Chapter 6 - The Shadow’s Bargain

Nyra’s POV

I was dreaming again, but this time, it wasn't just gory, confusing, repeated visions. 

No. 

It was much different. The forest floor was painted scarlet, a reflection of the moonlight, bloody red. As I walked across the woods, I felt like the trees were living, breathing even, and trying to whisper something to me, something I couldn't quite understand.

A wolf appeared out of nowhere. Its regal white and gold fur glimmered under the moonlight like silver fire. I watched proudly. It was Kade's wolf. 

In a split second, the tides changed. Kade's wolf was ripped apart with a swift, ruthless cut. 

My heart went still. Blood gushed out in streams, each drop illuminating the earth with an eerie brightness.  Under it, the soil darkened and hissed, as though it had been burned by something far more potent than deadly wounds. All I could do was to watch in horror as life poured out in rivers of red light.

The ruins rose like burnt sacrifices, and I gasped for air as I stared at the beast before me. Its eyes were hollow and empty, drowning in sorrow, cutting right into my chest like a sharp blade. It wasn't Kade's wolf. It was shadowborn. 

More figures emerged from the darkness. One. Two. Dozens. Hundreds and soon thousands of Wraithborn rose from the ashes. Their flesh that flickered in and out of existence and smoke entangled with bone. Every stride they took bent in ways that no human should, like shattered marionettes.

I braced myself for the attack, but it never came. Instead, one after the other, heads were bowed until multiple dark skulls curled against the ground, and somehow, I found it more horrifying than violence. Nothing could have prepared me for what came next. 

They spoke. The baritone vibration sank deep into my bones, sending cold fingers down my spine.

"Our Queen. We wait."

The earth shook beneath me, and the moon seemed to tilt in my direction as if confirming their words. My windpipe narrowed, my chest constricted, and the air in my throat was molten metal. I screamed in panic, and for the first time in days, my eyes popped open. I looked around. The room was unfamiliar, but the curtains were made from wolf hide, and the setting looked luxurious. 

"Where was I?" I wondered out loud. 

I struggled to push myself off the bed, but my feet shook as though my body weight was too much for them to bear. But I held myself together and managed to get to the door. After I pushed the heavy door open, I was greeted with silence. The hallway stretched endlessly. No guard, no servant, no help, no sound, not even a single echo, as if the castle held its breath. 

Something didn't feel right. I wasn't sure where I was, where to turn, or when to stop. A dark uneasiness gnawed at me, but I kept walking. 

The tiredness started kicking in, so I pressed my palm against the wall to steady myself as my curious mind pulled my weak legs deeper into the darkness. 

"Is it just you?" I heard a voice say. 

I stopped in my tracks, my heart racing faster than the speed of light. I felt a strange energy around the corner. I walked towards the room the voice had come from, my body moving like a moth to a flame. Dark energy licked the air like smoke, and it was oddly familiar. 

Step by step, I followed my heart until it led me to a slightly open door. I peeped and saw shadows dancing around and curling across the floor. The voices were louder now, 

"How could you be so reckless? My instructions were clear. Do not make a move until the Alpha is out of sight! Now, because of you, he has been sniffing around." 

I know that voice, it was Cruella.

"He wouldn't find anything useful. There's a lot he doesn't know." The Wraithborn responded.

"You don't know him like I do. That attack is enough to get him to start digging up old wounds. Now, he knows too much. He could ruin everything!"

"He wouldn't dare!" The wraithborn rasped. "We didn't intend to spare him that night. We have no care for your Alpha. If you want him to live, you'd need to keep him out of our business because we can't promise his survival the next time we cross paths with him."

My fingernails dug into my palms. Hot boiling water wasn't half as hot as the rage bubbling in my chest. I wouldn't let them hurt him. He's mine, in life or in death. I'm the one who gets to take his life. To think that Cruella was behind the attack, dining with the enemy.

"You will do no such thing. We had a deal." She warned.

"That deal doesn't involve us cleaning up after you." 

"Well, when are you going to get rid of her? It's taking too long." 

"We'd need more time. It wouldn't be as easy as you think. You've sensed it too, she's pulling the bond."

"He protects her like a prized possession and doesn't even know what she is. It's sickening. Fix it."

"You just wait. Even your Alpha cannot predict what would happen when the blood moon rises."

"No harm must come to my Alpha."

"This coalition was built with clear rules. She will be ours once he's broken by his brother's blood."

What brother? Could this get any more complicated? I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Someone is here," Cruella whispered. "Who's there?" She called out.

"Ï can smell her." The wraithborn growled.

Oh no! I mentally panicked. I could feel the ice crawl down my spine as the darkness moved closer to where I was.

Run! My brain shouted, and I immediately obliged

"Stop!" I didn't stop; I only ran faster, just when I thought I'd escaped.  A piercing wind of energy sliced through the air, and I felt it graze her arm like sharp wolf claws. I staggered forward, trying to escape despite my legs being weak and unsteady, I was falling until two strong pairs of arms grabbed me - clutched by the very arms of death himself.