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Chapter 141: Beneath the Roots

Author: Myra TUC
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-01 23:15:05

Darkness swallowed me whole.

I fell through it weightless, no sense of up or down, only heat pressing close like hands. The ember in my chest pulsed wildly, the only light in the void, threads of gold unwinding from my skin and spiraling around me. Voices whispered through the dark, old words, saying my name over and over until it sounded like a command.

I reached for something; air, ground, my father's hand, but touched nothing. Then the fall slowed. The darkness thickened into soil and roots, pressing against me like a thousand veins. I gasped. The scent of ash and flowers, my mother's scent, grew sharper.

When my feet finally struck solid earth, the impact jarred up my legs. I stumbled forward into a cavern lit by a pale, trembling glow. Roots wove across the ceiling like ribs. The ground was soft and warm beneath my hands, as if the forest's heart beat under my palms.

"Mother?" My voice cracked, swallowed by the space.

A faint sob answered. It came from somewhere beyond the roots,
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  • THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf    Epilogue: Light

    For the longest time, I thought it was the afterlife. Warmth soaked through me, soft as a lullaby, carrying away the ache in my bones. I floated in it, weightless, listening to a rhythm that wasn't my own heartbeat but felt close enough.When I finally opened my eyes, dawn lay stretched across the world.The cavern was gone. The roots were gone. I was lying in grass, real grass, damp with dew, trembling with a new wind. The forest no longer groaned or whispered. Its silence was... different. It wasn't heavy, nor suffocating. It's just quiet.Kieran sat at my side, his hand clasping mine so tightly I thought he'd never let go. His storms were gone, his eyes ringed with exhaustion, but when he saw me stir, his whole body trembled with relief."You," he whispered, voice breaking. He bent low, pressing his forehead against mine. "You came back to me."I tried to smile, though my lips were cracked. "Told you... not leaving you."He laughed, sharp and broken, and kissed my hand again and ag

  • THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf    Chapter 143: Dawnfire

    The world tore apart around us.Light and shadow warred in the hollow, ripping at the roots, shredding the air. My mother's hand was locked around mine, warm and impossibly real. Her fingers trembled against my skin, but the strength inside them was undeniable, like holding fire dressed as flesh."Daughter," she whispered, and the sound wrapped around my ember like a chain. Not binding, but claiming.Kieran dragged me against him, storms blazing to keep the shadows at bay. They struck out in coils, hissing like serpents, striking at my mother, at me, at him, but each bolt met his fury. Lightning roared from his hands, splitting the darkness back into shreds of smoke.I clung to her, my other hand clutching Kieran's sleeve. My heart was splitting in two.Her eyes shone, brighter, molten gold streaked with old grief. She stepped free of the ruined pillar, roots falling away like ash. Her gown was woven of nothing but light and shadow, torn at the edges where the chains had eaten her."Y

  • THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf    Chapter 142: The Last Chain

    The roots pulsed like veins, silver and gold twisting together in a living knot. The glow from my mother's prison burned my eyes, but I couldn't look away. Her face, worn, pale, still beautiful, shone faintly through the tangles. Her lips moved again, soundless this time, but I knew the word: daughter.My fingers hovered over the roots. Heat rolled off them in waves. My ember screamed at me, a low, deep ache like a second heartbeat splitting my ribs."Kaia, stop." Kieran's voice was hoarse. His storms hissed low, contained but ready to strike. "This isn't just a chain. It's a trap. If you touch it, you'll finish what the forest started.""She's alive," I whispered. My whole body trembled. "I feel her. I know it's her.""You don't know what you feel." His eyes were wild, gold sparks flickering in the storm-blue. "That thing, whatever it is, has been luring you since you stepped into this cursed place.""Then why does she look at me like that?" My voice cracked. "Why does she call my na

  • THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf    Chapter 141: Beneath the Roots

    Darkness swallowed me whole.I fell through it weightless, no sense of up or down, only heat pressing close like hands. The ember in my chest pulsed wildly, the only light in the void, threads of gold unwinding from my skin and spiraling around me. Voices whispered through the dark, old words, saying my name over and over until it sounded like a command.I reached for something; air, ground, my father's hand, but touched nothing. Then the fall slowed. The darkness thickened into soil and roots, pressing against me like a thousand veins. I gasped. The scent of ash and flowers, my mother's scent, grew sharper.When my feet finally struck solid earth, the impact jarred up my legs. I stumbled forward into a cavern lit by a pale, trembling glow. Roots wove across the ceiling like ribs. The ground was soft and warm beneath my hands, as if the forest's heart beat under my palms."Mother?" My voice cracked, swallowed by the space.A faint sob answered. It came from somewhere beyond the roots,

  • THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf    Chapter 140: The Third Unveiling

    The clearing erupted in white light.Roots, soil, even the air trembled as if the forest itself had gasped. I pressed my palms into the ground, but it burned beneath me, alive, pulsing. Sparks crawled up my arms until I couldn't tell if the trembling was the forest's or my own.Through the haze, my father rose.The chains that had bound him for centuries dripped away like molten silver, curling into smoke. Taller, scarred, shadow-wrapped, yet still familiar. His square jaw, the tilt of his shoulders, the gold of his eyes. My ember flared with both longing and pain."Kaia." His voice cracked through the glare. Not thunder or a beast's growl, just a man's voice, raw and hoarse. "I told you. One more. And here I am."Kieran stepped in front of me, storms lashing against the dying light. His arm locked me to his chest, his hand burning against my neck. "Stay back," he rasped. "He's not free, not yet."My father looked at his own hands as the last silver threads dissolved into soil. He swa

  • THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf    Chapter 139: The Second Break

    The crack ripped the clearing in half.The sound wasn't metal. It was bone, marrow, blood. The second chain split under my ember's strike, the silver shrieking as it curled away, dissolving into sparks that seared the soil.The forest convulsed. Roots burst from the ground, thrashing like serpents, splitting rocks and toppling trees. Shadows scattered at the edges, screaming as the blast of light tore through them.My father, if he was still mine, collapsed forward, smoke ripping off him in waves. Flesh showed clearer now: scarred shoulders, arms too human for a monster, a chest marked with burns that bled smoke instead of blood. His face flickered, broken but forming, framed in shadow.And his eyes; gold, fierce, alive."Kaia!" His voice ripped from his throat raw, but no longer thunder. It was a man's cry. A father's cry. "Keep going. Don't stop!"I staggered, clutching at my chest. The ember blazed too bright, spilling out of me in cracks of light that burned through my skin. My ha

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