Chapter 4
1703 Words
Lyra
I woke to voices arguing. The sun had set, casting Kael's room in shadows.
"—can't trust him!" Damian's voice. "He literally admitted to faking his death!"
"We don't have a choice," Kael responded. "If there's even a chance he's telling the truth about the witch—"
"There is." A female voice I didn't recognize. "I can smell the void magic on her. It's faint, but it's there."
I sat up slowly, my body aching less than it had in years. The herbs had done more than quiet my wolf—they'd started healing damage I'd forgotten existed.
"You're awake." Kael appeared in the doorway immediately. "How do you feel?"
"Different." I touched my stomach unconsciously. "I can feel it. The thing inside me. It's... aware."
His jaw clenched. "Selene confirmed Theo's story. There's definitely void magic at work."
"Who's Selene?"
A woman stepped into view. She was stunning—tall, with midnight black hair and silver eyes. Power radiated from her like heat from a flame.
"My sister," Kael said. "And the pack's spiritual advisor."
Sister. He had a sister. Somehow that made him more real, more human.
"I can sense the corruption," Selene said, studying me with those ethereal eyes. "Your wolf's essence is split. Part in you, part in your sister, and part... twisted into something else."
"The thing inside me."
She nodded. "It's not fully formed yet. We have time, but not much. Three days, like the traitor said."
"His name is Theo," I said, surprising myself by defending him.
"The traitor's name doesn't matter," Selene replied coolly. "What matters is finding this witch before—"
A howl cut through the night. Then another. And another.
Kael was at the window instantly. "We're under attack."
"Magnus?" I asked.
"No." His eyes glowed in the darkness. "Rogues. Hundreds of them."
Damian burst in. "Alpha, they're everywhere! Coming from all sides!"
"That's impossible," Selene said. "Rogues don't work together in those numbers unless—"
"Unless someone's controlling them," Kael finished. "The witch knows we have Theo."
Another howl, this one closer. Through the window, I could see shapes moving in the darkness. So many shapes.
"Battle positions," Kael ordered. "Protect the packhouse. No one gets through."
"What about her?" Damian gestured to me.
"She stays here. Lock down my wing. No one gets in."
"I can help," I protested.
"You can't shift," Kael said bluntly. "And you're carrying void magic spawn. You're staying put."
He was already pulling off his shirt, preparing to shift.
"Kael." I grabbed his arm. "Be careful."
Something flickered in his eyes. "Worried about me, little wolf?"
"You're my only chance at fixing this mess."
"Is that all I am?" He leaned closer, his breath warm against my ear. "Just a means to an end?"
My heart raced. "I—"
An explosion rocked the building. Glass shattered somewhere below.
"Stay here!" He shifted mid-leap through the window, a massive black wolf disappearing into the chaos below.
I ran to the window. The grounds were a battlefield. Wolves fighting everywhere, blood painting the grass red. The rogues were wrong somehow—their eyes pure black, movements jerky like puppets on strings.
Controlled. Definitely controlled.
A scream from the hallway made me spin. That sounded like—
"Dr. Serena!" I yanked open the door, ignoring Kael's orders.
The hallway was dark. Too dark. The emergency lights that should have kicked on were dead.
Another scream. Closer.
I crept forward, wishing desperately for my wolf's night vision. My human eyes were useless in this darkness.
A hand grabbed my ankle, and I nearly screamed before recognizing Serena's voice.
"Run," she gasped. "She's here."
"Who's—"
Purple light exploded down the hallway. In its glow, I saw Serena on the floor, blood pooling beneath her. And standing over her—
The witch.
She was exactly as I remembered from those fractured memories. Dark hair floating as if underwater, violet eyes glowing, those living tattoos writhing across her skin.
"Hello, vessel," she purred. "I've come for my child."
"It's not yours!"
She laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "Oh, but it is. Created from my magic, nurtured by my power. You're just the incubator."
"I won't let you have it."
"Let?" She stepped over Serena's body, casual as anything. "You don't get to 'let' me do anything. You're nothing. A broken wolf hiding in a stolen body."
"My body isn't stolen."
"No? Then where's your wolf?" She tilted her head mockingly. "Oh right. Your sister has her. Wearing her like a costume. Must sting, knowing Freya's living your life. Strong. Powerful. Everything you should have been."
The truth of it hit like a physical blow. But beneath the pain, something else stirred. The thing inside me—it reacted to her presence. Violently.
I doubled over as pain lanced through my abdomen.
"There we go," the witch crooned. "It knows its mother."
"You're not its mother. You're just another parasite."
Her face twisted with rage. In a blink, she had me by the throat, slamming me against the wall.
"I am evolution," she hissed. "Wolves are outdated. Weak. I'm creating something better. Something that will remake this world."
"Into what?"
"A world where power isn't determined by birth or blessing. Where anyone can take what they want if they're strong enough to claim it."
"That's not evolution. That's chaos."
"Same thing." Her free hand pressed against my stomach. "Now be a good little incubator and—"
A roar shook the entire building. Not just any roar—Kael's.
The witch's eyes widened. "Impossible. The rogues—"
"Are dead." Kael stood at the end of the hallway, covered in blood, eyes burning red. "Every last one."
"You can't have killed them all that quickly."
"Want to bet?"
He moved so fast I barely saw it. One second he was down the hall, the next his hand was through the witch's chest.
She laughed, coughing blood. "You think physical damage matters to me?"
She dissolved into purple smoke, reforming behind him. But something was different. She looked... diminished.
"Interesting," Selene appeared, also blood-covered. "You can be hurt. You just hide it well."
"Two Dravens." The witch backed up. "This wasn't the plan."
"Plans change," Kael growled. "Now get out of my house before I tear you apart molecule by molecule."
"Not without my property."
"I'm not property!" I snarled.
The thing inside me stirred again, but this time it felt different. Not painful. Almost... protective?
The witch's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"Liar. It's bonding to you. That's not possible. I made sure—" She stopped, realization dawning. "The mate bond. You're using the mate bond to override my magic."
I looked at Kael, confused. We weren't fully mated. He hadn't marked me.
But the mark on his neck—the Fate Mark—was glowing.
"Get. Out." His voice dropped to subsonic levels. "Now."
"This isn't over." The witch pointed at me. "Three days, vessel. When the moon is full, I'm coming for what's mine. And not even a Fate Bond will stop me."
She vanished in a burst of purple smoke, leaving the acrid smell of burned ozone.
I slid down the wall, shaking. "Is Serena—?"
"Alive," Selene confirmed, already working on healing the doctor. "Barely, but alive."
Kael knelt in front of me, his hands gentle as they checked for injuries. "You were supposed to stay in the room."
"She was hurting Serena."
"She could have killed you."
"She needs me alive."
"That thing inside you needs you alive. She could transfer it to someone else if she had to."
The thought hadn't occurred to me. "Could she? Transfer it?"
"Theoretically. But it would be messy. Probably kill both you and the new host."
Comforting.
"Alpha!" Damian appeared, supporting a limping Theo. "We have a problem."
"Another one?" Kael growled.
"Magnus is on the phone. Says he has information about the witch. But he'll only share it if we return Lyra."
"Tell him to—"
"Wait," I interrupted. "What information?"
Damian looked uncomfortable. "He says he knows her true name. And how to kill her permanently."
True names held power. If Magnus really knew it...
"He's lying," Kael said flatly.
"Maybe. But what if he's not?" I stood, decision made. "I'll talk to him."
"Absolutely not."
"It's a phone call, not a visit."
Kael looked ready to argue, but Selene spoke up. "Let her. I'll monitor the call for magic."
Grudgingly, he handed me his phone.
"Lyra." Magnus's voice made my skin crawl. "I hear you've been busy."
"What do you want?"
"My property back."
"I'm not property."
"No? Then what are you? Because you're certainly not pack anymore."
"I never was. Not really."
He laughed. "True. You were always just the murderer we kept around for entertainment."
"You mean the sister you framed for convenience."
Silence. Then: "Careful, little wolf. You don't want to make accusations you can't prove."
"Theo's alive. That's proof enough."
"Is it? The word of a confessed conspirator? No one would believe that."
He was right. In pack law, Theo's testimony would be worthless.
"Tell me about the witch," I said, changing tactics.
"Come home and I'll tell you everything."
"No."
"Then enjoy dying in three days. Because that's what happens when void spawn mature without proper binding. They eat their way out."
My hand flew to my stomach. "You're lying."
"Am I? Ask your new Alpha about what happened in the Silver Moon Pack fifty years ago. Ask him about the nursery they had to burn."
The line went dead.
I looked at Kael. His face was stone.
"Is it true?" I whispered.
"We'll find another way."
That was answer enough.
Three days. I had three days before this thing killed me from the inside out.
Unless we found the witch first.
Unless we found a way to break her magic.
Unless... unless I did what I'd always done.
Survived against impossible odds.
"We need a plan," I said.
Kael nodded. "We do. And I know exactly where to start."
"Where?"
He smiled, dark and dangerous. "We're going to visit some old friends. The kind that specialize in impossible things."
- Writer
