Chapter 164: I Can’t Leave the Fire Untended
{Elira}
~**^**~
The ride back felt heavier than the journey there.
The forest blurred past the windows, dark and endless, but I barely saw it.
My veins still hummed with heat, restless, as though the fire inside me hadn’t yet decided if it would settle—or devour.
No one spoke at first. Zenon’s focus stayed pinned on the road, his hands steady on the wheel. Rennon’s silence was thoughtful, like he was already calculating what came next.
And Lennon... he tapped his fingers against the armrest, restless sparks flickering faintly at his fingertips.
I pressed my palms against my knees, trying to ground myself. But the witch’s warning echoed too loudly in my head.
"It will not bow to you simply because it is yours."
Lennon broke the silence first, his voice sharp but lighter than I felt. "Well. That was one hell of a show back there. Didn’t think you had lungs loud enough to rattle the walls, sweetheart."
I shot him a look, too drained to argue, but too raw to ignore the sting of his words. "I wasn’t... trying to put on a show."
Rennon glanced at me gently. "Ignore him. He is just covering the fact that he nearly burned the witch’s house down when she pushed you too hard."
Lennon smirked, unrepentant. "Damn right I was ready to. Nobody puts her through that and walks away clean."
Something twisted in my chest, part gratitude, and part ache. But before I could respond, Zenon’s voice cut through, calm but edged like steel.
"She needed it." His gaze never left the road. "If she broke there, she would have broken everywhere else."
I flinched, the words striking sharply. "You sound almost disappointed that I didn’t fail."
He turned his head to his right, his eyes flickering to me, piercing and unrelenting. "If you had failed, Elira, you wouldn’t be sitting here."
Silence swallowed the car again, my breath catching as I looked away. Rennon shifted slightly, his hand brushing my shoulder where it rested tense against the seat: just the smallest grounding gesture.
"You didn’t fail," he said softly, for my ears alone. "But you can’t leave the fire untended. The fire will push. It will test the edges. If you ignore it, it will break loose in ways you can’t predict."
A shiver ran through me. "So, what do I do?"
"Train," Zenon answered flatly, his eyes fixed on the road. "Every day. Harder than before. No excuses."
Lennon leaned forward, twisting in his seat to face me, his grin fierce. "And lucky for you, sweetheart, I’ve been dying for an excuse to set something on fire with you."
I narrowed my eyes at him, but the heat in my chest stirred at his words, both nervous and expectant.
"Don’t make light of this," Rennon said, his voice clipped. He looked at me again, steadier this time. "She is going to need precision, not recklessness."
"Precision comes later," Lennon shot back. "First, she needs to feel it. To burn it raw until it bends to her."
Zenon’s voice cut through, sharp and final. "She will do both. And she will start tomorrow."
I stiffened. "Tomorrow? Already?"
His gaze met mine in the mirror, hard as iron. "You don’t have the luxury of time. Founders Day is four weeks away. And you are not going to crawl your way to the top ten. You are going to claim it."
My breath caught. The fire in my veins pulsed at his words, as if it understood the challenge before I did. But my stomach twisted with doubt. "What if I can’t? What if—"
"Stop." Lennon’s voice was firm, surprising me. He leaned closer, his eyes burning. "Don’t say that. You’ve been carrying chains your whole life. They are gone now. If you start doubting before you even swing once, you’ve already lost."
Rennon’s hand brushed mine again, gentler this time, grounding me. "We will be with you. Every step."
The words tangled inside me—fear, doubt, fire, and something dangerously close to hope.
I leaned my head back against the seat, closing my eyes. The witch’s warning echoed still, sharp as the fire in my veins.
"Forge or destroy."
Tomorrow, a more vigorous training will begin. But this time, I wasn’t just fighting to survive Zenon’s pace or Lennon’s fire or Rennon’s mind.
I was fighting to master myself after I had finally been set free.
---
Hours later, I was startled when the car slowed, gravel crunching under the tyres. Peeling my head away from the window, I blinked at the little cottage tucked into a grove of trees.
The roof was slanted, the walls pale wood, and a scatter of fruit trees clung to the edges of the clearing.
This wasn’t ESA. This wasn’t even close to the Alpha’s estate.
My brow furrowed as Zenon parked the car. "Where... where are we?"
Lennon hopped out first, stretching lazily like it had been his plan all along. "Welcome to my place, sweetheart." He spread his arms wide toward the cottage, smug.
"Your place?" I stared, stepping out onto the gravel. "You... have a private cottage?"
"Don’t sound so shocked," he said, grinning. "Even wild flames need a den to cool off sometimes."
I looked from him to the house again, still baffled. "But... why didn’t we go back to your home? To the Alpha’s house?"
Rennon closed the car door gently behind me, his tone measured. "Because going back means questions. Our parents would want to know why you came with us, why we’re returning late, and what happened. That’s not something we are ready to explain to them yet."
I bit the inside of my cheek, glancing at the quiet cottage again. It made sense. Still... the thought of answering Luna Gwenith’s sharp questions about me made my stomach knot. Maybe this was better.
Except—
My gaze skimmed the place again: one small building, one porch, one set of windows. I could already see the layout in my mind—one bedroom, a living room, maybe a kitchen. That was it.
Heat rushed to my face. "Wait. Hold on." I turned back to them, trying not to sound as flustered as I felt. "How exactly are we... all supposed to stay here? There is only one bedroom."