When I opened my eyes, I was back in the medical wing with Ardan’s hand still gripping mine. His eyes searched mine and his worry was evident.My chest heaved, and my hands trembled as I clutched the edge of the bed. I turned to Gilly, watching her lay motionless beside me, her pale face was twisted in silent agony.“Serena” Ardan’s called with his hands still gripping my arms to steady me. “What happened? What did you see?”Rachel and Zone were beside him with their expressions a mix of concern and urgency.I took a shuddering breath, meeting their eyes. “It’s all a lie,” I said with my voice shaking but resolute.“What do you mean?” Rachel asked, stepping closer.“The witches,” I said with my jaw tightening. “They’ve been tricking me all along. They made it seem like my sacrifice would save everyone—my pack, the rogues, the innocent. But it’s not true. After I sacrifice myself, no one will be saved. They were never planning to liberate anyone. They’re planning to take control of eve
The castle was right in front with its dark and ruinous castle towers standing tall above the stormy sky. A dreadful smell of blood helped us fathom what sort of creatures we had to slay to reach this particular point. Fighters were heard from the back where Zone took the lead amongst warriors and was fighting to keep the last wave of monstrous beasts back.“Go!” Zone shouted with his voice cutting through the chaos. “We’ve got this!”Ardan grabbed my hand, pulling me forward toward the castle’s entrance. “Stay close,” he said in a low but commanding voice.I didn’t need to be told twice. The closer we got to the castle, the heavier the air became. It wasn’t just the harsh atmosphere—it was the magic. Dark, ancient, and malevolent, it radiated from the very stones of the structure, coiling around us like a living thing.As we stepped through the big and heavy iron doors, the sounds of the b
Gloria sat tied up in the centre of the room with her hands shackled with reinforced silver cuffs and her dark robes torn and bloodied from our earlier battle. The usually smug and cruel gleam in her eyes had dimmed and it was replaced by a simmering hatred that sent chills through me.Even though we had captured her and brought her back to Derek’s pack, the tension hadn’t lifted. It was hard to believe that, with her imprisonment, the constant attacks from rogues and witches might finally stop.“You brought her back to the pack? What’s stoping you all from burning her alive?” Tobias asked as I led him to where we kept Gloria hostage.“We need answers and we need to unlink her from Gilly.” I replied.“Well, our people mustn’t know about this. Gloria’s defeated. That’s how it should be.” Tobias instructed and I nodded my head in agreement.I stood by Ardan’s side as both of us watched Zone pace back and forth like a predator waiting to strike. His anger was palpable and his wolf was ju
The journey back to Ardan’s pack was long but it felt lighter than any journey we had taken. Gloria who was held tightly with silver chains, rode in a separate cart with her mouth gagged to prevent her from casting any spells. Despite her subdued state, I couldn’t shake the sense of unease that prickled at the back of my mind. Her presence felt like a shadow, dark and cold and trailing us no matter how much distance we put between us and Derek’s pack.Ardan rode beside me with a sharp and watchful expression with his eyes flickering constantly toward the cart. “She’s too calm,” he murmured with his voice low enough that only I could hear.“I know,” I replied with my own unease matching his. “But we’ve taken every precaution. She can’t escape.”“I really do hope you’re right, Serena,” he said, though from his tone, it was pretty obvious he wasn’t convinced.Zone rode ahead with a group of warriors, leading the way through the winding trails that marked the border of Ardan’s pack territ
Dawn was fast approaching, though none of us had gotten any sleep. Gloria’s escape had thrown everything into chaos. Her words, scrawled in Sylvia’s blood—“The Wolfmother will fall. Long live the witches” - still echoed in my mind. It was a constant reminder of the danger coming that I thought we had curbed.Now we were in the war room. Ardan, Zone, and I sat around a large wooden table with maps of the castle grounds and dungeons spread out before us. Rachel was elsewhere, tending to Gilly and hoping for any change in her condition.“She couldn’t have done it alone,” Ardan said in a sharp tone as he leaned forward with his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. “Someone helped her escape, and whoever it was is still here, in my pack.”Zone rubbed his temples. Frustration was clear on his face. “We reinforced the cells, locked her in with silver. None of the guards saw anything. It’s like she vanished into thin air.”“Magic,” I muttered, staring blankly at the map. “Or someone kne
Gilly’s pale face was the first thing I saw as I entered the medical wing. She lay propped up against pillows. It was sad to see her usually vibrant energy diminished. Yet her eyes—were open and clear. I was relieved but then quickly as the relief came, it was accompanied by concern. I had waited so long to see her awake, but the shadows beneath her eyes told me her ordeal wasn’t over.Rachel, Ardan, Zone, and I surrounded her, as though we feared she might vanish again if we blinked.His hands shook as he bent closer to embrace her and felt her body safe against his, fragile as delicate glass. “Gilly, you’re awake,” he whispered. “How are you feeling?”Gilly returned his hug weakly. Though her arms were thin, they were steady around his back. “I don’t know,” she answered finally and roughly. “I began to feel like I was imprisoned at a particular place I couldn’t escape from.” Her eyes darted from me to him and back again. “It was my own personal hell. The witches made sure of that.”
The atmosphere in the pack had shifted. Gloria may have escaped, but her presence seemed to leave a never- removable stain.It was no challenge identifying the root of the problem because it lied on the surface. This is how wicked and dangerous the witches are: Gloria’s escape from the dungeon as an insult and a threat. Even though Ardan’s warriors patrolled the borders day and night, there was no comfort in their vigilance.The war room had become our second home over the last few days. Maps, silver remnants of broken chains, and scattered parchments cluttered the table as Ardan, Zone, Rachel, and I tried to piece together how Gloria had escaped.“It doesn’t add up,” Rachel muttered, leaning over the table with her brow furrowed. She held one of the broken chains between her fingers, twisting it thoughtfully. “Silver can’t be broken this way—not without a mix of strength and magic.”Zone, pacing in the corner of the room, snorted. “Strength and magic. That narrows it down to werewolv
The forest was eerily quiet, the kind of silence that made my wolf tense and restless. I led the scouting party deeper into the dense wilderness with my senses on high alert as we made our way between tall pines and underbrush’s. A faint mist clung to the ground, curling around our boots and shifting unnaturally. It felt wrong. The air emitted this weird energy—one I couldn’t quite place, but I’d learned never to ignore.Ardan walked beside me. His presence reassured me. He insisted on coming, of course. I hadn’t been able to talk him out of it, though I knew his presence here made Rachel nervous back at the camp. We couldn’t afford to lose Ardan, and yet here he was with his sword strapped to his back and his eyes scanning the trees for any sign of trouble.“You feel it too, don’t you?” I asked, leaning in and speaking to him in a low tone so that the rest of the scouts would not overhear us.Ardan nodded. “It’s too quiet. Something’s waiting for us.”I glanced back at the group foll
Author PoVThe woods was dark as Marcus and Luca passed through the underbrush in silence. Marcus’s heart thudded against his ribs, with a steady caution. He glanced toward Luca, who had graduated from one stern face of determination to intent.They had been trudging through the woods for hours on nothing more than scraps of intelligence and the stubborn pull of hope. Ryan's rogues had pointed them in the right direction but were ultimately not adventurous enough to try to approach the Red Blood Moon pack directly. After all, Odessa's territory was a death trap of sorts. Even the most adventurous rogues knew better than to cross her borders without sufficient cause.The moonlight was just enough to see the outlines of makeshift tents and some shadows on watch. Marcus motioned for Luca to keep it low and crouched behind some ferns to take in the camp."Do you see her?" Luca whispered in a voice so faint it was almost a sigh."Not yet," Marcus ground out, struggling to make each breath
Serena’s PoVTears stung my eyes, and I woke up in a start with broken breath as the persistence of the dream clung to me. In this muted room, shadows danced upon the wall; for a second, I was hardly certain of where I stood. The dream had borne the reality—Odessa, her eyes bright with evil gleam, standing atop a heap of bones. Her army, a roar of growling rogues and defiled creatures spread out to the last sight. And then there was Evelyn... Evelyn was there, firmly standing by the side of Odessa, the empty look on her face an undercover of madness.I put my trembling hand over my forehead, it was sweating. This dream wasn't just a figment of imagination; it was a warning.I pushed aside the thick furs, stood, and went to the unbarred window. The pack grounds lay quiet, a deceitful calm before a storm. My instincts screeched like a mother's intuition that something far worse than what we had imagined was in the making.If only I could make Ardan see it too.But Ardan... he was no lon
Evelyn’s PoVThe dagger felt heavy and cold in my palm. Odessa’s cold demand rang in my ears. Kill Callum. Bring me his head. This wasn’t a test or ,twisted game to see how far I would go to prove my loyalties. I just had to do it. I knew I had to do it.If I turned it down, she would turn against me. If I carried out her order, I would lose the only ally I had managed to win over. Either way, she would win.Not this time.Finian walked beside me as we traveled through the thick forest. His expression was a mixture of concern and determination. He had not questioned me for warning Callum. He had not hollered when I insisted we needed to fake a death, to give like a disguise for the purpose of tricking Odessa into believing I had done my job. Instead, he nodded, affirming my sense of loyalty."Are you sure it will work?" he asked softly."It must." I responded. "If Odessa realises we lied to her, we would be dead."
Evelyn PoVThe air in Odessa's camp grew thicker with every step I took, like the very ground beneath my feet was crying out in warning for me to turn back. I walked in with a smile that forced itself on my face, burying the reality under layers of lies. I had to put on a show-pretend that the mission had gone as expertly as planned, that Callum's blood was still warm on my blade.Every rogue I passed seemed to look right through me. I couldn't tell whether it was suspicion, or merely the paranoia that clawed at my insides. Odessa's camp had always had a place of hard edges and cold shadows, but now it felt, knowing I was living a lie in a den of wolves, as if I were walking on a frozen lake, with every step about to crack the surface and plunge me into darkness.Odessa was seated at the main fire with her figure surrounded by flames. She didn't move when I approached, but I knew she'd sensed me from long before I closed in. One could call her a predator. Her in
Author PoVLuca ached with every breath he took. The iron shackles had rubbed a nasty patch on his wrist. Every single muscle in his body was screaming at him to stop moving, but push through he would. Not when he could see freedom close enough to touch.The plan hardly had a chance from the word go. For days, he and his fellow inmate, a fierce, rogue girl, Lyra, whispered between the bars of their cells, keeping a close eye on the guards and drawing up a mental picture of their movements. Though men of Odessa had hardly shown much compassion, they had also been very much arrogant-they thought the prisoners were broken and quite incapable of fighting back, which was a mistake they would regret.Tonight was their only chance.The moment the guard opened the door to bring their rations, Lyra lunged, yanking the guard towards her. With her rusty chain, she started to choke him. Luca did not register the pain biting all over his limbs as he withdrew the dagger hanging on the fallen guard'
Evelyn’s PoVThe moon sank in the sky and bathed Odessa's encampment with a relatively eerie light. I felt my hands curl into fists as I stood before her, listening to her outline yet another command: a mission to wipe out a rogue faction that would not swear allegiance to her. Another pointless war; yet another bloodbath to stoke her insatiable thirst for power."This is your chance to show me what you're made of," Odessa said in what might be described as a thick mocking tone, leaning her back against the large wooden table in her tent. "I have been very lenient with you, Evelyn; but this is where I expect your commitment."It was a lie, of course. It was not proving myself. It was about her control. She hoped that I would become a weapon, which she could point at her enemies and let them have it without hesitation.I gritted my teeth. "What if I refuse?"Odessa's eyes became dark. "You won't."A grin from her caused my body to tremble from head to toe.She was right: my survival an
Author PoVThe chains that bound Luca were terribly heavy, and every time he moved, they cut into his skin. Bruised and battered, he was stuck in this dank underground prison which reeked of rot and spoilage. He had lost track of time-and that felt like an eternity-or days, possibly weeks. Each moment in the dimly-lit cell felt endless; every second was a reminder of how he had failed.He had been so sure it was going to work.So sure he would finish off Evelyn and make her pay for what she had done.Yet now, as he sat in the filth of Odessa's prison, he was sure of nothing anymore.A soft chuckle traveled from the adjacent cell soon afterward, pulling him out of his thoughts.“Well, well," drawled the voice. "Looks like you're still kicking."Luca turned his head toward the voice. A girl was sitting with her back against the wall of the cell bide the one he occupied, both knees drawn to her chest. Her eyes were alive and sharp, glistening blue in the torchlight. A ragged smear of dir
Evelyn PoVThe cold steel glinted in my grip, heavy as never before. My heart sounded in my ears almost mythically, nonetheless my hands were steady. The silence stretched itself unbearably long, choking me as all eyes fixed on me.In one swift motion, I brought the knife down.A gasp went up from the crowd. A sharp wave of blood rushed into the air. I could hear Odessa approach slowly, her breath almost audibly eager against the still of the night.Yet Luca was still on his feet.Breaths ragged, around all that pain in his bones; he was alive. I had not touched him.It was my blood that trickled onto the ground and pooled at my feet, which I had crudely sliced. My fingers were stiff with pain as I raised my chin.Murmurs went through the gathered rogues. They were not expecting this. None of them were."Evelyn," Odessa cried out, calm together with a fright. "What are you trying to do?"I swallowed the burn in my throat and met her gaze head-on. "You wanted a sacrifice," I said with
Evelyn PoV“One, two, three, four…. Fifty, sixty-nine, a hundred…. No, no, no…” I breathed.I had stopped counting how many lives I had taken.At first, I would wave it off with justifications such as "they're all enemies, threats to my survival", or "I'm doing what I had to, to stay alive." But the excuses had become stale.Now, in the stark silence of my cell, their faces haunted me.There was the young warrior who had drawn his blade just as I struck him down. His eyes had been filled with terror, pleading, as though he had something to live for. I hadn't hesitated.There was the woman with that desperate look in her eyes, hands bloody and reaching for my clothes in an appeal for mercy. I had felt a flicker of hesitation that night. But Odessa had been watching, satisfaction shining in her golden eyes. I couldn't allow weakness.So, I had done what was expected of me.With each kill, I felt t