Chapter 19: Unleashed
305 Words
The ground cracked wider under Maya’s howl, splitting through the ruins like lightning.
Silver light poured from the locket, wrapping around her paws, her fur, her bones. It didn’t hurt. It felt like coming home.
The Shadowborn closest to her snarled and lunged, but it was too late.
Maya moved before she thought. One swipe of her claw, and the creature split down the middle, dissolving into black smoke and ash. The other two hesitated, and that hesitation cost them.
Caelen seized the opening. His golden wolf tore into the second Shadowborn’s throat, ripping it out in a spray of dark ichor. The last one turned to flee.
Maya wouldn’t let it.
She leapt, slamming it to the ground. Her jaws closed around its neck, and she felt something ancient rise up through her. Not just rage. Judgment.
“Never again,” she growled in a voice that wasn’t entirely her own.
The Shadowborn’s eyes widened. Then it was gone, reduced to nothing but wind and dust.
Silence fell over the Moonshadow ruins again.
The silver light faded from Maya’s fur. She stumbled, shifting back to human form on her knees. Her whole body shook, drained and burning at the same time.
Caelen shifted back too, staring at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
“You have it,” he said quietly. “The Bloodfire.”
Maya looked down at her hands. Her palms were glowing faintly, the light fading second by second. “What is it?”
“Your mother’s power,” he said. “The reason the Blood Fang wiped out your pack. The reason they’ve been hunting you since you were born.”
Before she could ask more, the mate bond flared hot and urgent in her chest.
Kade.
He was close. Too close.
And he wasn’t alone.
- Writer
