002 A Blackwater wolf

OCTAVIA

My mother's lips stretched into a smile and she nodded, rubbing my blood on her chin.

“Go,” she whispered, pushing me back towards the trap door.

I raised my gaze to the field, my chest tightening in grief. I pulled my mother into a hug, letting the tears flow down my cheeks. This was the end. I didn't need anyone to tell me that I had lost everything.

“I promise to bring justice to the Pack,” I whispered in a trembling voice.

I staggered back and reluctantly let go of her hand.

I watched my mother's pale face as the guard began to unlock the trap door. I couldn't let her go. I couldn't let any of them go.

This can't be the last time I see her face. I needed to save my family.

I grabbed her hand again, pulling myself forward towards her while shaking my head.

“I can't leave you!” I exclaimed.

My mother's jaw dropped and I saw horror dart across her eyes.

“Octavia!” She gasped out.

“I know I made a pledge but I can't leave you here!” I growled.

I placed my hand on her shoulders, shaking my head with desperation eating me deep.

“Let's leave together,” I whispered.

“I… I can find father and brother. We'll leave the wolf kingdom together, never to return. We'll start a new life somewhere among the humans. We don't have to die for the Pack. We can be happy again.” My words stopped flowing, and my head whipped to the side from the heavy slap from my mother.

“Get back to your senses, Octavia!” She sneered.

I heard a shrill sound in my head as pain throbbed all over my crimson face.

“This is our home, we'll fight till we die. And even if we die, we must have someone to keep fighting,” my mother whispered. She grabbed my arms and forced me to look up at her. My heart clenched in agony as I watched tears stream down her face.

“You must live, and you will build our name back, and even if you're unable to do that…” She paused and took out her necklace.

My belly tightened as she took my hand and dropped the necklace into my bleeding palm.

“You must destroy the Alphas. You must find yourself and destroy them, every single one of the Thorne family,” she whispered.

“Do you understand?” She added, gripping my face in her cold palm.

I nodded my head, finding it impossible to speak or cry with the way my throat burned.

“Go!” She whispered.

I slowly turned around and stared down at the tunnel I was about to go into.

Another grenade hit the royal building and it began to fall, one brick crumbling down after another.

I gasped as I watched it crumble slowly, burying the dead bodies in it.

I wiped away the tears on my face and began to climb down into the tunnel.

My body was numb to the constant explosion and the only pain I felt was the pain of losing everything.

As I reached the bottom of the ladder, I looked up at my mother. She flashed a weak smile at me and threw a torch into the tunnel.

My heart broke piece by piece as the trap door slowly closed, shutting me out from the doom that had befallen my people and my family.

I picked up the burning torch and began to drag my heavy feet down the deep, dark tunnel. My heart got heavier with each step I took into the dark tunnel and farther from my home.

I gripped the torch tightly, biting my lips to stop the cry that was forcing to break out through my lips.

I wanted to place my mind on something else to save myself from the killing grief. But I couldn't. I couldn't place my mind on who built the tunnel, why there were skulls of wolves in it, why there were drawings, why there were words written in the language of the underworld.

I kept my head straight, only swinging it to the side to stare at some of the inscriptions for some minutes before continuing my walk. My mind was blank and aside from pain, I couldn't feel any emotions. It felt like I had totally gone numb.

As I walked, a horrific explosion hit above and the tunnel shook. The force of the unexpected earthquake caused me to scream and fall with horror gripping me again. The stones that held the tunnel were tumbling down from behind.

I lay on the ground, my heart racing and my body shaking as I waited for the earthquake to cease.

I felt stones and mud fall on me, brushing open my skin. I remained silent but not calm. I was trembling in fear, hoping the stones wouldn't kill me. As I waited for the quivering to stop, my head swung to the side, and I saw something that I had failed to notice on the walls that I had walked past.

My shaking hand raised and I brushed my hand against the words inscribed on the lower part of the wall.

“A Blackwater wolf to kill them all,” I whispered. My chest tightened and I felt a nauseous feeling hit me.

Was this why? Was this why they destroyed my Pack? They wanted to protect their throne as the highest Pack and Alphas, and they destroyed anything that seemed like a threat, even if it was a myth.

Rage swept through me and I clutched the sand beneath me. Even if nothing gave me a reason to live, this would. I would turn this myth into a reality.

The trembling stopped after some minutes and I staggered up to my feet.

I groaned in pain, not from the bruises on my body, but from the anguish of losing everything. I knew what that explosion meant. Everything was gone in flames.

I slowly picked up the torch that I dropped and staggered forward, gripping my fist.

As I walked, those words kept appearing in my mind, hardening my heart even more and giving me more strength to keep walking against the sharp stones that pierced my feet and the scorching heat that burned me.

When I finally got to the end of the tunnel, I felt a renewed kind of strength flood into me.

I pulled off my imperial necklace and tied it with that of my mother then hid it in my dress.

I dropped the torch and gripped the ladder. My heart raced and my breath caught in my throat as I stared at the trap door above. I slowly looked back at the part I had trodden on. The part that led back to my home.

I sucked in a deep breath and began to climb the stairs carefully. I grabbed the handles of the trap door when I reached the top of the ladder and pushed it.

The trap door fell open and a chilling breeze brushed my face.

I climbed out and slammed the trap door shut then staggered to my feet and looked in the direction of my Pack.

My heart dropped and my toes curled as I stared at the thick black smoke that rose in the air.

I sighed, trying to swallow up the agony. With a final glance at the smoke of defeat, I turned and headed into the woods.

I walked for so long that I lost count of how many hours I had been walking in the woods. My legs were weary and my head was slowly beginning to spin.

My father always brought my brothers and me to this forest for hunting, but I never imagined it would be this vast.

I sighed and paused for a rest. My feet gave way to the ground and I dropped, my head spinning faster now.

I groaned and scooped the dry leaves and the sand, desperate for water. My throat was patched and my belly was burning.

As I knelt there, I heard a branch snap. My head jerked up and I got up, my heart racing. I needed no one to tell me that I was in the path of a beast. Perhaps, a stray wolf. I slowly staggered up to my feet, my eyes darting around the silent corners of the forest.

I turned and began to head in the opposite direction from which the sound was coming. I kept staring at the thick thicket the sound came from, hoping that no stray wolf would jump out. My father told me that it was common in this wood.

My feet suddenly froze and my heart dropped into my belly when my body hit something hard behind me.