SHADOWS OF DESIRE

Chapter 7: The White Wolf

SHADOWS OF DESIRE

Author: Brian Mutale Sampa

Chapter 7: The White Wolf

Dante reaches for Luna. I see red. Pure, burning red.

His dirty fingers touch her silver fur. She cries out. That sound—my daughter's fear—shatters something inside me. Something primal. Something ancient. Something that has been sleeping since the day the moon goddess marked me as an Omega.

I grab a rock from the cave floor. Sharp edges. Heavy. I smash his hand with every ounce of strength left in my body. Bone cracks. Skin splits.

He howls. Falls backward. "You worthless Omega! You will pay for that!"

He shifts. Gray wolf. Scarred muzzle where Julian bit him years ago. Wolfsbane drips from his fangs like venom. His eyes are wild. He lunges for my throat.

Pain explodes in my chest. Fire behind my ribs. Lightning in my blood. Then light. Bright white light pouring from my skin, illuminating the entire cave.

I shift.

White fur. Gold eyes. Bigger than any wolf I have ever seen. Bigger than Julian. Bigger than any Alpha in any story my mother told me. My paws are the size of dinner plates. My teeth are daggers. My growl shakes the walls.

Dante freezes mid-lunge. His eyes go wide. His tail drops between his legs.

"Impossible," he whispers. "Omegas cannot be white wolves. The prophecy—the white wolf has not been seen in a thousand years."

I do not speak. I attack.

My claws rip his chest open. Four deep gashes from shoulder to ribs. Blood sprays the cave walls, hot and red. My teeth tear his left ear off. He whimpers like a beaten pup. He runs.

I chase him to the cave entrance. He shifts back to human. Naked. Bleeding. Terrified. His hands shake as he holds them up in surrender. Tears mix with the blood on his face.

"The prophecy," he gasps. "The white wolf will destroy the DeMarco line."

"Then you should have been nicer to me."

I bite his leg. Bone crunches under my jaws. He screams. I drag him back inside by his ankle. He leaves a trail of blood on the stone floor.

I shift back to human. Naked. Covered in blood—his blood, my blood, birth blood. My body trembles. But the bleeding from my womb has stopped. The white wolf healed me from the inside.

Dante curls on the cave floor. Crying like a child. His chest heaves. His hands cover his face.

"Please. I will leave. I will never come back. I will tell Father you are dead. I will disappear."

"You tried to kill my children."

"I was following orders!" His voice cracks. "I had no choice!"

I kneel beside him. My voice is quiet. Deadly. "Who?"

"Father. Marcus. He is alive. He faked his death ten years ago. He has been building an army. Breeding Omegas for their blood. He wants the white wolf. He wants immortality."

Julian bursts into the cave. Behind him: two wolves in neutral pack colors—gray and green. Healers. They carry bags of supplies. They stop when they see the blood on the walls.

Julian sees Dante. Sees me naked and blood-soaked. Sees the twins sleeping peacefully on moss. His eyes move from the blood spray to the torn ear on the floor.

"What happened?"

"Your brother met the real me."

Julian looks at Dante. Then at me. His wolf bows its head. Whines.

"Mate," Julian whispers. "True mate. Finally free."

Dante laughs weakly. Blood bubbles from his lips. His eyes are glassy.

"You think this is a happy ending?" Dante coughs. Blood sprays the floor. "Father knows about the white wolf now. He will want her blood. He will want her pups. He will burn this whole world to find her. You are all dead. You just do not know it yet."