When Their Sacrificial Lamb Is Gone Novels & Stories

“How about Logan?” “Lord Logan—” it sounded like a correction. One I didn't want. One I didn't need. “Logan. How about him?” “He's having a meeting with the men—” She walked to the door and turned to look at me. “They say a sacrifice will happen soon. A human sacrifice at that, but I don't know what they mean exactly. Maybe it's—” She looked me in the eyes and shook her head. “Maybe an animal. Maybe I didn't hear him properly when the meeting was held.”

The air hummed with their energy, a pulse, a thrum that reverberated through me. I was the sacrifice. My death, my fate, had been sealed long ago, and this was the final step. I knelt in the center of the flame, feeling its intensity pulse through my skin, warming the cold places inside me I had long forgotten. I closed my eyes and let the heat consume me, knowing that when they spoke the final words, it would be over. It was the only way. The only way for the pack to thrive, for the elders to maintain control.

"I have already done that. They are choosing random locations, and I think they might be trying to throw us in the wrong direction. Before, we couldn't find these sacrifices but all of a sudden they keep on popping up, sir." I shook my head. "They aren't throwing us, Spider." I looked at him. "They are getting desperate, that's why they are ramping up sacrifices. Do you know what that means, Spider? It means we are getting close." Spider stayed silent for a second and started nodding slowly. "But still, we haven't seen any sign of Helena."

Raymond stood farther back, not intruding, not leaving, his presence steady like a shadow I didn’t know I needed. The Elder stepped forward, his voice echoing across the grounds. “Today, we bid farewell to Alpha Lorenzo Lombardi and Luna Isabella Lombardi. Leaders who ruled not with fear, but with honor. Parents who raised their daughter to stand taller than tragedy.” Every word felt like a blade. I didn’t cry. Not when the pack bowed. Not when the prayers were spoken. Not when the flames were lit. As the fire consumed the bodies, heat brushed my skin, but the cold inside me was far worse.

For some people, a cemetery is the scariest place of all. But not for Elizabeth. The young woman seemed at ease sitting in front of her child’s grave. Tears streamed endlessly down her face. Her eyes, once large and bright, now looked swollen and sunken. “My dear, Mama wants to find a job, so I won’t feel so restless at home. I want to earn money to buy sacrificial lambs, Alex. It’s a tradition in Islam—slaughtering lambs as a form of gratitude for the birth of a child. I promised to buy two lambs. I’ll also make you a beautiful headstone.” Elizabeth hugged the mound of earth covering her child’s grave, hoping it would ease the ache of her longing.

Steady pulse at his throat. Breathing shallow. Eyes uncertain. Yes. He would do perfectly. “For this to work,” I said softly, almost gently, “there must be sacrifice.” His brow furrowed. “What kind of sacrifice?” I smiled. He was so naive. That was what made him the perfect scapegoat. “A human sacrifice, Landon. That's what the ritual needs.” He stared at me like I had grown two heads before he swallowed his fear and looked at me with resolve.

the cat pressed, tail swishing, “sometimes you’ve gotta squint to see the bigger picture. We’re talkin’ ‘bout Spargia’s future, lad!” “That’s exactly why Arthur’s blind,” the bald man muttered, finally letting the words escape in a hollow voice, "every insignificant thing is a sacrifice, and that's not right ". The grisly rabbit let out a snort of grim amusement, that made the dog shoot it a death glare.

The water was flowing in a circular pattern now, creating a whirlpool effect that pulled me toward the center of the cavern. "The second trial has begun," the Guardian's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. "The Trial of Sacrifice. Each of you must choose what you're willing to lose. What you're willing to give up. Only through sacrifice can the Silver Wolf be born." "What does that mean?" James shouted. He was clinging to a rock formation near Elizabeth, both of them fighting the current. "It means," Victoria's voice rang out from somewhere above us, "that someone has to die. That's how trials work. Blood sacrifice. The question is, who will it be?"

A white cloth was strewn over it with petals of yellow and pink flowers on it. Red and white candles were lit in a circle around the entire yard, providing light on this dark night. My eyes roamed from the boys in red monk robes, to the candles and the sacrificial table in the middle. It was like a gathering of a cult, and they were about to perform the sacrifice. And the sacrificial lamb was me. "Bring her forward," Ethan said, and the guys holding me started to thrust me forward. "Do you dare put me on that table!" I yelled at them, but they still pushed me forward.

Barely eighteen, eyes wide with terror. "No," I breathe, suddenly understanding what's about to happen. "The ritual requires sacrifice," Elder Matthias explains, like he's discussing the weather. "Fresh blood, freely given. Well, not freely given, but given nonetheless." "You can't do this," Kaelen says, his voice sharp with horror. "They're just kids." "They're necessary," Elder Matthias replies. "Their deaths will power the severance and strengthen the barriers. Two problems solved with one solution." One of the students, a girl with short brown hair, looks at me with desperate eyes. "Please," she whispers. "I don't want to die."