Chapter 5
883 Words
The wings vanished as quickly as they appeared.
One second they towered behind Midnight like living darkness—
the next, they dissolved into smoke.
But the damage was done.
Silence swallowed the alley whole.
Every wolf stood frozen.
Terrified.
Midnight barely noticed.
Pain consumed everything.
Her body convulsed violently in Kael’s arms as the wolf fought to emerge while the demon side clawed for dominance. It felt like being ripped apart from the inside.
“Kael—”
His name broke from her throat like a plea.
The effect it had on him was immediate.
The alpha’s control cracked.
His hand tightened around the back of her neck while a deep growl rolled through his chest—protective, possessive, furious.
“I’ve got you.”
The words vibrated straight through the mate bond.
Midnight felt them everywhere.
The wolf inside her surged toward him instinctively.
Mine.
The demon hissed in response.
Not his.
Kael’s eyes flashed silver.
He heard that.
Somehow, he heard it.
“Fight it,” he ordered.
Malakar laughed softly from the darkness.
“She cannot fight what she was born to become.”
Midnight screamed again as another crack tore through her spine.
Her wolf burst forward this time.
Fur exploded across her skin in silver-black waves while claws shredded through her sleeves. Her senses sharpened violently until she could hear every heartbeat in the alley.
Including Kael’s.
Strong.
Steady.
Wildly out of control whenever he touched her.
The realization hit her even through the pain.
The alpha was losing himself too.
Kael cursed under his breath as Midnight’s body partially shifted against him. Massive claws slammed into the pavement beside his legs, cracking concrete instantly.
But he never let go.
Not once.
Most males would have backed away.
Feared her.
Treated her like a weapon waiting to go off.
Kael held her tighter.
“Look at me, Midnight.”
Her glowing red eyes snapped to his.
Wrong.
They were wrong.
Wolf eyes should not glow like hellfire.
Kael saw it too.
Fear flickered through his expression for half a second before ruthless control buried it again.
“Listen carefully,” he said.
His forehead pressed against hers.
“If your demon takes full control during the first shift, it will consume the wolf.”
Midnight’s chest tightened painfully.
“And if that happens?”
Kael went silent.
That terrified her more than the answer.
Malakar spoke instead.
“She becomes what she was truly designed to be.”
The words echoed through her mind unnaturally.
Not spoken aloud.
Inside her head.
Midnight gasped.
Kael noticed instantly.
“What did he say to you?”
Before she could answer—
Agony exploded through her skull.
A flood of memories slammed into her mind so violently she nearly blacked out.
Blood.
Fire.
Screaming.
A woman crying while holding a newborn wrapped in black cloth.
“Please,” the woman sobbed. “She’s still my daughter.”
A massive hand touched the baby’s face gently.
Crimson eyes glowed in darkness.
“She will become far more than that.”
Midnight’s breath caught.
The woman—
Her mother.
“No…”
Another memory struck instantly.
Her mother running through a forest.
Terrified.
Holding Midnight as an infant while wolves chased them through the snow.
“Take her and run!” someone shouted.
Then blood.
So much blood.
Midnight jerked violently back into the present with a scream.
Kael caught her face immediately.
“What did you see?”
Tears burned down her cheeks before she realized she was crying.
“My mother lied to me.”
The words came out broken.
“She knew.”
Kael’s jaw clenched hard.
Of course she knew.
The wolves exchanged uneasy looks behind him.
Malakar stepped closer now, shadows curling around his feet.
“She tried to hide you from your fate.”
Midnight looked at him with horror.
“You killed her.”
For the first time, the demon’s expression shifted.
Not guilt.
Something colder.
“She died because weaker creatures feared what you would become.”
Rage exploded through Midnight so fast the alley shook.
The demon inside her fed on it instantly.
Power burst outward in violent waves.
The wolves stumbled.
Kael grabbed her harder.
“Midnight.”
But she couldn’t stop.
Her grief was turning into something monstrous.
“You used her!”
The roar that left her throat sounded inhuman.
The shadows around her surged upward like a living storm.
Malakar watched calmly.
“You inherited your mother’s heart.”
His crimson gaze darkened.
“That will either save you… or destroy you.”
Midnight lunged at him.
Fast.
Too fast.
Even Kael reacted a second too late.
Dark claws slashed through the alley as she flew straight toward the demon—
—and slammed into an invisible force.
Pain exploded through her body.
Midnight hit the pavement hard enough to crack it.
Kael was at her side instantly.
“Easy.”
She shoved him away blindly.
“I’m going to kill him!”
The demon smiled.
“No, little shadow.”
His glowing eyes burned brighter.
“You are going to free me.”
And suddenly the air changed.
Every wolf froze.
Kael’s head snapped upward.
The smell hit Midnight next.
Blood.
Death.
Hunters.
Dozens of them.
Closing in fast.
- Writer
