CHAPTER 3
1608 Words
NYRA
Cold. It's the first thing I feel when I wake up.
My body is wet and weak.
I try to open my eyes, but everything spins.
I turn my head slowly, groaning when I see many trees around me. It's night.
Where am I?
My throat burns.
My ribs ache with every breath. I try to move, but my limbs don’t respond. How long have I been here?
Distant sounds echo between the trees. Twigs snapping.
Someone is coming, I try to recognize the person by their scent, but I can’t.
It’s a different smell. Strong. Not someone from Marco’s pack.
I don’t recognize it.
I try to scream, but no sound comes out.
I see a shadow crouch in front of me, and before I can react, arms lift me off the ground.
“No…”
My eyes almost close, but I see the gleam of black tattoos drawn on the man’s bare chest. Ancient… forbidden symbols.
He throws me over his shoulder like I’m too light to matter.
And then, everything goes dark again.
I wake up feeling something cool on my forehead.
A damp cloth. I open my eyes with difficulty, and for a moment, I think I’m still dreaming. But no… the ceiling is made of wood, covered in hanging herbs.
A cabin.
My head spins, but the warmth of the fireplace and the scent of burning leaves keep me awake.
“You’re alive,” says a calm voice.
I flinch.
I sit up in bed and recoil with difficulty, breathing heavily.
A man is beside me, crouched down, holding a bowl of water and the cloth that was on my forehead.
His eyes are silver, his long brown hair falls over his shoulders. He wears a necklace made of animal bones and ancient runes are marked on his body.
“Stay away from me!”
He raises his hands slowly, like someone talking to a wounded animal.
“Easy. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Who are you? Where am I?”
“Zack. My name’s Zack. I found you in the forest. You were… almost dead.”
“What’s your name?”
“Nyra.”
My eyes fall on his shoulder and I see it: the skin marked by a burn scar. Exactly where the mark of his pack would have been.
He’s a rogue.
“You… you were exiled.”
“Not exactly. I was erased,” he says, stepping back and sitting on a nearby bench. “For refusing to follow senseless orders. For allying with those I shouldn’t have.”
I take a deep breath. My legs are still weak, but I need to get out of here.
“I have to go back. I need to fix everything.”
Zack shakes his head, a mix of pity and seriousness in his expression.
“There’s nothing left to fix. The people who left you in that forest… they tried to kill you.”
“No. I… I need to find Marco. Explain. He’ll understand.”
He looks at me for long seconds.
“You’re talking about Marco from the Moon Shadow Pack?”
I nod.
“Then it’s too late. He already has a mate now.”
My chest tightens.
“How long… how long was I gone?”
“Three days. And in that time, your ex rejected you… and married someone else.”
Amber.
The words cut deeper than any blade.
I squeeze my eyes shut, but I can’t stop the pain spreading through my body.
All the shame, the humiliation, the betrayal… it was all real.
I grip the sheet in my fists.
“I will make them pay.”
Zack doesn’t react immediately.
He just watches me with that strange look, as if weighing everything I say.
“You can’t now. Your body can barely stand.”
“But I will.”
I think of the stories. About the rogues. About the old magic they use.
“You… do you have a witch among you?”
Zack raises an eyebrow, curious.
“We do. Why?”
“Because I need her.”
“No, it’s not a good idea,” he refuses, but I wipe away my tears.
“Please, Zack. Take me to her. I need this.”
He looks at me for a few seconds, and just when I think he’s going to refuse, he nods.
Zack helps me walk along a trail covered in dry leaves. My legs barely move, but he keeps me from falling every time.
We reach a stone cabin wrapped in roots and moss.
An old woman greets us, her eyes clouded like mist.
The elder witch.
She watches me in silence for long minutes.
Then she says:
“Werewolves don’t come to me unless they want something. What do you want?”
“I need your help to take back what’s mine.”
“Come in.”
We go inside and Zack stays seated beside me while the witch analyzes me.
“What kind of help do you need, girl?”
“A spell.”
“What kind of spell?”
“I want to change. I want… to destroy those who destroyed me.”
“No, that kind of spell demands too much magic. I cannot grant your request.”
I look at Zack and take a step toward the woman.
“Please, you’re the only one who can help me. Please.”
She examines me before touching my face.
“I can see in your eyes what they did to you. I understand your desire for revenge, but everything has a price, girl.”
“I’ll pay.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Zack looks at me disapprovingly.
“Are you sure you want to do this just to make them pay?”
“They deserve it, Zack.”
The witch opens a book on the table.
“Spells like this cannot be undone. You need to know what price you’re willing to pay.”
I nod.
“What do I have to do?”
“You’re asking me for revenge, but for that to happen, you’ll have to give up what you desire most in the world.”
“What?”
I flinch when the witch touches my belly, and then I finally understand.
I feel tears in my eyes and shake my head.
“I’ll take anything else, but not this, please.”
“This is the only way.”
“Please, no…”
I close my eyes, remembering all the times I dreamed of having a family with Marco.
“The price to pay is that you will never feel a kick in your belly, never hold your child, never have what your sister can have. A child.”
I sob as I remember the humiliation and the pain of rejection.
They deserve to feel what I felt—even if I have to sacrifice what I want most in this world.
“Nyra…” Zack calls me, but I shake my head.
“Do the spell. I accept,” I say, opening my eyes.
The witch looks at me once more.
“Are you sure? You truly want to sacrifice that just for revenge?”
“Yes…”
Witch Maela begins preparing the spell. Incense, herbs, crow’s blood. A protection circle is drawn on the floor. When she speaks again, her voice is dark:
“Speak the words. Swear by blood. Cut your wrist. Surrender your old life to the moon.”
“I surrender my dreams into the hands of the moon gods for the sake of vengeance…” I murmur the words from the book.
She hands me a dagger.
I cut.
The blood runs, red and warm, falling over the ancestral symbol.
Tears burn my face as the witch’s fingers draw a sigil on my forehead using the mixture of my blood.
She speaks something in a language I don’t understand, but it seems to be working.
“Lie down…”
I lie within the circle, feeling her hands on my belly.
For a moment, I imagine myself holding a baby in my arms, but I will never have that.
Zack continues watching me and I close my eyes, focusing on her words.
I groan as I feel a deep pain inside me, as if something is being destroyed or severed.
I cry silently, but not from the pain of the moment. I cry from the rage against those who hurt me.
“Your revenge will be granted, and the price has been paid. It is done.”
I try to open my eyes, feeling everything spin around me. The last thing I hear is Zack’s voice saying my name.
When I wake up, I’m back in Zack’s cabin and I feel different.
I get up and look at my reflection in the mirror.
I no longer have black hair—now it’s blonde, and my eyes are silver.
I also no longer have the ability to bear children.
My body is thinner. I’m completely different.
I touch my face as I hear the bedroom door opening. Zack enters carrying food, and through the mirror’s reflection, he looks at me in shock.
“You’re different…”
“It worked. The spell worked,” I smile, stepping closer to him.
Zack studies every part of my face before sighing.
“I guess your name isn’t Nyra anymore, is it?”
“No.”
“What’s your name now?”
“My name is Elena Havilard… and I swear I will find every one of those who destroyed me.”
And I’ll make them all pay.
- Writer
