The moon hung low in the sky, its light pale and eerie, casting long shadows across the clearing. I could feel its pull deep inside me, just beneath the skin, wrapping itself around my every thought, my every breath. The power was there—growing, swirling, demanding to be unleashed. And yet, it terrified me. I had spent so long running from the truth, pretending that I could stay hidden from what I was becoming. But Maya’s words echoed in my mind, and Kael’s too—the mark, the Heartstone, the others. I had no choice. I couldn’t stay. Not when my presence was tearing the pack apart. Not when I was a danger to everything I cared about. But leaving meant stepping into the unknown. And something about that made my skin prickle with fear. I walked deeper into the woods, away from the pack, away from Kael and the others. I needed to be alone, to think, to feel the weight of the decision I was about to make. The stillness of the forest was almost comforting, the quiet only broken by the
The air was thick with tension, charged with an electricity that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I could feel the danger emanating from Corwin, and the growing weight of the power inside me—the mark on my skin pulsing with a strange urgency.Corwin was faster than I had ever anticipated. His movements were a blur, a streak of shadow in the moonlight as he lunged toward Jace. The air was alive with the crackle of energy as the two of them collided in a vicious clash.Jace’s growl rang out as he blocked Corwin’s advance, but I could see the strain in his eyes, the tension in his body as he fought to keep Corwin at bay. It wasn’t just physical strength that was at play here—it was something deeper, something primal.“Stay back, Elena!” Jace’s voice was a roar as he pushed Corwin away, his body lurching with the effort. “Get to safety!”But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t just stand there, watching as Jace fought for both our lives. The mark on my skin burned with a raw intens
The sound of our footsteps echoed through the dense woods, but it felt like nothing was real. My mind was spinning with Corwin’s words, his voice a cold, unyielding reminder of what was at stake. No matter how fast we ran, I couldn’t escape the truth that clung to me like a second skin.Jace’s hand remained firm on my arm, guiding me through the shadows of the trees, his presence a steady anchor in the storm of confusion and fear raging inside me. But even his strength couldn’t erase the growing unease that gnawed at me.“Jace,” I whispered, my voice barely above a breath, “what does he mean? What is the Heartstone? And why does he think I belong to him?”Jace’s grip tightened for a moment, but he didn’t answer right away. We continued moving, the only sounds the rustling of the leaves beneath our feet and the distant call of night creatures. When he finally spoke, his voice was heavy with something I couldn’t quite place.“The Heartstone is an ancient relic,” he began, his words slow
The night stretched endlessly, as if time itself had conspired to keep us in this moment, suspended between what was and what might be. The fire crackled between Jace and me, casting an orange glow on the surrounding trees that seemed to grow darker with each passing hour. The forest was eerily silent, save for the occasional rustling of the wind. It was a quiet unlike any I’d ever known—so still, it felt as though the world itself was holding its breath.I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched, even though I knew no one else was around. My senses were heightened, more acute than they had ever been. Every rustle of a leaf, every snap of a twig felt like a warning, like the world itself was preparing for something.“Jace,” I whispered, not wanting to break the fragile silence that hung between us. “What happens if Corwin finds us?”He didn’t respond right away, his eyes fixed on the flames. I could see the conflict in his features, the way his jaw tightened as he weighe
The world held its breath. The faintest sound of a snapping twig reverberated in the stillness, and every muscle in my body tensed in anticipation. We were so close now, so close to being discovered. My pulse thrummed in my ears, loud enough to drown out any other noise.Jace’s hand shot out to grip mine, his fingers cold against my skin but steady. His eyes were fixed on the direction of the sound, his expression unreadable. Damon, too, was frozen, his body coiled like a spring, ready to leap into action at any moment.The seconds stretched into what felt like eternity as the silence deepened, suffocating us with its weight. Every part of me screamed to run, to flee, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough. We couldn’t outrun this. Not now. Not with the power inside me still thrumming unpredictably beneath my skin, like a storm trapped in a cage.I could feel Jace’s grip tightening around my hand, his thumb brushing across my knuckles in an unspoken promise. We were in this together, no m
The air was thick with tension, charged with the promise of something terrible on the horizon. Every crack of a twig beneath our feet, every whisper of wind through the trees, felt like a countdown. The forest had gone eerily quiet, as if it too was holding its breath, waiting for the inevitable. I could feel the shift in the atmosphere around us, the sharp edge of impending danger. My heart pounded in my chest, the pulse of fear coursing through me as I looked to Jace, his face shadowed and unreadable in the dim light. He was the one thing keeping me grounded, the only constant in this sea of uncertainty, but even he seemed tense, his body coiled tight with the threat of whatever was waiting in the dark. "Stay close," he whispered, his voice barely audible, his eyes scanning the woods. I nodded without question, my instincts telling me to trust him, to follow his lead. I felt the weight of the power inside me stir again, like a sleeping beast that had begun to awaken. It was diffe
The night was suffocating. The air around us was thick with tension, like a storm on the verge of breaking. The forest had become a maze of shadows, the trees towering above us, their branches creaking with every gust of wind. We moved through it like shadows ourselves—quiet, deliberate, and desperate to stay ahead of what was chasing us.I could hear the footsteps behind us, distant but unmistakable. The pack was closing in. Their growls echoed through the trees, a constant reminder that we weren’t safe yet, that there was no sanctuary in the darkness. It was as if the world itself had turned against us, the forest no longer a refuge but a trap.I glanced over at Jace, who was leading the way, his expression tight, his senses alert. His hand gripped mine tightly, pulling me along as we navigated the tangled underbrush. Every so often, I felt the unmistakable pull of his power, a subtle but steady presence beside me, keeping me grounded. He was my anchor, but even he seemed to be stru
The air in the cave seemed to grow colder, heavier, as if the very walls were closing in on us. I could feel the weight of Jace’s words pressing against me—the Alpha—the one behind it all. The one pulling the strings. The one who had been hunting us, manipulating our every move. And now, he was here.I tried to steady my breath, to push away the suffocating panic that threatened to overwhelm me. But the more I tried, the more my senses sharpened, and I realized that the feeling I had been trying to ignore, the one that had always been there, was growing stronger. The power inside me. The dark magic that had taken root in my soul.It was awake.I glanced at Jace, but his eyes weren’t on me. He was looking out into the night, his muscles tensed, every inch of him on edge. His hand clenched around a jagged rock beside him, his gaze fixed on the distant shadows below, searching for any sign of movement.Damon was crouched lower, his body coiled, ready to spring into action at any moment.
The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the metallic tang of blood. The battle had ended, but the echoes of it still clung to the night like an unshakable weight.Elena stood between Jace and Damon, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. The power that had surged through her moments ago still crackled beneath her skin, simmering just below the surface. It had been intoxicating, dangerous—and yet, it had been hers. For the first time, she had claimed it, not as a burden, but as a part of who she was.Jace's golden eyes studied her, concern shadowing their usual fire. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice a careful balance between relief and restraint.Elena swallowed hard, nodding. "I think so."But the truth was, she wasn’t sure.Something had changed inside her in that cursed chamber. She could still feel the whispers clawing at the edges of her mind, a lingering presence that refused to fade completely.Damon let out a breath, his stance tense as he wiped the blo
The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the dense forest that surrounded us. The air had cooled, but the heat of battle still clung to my skin, a reminder of what we had just survived. But there was something else, too. Something I couldn’t shake.Jace and Damon were walking ahead of me, their voices low as they spoke about something I couldn’t quite hear, but my mind wasn’t on them. It was on the weight inside me. The weight that felt like a force I couldn’t control, but I had to.I could feel it—the pull of the power inside me. That same wild, untamed energy that had almost consumed me, that had cracked the earth beneath my feet when I unleashed it. It was there, waiting. I could sense it. It was in my blood, in my bones, and I had no idea how to stop it.“Elena.” Jace’s voice broke through the fog in my mind.I blinked, coming back to reality. I looked up to find him standing in front of me, his eyes scanning my face, searching for something
The air felt heavier in the aftermath.The Hunt was gone, but their presence still lingered, like an echo reverberating through the night. The silver chains had disintegrated into dust, vanishing into the wind, yet I could still feel their cold touch wrapped around my ankle. My breath came in uneven bursts, my heartbeat hammering against my ribs.I was alive.But something inside me had changed.“Elena.” Jace’s voice was steady, but there was an edge to it, like he wasn’t sure if I was still standing in front of him or if part of me had disappeared with them.I turned to him, trying to focus on the here and now. His golden eyes burned with concern, his dark hair disheveled from the fight. There was a cut along his jaw, shallow but fresh, proof that even he hadn’t come out of this unscathed.I wanted to reach for him, but my hands were shaking.“I—I don’t know what happened,” I admitted.Jace frowned, stepping closer, like he wanted to touch me but wasn’t sure if he should. “You disapp
The chamber pulsed with an unnatural rhythm, the walls undulating around me as if they were alive. Shadows reached out like fingers, curling toward my skin. My breath came in ragged gasps as I strained against the invisible force, my heart racing. I had to fight. I couldn’t surrender. Not to them. Not to this. Jace and Damon were close. I could feel them, even though the walls of this shifting, cursed place had torn us apart. But the more I focused on them, the stronger the pull of the figure beside me grew. It wasn’t just an external force. It was inside me now. Their presence was sinking into my mind, into my very bones, and whispering words I didn’t want to hear. "Embrace it, Elena. You’ve always known what you are. Why fight it?" I shook my head, as though doing so could erase the voice, the truth. But it wouldn’t go away. I had always known there was something inside me, something dangerous. But I’d never let it define me. "You are the beginning, Elena." The words w
The Hunt was closing in.Their movements were eerily silent, their presence pressing against my skin like a phantom touch. The figures—cloaked in darkness, silver chains dragging against the stone—moved in perfect unison, their faces hidden beneath deep hoods.Not wolves.Not revenants.Something worse.I ran harder.Jace was beside me, his breaths coming fast, his golden eyes sharp and calculating. Damon was just ahead, his gun drawn, but we all knew bullets wouldn’t be enough.“They’re gaining,” Damon gritted out.I didn’t need to look back to know he was right. The air behind us crackled, charged with something unnatural. The Hunt wasn’t just chasing us—they were toying with us, closing in like a predator savoring the final moments before the kill.Then—A snap.The ground beneath me splintered.A force slammed into my back like a whip of pure energy, knocking the breath from my lungs. My vision blurred as I hit the ground, rolling hard against the rocky path.“Elena!” Jace’s voice
The wind howled through the ruins, whipping through the crumbling temple like a warning. The air still crackled with the remnants of power, the echoes of something ancient pressing against my skin.Jace hadn’t let go of me. His grip was firm, steady—like he was afraid that if he loosened it even slightly, I’d slip away into whatever force had just tried to claim me.Damon swept his gaze across the destruction, his jaw tight. “She’s gone.”“For now,” I murmured, my voice quieter than I intended.Because she wasn’t really gone.She was a shadow in my mind, a whisper lingering in my pulse, reminding me that no matter how much I wanted to fight this, a part of me already knew.You were never just chosen, Elena. You were the beginning.Jace turned to me, his golden eyes dark with something unreadable. “Are you okay?”I almost lied. Almost told him that I was fine. But the truth was heavier, and for once, I didn’t want to run from it.“I don’t know.”Damon exhaled sharply. “Well, that’s com
The woman stepped forward, the hood of her cloak slipping back just enough to reveal silver eyes—my eyes—glowing in the dim light of the ruined temple. Her presence was suffocating, her power pressing against my skin like invisible chains wrapping around my limbs.Jace and Damon tensed behind me, their breaths barely audible over the silence stretching between us.But I couldn’t move.I couldn’t breathe.Because I knew her.Not just from my dreams, not just from the whispers that had haunted me since I was marked—no, I knew her in the way someone knew the beat of their own heart, the rhythm of their own soul.She was me.Not a doppelgänger.Not a future version.Something older.Something… eternal.She tilted her head, studying me like I was the one who didn’t belong here. “You feel it, don’t you?”The mark on my wrist burned, pulsing in time with the flickering silver veins running through the stone beneath us. The entire temple was alive, its energy thrumming through my bones like a
The forest swallowed us whole.The moment we stepped beyond the cabin’s threshold, the mist thickened, curling around our legs like unseen hands trying to pull us under. The trees, once familiar, now loomed like silent sentinels, their gnarled branches clawing at the sky. The air was thick with something unseen, something wrong.Jace gripped my hand, his touch grounding me as we pushed forward. Damon moved ahead, his gun raised, though we all knew it was useless against whatever had come for me.Something watched us.I could feel it—a pressure at the back of my skull, like fingers pressing into my mind, searching for cracks. The mark on my wrist pulsed, heat curling up my arm, but I refused to look at it. Refused to acknowledge the truth it whispered in my blood.We needed to keep moving.But the woods weren’t the same anymore.The path that should have led to safety twisted beneath our feet, warping and shifting like something alive. No matter how far we ran, the trees seemed to fold
The darkness in the cabin was suffocating, thick with the weight of things I couldn't see but could feel. The air pressed in on me, suffused with something unnatural, something waiting. My heartbeat thundered in my chest, but it was barely louder than the pounding in my ears, like a drum heralding something I wasn’t ready to face.Jace’s grip on my hand tightened, his fingers cold but steady. His presence beside me was a comfort, but even his touch couldn’t chase away the gnawing fear coiling in my gut. Damon stood by the window again, his posture rigid, scanning the tree line like he expected something to lunge from the shadows at any second.Then his voice cut through the silence.“Something’s out there,” Damon muttered, his tone low and certain. “And it’s getting closer.”A slow, creeping dread crawled up my spine. I swallowed hard, my throat dry, my breath shaky. Every instinct I had screamed at me to run, but there was nowhere to go. The familiar warning that had been gnawing at