Birthright

Chapter 23 -something to do with her - Jackson PoV

The sun was only starting to go down when Lex and I stood at the mouth of the cavern, packs slung over sore shoulders, every muscle in our bodies screaming in protest. The rebels gathered quietly behind us witches, shifters, fae, vampires and humans alike. Faces I had trained with the whole day, bled with, and learned to trust far faster than I expected.

Lex gave an awkward little wave. “Try not to overthrow the world without us.”

A few chuckles rose from the crowd.

Captain Mira stepped forward and clasped my forearm. “So you say the portal will reopen where you first arrived. Follow the ridge north, cut through the lower stretch of Talvarna, and you’ll reach it by midnight if you move quickly.”

“We’ll be faster than quick,” Lex said, shooting me a look.

I nodded. “We’ll send word when the time comes.”

Mira dipped her head, solemn and proud. “Go well, Alpha. The rebellion walks with you.”

Everyone starts to go back to doing what they were doing before. Mira turns round “oh and Alpha, happy birthday for tomorrow”

I smile and nod.

With that, Lex and I turned away from the glow of the cavern and stepped into the quiet forest beyond. The air was cold, sharp with the scent of pine and distant rain

“Shift?” Lex asked.

“Shift,” I agreed.

Bones cracked, reshaping. Muscle stretched. My vision sharpened as fur spread along my skin, the world bursting into clarity. Leaves glistened with dew. The earth pulsed beneath my paws. The forest’s heartbeat matched my own.

Lex’s Lycan stood tall, a few inches smaller than mine, bulkier, but never graceful huffed beside me.

Ready? I say through mind link. Something we can only do when in Lycan form.

He flicked his ear. I was born ready. I just wasn’t born flexible.

I snorted and launched forward.

The forest blurred around us as we sprinted between ancient trees, roots and rocks passing underfoot in a rhythm drilled into our bones. We wove through shafts of the last sun light, past ruins swallowed by moss, through places where magic hummed softly beneath the soil.

Three hours passed like minutes. My muscles protested, but the pull toward Talvarna was stronger than pain.

When we finally broke through the tree line, the world opened into the outskirts of Talvarna my realm, my birthright, and the kingdom Lucian had twisted beyond recognition.

Smoke curled into the air from somewhere deeper in the city. Buildings sagged from neglect. Shadows moved where they shouldn’t.

Lex slowed beside me, his growl low and uncertain.

Damn. It’s worse than I thought.

We keep moving, I told him, though my chest felt tight. Portal first. Then survivors.

He nodded, we decided to shift back to our human from, we were heading down the broken path toward the heart of the ruined city. We can’t have anyone see two massive Lycan forms running around, since everyone believes Lucian killed our race.

As we walked through the streets the air tasted like old magic, sadness and anger, something had happened.

I didn’t even smell the danger before it hit me.

One moment I was running. The next my entire body seized. My legs locked beneath me, my spine snapped rigid, and a violent throbbing tore through my neck as if invisible claws were sinking into my flesh.

A strangled breath escaped me.

The pain wasn’t normal. It wasn’t physical. It was summoning.

Lex’s skidded on the cracked stone “Jackson what the hell? What’s wrong?”

I tried to answer, but no sound came out. The throbbing spread up my jaw, behind my eyes, down my spine. My Lycan slammed against my skull, desperate, panicked, clawing to break free.

Let me out—let me out—something’s wrong—

I fought him, barely holding myself together.

Is this it?

The transition Mira warned me about? Or My vampire blood awakening?

But that made no sense. It wasn’t midnight. I wasn’t eighteen yet. My Lycan would react this way either, would he? None of it matched.

“Jackson!” Lex grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. “Look at me! Talk to me!”

Before I could force a single word out, another sound sliced through the haze screams. Dozens of them. Coming from down the narrow street that led straight to the Great Hall.

My feet moved on their own. One step. Then another. And then I was striding no, pulled, like an unseen string was tied to my chest.

“Jac!” Lex lunged after me, trying to hold me back. I shoved him off with a strength I didn’t recognize, sending him stumbling

“Damn it, Jac! Stop!”

I couldn’t. My mind wasn’t steering my body anymore. The pain in my neck pulsed in time with my heartbeat, yanking me forward.

As we reached the end of the street, the world sharpened. A troop of guards marched in tight formation, spears raised, eyes cold. Two women followed close behind, heads bowed. And in the center…

A tall man carrying someone in his arms.

Limp. Still.

Is she dead?

The townspeople whispered furiously around us, voices overlapping like a storm.

“Not her too…He killed her mother. Now her?”

“Evil bastard. All of them.”

“I heard she tried to run from the marriage contract.”

Marriage contract.

My vision snapped into focus.

Ephy.

The name hit like a punch to the lungs. My heart plummeted. Whether from the pain in my body or the dread ripping through me I didn’t know.

I watched helplessly as the guards escorted the man and his burden through the towering wooden doors of the Great Hall. The moment they shut behind them, the throbbing in my neck flared searing, electric.

My Lycan roared inside me, wild and terrified.

Whatever was happening..

It had everything to do with her.