Ashes and Shadows
1378 Words
Chapter Two:
Silver's POV
They moved toward me, fast and silent.
I dashed into the hallway, heart hammering, slipping toward the room I used to call mine.
"The destroyer of worlds..."
The words rattled inside my skull.
Was Alica... really my mother?
Why couldn’t I remember?
I could picture her smell, her face — burned into my mind like a brand — but that woman in the kitchen wasn't the same.
That woman wanted me dead.
I shoved my few belongings into my duffel, hands trembling.
This was unreal.
I wasn’t like most foster kids. I never daydreamed about family.
I knew better.
I knew my mother had dumped me like trash.
Twice, it seemed.
Alica was everything I'd once allowed myself to want.
When we first met, I was walking back to my car after a long shift at D'Angelos — a seedy bar run by trolls.
I saw her being dragged off by two of them, kicking and screaming.
I didn't even think.
I fought them off — fists, teeth, whatever it took.
When it was over, she grabbed my hands, breathing hard.
"Thank you for saving me, child. My name’s Alica Hunt. And you are?"
I shrugged her off, already backing away.
"I'm good, lady. No need to thank me. Just doing what I hope someone would do for me."
I started to leave.
"Wait," she said quickly, "I need to repay you. How about a hot meal and a shower? I've seen you around... I know you're living out of your car."
I froze.
Nobody ever paid that much attention to me.
Nobody ever noticed the worn-out blankets, the way I parked near the back of the lot.
"You work at that dance club, right?" she asked.
"Yeah. What of it?" I snapped, defensive.
She just smiled — a real one.
"Nothing. Just offering a meal. A bath. You look like you could use one."
I almost ran.
Everything inside me screamed:
"Keep it together, Sil. She'll abandon you. Just like everyone else."
But I was tired.
Tired of being alone.
"Fine," I said gruffly. "A meal and a hot shower. Then I’ll be on my way."
She smiled wider, stepping aside to let me into her life.
A noise in the hallway yanked me back to the present.
I lunged into the closet, my heart pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird.
Outside, I could hear footsteps.
Coming closer.
I slowed my breathing, clinging to the duffle bag against my chest.
The footsteps crept closer.
My heart pounded so loud it roared in my ears, drowning out everything else.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I could be anywhere — anywhere — but here.
I fought.
I pushed with everything inside me.
My magic, wild and panicked, slammed against the charms woven into the house, rattling the very foundation.
The walls shuddered.
The floor beneath me trembled.
And then —
I slipped.
It was like something inside me tore loose.
Suddenly, I wasn’t in the closet anymore.
I wasn’t in the house.
I was standing on soft grass under a silver sky.
In front of me:
A boy.
No, a wolf.
He was beautiful.
Alpha blood.
Tall, muscular, effortless power radiating off him.
His long chocolate-brown hair was pulled into a messy bun, the sides shaved close, sharp and clean.
Bright blue eyes burned into me as he trained with a group of boys — throwing punches, laughing, living.
For a moment, I just stared.
If I were into love, I'd say I fell for him at first sight.
He stopped.
Turned fully toward me.
Eyes narrowing.
"Who are you?" he asked, voice low, wary.
He dropped into a defensive stance, his body coiled like a spring.
My heart ached at the immediate rejection — even here, even like this.
"Silvvv..." I tried to say, but my voice faded into the wind.
I wasn’t really there.
Just a spirit. A flicker.
"Who you talking to, man?" one of the boys asked, laughing.
The alpha didn’t move.
His eyes stayed locked on me.
"You guys... can't see her?"
He kept staring at me.
"Who are you?" he repeated, softer this time. Confused. Curious. Not afraid.
My spirit flickered in the wind, barely holding together.
I could feel the weight of my body still trapped in the closet miles away, still in danger. But here...
Here, it felt different. Lighter. Like I could breathe.
I hugged my duffle tighter, unsure whether I was imagining all of this.
"You guys seriously can’t see her?" he asked again, backing slowly toward me.
The others shrugged, laughing it off.
One of them threw a towel at him, barking something about “laying off the training sessions” and "seeing things."
But he wasn’t laughing.
His blue eyes locked on me with an intensity that made my breath catch.
He saw me.
Really saw me.
Somewhere deep in my chest, a tiny string pulled taut, a connection I couldn’t explain.
He stepped closer, cautiously, like approaching a wild animal.
His voice dropped low — almost like a whisper carried only to me.
"Don’t be scared. Just reach for me."
My fingers trembled.
Was this real?
Was he real?
I reached out, hesitant, fingers stretching toward him.
The second my hand brushed his—
Snap.
A shock raced up my arm.
A brilliant burst of silver light wrapped around us, coiling from my chest to his heart and back again.
He gasped.
I staggered.
The bond.
It wasn't just a fated bond.
It was something older. Deeper.
or was it?
Something neither of us understood yet.
"You’re not supposed to be here," he whispered urgently, wide-eyed.
I opened my mouth to answer — but a violent yank seized my spirit.
A ripping sensation —
Pain, raw and ugly, tore me backward.
I slammed back into my body so hard the air whooshed out of my lungs.
The closet door burst open.
Alica stood there, hand glowing with a sickly red magic.
Ryelle beside her, clutching a vial of black liquid, grinning like he couldn't wait to use it.
"There you are, you little mistake," Alica hissed, stepping forward.
I scrambled back into the corner, dazed, my heart still echoing the strange connection to the Alpha boy.
He had seen me.
He had felt me.
And somewhere out there —
he knew I existed now.
"Ryelle. Now," Alica barked.
Ryelle uncorked the vial — the scent of burning silver and ash filled the closet — and lunged.
The vial of black liquid glinted under the closet light as Ryelle lunged.
I shrank back, bracing for the worst—
CRACK.
Something inside me snapped.
A pulse like an earthquake ripped through my chest, blasting outward.
Alica and Ryelle were thrown back — screaming — crashing into the walls outside the closet.
I gasped for air, stunned, blinking in the sudden swirl of silver light sparking around me.
The bond.
The Alpha.
He had done something to me.
"Good, little one..."
A voice whispered inside my head — deep and warm, like a forest fire rumbling beneath my skin.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
My wolf?
"Find your strength," the voice urged.
Before I could answer — it vanished.
Gone.
Silent.
Panic and power warred inside me.
The walls of the house trembled again, the magical chimes around the house screeching like wounded animals, vibrating so violently they fractured the air itself.
Then —
Through the haze, I saw a shadow move outside the shattered window.
A figure.
Tall.
Cloaked in deep grey.
Hands raised high, crackling with a dark blue light.
With a sharp, swift movement, the figure hurled a spear of magic — straight at one of the chimes.
BOOM.
The charm exploded in a flash of red and gold, and a hole ripped open in the protective magic around the house.
Run, the figure's voice echoed through the bond between us, even though I'd never seen them before.
I didn't think.
I let instinct take over.
My hands burned with energy I didn’t understand — a mix of silver mist and violet sparks pouring from my fingertips.
The ground split beneath me.
The air twisted around me like a living thing.
And then —
I vanished.
- Writer
