Sera’s POV
Ralf continued his endless rants. His rage mounted as the seconds ticked, and he became reckless. I guess having your enemy in the light and you in the dark gave you the upper hand!“I guess you were never ready to take a position as Alpha. Look how the pack has become under your leadership. Come out and battle with me like a true alpha. This is a taint to Aidin’s legacy. Hmph! Your father would be so ashamed of who you’ve become.”I knew Ralf was taunting me, but it was getting to me. The mention of Dad had been the last straw. I clenched my fist with force, and my nails dug into my palm. Blood rushed to my head, and my heart beat in my chest. I couldn’t hear anything over the loud beating of my chest.I extended my claws, and my eyes glowed; my wolf awakened. I wanted so much to rip off his head as smoothly as I did his son’s. Relax, Amary, relax. We couldn’t afford to play his game. He had the advantage in numbers, and we had the advSera’s POVThe temple walls pulsed brighter, and I felt something pulling at me, to drag me toward the altar at the center of the room. But I fought it, my wolf rising to meet the challenge.“But you made one mistake,” I said, my voice steady despite the chaos in my chest. “You assumed I’d go along with your plans quietly, remaining pliant in your hands, unable to fight back.”Moving out from behind my mate, I stood face to face with the source of all my misfortunes.The sweet little Aria, who even now held a wide smile as she watched me.I went into a half-shifted state, letting my wolf’s strength flow through me as I lunged forward. But Aria was ready.She’d always been ready. Aria sidestepped my attack with inhuman speed and then dangled my pup over the altar. She held him suspended above carved channels that I now realized were to collect blood.“One more step and I drop him,” Aria warned, her voice no longer human.I froze, my heart stopping as I watched my pup’s slight form s
Sera’s POVThe temple loomed before us like a sleeping giant, its faded stone walls covered in carved symbols that seemed to pulsate with an otherworldly aura. My heart hammered against my ribs as we approached the entrance, each step echoing in the creepy stillness that had fallen over the Barren Lands.“Something’s wrong,” Miles whispered, his stoic face curved into a frown.The boys exchanged glances with solemn expressions, and my wolf stirred beneath my skin in response.The air itself felt heavy.Charged with malevolent energy that made my teeth ache.Just then, Draco’s large hands found mine, his fingers intertwining with mine in a gesture that should have been comforting. Instead, it made my heart lurch into my throat.“Stay close,” he murmured, his gray eyes scanning the shadows that danced between the carved pillars. “We’ll end this today. I promise.”My eyes caught his, and even as he said those words, his eyes reflected my inner thoughts.Entering the temple was a gamble
Sera’s POVThe scent of fear mixed with desperation, tinged with something else I couldn’t quite place, hit me as we approached a clearing in the Barren Lands.The moonlight lit up our path as we advanced, getting closer to the source of the scent.My wolf stirred as Draco raised his hand, signaling the team to halt.“There,” Seb whispered, pointing toward the cluster of makeshift shelters, visible through the dense undergrowth. “Rogues,” he spat, his voice low and dangerous.Draco moved closer, his massive frame tense and face impassive. “How many are there?”Joseph, a pack enforcer, closed his eyes and took in a deep whiff of the air. “Fifteen... maybe twenty. But something’s off.” I felt the strangeness too.The usual aggressive territorial auras were absent. Instead, I caught the scent of milk, nursing mothers and the sweet innocence of pups, which was unsettling.“They’re not hunters,” I murmured, meeting Draco’s gray eyes. “They’re hiding.”Bruno stepped forward, his face set
Draco’s POVThe stench of death hit me before I saw the treacherous expanse that lay before us.“This can’t be right,” Bruno muttered, his voice barely audible over the eerie silence of the Barren lands.His face, usually stoic and unreadable, betrayed his unease as he stared at the deceptive land which lay ahead of us.I frowned as I studied the expanse.We’d thought nothing of it while questioning the rogue, but it turned out the Sine River wasn’t a river.A vast stretch of quicksand gleamed in the sunlight.Scattered across its surface were bones of countless wolves who had dared to cross, their remains a reminder not of the danger that was the Sine River.The enforcers hesitated, stepping back, their faces pale.“The rogue tricked us,” Sebastian whispered, his brows furrowed in a deep frown, hands clenching in a fist.I felt Noble clawing at my chest, desperate to shift and use our enhanced senses to find another way around this death trap. But I already knew what we’d discover.
Draco’s POVThe sun hung like a bleeding wound against the gray sky, casting long shadows across the abandoned wasteland before us. Three days of relentless travel had brought us to the edge of the Barren Lands.A name that barely captured the stretch of desolation before my eyes.The landscape looked like the Moon Goddess herself had taken a massive fist and pounded the life from it. Twisted remnants of trees jutted from the ground like broken bones, their bark blackened in the harsh light.Years without water dried the soil beneath our boots red, cracking it into intrinsic patterns.“Hard to believe this was once fertile territory,” Bruno muttered beside me, his face creased with disgust as he surveyed the area.His eyes narrowed in alert even as the wind tousled his dark hair.Sebastian turned our way. “The Great War left its mark. Five packs tearing each other apart over territory that lay wasting now.”Werewoods’ Southern Packs were prosperous, ruling large territories and havi
Sera’s POVThick silence filled my room in the pack house like a death shroud.I cradled the pups against my chest, feeling their soft breathing as the only sound breaking the hollow ache that had settled in my bones since their brother was taken away from me.The pups slept peacefully, oblivious to the fact that a shifter I’d once trusted had ripped from them their third.My fingers traced the edge of the large crib, the wood smooth beneath my touch. Every shadow in the room seemed to mock me, whispering of my failures as both an alpha and a mother. The sunlight streaming through the windows cast golden patterns across the floor, but even its harsh glow couldn’t chase away the darkness that had taken root in my chest.Distant noises came from below the stairs just beyond the doors of my room and I perked up with a start. Not him. Not yet.I thought.But my heart hammered against my ribs anyway, desperate hope clawing at my throat.Then footsteps thundered down the hallway. It was