beckett’s damp hair back gently, her eyes full of something Rhett rarely saw in her, fear. "If she left something for me, I need to find it. If there’s still a part of Camille inside... I have to answer her."

"I’ll send two guards back for you."

"No," she said. "I move faster alone."

"Magnolia, "

"I’ll be fine."

He hesitated, then pressed his hand to her jaw, gently tilting her face to him. "I mean it. If anything happens..."

"Then follow the smoke."

Their eyes locked for a second too long, and then Rhett was gone, lifting Beckett into his arms and sprinting through the trees with barely a sound.

The clearing fell silent again.

Magnolia stood slowly, rolling her shoulders. Her wolf stirred inside her, restless, snarling.

She followed the blood trail back.

Beckett had stumbled here, his prints erratic, dragging. But just beyond, the steps changed. Lighter. Smaller. Barefoot. Camille’s.

They led to a grove ringed with elderwood trees, twisted and tall. In the center, the ground was blackened, burned in a perfect circle. The air was colder here, and not from wind. It had the weight of something sacred... or cursed.

Magnolia’s feet slowed as she stepped into the center. Her breath caught.

A bundle rested in the center of the burn ring.

Wrapped in white cloth.

Stained red.

She knelt, hesitating only a moment before she reached for it.

The moment her fingers brushed the cloth, fire sparked behind her eyes. Visions slammed into her head like lightning crashing through water.

She saw Camille.

Standing in a cave. Eyes blank. Lips moving, chanting in a language Magnolia didn’t recognize, but her bones did.

She saw Sterling behind her. Holding a dagger. Carving a symbol into Camille’s back.

She saw a woman in shadow. Tall. Silver hair. Her face hidden, but her voice unmistakable.

Lucia.

"Let her speak," the voice whispered. "Let the true heir breathe through her mouth."

Then Magnolia snapped back.

She was kneeling again. The bundle in her hands. Her chest heaving.

She unwrapped it.

Inside was a necklace. Camille’s. A locket shaped like a crescent moon, broken at one edge. Magnolia opened it with trembling fingers.

Inside was a drawing.

A child’s drawing.

Two girls. One with black hair, one with pale blond. Holding hands. The sun above them was smiling. The grass was green. In the corner, scrawled in crooked letters: M + C = forever.

Tears welled in Magnolia’s eyes, but she blinked them away. "You’re still in there, Cam. I know you are."

Then a rustle behind her.

She turned, fast, blade drawn.

Nothing.

She stood.

Listened.

Footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.

She stepped out of the circle, and saw them.

Three figures.

All dressed in black. Faces covered. Tattooed sigils glowing faintly on their arms.

Hollowfang.

Magnolia backed up a step. "I don’t want to kill anyone today. But I will."

The one in front stepped forward and removed their mask.

A woman. Late twenties. Sharp jaw. A scar across her left cheek. Her eyes glowed faint gold.

"You already have," the woman said. "You just don’t know it yet."

Magnolia tensed. "Where is Camille?"

The woman tilted her head. "Beckett bled for you. That should’ve been enough."

"Not even close."

The woman smiled. "Then let’s raise the stakes."

She reached into her cloak, and threw something into the air.

It flashed.

And the forest erupted in light.

Magnolia’s body reacted faster than thought, rolling left, dodging the burst of heat that exploded beside her. The ground shook. Dirt flew. She landed hard, rolled, and came up slashing.

One of the Hollowfang was on her already, blade drawn.

Their weapons met with a metallic shriek, and the fight began.

Magnolia ducked a second blow, kicked hard at his knee, and sent him sprawling. Another came from the right, she dodged, grabbed his cloak, and used his momentum to slam him headfirst into a tree.

The woman watched. Calm. Amused.

Magnolia turned to her.

"You fight well," the woman said. "But you’re still half asleep."

"Then maybe it’s time I wake up."

Magnolia charged.

The woman blocked, fast and brutal.

Their blades clashed again and again, sparks flying.

Magnolia’s blood roared. Her wolf pushed forward, slipping into her limbs, her bones. Her strength doubled. Her speed became wild.

She landed a blow across the woman’s ribs. The woman stumbled.

Magnolia pressed.

Another strike. Another.

Until finally, the woman dropped her blade.

"I surrender," she said, breathless.

Magnolia didn’t move. "Where is Camille?"

"She’s already given herself," the woman said softly. "You’re too late."

Magnolia’s eyes darkened.

The locket still hung in her hand.

She looked down at it. At the drawing.

Then back at the woman.

"I don’t believe you."

The woman smiled again. This one... softer. Pained.

"I didn’t either. Not until I saw the transformation."

"What transformation?"

"She’s not possessed, Luna. She’s becoming."

Then the woman bit down hard on something in her mouth.

Foam. Blood. Her body spasmed, and she dropped.

Dead.

Magnolia stared at the body, chest rising and falling with uneven breaths.

The other two were gone. Disappeared into the trees like mist.

She knelt. Checked the woman’s hand.

Clutched in her fingers, a piece of paper.

Magnolia unfolded it.

A map.

The Hollowfang stronghold.

A red X marked a mountain cave.

And next to it, written in Camille’s handwriting:

I’ll come back. If you’re strong enough to follow me.

Magnolia closed her eyes.

And whispered, "I will."