All Chapters of Torn Between Alphas: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

In the morning they left the Singing Grove. Following them, a quiet song of the tree’s tail behind them – it drifted away on the wind. Serakha held its memory in its memory like a warm ember, or set, pulsing gently with each step she took. But there was no enough talk from her, her eyes were distant, listening to something only she could hear.Now the road rose gradually west. The trees got thin once more on the hills, which were blanketed in rough grass and gray stone. The ground grew harder. Less moss, more gravel. The colors dulled. Slate and ash faded in greens and golds. Here the air was cooler, sharper — if even the wind knew no longer how to offer kindness.His blade was near his hand as he walked. He mutters, ‘I don’t like this.’ “Too quiet. No birds.”Arden replied, “They don’t come this way.” “Not many things do.”He already knew, but he asked why.“Because the mountain sings a different song,” she spake.The Wolf trotted on up nos

It was a cold and dark passageway. As soon as the door shut, they were in total darkness. They had a dim path forward, with only faint glow from the Root within Serakha’s chest. The damp warm stone of the walls of the tunnel, somehow, moved like the mountain itself was breathing.No one spoke for a long time. The damp air muffled their footsteps, softly. It was a hush, almost holy. It wasn’t as if they were walking into a cave; what they were into, that alive thing, was something ancient.Now the Root was humming stronger, Serakha could feel. It was almost a second heartbeat. The more they went, the louder the Stonesong was becoming. Now it had a presence, a sound. It was watching them, listening.One hand on the hilt of his blade, Lucian walked beside her. “Do you think this is what it wanted?” he asked quietly.Serakha nodded. “The Root brought us here. This is where it leads.”Leaning a lantern with flint and oil that he had lit, Arden walked ah

Once more, the ground beneath their feet altered. The land ahead around the Ashlands felt soft and wet, dry and dead where. The bones of creatures long gone, and the stones and tree trunks, was covered with moss. It was a long ascent through tall twisted trees, their branches low, trailed with glowing moss that moved like breath. It was beautiful, but I didn’t feel safe.Serakha slowed her steps. Ears twitching, the Onyx Wolf stopped too. Behind them Lucian and Arden’s eyes scanned the dense forest.Serakha murmured, ‘This place is alive.’“Too alive,” Arden muttered. Then, he put his hand against the bark of a tree and yanked it back immediately. “It’s warm.”Lucian turned to look at the trees. “Are they watching us?”“They remember,” Serakha said. “The Root is strong here.”I swear the grove hummed softly, eerily deeper than ancient and nearly as deep as the bones of the earth. Such as neither the wind thru the leaves whispering, nor

The confined tunnel ascended in a spiral motion similar to an asleep serpent. The passage was guided by faint yet dependable glowing vines. The atmosphere shifted from oppressive because this time it felt different from all previous situations. It was peaceful now. Serakha lead forward as she gently touched the vines. The Onyx Wolf moved next to her with shadow-like closeness.Lucian trailed behind them while his sword continued to emit dim light from the moss illumination. While Arden took the rear he looked back once more before the way became hidden behind the bend.“That knot,” he said softly. “It felt... alive.”“It was,” Serakha replied. “It was truth, sealed.”None of the group uttered words as they continued their trek. Moisture-filled thermals replaced the cold mineral atmosphere making the place feel alive. Shining bugs illuminated the surrounding darkness. Somewhere, water trickled. Then the tunnel opened.They stepped into a glade.

Each footstep of the figure caused the ground to pulsate in motion. No armor. No weapon. He possessed an odd power which halted not only the wind but also every airborne motion in the area.A strange pressure weighed on the air as Lucian experienced it. The heat did not originate from the desert conditions or memory of flames. A fourth presence introduced itself at the scene carrying both mature and cold elements beyond their place. Like the silence before thunder.The six riders stopped when the stranger appeared fully visible to their eyes. A single heartbeat created a complete stop in which all movements froze including the winds. The atmosphere became so motionless that it seemed to arrest all its movement.The riders wore shadows and their bodies remained hidden by ancient tattered clothing while forgotten markings scarred their armor. Trials of black glass appeared from the horses' burnt hooves which struck the ground as they pawed the desert surface.