Chapter: CHAPTER NINE The world’s shards of reality slowly formed back its shape, and the series of blurred images and muted sounds began to filter through the pain and confusion of my mind. I blinked a multitude of times in the hopes to clear the haze of my vision, but despite my best efforts, everything was still spinning. The ground did not stop rotating and it made me feel nauseous. My body felt heavy,and every shroud of effort I made trying to move sent spikes of agony through all muscles and bones. For a moment, I could not place a finger at where exactly I was, and I could barely piece together the events that had transpired to the moment I got here.But then, slowly but surely, it all rushed back— the fight with Sebastian, the blinding flash of light, Olivia’s terrified face as he gripped her by the throat. I could feel my heart skip a beat due to the intensity of the mirage of memories striking my consciousness all at once. I guess it caused a slight wave of panic. Olivia… Where the hell was s
Last Updated: 2024-08-28
Chapter: CHAPTER 8It was raining still when I woke for the second time, but slower rain tapped in a pondering beat against the window frame and calmed me following a tumultuous rest. I blinked sleepily, confused as I slapped the lamp beside my bed — Olivia's room. The wooden beams above me, the flickering candlelight casting shadows on walls matching the soft scent of herbs mingling with an earthy aroma as well and—well sweet heavens—it was a far cry from the icy fear and blood-soaked reality to which I should not have lived. That I lay there a moment, my mind slowly cycling through and stringing together the pieces of memory that had led me to this place. The fight with Sebastian, the hurt, the fear and then……Olivia. Except this woman – a stranger after all— she had found me, and rescued me somehow, was caring for me like I was something so small and delicate that it needed to be protected. But why? And more importantly, how? I could never shake the question, it gnawed at me persistently. I had li
Last Updated: 2024-08-26
Chapter: CHAPTER SEVEN I floated between waking and sleep, the world hazy outlines of shadows and light melding together even memory passing through my hand like water over stones. I felt far away from everything, my body lifeless but for the monotone throb that surged in time with blood backlash. My eyelids were so heavy that from time to time they might as well have been cemented shut, my entire face seemed stitched together with lead. But for a minute, I didn't think that I had escaped alive. I had one memory, the very final moment of my life where I lay on a hard dark forest floor that never seemed to warm up with time, and Sebastian was around me, jaws clenching awkwardly at his throat like some sick child's attempt at metal torques, squeezing painfully tight against my neck. And in what felt like an instant fear took over because it all made too much sense; this engine must have run out its oil and now wasn't working anymore—for good?Let me put it this way, I am sure as hell supposed to be dead.
Last Updated: 2024-08-25
Chapter: CHAPTER SIXJaydon’s POVThe pain… It was unlike anything I had ever felt in my lifetime as a human and a wolf. The agony… It tore through me, consuming every thought process, every breath and reason I had left. The only singular thought that relived through and existed in my brain at the moment was the overwhelming torment that burned through my body with every beat in my heart. I could feel the life draining out of me bit by bit. I could feel every drop of blood that had marked its place into the earth take another piece of my soul away from me. The ground beneath me was stone cold, and was damp with the blood I unconsciously spilled. My blood. It pooled around me, soaking into the dirt, the leaves, the very fabric of the forest. My forest. My home. My pack. And I was failing them.Sebastian's teeth had ripped and torn through my every flesh and muscle, tearing my throat open in a way that I felt no amount of healing could fix it. I could feel what’s left of my strength slip away from me, my
Last Updated: 2024-08-24
Chapter: CHAPTER FIVE The smoke surfaced into the night sky, mingling with the calm clouds. I could feel some sort of a dark omen as my heart pounded within my chest. Though I didn't need a reminder, it reminded me of what's to come at any point in time. The Maledictus were here, and it was not just because of the fire warning. I guess you can call it my wolf's instinct because I knew that this meant war.---I went back to our camp to wake the pack. They could strike at any moment. Heck they might already be within our territory. I needed to tell Alex, Diana, everyone.To my surprise, they were all awake and conscious of the sudden shift in the natural scent of peace. They had sensed a coming tension, and their eyes sharpened in determination. “Uhhh, Jaydon,” Ethan, a member of the pack, broke the silence. “What’s going on?” His voice was taut, but you could feel the barely suppressed anxiety. “I didn’t think an attack would come this soon, but they’re close.” I revealed, and the pack gasped. My nervo
Last Updated: 2024-08-17
Chapter: “THE SHADOWS OF MALEDICTUS” CHAPTER FOUR Jaydon’s POVNight had a way of revealing the world’s true nature. All is so simple under the sun: light and shadow, right and wrong, hope and despair. In the dark, though, these lines blurred, and what lay hidden in the shadows might be more terrifying than anything walking in the daylight. It all started making sense now, in ways I never imagined possible before my transformation. The moonlight had become my guide, but the night still held secrets I wasn't quite sure I was ready to face.---The chill in the night seemed much colder, the sort of cold that eats into your bones, as though the very air had a warning. I was edgy because Diana had spoken some words into my ear earlier in the day. She feared she had perceived something— a distortion in the natural order. It was subtle— subtle enough for anybody to miss, like a ripple effect in a calm lake, but it was there for sure. "Jaydon," Alex's voice came to me, steady as always but with an undercurrent of urgency. "
Last Updated: 2024-08-17