Alora’s POVI moved down the hallway in a haze this time around, my body and mind aching from everything that had happened. Rune’s room was quiet, dim, offering the slightest escape from the world outside. Once inside his master bedroom, I headed straight for the bathroom and locked the door, hoping for a moment to be alone. I was exhausted. Hadn’t sat for a second since that forsaken ball. My head is about to explode. The exhaustion settled over me in thick waves, pushing down on my chest until it hurt to breathe. I felt weak, like I was breaking apart piece by piece, the emotions clawing their way up until I couldn’t hold them back any longer.I would want to go outside to the garden but I didn’t want to see anyone, Cielle, Sienna, or anyone else in this pack who didn’t understand what I had been through. They’d make things worse. The last thing I wanted was to face another reminder of my battles, another set of eyes that didn’t know the full weight of my pain. And so I stayed in
Alora’s POVI started dreaming, I found myself enveloped in darkness, the kind of darkness that felt alive, pulsing and surrounding me with a weight that pressed against my skin. It was suffocating. At the center of it all, a voice echoed through the void, a low, soft murmur that somehow managed to feel close yet impossibly distant. There was no face, no figure, only that voice reaching out to me. If only I wasn’t used to the weirdos now. “You are stronger than you know,” it said, the words a delicate mixture of warmth and urgency. The voice held a faint trace of familiarity, as though it was something I should recognize, something I’d heard before but couldn’t place. It sounds almost similar to my own at some point. "You have little time. Your daughter doesn’t have long… if you keep sleeping like this, she won’t survive." Thy added. A shiver shot through me, an electric jolt that left me feeling cold and hollow. I tried to speak, to demand answers, to ask what I needed to do. Qu
Alora’s POV I stood in Rune’s room, pulling on the plain green long-sleeve shirt that I’d left here a lifetime ago, back when things between us were simpler, clearer. The soft fabric felt warm and familiar against my skin, grounding me despite the uncertainty around us. I slipped into a pair of loose black pants, adjusting the waistband as my mind spun, weighed down by thoughts of our daughter’s fragile state and the unknowns of the journey ahead. I had no clue where to even begin, but one thing was clear, if there was a way to save Nevaeh, I would find it. Even if it is going to be the end of the fucking world. Just as I fastened the button on my pants, the door creaked open, and Rune stepped in. He stopped in his tracks for a moment, his sharp gaze assessing me, lingering just a little longer than necessary. It felt almost… domestic. That is the word. Then, without a word, he crossed the room, heading for his dresser and pulling out clothes of his own. The sight made me frown,
Alora’s POVThat night, we pulled into a quiet motel on the outskirts of some small town. The neon sign flickered in the distance as we stepped into the modest room, a single bed in the center and an old armchair tucked away in the corner. The scent of stale carpet and faint cigarette smoke clung to the air, but exhaustion weighed on me too heavily to care. I was drained in every possible way, and yet, despite the fatigue, the one thing I couldn’t shake was my hunger. It gnawed at me, a constant reminder of the days of neglect I’d forced my body to endure while worrying over Nevaeh’s fragile state. I hadn’t eaten since before the bloody ball. Room service sent up food, standard human stuff, but it smelled divine to my starving senses. Rune glanced at it and wrinkled his nose, scoffing slightly. Of course, he wouldn’t touch it, he didn’t eat human food, and tonight was no exception. He went out to hunt for his own food but didn’t stay long. As I ate in silence, he watched me with
Alora’s LOVEThe next morning, I told Rune about the direction the mysterious boy had given me. The moment we set off, the roads took on a strange quality, like we were slipping through the cracks between worlds. It was so so different. Trees thickened around us, their branches growing darker and knotted, their leaves a shade deeper than green, a color that seemed almost unnatural. The sky overhead changed, losing its familiar blue hue, now washed in a gray-purple that stretched as far as the eye could see. And yet, even in this strange world, the road remained steady, guiding us like it knew exactly where we needed to go.The deeper we went, the more unsettling everything became. Soon, the road twisted and coiled like a living thing, the pavement cracking beneath us until it seemed ready to splinter apart. We shared a silent glance, Rune’s eyes filled with the same unease that clawed at me. Were we supposed to be here? Were we nearing a dead end?But then, just as the feeling of d
Alora’s POV We moved forward, our steps echoing faintly as we passed through the grand hallways. Each step brought us closer to whatever lay at the heart of this strange palace, but it was impossible to ignore the oppressive weight in the air. Rune’s grip on my hand was tight, and I could feel the pulse of his heartbeat in sync with my own. We are both afraid and exhilarated by everything we were seeing. Then, we entered another chamber, dimly lit and lined with marble columns that cast long, dark shadows over the room. In the center stood a throne, similar to the last, but this one seemed more worn, the edges dulled and almost faded. On it sat a figure, shrouded in a heavy, dark cloak that closed any distinguishing features. It was as though the very light in the room avoided this person, casting their form in an impenetrable shadow. I shivered in displeasure. Surrounding the throne was a crowd of people, each one thinner than the next. They were skeletal, skin stretche
Alora’s POV The place was eerily silent, an unsettling stillness filling every corner. I clutched Nevaeh closer, feeling her soft breath against me, the only warmth in a room that felt void of life. Rune stood beside us, his presence steady, though I could sense his wariness.Minutes passed, turning into what felt like hours. My legs began to tremble from standing so long, and the weight of exhaustion bore down on me. Just as I was about to slump, Rune reached out, as if offering to hold Nevaeh for a moment, when we felt a distinct shift in the air. The very atmosphere thickened with a presence so powerful it pressed down on my chest. We both froze, eyes fixed on the throne, where a figure was beginning to appear as though from thin air.Slowly, the figure came into view, cloaked from head to toe in deep red fabric that shimmered faintly, like woven blood under moonlight. The cloak was oversized, concealing nearly every inch of her body, but even from a distance, her form was petite
Seraphina’s POVI watched my daughter, Alora, her figure small and tense in my strange realm. I have nothing and no one. The cursed palace, as they used to call it now, is empty and always lifeless, unlike the others.If only she knew how much I wanted to hold her, to pull her close and feel her warmth, to tell her the truth of how my heart aches. How much I missed her. How much I hated giving her away to cruel mortals.But as it is, the curse binds me, preventing me from intervening directly. It’s a cruel twist, one that’s kept me distanced all these years, even now when she needs me most. I hate the feeling of helplessness.My thoughts drift to Goddess Luna, the only deity who ever showed me tolerance after the others cursed me to eternity. Goddess Luna is… patient, in a way the others never were.Maybe it’s because of the night I spent together, a tangled, fateful night with her species. The one where I unknowingly laid with one of her creatures, a werewolf, one of her children.Sh