She was a distraction-a dangerous one. Her defiance, her passion-irritated me, infuriated me. And yet, I couldn't stop thinking about her.Amelia.She was an enigma, a spark of chaos in the otherwise orderly world I'd built for myself. I'd tried to keep my distance, to treat her like any other subordinate. But every time I looked at her, I felt my resolve start to break.She didn't know, of course. I'd made sure of that. I couldn't afford to let her see the way she affected me. To let her know how often I found myself watching her when I thought she wasn't looking. How often her voice lingered in my mind long after she'd spoken.It was foolish. Weak. But no matter how hard I tried to suppress it, the feeling persisted.When she’d stood up to me last night, defying my orders, I’d been furious. But beneath the anger, there had been something else. Admiration. She was brave, even when she had no right to be. And it was that bravery that made her dangerous.I couldn't let her get too clos
Cida's POVThat night, I gravitated toward the quiet corners of the compound where I knew she often went to be alone. It wasn't intentional-or at least, that's what I told myself. But as I rounded the corner and saw her sitting on the stone steps, staring up at the stars, I felt this strange sense of relief.She didn't notice me at first; her attention was elsewhere. Her silhouette was outlined by the soft, silvery shine of moonlight, and for a moment, I let myself simply watch her.She looked peaceful, but I knew better. There was a storm under her serene surface, much as there was under my own."Can't sleep either?" I asked, my voice breaking the silence.She jumped a little and then turned, glowering at me. "Alpha"Amelia's POV I sat outside because I was trying to persuade the moon goddess to help me. I didn't know what I was doing anymore.Was it my destiny to disrupt the Convergence? I was angry! I wanted revenge, nothing more than to see the whole pack in flames. They deserved
"It's not like he ever did!""Maybe Bolton should take over…"The last comment hurt more than he cared to admit.He couldn't take the disrespect and ordered them to move. They scrambled, each going to do his own thing.The room fell silent the instant he stepped into the main hall. Dozens of eyes swung to him, anticipation and wariness etched on every face. Bolton stood near the center of the room, his stance casual, though his eyes were razor sharp.Derek drew in a deep breath, and forced himself to meet those gazes. "I know my absence has created… uncertainty," he started off, his voice firm against the storm that was within. "But I promise you, I did not abandon you."A low murmur spread through the crowd. One of the older wolves, Miza, stepped forward. His grizzled face was etched with concern. "Then where were you, Alpha? And why didn't you tell us anything?"Derek hesitated, the truth slipping like sand through his fingers. "I was… handling a threat," he said vaguely. "One that
Dorian's POV In my dreams, I found myself standing in an endless expanse of silver light. The air shimmered like starlight, and the ground beneath me was smooth and cold, as though made of polished moonstone.Amelia stood before me, an apparition of a figure and so sad with unshed emotions brimming in her eyes. Her fingers brushed my cheek; I felt the same warmth I felt the last time she touched me. "Dorian," she said, soft yet audible. "Why do this?"My breath clung to my throat. "Amelia, I do this-for you -to bring you back.Her face clouded, and she shook her head. "You waste your time. The Tooth of the Moon Goddess is not to bring me back"I staggered back, her words going through me like a physical blow. "That's not true. Kali said-Kali," Amelia cut in, her voice sharp. "You can't trust her, Dorian. You've always been stronger than she lets on, but she's leading you down a path she dared not take herself. Isn't it strange?""No." I shook my head, refusing to believe it. "You do
Then she continued..."Fourth, the Furnace of Courage," she explained. "You'll face a fiery test of bravery, confronting your deepest fears and making impossible choices."I took a deep breath, preparing myself."Lastly, the Chamber of the Moon Goddess," Kali said, her voice low. "You'll be facing the goddess herself, who will give you a choice: let go of your desires or risk everything for Amelia's return."I nodded, my heart pounding in anticipation.Kali gave me a small, elaborately carved box. "This is a gift for you. It will help you with the trials. Remember, the true challenge lies within yourself."I opened the box to reveal a small, delicate moonstone pendant. For some reason, Amelia's warmth radiated from it, fortifying my resolution."I won't let you down, Amelia," I muttered to myself.Kali's face softened. "You've come a long way, Dorian. You ready to go through trials?"I nodded, fire in my determination. "Let's begin."The Trial of Wisdom was the first real trial. Kali
"Did I?" I asked, my voice shaking with lingering pain. The trial shook me to my core, forced me to confront truths I had long buried. The echoes of that woman's voice, her anger and despair, still reverberated within me.Kali laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder, her eyes steady. "You faced your past, Dorian. You admitted your mistakes and accepted the blame. That is more than most can claim."I nodded, the weight of the experience still heavy. "What's next?"Kali straightened, her voice firm. "The Trial of Shadows. It will test your courage and your will to face the parts of yourself that you fear the most.The transition to the next trial was seamless, like the world around us shifting with the smoke in a breeze. Soon I stood before a tranquil pool whose face reflected the moon above, glassy. The air was cool, with an eerie silence hanging in the air."This is the Pool of Shadows," Kali said, her voice edged with something I couldn't place-was it caution or fear? "It doesn't merel
"This is the Dance of Illusions," Kali explained, her tone grave. "Here, you must distinguish what is real from what is not. The illusions will try to deceive you, to disorient you. Trust your instincts, Dorian, but remember-perception can be flawed. You must use more than just your eyes to guide you."The mist closed in around me, and Kali's voice dissolved into it as she vanished from sight. I was alone now; the only sound was that of the whispers far away. Shapes moved in the fog; their forms shifting and fluttering like candle flames in a breeze.With a cautious step forward, the mist broke, and the scenery unfolded to become almost familiar-a moonlit clearing, circled around with tall pines. And in the middle was Amelia, her back toward me, her dark hair glowing in the wan light."Amelia?" I called out, my voice trembling with hope and doubt.She turned slowly, her eyes brimming with tears. "Dorian, you found me," she said in a voice so soft and achingly familiar.I froze, my hea
I silently thanked Kali. I thought that was it, but its icy body started to move towards me; wasn't it supposed to be dead? Suddenly, an idea struck my head. Since it was ice now, it would be very easy to execute. I mustered up my strength and charged towards it, pushed it into the larva, and slowly but surely, the creature melted into nothingness.I fell to my knees, shaking with exhaustion. But the way was open now, and I forced myself to my feet, across the bridge to the heart of the furnace.The Ember of Resolve was a small, pulsating orb of pure energy glowing in its pedestal. As I reached for it, a voice whispered in my ear."Will you pay the price, Dorian? Will you give up everything for what you desire?"I hesitated under the weight of his question. Then I thought of Amelia-her smile, her laughter, the way she had made me feel whole."I am," I said, firmly.The moment my fingers came into contact with the Ember, the cavern erupted in light and I was returned to Kali's side."Y
She came as a ghost, her step as silent as breathing, her presence cold that seemed to penetrate to the very heart of his pack. She stood before him, her eyes bottomless black as always, her lips as cold as ice."You owe me, Thane," she whispered, her voice sweetly tinged with threat. "And this day's payment."Thane's ground fell away beneath him. All that it had cost him those years of running, that effort to remain one step ahead of his devils, had been for nothing. He had seen today on the horizon, but there before him, weighed down by the burdens of his conditioned responses, a strangling sense of despair struck him.He looked at his pack, whose faces he vowed to protect, and knew he could no longer flee. He had to go back to Arachne, and face the wrath of what he had done, however repulsive. "As you will," he breathed out, his voice slick and unfaltering.The grin of Arachne spread wider, her hunt gleam eyes burning hotter."Oh, Thane," she breathed softly, her voice silky as poi
Bermont’s throat had been ripped out, his body lying lifeless on his desk, his empty face blankly regarding the ceiling. And beside him, Lyanna, her elongated body twisted into an impossible shape, her beautiful face contorted into face of terror.Thane's stomach lurched. This wasn’t a clean kill. It was a massacre.The room was trashed, desecrated by gigantic claw marks bigger than what any wolf could have left and through his friend. Obscene symbols, painted red, thick black smudges, painted on the walls. It was an abomination of deformed, ritualistic butchery, painted to look like that of some horrific supernatural being.Backwards, his wolf started snarling in shock and horror, receding and receding until Thane backed away. Not this. This kind of killing was not what he had signed up for.He suddenly felt like he was being watched. From a corner he saw her. Arachne.She had emerged from the shadows, her hands and lower forearm smeared with freshly-shed blood. She glowed."You—" Th
Years Ago-The room in Bermont's study glimmered blackly with unwritten things, weighed down by pungent smell of burnt pine and acrid taste of bitterness. Bermont, a huge fat man, collapsed over his enormous wooden desk, his shadow falling on pieces of paper here and there.His wife, Lyanna, at the window, statue of coldness, her eyes over some point far away beyond frosted glass. The theatre of authority, its rough tactlessness."You know you can’t be Alpha, Thane," Bermont told him, his tone laced with thoughtless disdain of a man who was certain he was in charge. "You were born to be a follower, not a leader. Learn that, and perhaps, perhaps I'll continue to allow that you might stay at my side. A pet, perhaps."The second half of that tense almost-snarl, cautious bite.Thane's fists were balled, fingernails pressing crescent moon shapes into palms. The wolf within him, that source of strength, snarled fury, its primal power bursting in harmony with his own.Years of that, of provi
The reality struck me like a sledgehammer. I respected her, I looked up to her, and never ever admitted that I loved her, not even to myself. I was just too afraid, too occupied being the person I was supposed to be, too afraid to be rejected.But now that she was in danger, I could not play games anymore. I loved her, had loved her for years, and would do anything to win her back in one piece.There was a knock on the door, shattering me out of daydreaming. Greggory stood there, his face creased with concern."Alpha," he said, "we have a problem."My heart sank. "What?""We've been told by the border patrol," he explained. "They did see tracks, off our territory, into the Nelder forest. But not ordinary tracks. Lena's."I bolted upright, my fists clenching. "Are you sure?"Greggory nodded. "Yes. They picked up her scent. She was definitely there.""But she's been gone for so long," I said. "Why would her scent still linger there?""We don't know," Greggory admitted. "But the prints s
"Words are breath, Alpha. An oath of loyalty must… be flesh." I touched him, my hand tracing the harshest plane of his jaw, feeling the shuddering under his flesh. "Kneel, Alpha," I commanded, my tone falling to a silky pitch, but supported by adamant authority."Pledge yourself to me, here and now, before the ancient powers that lie in wait within this caravan."There was a flicker of defiance in his eyes, the lingering of his Alpha pride. But that was quickly overwhelmed, smothered by the crushing weight of his desperation. Reluctantly, he knelt down, slowly, his gaze still on mine, an internal battle unspoken."Repeat after me," I ordered, my voice low and rich, calling on the inner strength that coursed through me, generating a sense of drama around the event. "I, Killian of the Skyline Pack…"He echoed the words, his voice rasping, just audible, every syllable a concession, a fragment of his freedom surrendered."Promise my allegiance."He stood before me, the gravity of the word
Shakira's POVMy frantic investigation had turned out to be nothing but murky suggestions and dead ends. Ancient texts mentioned domination spells, psychic intrusions, everything apart from the inexplicable, mass damp that hung over Killian's pack.I really couldn’t admit that I knew nothing of what was happening. Not to Killian. My well-crafted reputation of an infamous witch demanded an aura of omniscience, of proficiency at the divine crossroads. To reveal my fallibility, would be to destroy the illusion, to jeopardize all that I had struggled for. And to lose Killian… that was something I was not going to allow to happen.My defense would be in deception. I would pretend to have a solution, to stall and keep Killian in my control, while I desperately searched for a real one, or… created one myself.I got up from my chair, the groaning old wood grumbling a welcome creak in the still caravan. I gazed about at the crowded shelves of jars, bottles, and desiccated herbs. Ingredients. I
Killian’s POVThe weight in my chest was more than crushing, it was overbearing. Every beat a leaden weight in my chest, every breath a struggle. Shakira's words haunted my quarters, taunting me. What did it even mean, to yield to another, to a witch with such a reputation as that? The very thought sent a shiver down my spine.And yet, the happenings in my pack flashed through my mind, the stunned horror and fear on their faces, the unearthly incantation of "Simon is Lord!" ringing in my ears. Dexter's sickening smile, insincere, repulsive, revolved through my thoughts like a record stuck on a groove. My pack was falling apart, family by family, and here I stood, contemplating and hesitating to submit to Shikira's request.Delaying was not going to cut it any longer. Something had to be done but what? Xavier's suggestion of going out to other packs and begging for assistance was practical, logical even. But his advice was replaced by an increasing horror that compelled me to listen to
She took a deep breath, her eyes snapping open. The pool was calm, its reflective mirror of the moon's glow unbroken. Aurora was not. She could feel it. The power that lay within her was no longer latent. It was alive, humming with energy, the essence of White Luna.She looked at Selene, her eyes shining with sudden understanding. "I… I think I understand."Selene's face erupted into a warm smile."The way has just been opened, Aurora. There is much to learn, much to prepare you for. But you will not be doing it alone. I will be here, every step along the way."Aurora's heart was a tempest of the expectation and terror that battled within it. She was a goddess, a new White Luna. Her journey would be challenging, but giving up was not an option.The weight of a new life was heavy on Aurora, more heavily even than any material weight. She was the White Luna, a goddess reborn. Her mind was heavy with the words, a reminder of just how great a weight was on her shoulders. She looked at her
Those words hung heavily in the empty garden, alone-an affront to all she had ever conditioned to understand about the world. She was an Omega, the lowest one to exist within the pack, born to take orders and not give them. This… this could not be. And yet, visions, power flowing through her veins, Selene's presence here-everything screamed for a truth she could not help but believe."Preparations?" she managed to croak with a throat parched and raspy. "For what?"Selene's visage became unbroken. "For war coming. The war you saw earlier. One to raze not your pack alone but all the packs. A war unlike any other."Her mind was a wild knot of possibilities. The rumors of the Thane of Redblood-whispers of another foe-it fit together all too sickly. This, however, was not a pack war; this was a war against something older and far more evil than anything imaginable. Survival war."But..but I am just myself," she stammered without faith in herself, helplessly waving her hands. "I know nothin