Chapter 53

Alyssa

I wake with a gasp, the lingering grasp of a nightmare fading already from memory. But my power keens a warning I can't ignore - something comes, swift and evil.

I throw up my strongest shield around Sophia before racing to find Adam. He must ready our defenses. Whatever threatens stirs ancient magic best left sleeping.

Too late. I emerge from our den and time slows. The pack lies dead, our home stained crimson. And Adam...no. Pinned and bleeding out, a yawning wound torn through his chest.

Over him looms a figure that was once Elder Gemma. My gift awakened at her call, but she disappeared long ago. And the creature within her now is mad.

It smiles, poison-sweet. "You took my life, little seer. Now I'll take what you hold most dear...unless you serve powers your pack forsook."

Choice or threat, it makes no difference. Any path leads to death or betraying all I am. I stand frozen. This fate cannot be real.

Adam's life ebbs away while panic and despair war within me. My worst dre