DianaSeven years had passed in a blink, but at the same time, I might have well lived my entire lifetime in those times.I was standing at the edge of the woods behind the mansion, arms crossed over my chest, staring into the shadows with narrowed eyes. The sun was dipping low, the last of its rays painting the leaves in amber and rose. Beautiful, sure, but also the exact kind of setting that made a mother’s heart pound.“Amanda!” I shouted, voice firm but even. “This is the third time this week, young lady! You come back right now!”No answer.Rhena snorted inside my head. ‘She gets it from you, you know.’“Don’t start.”‘I’m just saying. You were hopping fences and hiding from authority long before she ever existed. Generation habits, I see.’I sighed, blowing a lock of hair out of my face. “But I was back before dark. Amanda is just...”‘A more improved version of yourself. Hardly a surprise she’s staying longer,’ she cackled.Still no answer.I was one second away f
DianaThe world had grown quieter.Slower.I walked through the center of Wolfdom with one hand cradling the curve of my belly, the other waving absently to the children darting around my feet like little tornados of laughter and mischief.“He kicked again!” a small boy squealed, pressing his tiny hands to my stomach. “He really did!”“He’s excited to meet you,” I said, smiling down at him.A little girl ran up next and wrapped her arms around my leg. “Is he going to be strong like Alpha Edric?”“Stronger,” I whispered, brushing her braid behind her ear. “And kinder. But don’t know if its going to be a ‘he’”The older women chuckled from their porches, watching me with warm eyes. The guards I passed bowed their heads respectfully, and I returned the gesture. No one feared me anymore. Not the way they used to fear the revenge of the girl whom they once maltreated coming back to ay them in their own coin.I wasn’t that girl anymore.I was Alpha Edric’s mate.Soon to be the m
DianaI didn’t even realize I was screaming until I hit the ground and started yanking at the tree trunk.“Edric!” I shouted, my voice raw and cracking. “Edric, answer me!”Muzan was already beside me, gripping one side of the massive log, his muscles trembling from the effort. Raquelle knelt on the other side, her hands glowing faintly as she whispered a strengthening spell.“Lift with me on three,” Muzan grunted. “One… two… three!”We heaved.The log rolled just enough for a gasp of air to escape beneath it, and I felt like my arms would give out, but then, a cough.A dry, painful, beautifully alive cough.We pushed it completely out.I dropped to my knees again and shoved at the branches and smaller debris. And there he was, face streaked with dirt, his arm raised over his head like he’d tried to shield himself in the final moment. His shirt was torn, his skin scratched and bleeding, but his eyes… they opened.“Diana,” he rasped, squinting against the light. “Next time…
EdricThe moment she crumpled to the ground, I stepped forward, sword raised.I didn’t hesitate.Didn’t blink.Didn’t breathe.But the blade bounced back like I’d struck steel. A sudden shimmer lit the air around her, soft and greenish, like sunlight seen through water and I was thrown backward with a sharp jolt in my shoulder.Raquelle caught me before I hit the ground. “Protective charm,” she muttered. “Woven into her skin. Probably takes effect the moment she’s unconscious.”I growled low in my throat. “Convenient.”“She’s smart,” Muzan circled her unconscious glowing body. “She has contingencies for everything. No wonder her curse was so strong.”I nodded. She had a hold on me for centuries in such a way that I didn’t even know who she was, or what I had done to deserve it.Never have I seen so much concentrated hate.Then, she screamed.It tore probably not just her throat but our ears as well. I had to press my hands over my ears just so that they’d stop hurting.“Wh
CalveraI pressed my palms into the cracked, dust stained earth, whispering to the soil in the old tongue, the one my mother taught me when I was too young to question the weight of silence. My daughter knelt beside me, her fingers delicate and quick as she traced a rain-summoning sigil into the dirt.“Faster, Amina,” I said gently, though my own hands trembled from hunger. “The prince expects clouds by sunset.”“He won’t even come to check,” she mumbled. “He never does.”“He’ll hear if it fails,” I replied, lips tight. “And we’ll be the ones punished. Not the clouds.”We didn’t speak again for a while. Just murmured the incantations and listened to the hollow wind. The palace behind us gleamed with ivory domes and marble walls, but its heart was cold. We were witches under its ruling. Important, but grossly undervalued, probably until the prince has a strange dream that he needs help interpreting, or when he needs someone to blame for another stupid mistake of his.Always
DianaThe walls were rattling.I didn’t know from what, but I knew it wasn’t something that was supposed to be here, because even Calvera was visibly upset.I gasped, sitting upright in bed just as Calvera turned toward the door.“What was that?” I whispered.She didn’t answer me. Not at first. Instead, she closed her eyes and used whatever witchey sense she had to sniff the air.“They’re here,” she opened her eyes with a wicked smirk.Almost then, I heard Edric’s voice. It seemed to be from a distance, but it was enough to make me scream.“Ed…” Her hands clasped over my mouth, cutting my scream off.The rattling became even more violent, and it sounded like he was slashing at the wood.Calvera hissed. “Wait here...” but she gave it a second thought and waved her hands over the bed. Out of it grew vines that snapped around my hands and locked it in place.“No…no, don’t you dare!” I snapped, clawing at them. “You think I’m just going to sit here and let you…”“They’re no