THE DARKSIDERS VOL 2: Shezayah Rise Of The Wolf

I AM ARTEMIS (PT.3)

The hunter must have seen the shift in her expression because panic swallowed whatever fight he had left almost instantly. He stumbled backward again, breathing hard while his eyes darted between her claws, her glowing eyes, and the unnatural calm settling across her face.

Inside her head, Artemis let out a low satisfied rumble.

Aren’t we awesome?

A grin spread slowly across Shezayah’s face, sharp and reckless beneath the moonlight. “Most certainly.”

The words came easier than they should have.

Natural.

Like answering Artemis felt no different than answering herself.

The hunter turned to run again, but Shezayah barely paid attention to him now. Her focus had shifted inward completely, toward the power flooding through her body with every passing second. She could feel Artemis moving beneath her skin like something finally waking up after years of being trapped asleep. The strength. The speed. The sharpened senses. Every part of it felt intoxicating in a way Shezayah wasn’t interested in denying anymore.

Then give in to me, Artemis murmured.

The words wrapped themselves around her thoughts smoothly, without force, without pressure.

An invitation.

And somehow that made it even easier.

Shezayah exhaled slowly before rolling her shoulders back, the movement followed immediately by another violent crack spreading through her spine. Pain shot through her body, but this time she welcomed it. Her claws lengthened further as dark fur slowly began spreading across her arms, muscles twisting beneath her skin while the forest around her sharpened into terrifying clarity.

The hunter’s scent hit her again.

Fear. Blood. Prey.

A deep growl rolled from her chest as Shezayah finally lifted her head toward the sky, glowing green eyes burning against the darkness while Artemis surged forward completely.

And this time…

Shezayah did not stop her.

The hunter barely made it three steps before the sound of claws tearing through dirt echoed behind him.

Then silence.

A strangled breath caught in his throat as he turned slowly, and whatever he saw standing there drained the remaining color from his face.

Shezayah no longer looked entirely human.

Dark fur crept along her arms and shoulders beneath torn fabric while her glowing green eyes burned unnaturally bright against the darkness. Her claws had lengthened into something far deadlier now, sharp enough to catch silver streaks of moonlight along their edges, and the low growl vibrating from her chest no longer sounded like it belonged to a person at all.

It sounded territorial.

Hungry.

Alive.

The hunter stumbled backward again, but Artemis moved faster than fear could carry him.

One second Shezayah stood several feet away.

The next, her claws slammed through his chest hard enough to pin him against the nearest tree.

Blood sprayed across her arm in violent warmth.

The hunter choked sharply, eyes widening in shock while his body twitched helplessly against her grip. For half a second, the forest went completely still around them except for the wet sound of blood dripping steadily onto the ground below.

Then Shezayah stepped closer.

Very slowly.

The green glow in her eyes reflected against the hunter’s terrified face while his pulse hammered wildly beneath her claws, weaker now with every passing second.

“You hunted wolves,” she said calmly, her voice layered strangely with Artemis’s beneath it. “Looks like one finally hunted you back.”

The hunter opened his mouth like he wanted to beg.

Artemis didn’t let him.

With one violent pull, Shezayah ripped her claws free from his chest, and the hunter collapsed lifelessly into the dirt at her feet.

Silence swallowed the forest immediately afterward.

For a moment, Shezayah simply stood there breathing hard while blood dripped slowly from her claws. Then her eyes lowered toward the body sprawled beneath her boots, and instead of guilt twisting through her chest…

Satisfaction settled there instead.

Deep inside her mind, Artemis purred approvingly.

Good girl.

The words settled warmly in Shezayah’s chest in a way that should have disturbed her far more than they actually did. She stood there beneath the trees breathing slowly while blood dripped steadily from her claws onto the forest floor below, the hunter’s body lying motionless at her feet as cold night air moved through the branches overhead. The scent of blood hung thick around her now, sharp enough that she could taste it every time she inhaled, but instead of sickness turning her stomach, she only felt that same dangerous satisfaction still curling deeper and deeper through her chest.

Artemis stretched comfortably through her mind like a creature finally released from a cage after years of confinement, calm and pleased beneath the surface of Shezayah’s thoughts.

See how easy that was?

A quiet grin tugged slowly at Shezayah’s mouth while she lowered her eyes toward the dark blood coating her claws. “You make murder sound very therapeutic,” she muttered, rotating her wrist slightly as moonlight reflected against the sharpened edges extending from her fingers.

A rough amused sound echoed through her head at that, low and satisfied in a way that almost made Shezayah laugh with her.

You say murder, Artemis replied smoothly. I say survival. Hunters do not stop hunting simply because prey asks politely.

Another sharp crack rolled through Shezayah’s body suddenly, but unlike before, the pain no longer felt invasive or frightening. Her muscles shifted naturally beneath her skin while dark fur slowly receded from her arms and shoulders inch by inch, the transformation easing itself backward without resistance now that she had stopped fighting it. Even as the claws shortened gradually and her breathing steadied again, she could still feel Artemis completely. Present. Awake. Watching the world through her eyes alongside her.

That realization should have unsettled her.

Instead, Shezayah tilted her head slightly, almost curious about the feeling settling between them now. “You’re staying?” she asked finally while stepping away from the hunter’s body.

Artemis sounded genuinely offended by the question.

Obviously. You are mine now, and I am yours. That does not disappear simply because your claws retract.

The possessiveness in the words should have made her recoil, but Shezayah only glanced down at her hands thoughtfully before looking back toward the darkness stretching deeper into the forest ahead of her. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear wolves howling faintly through the night air now, the sound carrying across the woods in a way that made something inside her chest tighten instinctively.

For the first time in her life, the sound felt familiar.

A slow smirk spread across Shezayah’s face.

“Good,” she said calmly before turning toward the deeper parts of the forest, blood still drying across her hands while Artemis’s satisfaction settled warmly beside her thoughts like she had always belonged there.

Shezayah had only taken a few steps before another scent drifted through the forest air, sharp enough to pull her attention instantly away from the hunter’s body behind her. It wasn’t blood this time. It carried something colder beneath it, something unnatural that pressed strangely against her senses now that they had sharpened. Magic.

Every muscle in her body tightened instinctively while Artemis stirred immediately inside her mind, no longer calm and relaxed the way she had been moments earlier.

We are not alone, Artemis warned.

The forest itself seemed to shift around the realization. The wind moved differently through the trees now, carrying the faint sound of footsteps approaching from somewhere ahead while the woods around her fell unnaturally quiet. Shezayah stood still beneath the moonlight, claws flexing slowly at her sides while her glowing eyes scanned the darkness between the trees.

The footsteps were controlled.

Careful.

Nothing like the panicked crashing of the hunter earlier.

Whoever approached knew exactly what they were doing.

Artemis’s presence pressed tighter against her thoughts.

Dangerous people.

A small smirk tugged at the corner of Shezayah’s mouth despite the tension settling through her body. “Good,” she murmured quietly. “I was getting bored.”

The footsteps stopped.

Silence stretched through the forest for half a second before a faint violet glow flickered between the trees ahead, illuminating the outline of a girl standing several feet away with silver-purple eyes locked directly onto her.

Azaliyah.

Recognition hit instantly, though Shezayah had no idea why.

Beside her stood a tall figure dressed in black whose attention moved slowly from the dead hunter on the ground to the blood drying across Shezayah’s claws. Unlike Azaliyah, who looked tense and visibly caught between caution and curiosity, the dark-haired man remained almost unnaturally calm.

Camron.

And the look in his eyes irritated Shezayah immediately because it didn’t resemble fear.

It resembled understanding.

The silence between them stretched tightly beneath the trees while violet light flickered softly around the girl standing ahead of her. Shezayah’s glowing eyes moved over her carefully, taking in the confidence in her posture, the magic practically woven into the air around her, and the fact that neither of them seemed particularly disturbed by the corpse bleeding into the forest floor nearby.

Interesting.

The girl finally stepped forward first.

“My name is Azaliyah Starrfall,” she said calmly, though caution still lingered beneath her voice while her silver-violet eyes stayed fixed on Shezayah. “Daughter of Michelle and Dominic Starrfall. Ruler of the Fae Realm.”

For half a second, silence sat between them.

Then Shezayah laughed.

Not loudly.

Not nervously.

The sound came sharp and amused while she slowly dragged her eyes over Azaliyah again before glancing toward Camron beside her. “Ruler of the Fae Realm?” she repeated, clearly entertained now. “That’s a hell of an introduction.”

Azaliyah’s expression tightened slightly at the mockery, but Shezayah barely noticed because the title itself sounded ridiculous in the middle of a blood-covered forest.

“What were you expecting me to do with that information exactly?” Shezayah continued with a grin. “Bow?”

A low sound that suspiciously resembled amusement escaped Camron beside Azaliyah before he covered it quickly with a cough.

Azaliyah shot him an irritated glance immediately. “You’re not helping.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely helping,” Camron replied calmly, though the faint smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth made it clear he was enjoying this far more than he should have.

Shezayah’s eyes narrowed slightly at that interaction while Artemis shifted approvingly inside her mind.

I like him.

Azaliyah’s eyes stayed locked on Shezayah while violet light flickered faintly beneath her skin, reacting instinctively to the blood soaking the forest floor around them. The tension pressing through the clearing felt thick enough to choke on now, but what unsettled Shezayah most was the expression on Azaliyah’s face.

Recognition.

Like she had been expecting this.

Like she already knew her.

“We’ve been looking for you,” Azaliyah said finally, her voice quieter than before.

Shezayah’s smirk pulled slightly at the corner of her mouth again, though this time it held less amusement behind it. “That sounds more like your problem than mine.”

Camron let out the faintest breath beside Azaliyah, almost like he was stopping himself from laughing again, but his attention never fully left Shezayah. He watched her too carefully for her liking, like he noticed things other people usually missed.

Azaliyah ignored him completely. “You don’t understand,” she continued, taking another cautious step forward. “I’ve seen you before.”

The words immediately sharpened the air around them.

Artemis shifted hard inside Shezayah’s chest at the same moment her glowing eyes narrowed slightly against the darkness. Careful, the wolf murmured.

Shezayah crossed her arms slowly, claws still partially extended beneath drying blood. “I can promise you we’ve never met.”

“Not in person,” Azaliyah replied.

For the first time since the transformation started, something uneasy twisted through Shezayah’s stomach.

Camron finally stepped forward then, calm and steady in a way that felt strangely familiar to her already. Unlike Azaliyah, who carried herself like contained magic waiting to erupt, Camron felt quieter. Controlled. Dangerous in the same restrained way she suddenly realized she was.

“Since the gate opened,” he said carefully, “Azaliyah’s been having visions.”

Silence settled immediately after the words left him.

Shezayah’s smirk disappeared completely.

“She was always there,” Azaliyah admitted while keeping her eyes fixed directly on Shezayah. “Every vision. Every fight. Every time something went wrong… it always led back to you.”

The forest shifted violently around them before Shezayah could answer. Wind tore suddenly through the trees overhead while Artemis surged forward inside her chest hard enough to make her breathing tighten.

Not fear.

Recognition.

Camron noticed the shift instantly.

His eyes darkened slightly before he looked toward the shadows behind Shezayah like he sensed something standing there alongside her.

And then Artemis finally spoke again, her voice settling heavily through Shezayah’s thoughts while a slow dangerous grin spread across her face.

They found us sooner than I expected.