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The words hung in the damp air of the shed, thick and hard to process.My breath caught in my throat. My grip on Amias tightened until my knuckles turned white, my mind spinning violently as I stared at Marilyn, then back at Denis."Your... child?" I whispered, a harsh laugh bubbling up in my throat. "Your child? Denis is an Alpha’s guard! He’s been by Eilis’s side for years!""He is my son," Marilyn said gently, taking another careful step forward. "Your mother Matilda was my sister, Raven. Denis is your cousin.""I bore him during the war," Marilyn explained, her voice trembling slightly. "Matilda and I knew the pack would slaughter him if they found out what he was, a hybrid carrying witch blood, just like your mother was. To keep him safe inside the keep, my sister helped me hide him. We erased every trace of our mark on him and placed him in the lower wards. We made sure everyone believed he was just an orphaned wolf."Denis stood rigid beside the crate, his jaw set tight. He did
The horse’s pounding hooves echoed like thunder against the hard earth, every heavy stride jarring through my body as we raced deeper into the dark forest. I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my face flat against the rough fabric of Denis’s cloak, unable to loosen my grip on his waist. My other arm was clamped tight around Amias, holding him so flush against my chest I could feel his frantic little heart hammering against my ribs.Behind us, the furious howls of the pack slowly stretched further away, fading into the dense canopy until only the rush of the night wind and the horse's heavy breathing remained.Still, my body wouldn't stop shaking.Every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was Eilis. I saw those golden eyes, stripped of everything gentle, burning with that horrifying, cold hatred. I saw his massive jaws snapping at the air right beside us, missing my foot by mere inches. The memory of his voice from the bedchamber echoed over and over in my head—I am going to make you bleed
The cold night air hit my face as I stumbled out of the tunnel and into the thick trees at the base of the keep. The damp scent of pine and moss filled my nose, but there was no time to catch my breath. I didn't stop to look around. I shifted Amias higher against my chest, wrapped my cloak tighter around his tiny body to keep him from crying out, and started running straight into the woods.Behind me, high up on the ridge, a long, piercing howl tore through the night.My heart dropped straight into my stomach. It was an Alpha’s hunt call. Eilis had found the empty room, and he was calling the pack to hunt us down.Panic surged through my veins, hot and sharp. I pushed my legs faster, slipping on wet leaves, tripping over hidden roots, and dodging low branches that whipped across my face. The forest was dark, but the pale moonlight cutting through the canopy gave me just enough sight to keep moving forward. Amias squirmed against my ribs, letting out a small, muffled whimper, and I
My legs gave out, and I sat hard on the floor. My hands shook against my knees as I tried to pull in a full breath, but my throat felt tight and dry.Everything was spinning, but the piece that stuck in my head was Eilis. The wolf had told me before that he was real, that he wasn't just some curse inside Eilis's mind. He was right. The split had just been magic holding two halves of the same person apart. When I used that heat in my hand I had fused them together.Now the wild, violent side and the calm Alpha were the exact same person.I knew what Eilis did to people he hated. I had seen how he treated anyone even connected to a witch, let alone the son of Matilda. He didn't care about the bond anymore. He didn't care about the last few months. To him, I was just the enemy living in his bed. He was going to kill me. He made that clear in his eyes before he locked the door.From down the hallway, the sound of Eilis shouting at the guards echoed through the thick door. His voice was
"You think I want to be a witch?" I snapped back, suddenly fed up. "You think I like any of this? Why would I lie about something like this, Eilis? Why would I ever want to hurt you? Every time you hold me, every time you tell me you love me, I'm choked with guilt because of the secrets I've been keeping from you. “I’ve known my mother was Matilda for months! Almost every night I wake up from a nightmare where you kill me because of what I am. I’m so tired of being scared, Eilis." I sniffed, wiping futilely at the hot tears dropping down my face. "I'm so tired of lying to you." For a long moment, Eilis fell completely quiet. He just stared at me, his face unreadable, and that dead silence terrified me far more than his shouting. "What else did you hide from me?" he asked. His voice was unnaturally soft. I stared back at him, a faint flick of hope rising in my chest. Did he finally accept the truth? Were we going to be okay? My questions were answered instantly when his hand sho
He didn't move. He didn't even blink. Eilis turned around slowly. Every drop of color had drained from his face, leaving his skin sickly pale. The dark, erratic edge in his eyes died out, replaced by a quiet, dead emptiness that terrified me a thousand times more than his shouting ever could. "What did you just say?" he asked. His voice wasn't loud. It was barely a whisper, dragging out of his throat like rusted metal. My heart hammered so hard against my ribs I thought it would snap them. I pressed my back flat against the door, my entire body shaking so violently I could barely stay upright. Tears spilled over my eyelashes in hot, blinding streams, blurring his rigid silhouette. "Marilyn... Marilyn is innocent," I choked out, the words coming in desperate gasps. "She didn't do anything to me, Eilis. Please... please just listen to me. My mother was Matilda. I'm her son. I'm the witch." He stared at me. He just stood there, looking at me like I was a stranger, like the perso
CW: Non consensual content and graphic violence. skip if you're uncomfortable. RAVEN I stumbled back in shock, my eyes widening in fear, how did he figure that out? What gave it away? My gears hit overdrive, the pain in my neck now so far beneath my worries. I optioned for denial. “I'm female
RAVEN I was doomed. It was the only thought that ran through my head as the wolf locked eyes with mine. Could it smell my fear? Could it smell that I was lying about my identity? He was huge, easily reaching almost five feet. It prowled towards me, gaze unmoving, I forced myself to move but my fo
EILÍS “Would you have me wed to a human?” I asked my father–the king. I wasn't one to show emotion but I was sure my face conveyed my disbelief. “Not an ordinary human, a noble.” He explained, like that made it different.“Why! For power?fear? For respect? You already have that.”“For you, I
"We have received a missive from the king of wolves." My father began, each word precise, as my siblings and I stood before him in his library. "He has decreed that one of my beloved daughters is to wed the beast of Northshore."A sharp collective intake of breath followed his voice, my own breath







