Prophecy – Chapter 6 – Leaving Safety

CHAPTER 6

Daemon found Tobias behind the training ground, perched on the low stone wall that edged the clearing. The older boy sat with his elbows on his knees, watching the pale morning slowly seep through the trees as though he had nowhere else to be. The pack was only just beginning to stir. Smoke curled lazily from a handful of chimneys, and somewhere near the kitchens a door slammed, sharp and sudden in the quiet, as someone began the day’s work.

Tobias glanced up as Daemon approached, his eyes moving over him once, taking everything in with that easy, unhurried attention of his. Then he let out a soft whistle.

“You look terrible.”

Daemon dropped down beside him with a quiet thud, the stone still cold from the night.

“Thank you.”

“No, truly,” Tobias went on, far too pleased with himself. “I’ve seen men after three nights drinking in the southern towns who looked more rested than you do.”

Daemon turned his head, giving him a semi grin.

“That explains a great deal about you.”

Tobias grinned, entirely unbothered. His reputation with the pack’s young women was hardly subtle. Daemon had lost count of the number of times he had walked into the training yard to find Tobias leaning against a fence with some girl laughing at something he had said, as though the rest of the world had simply ceased to exist for her. Tobias caught the look this time, one eyebrow lifting slightly.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That expression says otherwise.”

Daemon shook his head, faintly dismissive.

“Only that if the royal guard ever runs out of work, you could probably make a decent living charming tavern girls.”

Tobias placed a hand over his chest in mock offence, though the smile never left his face.

“I will have you know my intentions are always noble.”

“Your intentions change every week.”

“That is unfair,” Tobias said, as if genuinely wounded by the accusation. “Sometimes every few days.”

Despite everything, Daemon felt the corner of his mouth lift, the smallest break in the weight he had carried since the night before.

It didn’t last.

Tobias saw it fade. His expression shifted with it, the humour easing back into something quieter, more attentive. Daemon stared out across the clearing, but he wasn’t really seeing it.

“My parents lied to me.”

That got Tobias’ attention faster than anything else could have.

“What?”

Daemon dragged a hand through his hair, still trying to line the pieces up in his own head.

“They’re not my parents,” he said, the words coming out rougher now. “Not really.”

Tobias blinked at him.

“…I’m going to need more than that.”

Daemon let out a short breath that almost turned into a laugh, though there was nothing amused in it.

“So am I.”

He looked down at his hands for a second, flexing his fingers as if grounding himself in something solid.

“My mother…” he started, then stopped, jaw tightening. “My real mother was killed. Murdered.”

Tobias went still.

“And my father?” Daemon shook his head once. “No idea. Never even knew there was someone else to ask about.”

Silence stretched between them for a beat, heavier now.

“All this time,” Daemon went on, quieter but no steadier, “I thought we just moved packs. That was it. New place, new start. No questions.”

His mouth tightened slightly.

“That wasn’t it.”

Tobias pushed himself upright properly now, any trace of humour gone.

“So what was it?”

Daemon gave a small, humourless exhale.

“They were hiding me.”

That hung there for a second.

“From who?” Tobias asked.

“I don’t know,” Daemon snapped, more sharply than he meant to, the frustration slipping through. Then, after a beat, quieter, “Not really. Something to do with… something bigger. A reason. They wouldn’t say everything.”

He paused, then added, almost as an afterthought, like it still didn’t quite fit in his head,

“And I have a sister.”

Tobias stared at him.

“You have a— what?”

“A sister.”

The word still sat oddly, like it didn’t quite belong to him yet. Tobias pushed off the wall, all ease gone now.

“Since when?”

“Apparently my entire life.”

That earned him a look.

Daemon exhaled, dragging a hand through his hair.

“This is going to sound ridiculous,” he said. “You remember me talking about the old pack. About the two I was always with.”

Tobias frowned slightly, thinking.

“…yeah.”

Daemon let out a short, humourless breath.

“She’s one of them.”

A pause. Then it clicked.

“The girl?” Tobias said slowly. “The orphan you were always chasing after because she couldn’t stay out of trouble?”

Daemon nodded once.

“Freya?”

“Yes.”

Silence settled for a second as Tobias recalculated everything he thought he knew.

“You’re serious.”

“I found out last night.”

“So let me get this straight,” he said. “You’ve spent your whole life thinking one thing, and overnight it turns into… this?”

Daemon gave a small, tight nod.

“Pretty much.”

Tobias rubbed at his jaw, thinking it through in his own way.

“Well,” he said after a moment, leaning back, “that certainly explains the miserable face.”

Daemon huffed something that might have been a laugh, then told him what he could. When Daemon finished, Tobias didn’t speak at once sitting there for a moment, elbows on his knees, staring down at the frost as though trying to make sense of it all. The morning crept slowly through the trees around them, pale and quiet, but it felt distant now, like it belonged to another world entirely.

Then Tobias drew in a breath and looked up.

“So we find her.”

Daemon blinked, caught off guard.

“What?”

“Your sister,” Tobias said, already pushing himself upright. “We find her.”

Daemon shook his head once, still trying to keep hold of the thread of everything.

“I’m already leaving today.”

That stopped him.

“Today?” Tobias turned back sharply. “You’re leaving today?”

Daemon nodded. “I told my parents I would.”

“Told—” Tobias dragged a hand through his hair, pacing a step away before turning back again. “Right. Good. Excellent.”

He looked at him again, properly this time.

“So when were you planning on telling me that so I could pack?”

Daemon hesitated. There it was.

“I wasn’t,” he said.

Tobias stared at him.

“…you what?”

Daemon exhaled slowly, the words heavier now.

“I was going to take you,” he admitted. “I told them I would.”

Tobias didn’t move.

“But I thought about it,” Daemon went on, quieter now. “And I….”

“And you, what?” Tobias cut in, sharper. “Thought I’d stay here while you go wandering off into whatever this is on your own?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It looks pretty simple from where I’m standing.”

Daemon turned fully towards him, something harder settling into his voice.

“This isn’t a training run, Tobias. I don’t know what’s out there. Someone killed my mother. I don’t know who’s been looking for me and probably Freya also, and I don’t know if I can protect you from it.”

There was a beat during which Tobias just stared at him. He let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“Protect me?”

Daemon didn’t answer.

Tobias stepped closer, the ease gone from him now, something far more solid in its place.

“You are my best friend,” he said, low and firm. “Not your fucking mate. Even with a mate you don’t get to start deciding what they can and can’t handle because you had a bad night.”

Daemon’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he held his ground.

“I am training to be a royal guard,” Tobias went on. “That’s not a game. That’s not something we talk about to pass the time. It’s what I am. Who I am!”

Another step closer.

“And we’ve been side by side since the day you walked into this pack and didn’t know how to get from the school to the kitchens without getting lost.”

That landed harder than anything else. Tobias held his gaze.

“So don’t stand there and tell me you need to protect me,” he said. “You don’t.”

A beat.

“We protect each other. It is what best friends do.”

Silence settled between them, thick and unmoving then Daemon exhaled slowly, something in his shoulders easing despite himself.

“This isn’t your family to deal with.”

“No,” Tobias said, just as steady. “It isn’t.”

He shook his head once, as if trying to put words around something he didn’t fully understand.

“I do not have one….remember? I’m coming.”

“Fuck Tobias, I am sorry. You don’t have to.”

“I do.”

Tobias glanced away briefly, then back again, the edge of his usual tone slipping in just enough to keep it from turning too heavy.

“Besides,” he added, “you’d last about three days before doing something spectacularly stupid.”

Daemon let out a breath that almost passed for a laugh.

“You are insufferable.”

“Yes,” Tobias said. “And now you’re still stuck with me. Besides,” he added, “I’m curious about this mysterious sister of yours.”

Daemon frowned.

“That is not a good reason.”

“Oh it is!”

A small shrug.

“And someone needs to make sure you don’t get yourself killed before we even reach her.”

Daemon exhaled, something close to a sigh slipping through.

Tobias didn’t wait for an answer this time.

He turned away, already moving, energy back in him now that the decision had settled. “Give me a few minutes,” he said over his shoulder. “If I’m being dragged into whatever madness this is, I’d at least like a bag.”

Daemon watched him go, the tension in his chest shifting into something less heavy.

Tobias didn’t look back. He cut across the clearing towards the packhouse at a brisk pace, already calling out to someone inside before he’d even reached the door, as though this were just another morning and not the moment everything had changed.

Daemon stayed where he was for a second longer.

The frost still clung to the ground. Smoke still curled from the chimneys. The world hadn’t altered at all. Only his place in it.

He pushed himself up from the wall and turned towards the main house.

The walk felt both too short and far longer than it should have. Every step carried the weight of what had been said the night before, the things he still didn’t understand, the questions that had no answers yet.

Inside, it was warmer.

Bella was already there, moving between the table and the hearth as though keeping her hands busy might steady something else. Ralph stood near the doorway, arms folded, watching her more than the room.

They both looked up as Daemon entered but didn’t speak. Then Bella crossed the space between them in two quick steps and caught his face between her hands, searching his expression as though she might find a reason to stop him written there.

“I do not like this,” she said.

“I know.”

“I would rather tie you to the chair.”

“I know that too.”

“Do not make jokes when I am worried.”

A faint smile touched his mouth despite everything. “Sorry.”

She pulled him into a brief, tight embrace, holding him just a moment longer than she meant to before letting him go. When she stepped back, her hands lingered at his shoulders, as though she needed to be certain he was still there.

Ralph moved forward then, placing a hand on Daemon’s shoulder, his grip steady and familiar.

“You know what matters,” he said quietly. “Keep your head. Trust your instincts. And come home if you can.”

Daemon met his eyes.

“I will.”

Bella wiped quickly at one eye, annoyed at herself for it, then reached into the fold of her shawl and drew out a small cloth-wrapped bundle.

“Your father left this,” she said.

Daemon frowned slightly and looked at the man beside him. “Dad?”

She shook her head and shook her head softly.

“No. The other one.”

Everything in him stilled.

“He gave it to us to keep safe for you,” she went on, her voice softer now. “Said it would belong to you one day.”

Daemon took the bundle carefully.

The cloth was worn with time, folded and refolded over the years. He loosened the knot and opened it slowly.

Inside lay a small white wolf.

It had been carved by hand, each line worked with quiet care. The surface was smooth, worn soft by time or touch, the shape simple but precise, as though whoever had made it had known exactly what they were doing. Daemon stared at it for a moment, something tightening in his chest, something he didn’t yet have words for.

He swallowed, then carefully wrapped it again and slid it into the inner pocket of his pack.

“I’ll keep it safe.”

Ralph’s hand tightened briefly on his shoulder.

“We know you will.”

Outside, the morning had fully broken by the time Tobias returned, a pack slung over one shoulder and an energy about him that suggested he’d already said what needed to be said and wasn’t interested in repeating it.

He glanced between them, taking in the scene quickly, then looked back at Daemon.

“Well,” he said, adjusting the strap, “are we doing this or not?”

Daemon gave a small nod.

Together, they stepped out into the cold.

The boundary stones stood beyond the last of the houses, half-hidden in the lingering mist. No one followed them, but Daemon felt the weight of eyes on his back all the same.

At the edge of the pack lands, he paused and looked back.

Bella raised a hand. Ralph did the same.

Daemon held their gaze for a moment, then turned away.

Tobias came to stand beside him, looking ahead through the trees where the land opened into paths neither of them had walked before.

“So,” Tobias said, a trace of something quieter beneath his usual tone, “any actual plan, or are we relying entirely on poor judgement?”

Daemon let out a breath.

“We head for Freya.”

Tobias nodded once, as though that were enough and for now, it was. Together, they stepped beyond the stones and left the safety of the pack behind.

Chapter 5

Chapter 7