Diana The Elders exchange fearful glances before Elder Gideon takes a trembling step forward, his thin frame seeming to shrink even further. He swallows hard, rubbing his palms together. "Alpha Dominicus, perhaps we started off on the wrong foot. Why don't we—" Dom's eyes shift to him, and his voice dies in his throat. "Why don't we what?" Dom's voice is soft, carrying an undercurrent of menace that sends chills down everyone's spine. Elder Gideon quickly shuffles back, his brief moment of courage evaporating. I take a bite of my chocolate chip cookie, watching with interest. Dominicus sighs. “I am a fair man,” he says slowly. “If you have any reasonable explanation for everything you’ve done, now’s the time to speak.” The room falls deathly silent. The Elders visibly shudder at the thought of speaking, and Diana can see the sweat beading on their foreheads. The threat in Dom’s voice hangs like a dark cloud. They don’t dare lie. Something tells them that if they do, they
Diana "And?" Dom prompts, showing no reaction to this revelation. Fendel swallows thickly again, looking to his fellow Elders for support before turning back to Dom. "Well, we assumed that the Zervos Alpha was talking about the agreement we had with him before the trial. And as for the mate bond, I have no idea what gave him that impression or who told him that, but it was in alignment with our goals... so... so we went along with it." "What did you say to him?" Dom's question cuts through Fendel's stammering. "We assured him that of course, all he had to do was get Alpha Diana to go to his pack, and we would take care of the rest." Fendel's voice drops as he continues. "We said we would send the army to the Amadeus territory to..." He pauses, licks his lips nervously. "And then, naturally, the bond would grow back." Dom shakes his head slowly, his calm more terrifying than any display of rage could be. "But the Zervos Alpha says the Council approached him first. That you gu
Diana Dominicus continues, voice dropping lower. "So here’s your choice. You tell me the truth, and only the traitor dies. Or you lie, you hesitate, you waste my time—" His fingers tap once against his arm. "—and I treat you all as the traitor. Then it’s not just one Elder dead. It’s all of you. And really, would it be so hard to believe the mysterious enemy that has been plaguing the werewolf world for decades- an enemy who is able to waltz in and out of any pack unseen and unimpeded massacred the entire Council in one fell swoop?" The silence is suffocating. Elder Thomas, grips his walking stick like it’s the only thing keeping him upright. His voice is a rasp. "You—you would announce the existence of witches to the entire werewolf world?" Dominicus doesn’t blink. "Obviously." A murmur of disapproval ripples through the Elders. Dom exhales, impatient. "The rule that only Alphas and Elders can know about the existence of witches has always been stupid. There’s an enemy hunt
Diana All eight of them suffer through it. All except Elder Thomas. The ancient man stands to the side, hunched over his gnarled walking stick, his knuckles white where they grip the wood. His face is the color of spoiled milk, his breath coming in shallow, uneven gasps. He looks like a strong breeze could snap him in half. Dominicus doesn’t touch him. According to him, the man is so old and frail that if he did, his heart might give out and he would expire from the fear alone. But from the way Elder Thomas trembles, his rheumy eyes darting between his fellow Elders as they moan and writhe, it’s clear he’s suffering just as much. Occasionally, Dominicus pauses. “Are you the traitor?” he’ll ask, voice deceptively mild. “No!” they gasp, voices cracking. And he continues. Hours pass. Then a full day. The Elders grow delirious, their fear turning them feral. They start accusing each other, voices rising in panic. “It’s you!” Elder Gideon snarls at Elder Fendel, spittle
DianaElder Thomas’s frail body shakes like a leaf in a storm, his milky eyes wide with desperation. "This—this is a mistake," he stammers, voice cracking. "I would never betray our kind. Never!" His gnarled hands clutch at his chest, fingers trembling. "Your Command did work on me. I’m just—just old. My mind isn’t as sharp. My body isn’t as quick. That’s all!" A tear slips down his wrinkled cheek, glistening in the torchlight. The other Elders watch, their expressions shifting from horror to doubt. Elder Fendel winces as he pushes himself up from the floor, his muscles protesting. His voice is hoarse, raw from screaming. "Perhaps... perhaps there’s been a misunderstanding." He glances at Dominicus, hesitant. "Elder Thomas has served longer than any of us. A hundred and twelve years. His loyalty—" Elder Thomas cuts in, his voice breaking with emotion. "I’ve given everything to our people. My youth. My soul. My blood." His chest heaves. "How could I betray the very wolves I’ve spen
Diana84 years. The words hang in the air like smoke after gunfire. The room goes deathly still. Then— A raw, guttural scream tears from Elder Fendel's throat. "Eighty-four YEARS?!" Spittle flies from his lips as he lurches forward, his aged body trembling with rage. "You've been betraying us for decades—before any of us even joined the Council?!" The other Elders recoil, their faces slack with horror. Gasps echo off the stone walls. Fendel's knees hit the floor with a sickening crack. "How dare you..." His whisper is broken, his fingers clawing at the stone. "A century of lies..." But I don't look at them. My entire world narrows to Dominicus. His body has gone rigid, every muscle locked. The air around him warps, thick with the kind of energy that makes my wolf whimper in my chest. "Dom..." I reach for him, my voice barely audible. Lightning-fast, his hands snap out and seize Elder Thomas by the shoulders. The old man's bones creak under the force of his grip. "What did
DianaThe chase is a nightmare. Thomas moves like a ghost, slipping past Amadeus warriors with eerie precision. By the time I burst through the window after him, he’s already a shadow melting into the treeline. Impossible.Not even the Amadeus pack wolves are this fast, and high ranking Amadeus pack wolves are stronger than any normal Alpha.I push harder, my legs eating up the ground, but the distance between us doesn’t close. Behind me, the shouts of Amadeus wolves fade—they can’t keep up. We go deeper and deeper into the woods until the Council buildings as well as the shouts behind us disappear. Then, abruptly, Thomas stops. He stands perfectly still, his back to me. Slowly, he turns. "You shouldn’t have followed me." he sighs, like he’s chastising a disobedient child. "Now you’ll die here. Alone."His voice is different. Stronger. Younger.He still looks like an old man. But the way he holds himself—the coiled power in his stance—sets every instinct I have screaming. Danger
DianaA black blur intercepts with a sound like a butcher's cleaver hitting bone.Dominicus stands between us, Thomas' paw caught effortlessly in one hand. His fingers tighten with a sickening crack of breaking metacarpals. Thomas' wolf-form yelps, the sound high and reedy compared to his earlier bravado.Dom doesn't even look at him. His glowing blue eyes rake over me—the gashes across my ribs, the unnatural angle of my left foreleg, the blood matting my fur. With every injury catalogued, the air grows heavier, thick with the ozone-scent of his rage.A low, inhuman sound rumbles from his chest as he finally turns to Thomas."How dare you."The transformation happens between heartbeats. One second Dom stands there—the next, a monstrous black wolf looms where he stood, towering over Thomas with eyes like smoldering saphires. The very trees seem to recoil from his presence.I shift back, my human form gasping as pain flares through freshly knitted bones. Strong hands catch me—Amadeus wa
DianaHis hands clench, knuckles white, and my heart drops as I watch him.Eleanor sees it too—sees both our faces. Her expression folds into something quietly mournful. A sad smile tugs at the corner of her lips, and she looks away, into the crackling fire.“You remained that way because I was unable to reverse the curse. I don’t have that ability-“He sneers and she insists, “I swear it!”“I swear Dominicus, if I could have reversed it, I would have. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t make a single dent in it. I tried”, she swallows, “That kind of terrible curse would require a lot of powerful witches to cast and even more sacrifices”. “It didn’t work so I decided to stay. Not just because you were important to the world,” she says softly. “I stayed because I was worried. About you.”Dominicus still doesn’t speak. But something in his shoulders shifts—just slightly. I see it. The smallest ripple of emotion beneath all that control.“I wanted to keep an eye on you,” she says, “to make sure
Diana“Now,” Eleanor says, and the air in the room changes, “let’s get down to business.”Dominicus doesn’t wait. He surges to his feet, fury crackling off him like heat from a wildfire. “Why are you here, Eleanor?” he demands. “Why are you in my territory pretending to be a human? How long have you been here?”“Why didn’t you show yourself? Why take on this appearance? Why approach my mate?” He’s pacing now. “Why enchant her necklace? What do you know? No—” he cuts himself off with a harsh breath, “you must know a lot.”His voice is jagged. Sharp with years of unanswered questions.“So why the fuck have you hidden yourself all this time?”The silence that follows is thick. Tense. Eleanor studies him. There’s no fear in her eyes. Just something old and sad.“Be patient, child,” she says softly. “All will be answered. And you will understand.”He glares at her, breath ragged, but when she doesn’t move, doesn’t waver, he exhales a slow, frustrated growl and drops back into his seat wit
Diana "What the fuck?" The words leave my lips before I can stop them. Ellen—no, Eleanor—simply smiles wider and pushes open her front door. She adjusts her glasses, a floral apron tied around her waist. "Well?" She smiles, warm as ever. "Are you coming in, or shall I let the pot roast burn?" The moment we step through Eleanor's front door, warmth wraps around me like a grandmother's embrace. The scent of rosemary and slow-cooked meat fills the air, mingling with something earthy—dried herbs hanging from the ceiling beams? No—floating. Actual bundles of sage and thyme drift lazily near the rafters, untethered by string or logic. Dominicus's scowl deepens as he takes in the impossible cottage interior—the ceiling that stretches higher than the exterior should allow, the grandfather clock with planets instead of numbers, the teapot that whistles a jaunty tune entirely on its own. I blink. Yeah, definitely never saw that at the diner. "Eleanor—" he begins, his voice thunderous.
Diana"Have you ever given it to anyone?" Dominicus asks."No," I say immediately with a shake of my head. "I've never taken it off since you gave it to me."His eyes narrow. "Has anyone else touched it?"A memory surfaces - Marcus's filthy fingers grabbing at the necklace when he tried to kidnap me last time. "Well... Marcus did. When he-""No." Dominicus cuts me off with a sharp gesture. "That worthless bastard couldn't conjure a spark, let alone light magic this powerful." His lip curls. "And wolves don't wield magic."His thumb brushes over the engraving. "Think harder, dulcis. Who else?"I shake my head, “No, no one else-“ suddenly, a memory surfaces."Ellen”, I breathe, "It was just—it was nothing, really," I rush to explain. "At the diner, when you took me there last time. The clasp came undone without me noticing. It was just... hanging there on my shirt… she picked it up and handed it back to me. That was all.""Ellen?" he repeats, his brows furrowed.I nod.I watch as his ey
Diana The force of the collision is so great it sends me stumbling backward. After blocking and dissipating the bolt of darkness, the shield of light that protected me disappears, leaving only a heat against my skin. Dominicus’s eyes flicker over me. A single heartbeat to confirm I’m unharmed. Then— Chaos erupts. Dominicus's roar of fury shakes the very ground as he turns back to Thomas. The Amadeus warriors surge forward as well in a wave of fur and fangs. But Thomas is already moving, his now free hand clawing at his own wrist with frantic desperation. I see his teeth sink into his flesh, blood spraying as he bites down to the bone. Then - A sound like thunder cracks through the clearing. Darkness explodes from Thomas's wrist, a swirling vortex of black smoke that reeks of burning herbs and rotting flesh. The stench is so overpowering I gag, my eyes watering as the acrid smoke burns my throat. Dominicus's claws slash through the unnatural fog, his massive form barely visibl
Diana Dominicus leans down, "You say you were forced. That you had no choice. That you were also helpless... But that's only true for the first time, isn't it? But after?" His claws trace Thomas's jugular. "You enjoyed it. The power. The feeling of being... more." Thomas chokes. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. His silence is damning. The air in the grows even heavier. Even the wind stills, as if nature itself holds its breath. "The power," Dominicus continues, leaning forward until they're nose-to-nose, "Every time you did something for them, every time you betrayed your kind, they would give you a little bit more. Sip after sip. You got addicted. The way it made you feel—strong, important, no longer just another aging Elder watching younger wolves surpass him. You couldn’t let go of that feeling." "A man like you... Let me guess... somewhere deep in your heart, you were always jealous of the Amadeus wolves, weren't you? Maybe even hated them a little." Dom's eyes bor
Diana His eyes dart wildly. "I... I told you! They threatened me! I didn't want to either but they said they would kill me if I didn't comply! You have to understand. I'd just become an Elder—I had so much to live for, I didn't want to die!" Dom rolls his eyes, “You’ve said that over and over already. That’s not what I want to know.” "What I’m curious about is the reward they offered" Dom, his claws extending further. "I'm sure they must have offered you some sweet candy for your compliance. Else, you wouldn’t be working so enthusiastically for them." Guilt clouds Thomas’ features as he stammers out, "That... that... they said they would reward me if I did well." "Oh, that was very nice of them," Dom laughs mirthlessly. Then his voice turns serious. "But how? How did they do it? Witches can't step foot on Amadeus lands without being detected," he continues, his fingers flexing at his sides. "A curse that powerful—that all-encompassing—would have strict requirements. Conditio
Diana "You... you asked about the Castellanos?" Thomas’ voice is hoarse from screaming. I realize he's referring to Dominicus's earlier questions in the interrogation room. The ones that had gone unanswered before his true nature was revealed. Dominicus shifts his weight slightly, and Thomas's breath hitches. "Tell me," he growls, his voice vibrating through the clearing like thunder before a storm. "Everything." Thomas's bloodshot eyes dart to me, then away. "Castellanos... must be her parents?"His cracked lips twist. "She bears the name. But I don't—" The snap of another rib breaking cuts through the night. Thomas arches off the ground with a strangled scream, his fingers clawing at the dirt like a dying animal seeking purchase. "Twenty-one years ago," he gasps when he can speak again. "Almost exactly... they destroyed a pack. I don't know which one—they never tell me anything important!" The 'they' hangs heavy between us. The Dark Witches. I flex my healing fingers,
DianaA black blur intercepts with a sound like a butcher's cleaver hitting bone.Dominicus stands between us, Thomas' paw caught effortlessly in one hand. His fingers tighten with a sickening crack of breaking metacarpals. Thomas' wolf-form yelps, the sound high and reedy compared to his earlier bravado.Dom doesn't even look at him. His glowing blue eyes rake over me—the gashes across my ribs, the unnatural angle of my left foreleg, the blood matting my fur. With every injury catalogued, the air grows heavier, thick with the ozone-scent of his rage.A low, inhuman sound rumbles from his chest as he finally turns to Thomas."How dare you."The transformation happens between heartbeats. One second Dom stands there—the next, a monstrous black wolf looms where he stood, towering over Thomas with eyes like smoldering saphires. The very trees seem to recoil from his presence.I shift back, my human form gasping as pain flares through freshly knitted bones. Strong hands catch me—Amadeus wa