CHAPTER 3- ONE OF OUR OWN
964 Words
There was silence in the war room.
The Nightshade Alpha and his inner circle were surrounded by thick stone walls, faint torchlight, and maps that had been marked with claw marks for centuries. Tension radiated from Kael like heat from a furnace as he stood at the head of the obsidian table, fists braced on its surface.
He kept thinking about what Aria had said:
It located a host. One of your own.Kael was a difficult person to trust, and now even his most devoted followers were being called into question.
To his left, Jarek looked around the room cautiously. “There’s no sign of a breach. No trail of scent. Nothing. The scouts seem to have simply vanished.
Mari took a step forward with her arms folded. "That doesn't occur. Not in this woodland. Not protected by you.
With her skin pale and her hair still damp, Aria sat quietly at the far end of the table, covered by a blanket. The weight behind her eyes remained, even though they no longer shone.
“The Veil doesn’t take prisoners,” she said softly. “It consumes them. Unless it desires their survival.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "What makes it want my wolves to live?"
"To convey a message," Aria muttered. "Or to make use of them."
Unease spread throughout the room as a result of the words. "What is this thing exactly?" Jarek said in a low voice.
Before Aria could respond, Kael did. "An old thing. The Moon Goddess exiled them. It thrives on fear and feeds on chaos. and it can attach itself to any living thing that is strong enough to hold it in place.
Or broken enough," Aria said softly.
Again, there was silence.
Kael's mind darkened. He was aware of his wolves. entrusted his life to them. However, this creature would have been fighting a war from within if he had discovered a host inside Nightshade. To make matters worse, he wouldn't have noticed the enemy until it was too late. Kael stood by himself on the east watchtower later that evening. Beneath him, the forest was silent, still, as though it were holding its breath. The trees below were bathed in silver light from the low, full moon. It ought to have felt like a night for running and letting his wolf roam freely through the forest.
Rather, it was like the quiet before a m******e.
Behind him, he heard a faint crunch of footsteps.
Without turning, he said, "You shouldn't be up here."
Aria answered, her voice a soft echo in the wind, "I needed air." I also have trouble falling asleep. Not after what I witnessed.
Kael leaned against the stone railing and looked at her. It took one of mine, you said. Who do you know?
Her hands gripped the edges of her shawl as she hesitated. "No. Not just yet. It forges a subtle bond. like a shadow that creeps under a person's skin. It won't appear until it chooses to do so.
"That's reassuring."
She smiled at him slightly, bitterly. "Alpha, I didn't come here to console you."
He raised an eyebrow. "So, why did you come here?"
Aria took a step forward, her face unreadable. "This wasn't my choice. I didn't request to be marked, followed, or hunted through the forest like a dog. However, I found myself here. And I believe there's a cause for that.
Beneath his skin, Kael's wolf stirred. Now she felt that same unwelcome, irresistible magnetic pull.
He declared, "I don't believe in fate."
She answered, "You don't have to." But, Kael, something strong and ancient brought me to your door. And it has already started, whether you believe it or not.
Far away, there was a silent, low flash of lightning, a warning.
Beta Jarek and two warriors, Lena and Rhys, were back in the pack's training field going over the last log entries from the eastern patrol.
His eyes narrowed as he muttered, "We'll double the guards." "And every two hours, switch shifts."
Lena lingered, her brow furrowed, but Rhys nodded.
"There's a problem," she whispered. “I’ve known Cormac—one of the missing scouts—since we were pups. He would have resisted going silent.
Jarek looked up and said, "You think it was an ambush?" "I think it was worse." She turned to face the trees, and then—a scream shattered the air. Jarek ran forward, shifting mid-run, his wolf tearing through the training field. Lena and Rhys trailed closely behind. They located the source at the edge of the woods. One of the missing scouts, Cormac, staggered out from the trees, his shirt torn, and his body trembling. However, it was his scent—Wrong. Off. Corrupted. Lena growled, stepping in front of him. "Cormac?" The scout looked up, and grinned, but it wasn't his smile.
Subsequently, Cormac parted his lips, and his voice emerged layered and distorted, resembling a chorus of low-pitched murmurs.
"What is coming cannot be stopped."
Cormac's eyes flashed black as Rhys leaped forward, and a blast of energy sent all three fighters hurtling back into the ground.
Kael's head jerked up back in the watchtower.
Aria gasped and fell to her knees, pressing her hands to her temples.
She was caught by Kael. "What is it?"
Breathless, she whispered, "It's beginning." "It's within him."
Kael didn't hold back. In an instant, he changed—bones snapping, fur bursting forth—and leaped from the tower, his great black wolf thudding to the ground below before disappearing into the trees.
With her eyes wide with panic and her chest heaving, Aria fell to her knees.
since she had kept the rest from him.
The host wasn't by himself.
There were more.
They were already turning, too.
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