CHAPTER 5

The portal exploded behind me with a burst of lightning that split the air open. The blast tore through my body like fire ripping through silk. My limbs flew backward, chains snapping tight around my wrists as I tumbled into a storm of light and wind.

I screamed.

I screamed my father’s name until my voice scraped raw.

“Father. Father, please. Please wake up. Please stop this.”

The swirling void swallowed my words like it was tired of hearing them.

I twisted midair, reaching through the chaos, grabbing at nothing, grabbing at everything, grabbing for the last familiar thing in a world already slipping away. The throne room flashed in jagged bursts behind me. Sigils burning on the walls. Candles bleeding red wax like dramatic overachievers. Nobles cowering. The mage chanting something ominous. Lysandra smiling like a smug, jewel-covered spider who had eaten one too many butterflies.

And my father.

He stood.

For the first time since this nightmare began, he pushed himself upright on shaking legs. His arm lifted toward me, fingers stretched, trembling so violently they looked like they might snap.

His eyes were wide. Wild. Awake.

“Aveline,” he choked out.

My heart lurched. A sob ripped from my chest. “Father. I am here. Please. Please do not let them take me.”

He took a staggering step forward.

One step.

Then another.

Lysandra snapped her hand around his wrist, nails digging into his skin with gleeful cruelty. She yanked him backward so hard he stumbled.

“No,” I screamed. “Let him go.”

She hissed something poisonous into his ear. Something sharp enough that I felt it even from across the collapsing world.

His body jerked.

The enchantment slammed back over him like a falling wall.

His eyes glazed. His arm dropped. The spark vanished.

“Father,” I choked. “Please. Please do not leave me.”

The guards shoved me from behind.

My body flew into the heart of the portal.

Wind exploded around me. Light seared my vision. My magic screamed beneath my skin, burning, ripping, tearing like silk caught in teeth. I felt it snap inside me in painful bursts, like the portal was peeling pieces of me apart layer by layer.

I thrashed, but I had no control. I flailed through the void like a disgraced acrobat. My hair whipped across my face. My breath tore from my lungs in ragged bursts that disappeared before I could even inhale.

I spun.

Fell.

Screamed.

The portal roared louder, swallowing the last of the throne room. The last thing I saw was my father collapsing into the throne like the life had been drained from him.

Then he was gone.

Then the realm was gone.

Then everything was gone.

The fall felt endless.

Light. Darkness. Light again. Wind slicing past my skin. Chains rattling in violent arcs. My magic burning under my ribs like molten iron. Every part of me stretched, pulled, frayed, as if the portal was trying to decide what parts of me were important and what parts could be thrown away.

“Stop,” I gasped into the void. “Stop. Please stop. I am not enjoying this.”

The void did not care.

It probably would have rolled its eyes if it had them.

The fall grew faster. My stomach lurched violently. My limbs tingled. My vision blurred. My breath thinned, swallowed by the cold rushing air.

Then suddenly, brutally, the world reappeared beneath me.

A forest.

A blur of dark trunks.

A violent rush of branches.

I hit the ground hard enough that my soul briefly exited my body to file a complaint.

The impact slammed the air out of my lungs in a choking burst. I bounced once, then skidded across rough earth. Leaves filled my mouth. Dirt scraped my cheek. A root jabbed directly into my ribs like it had been waiting for me specifically.

Pain exploded across my arms as branches slashed through my skin.

I lay still for a moment, staring up at the unfamiliar sky, waiting to confirm whether I was alive, dead, or some dramatic in-between.

Then the world punched its way back into my senses.

I coughed violently, spitting out leaves and regret. My arms stung with a dozen cuts. My wrists throbbed. My dress was torn beyond recognition. I tasted blood on my tongue. I pushed myself up slowly, shaking, gasping.

The forest around me swayed. Towering trees loomed overhead, thicker than any that grew in my realm. The leaves were strange shapes. The bark looked wrong. The air smelled damp, earthy, heavy with scents I could not name.

The sky above me was an unfamiliar blue.

Too bright. Too empty.

No floating lights.

No twin moons.

No shimmering magic drifting across the horizon.

Just a vast, cold sky staring at me like, “Who is she and why is she screaming on the forest floor?”

Panic tightened my chest.

“Where am I?” I whispered. “What is this place?”

The portal was gone.

No glow. No crackle. No trace of magic. Just forest and silence pressing around me like a weight.

My hands shook as I pushed myself upright. My entire body trembled. I felt small. Lost. Out of place. Like someone had dropped me into the wrong story entirely.

Something shuffled behind me.

My breath froze.

I turned slowly.

A low growl rolled through the trees.

My blood turned to ice.

Another growl answered it.

And another.

Leaves rustled. Branches creaked. The shadows shifted.

Dark shapes moved between the trees.

“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no, no. Absolutely not. Not today.”

A shape stepped into the clearing.

A wolf.

Huge. Enormous. Ridiculously large. Far larger than any wolf had a right to be. Its fur was dark brown, bristling along its spine. Its eyes glowed golden in a way that suggested it was either magical or deeply offended by my existence.

Another wolf padded out beside it. Gray fur. Ice blue eyes. Taller than the first. Its growl vibrated through the ground.

Then a third emerged, black fur gleaming under the moonlight, drool hanging from its teeth like it had already chosen me from the menu.

My mouth went dry.

The wolves circled slowly, bodies low, muscles rippling. Their eyes locked onto me like I was prey.

And I was.

I swallowed hard, trembling so badly I could barely sit upright.

“Please,” I whispered. “I am not here to hurt you. I am not even here on purpose.”

The brown wolf snarled.

“Wonderful,” I muttered. “Of course.”

My heart pounded. My breaths came sharp and fast. Tears stung my eyes. I crawled backward until my spine pressed against the fallen tree behind me.

The wolves stepped closer.

Their paws made no sound on the forest floor, which felt unnecessary and rude.

The largest wolf approached until its muzzle hovered inches above my face. I could feel its breath. Hot. Heavy. Judging.

My entire body shook.

I closed my eyes.

“Please do not kill me?” I whispered in a voice so small it barely existed.

The wolf’s teeth opened wider.

A rumble vibrated through its chest. More wolves crept closer, their growls overlapping into a sound that crawled under my skin.

My nails dug into the dirt.

This cannot be how I die. Not after everything. Not after being dragged through a portal like unwanted laundry. Not after being ripped from my father, condemned by lies, and thrown into a world that smelled strongly of moss and disappointment.

Aveline Laurel, heir to the crown, ending her life by becoming wolf food in a random forest?

Seraphine would be thrilled.

The wolves moved in.

One lowered its head, teeth inches from my throat.

My breath caught. My heart slammed against my ribs.

A tiny, trembling prayer escaped me. “Someone. Anyone. Please.”

The pack tightened their circle.

Growls deepened.

Teeth glistened.

Muscles coiled.

The final moment stretched, sharp and breathless.

Then the wolves lunged.