LOGINJessica's POV“Jessica!” Someone screamed.Eric was beside me in an instant, his sword glowing with a faint silver light.He swung at the wraith, the blade passing through it — not solid enough to kill it, but enough to make it recoil with a shriek."What the..." My voice faded.I was stunned.This was bad. The sword didn't cause much damage to it like before.Jake and Chris fought back-to-back, Chris’s blade cutting through the air while Jake hurled daggers made of pure silver. They didn’t kill the wraiths, but they slowed them down, making them dissolve into mist before reforming again.“They don’t die!” Jake shouted. “Why?”“Because these are souls bound by blood magic!” Evelyn yelled, her hands glowing even brighter. “We have to break the magic holding them here — or they’ll just keep coming!”My eyes shut to her.That was new information.How did she know?One wraith darted toward her, but before it could reach her, Evelyn threw out a bolt of blue light.It struck the creature, m
Jessica's POVWe headed on our way again, through the forest.This was the second day, and hopefully, we were closer to the Redwood Pack.Crossing a line of weirdly shaped trees, my stomach twisted.That smell hit me again. But I didn't say anything about it.There was no need to spark a flame of fear in others.But the more went deeper, the more the smell grew stronger.The scent of blood thickened with every step — sharp, metallic, and cold. It clung to the air, heavy and suffocating, but there was something else beneath it — a sickly undertone — just like the one back at the Pack that led me into the woods.The smell of death.No one said a word, but from the looks of things — this time — I wasn't the only one who caught the scent.Jake, usually the first to crack a joke, was silent, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. Chris moved like a shadow beside him, his sharp gaze flickering between the trees, every muscle in his body coiled like a spring. Evelyn's fingers glowed f
Jessica's POVI didn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say.Her voice cracked — slightly. "We didn’t know why they attacked. They came at dusk — an entire pack. We tried to fight back, but our magic…" She swallowed hard. "It was gone. Spells fizzled out of our fingertips like smoke. The elders — the same ones who could bend fire and summon storms — were left defenseless."My heart pounded. "What happened?"Evelyn's eyes darkened. "They killed everyone. Tore through the village like it was nothing. I was a child — I didn’t understand why the magic wasn’t working. I hid under a cart while the wolves ripped through the elders like they were made of paper. The trees — the same ones that once shielded us — did nothing. The rivers stopped glowing. It was like Mother Nature herself had abandoned us."The hair on my arms rose.Eric’s jaw was tight, his silence heavier than the night closing in around us.And suddenly, the air felt colder.I couldn’t shake the image from my mind — a land so conne
Jessica's POVThe silence grew wider, spreading like a fog around us.“What?” I blurted, my face instantly heating.Evelyn bit back a laugh, and Chris’s stoic expression cracked — the corner of his mouth twitching into a smirk.Jake leaned forward, clearly reveling in my discomfort. “You heard me.”I looked at Eric. He didn’t move, didn’t blink — just stared at me across the fire with an unreadable expression.My stomach flipped. “No.”Jake clutched his chest dramatically. “Aw, come on. It’s just a kiss.”I shook my head, heat creeping up my neck. “I’m not kissing him.”Jake's grin only grew. “Then you know what that means.”I blinked. “What?”Evelyn sighed. “If you refuse a dare, you get a punishment.”Jake tapped his chin in mock thought. “Let’s see… I dare you to walk to that tree.” He pointed to a tall, gnarled tree at the edge of the clearing, its trunk twisted and dark. “With your eyes closed.”I frowned. “That’s it?”Jake smirked. “Oh, you’ll love it. Just you, the dark, and wh
Jessica's POV"Jake!" Eric Groaned."What?" Jake grinned. "I’m just saying — it's better for her to stick with us than wander off alone."Despite myself, I felt a flicker of amusement. They weren’t exactly welcoming, but they weren’t as stiff and cold as I first thought.Evelyn adjusted her bag again. "We’re here to help, Jessica. Like it or not."I met her gaze for a long moment before finally — reluctantly — uncrossing my arms."Fine," I muttered. "Let’s just get moving."Eric’s smirk was back, but he didn’t say anything this time.The forest seemed darker than I remembered.The trees loomed high above us, their gnarled branches reaching out like skeletal fingers.Shadows stretched long and thin across the narrow path, twisting with every flicker of wind.Somewhere in the distance, a raven cawed, its echo slicing through the silence.I walked near the back of the group, keeping a deliberate distance from Eric and his companions.My thoughts were a tangled mess — Scarlet, the prophec
Jessica's POVI bit my lower lip, the sharp sting a cruel reminder of just how close I was to drawing blood.Eric's words hung in the air like a storm cloud.None of it made sense.Every scattered piece of information I'd tried so hard to fit together now lay shattered at my feet, a broken puzzle with too many missing pieces.And it was starting to get under my skin."So…" My voice came out steadier than I felt. "What do you suggest I — I mean we — do now?"Eric's hands slid into his pockets, his shoulders stiffening slightly. His usual careless charm was nowhere to be found."Now?" he said, his voice calm, yet firm. "I’m taking you back to your Pack."I blinked, my heart skipping a beat. "The Redwood Pack? Why?"Eric's jaw clenched for a brief moment. "That’s the only way I can think of keeping you safe." His gaze flickered to the trees behind me before meeting my eyes again. "I would’ve preferred to train you myself — to have my people help you control your powers — but—""Wait," I
Jessica's POVThe car rolled to a smooth stop in front of a grand, towering building, its stone facade illuminated by the golden glow of the evening lights. A large sign etched in elegant cursive letters read: Hotel Beaumont. The name dripped with sophistication—yet there was an unsettling stilln
Jessica's POV“What do you think we should call her?” She asked.Her voice was soft, almost musical, as if the very question held a secret kind of magic. The gentle curve of her smile was radiant, and her hand rested protectively over her rounded belly.Raymond chuckled, his arms wrapping around h
Jessica's POVThe world outside the car window blurred into streaks of green and brown as the woods stretched endlessly, my pulse thudding in my ears.“Why don’t you look surprised?”Lloyd’s voice cut through the silence like a blade, pulling me from my tangled thoughts.I met his gaze in the rearv
Jessica's POV"This path leads to your people," Were the words that kept echoing relentlessly in my head.The road stretched endlessly before me—a wide, tarred expanse that shimmered under the hot sun by day and disappeared into the void at night. I didn’t know how long I’d been walking. Hours? D







