Shenaya’s POV
The wind was gusting at my back, thin and sharp and far too dangerous to be part of nature rather than being a result of sorcery. The world between man and the spirits was not similar to the physical world in any way. It was our world’s distorted mockery, where all seemed illogical and the continuum, let alone time, was rather distorted. Suddenly, I began running and, with heaving breaths, My paws hit the hard and uneven ground as I book it.’ In the distance I heard Zoey’s cries but they were weak, weak with frustration. My heart was pounding to its sound but I couldn’t afford to be distracted. I was in my wolf form, racing against the clock to rescue her soul.
I hadn’t wanted to come here-not like this, not in wolf form. But there was no other choice. Andrew had taken her, stolen my daughter’s soul, and hidden her away in this forsaken place. And Andrew… The very thought of him made my blood boil. The father of my child, the man who was supposed to protect her, had turned against us both. He’d become a shadow of the man I thought I knew, driven by his twisted ambition and greed for power. I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. The world around me was a barren landscape, gray and lifeless. Shadows moved in the corners of my vision, whispering and watching. The spirits of the dead lingered here, lost and aimless, but they weren’t my concern. My only focus was Zoey.
Her scent remained almost barely detectable but there was no doubt in my mind that she had been there. I followed it, My paws hit hard on the ground as I avoided twisted trees and jagged rocks on the way. It was a bunch of jagged up-and-down greens that changed continuity from time to time, which made it hard to know where to direct my focus, but I continued. I felt the atmosphere change and the air became heavier with negative energy around me. As if one it wished to smother me in some way, to make me give up, but I could not let it rabid the aspirations to conquer. The stench of Andrew intensified also. That bastard. He was close.
All of it stops abruptly and, for a moment, I’m standing still on the ground which is now distorting before my eyes. I looked up at the sky and saw that it had become black, I saw in the distance a figure moving, Andrew. He was a mighty man standing unbend, and his eyes looked devilish. In his arms, he held a small still form, the frail-looking little girl was no more than a shadow of herself. Zoey.
A growl echoed from my lips as I changed back into the human form. My chest throbbed and my muscles craved rest from the change, but it didn’t seem to bother me so much.
I needed to face Andrew head-on.
“Andrew!” I yelled, my voice hoarse. “Let her go!”
He smirked, his lips curling into a cruel smile as he held Zoey tighter.
“Shenaya, always the hero,” he sneered. “But you’re too late. She’s mine now.”
I took a step forward, my hands clenched into fists.
“She’s our daughter, Andrew. You have no right to do this.”
“Our daughter?” he mocked, raising an eyebrow. “She was never your child. She’s special, Shenaya. She has this ability because Skylar and I gave birth to her not You”
Hearing this angered me and my stomach churned. This wasn’t about Zoey. It was never about her. He only could see her as an object, as a tool to get more power to him. How did I fail to see that? The man standing before me was not the same man I used to know, not my friend who used to look out for me, not my friend who always took care of Zoey and Leo. This man in front of me now is a monster.
“She’s just a child,” I sparred, angry and livid. “She’s your daughter, Andrew. How can you do this to her?”
Actually, I saw him hesitate for a brief moment around his eyes which was interesting as he looked like he was about to say no. But that was quickly displaced with sheer resolve.
“I’m doing what needs to be done,” he said. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“I may not understand this, but I understand the fact that you are a coward, that you are ready to kill your own daughter for a place in a pack that doesn’t want you to be their Alpha,” I clenched my jaw “you don’t even deserve the right to say that you are her father.”
That struck a nerve. His eyes snarled with anger and he stomped forward closer to me, while he still held the lifeless form of Zoey.
“You don’t get to lecture me,” he said angrily. “You abandoned me, Shenaya. You chose Aiden over me. You left me with nothing!”
“This was right for Zoey,” I said defensively. “You would never be the father she needed or perhaps you just never tried to be the one, and now, you’ve proved me right.”
I could sense the malevolent magic pulsating around Andrew with one hand clenched while the other was a clear indication that I wasn’t going to back down. I breathed to steady my irate mind and maybe, defuse a little of what was raging within me.
“This isn’t you, Andrew. You’re better than this,” I said softly.
He considered for a moment then he relaxed his hold on Zoey a little. For a second, I felt that I had gotten through to him that somewhere inside of him where he loved his daughter, but then his eyes became cold and he gripped her wrist much tighter.
“I’m doing this for her,” he said, “She will be a strong one stronger than you can possibly comprehend. I will be the one to take her through.”
Numbly I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes as I looked at him.
He was lost. There was no reasoning with him now.
“You’re wrong,” I said softly. “Zoey doesn’t need power. She needs love. She needs her family.”
With that, I shifted back into my wolf form, the change quick and seamless this time. I couldn’t wait any longer. Zoey’s soul was slipping away, and I had to act.
I lunged at Andrew, my claws extended, aiming for the arm holding Zoey. He moved to block me, but I was faster. My teeth sank into his arm, and he let out a roar of pain, dropping Zoey’s body to the ground.
I didn’t stop.
I positioned myself around him with my eyes on Zoey and then growled at him so he would stay away from me. Changes in her capacity this soft-bodied Zoey’s soul went up and down, her aspect appeared and disappeared. She needed to be freed from this place as soon as possible I realized.
With one final growl, I hopped over Andrew and picked Zoey’s body up by the nape of the neck. I could feel her being inside, her soul maybe, battered but still breathing. I couldn’t let her slip away. I took to my heels, concerned and scared more so as I was trying to cover the terrain of the spirit world.
Beside me, there was a furious screaming of Andrew but I didn’t turn around. I strained to go further my legs felt on fire. The weight of the girl was not heavy with my jaws but the feeling of having to carry her was one of the heaviest burdens that I have ever had to carry.
Physically she was still with me but the spirit world started changing around me and I felt my attention shifting to the portal to the physical world. Sometimes I could sense it, weak as it was, and growing gradually stronger every time I approached that appalling house. And all I had was the portal through which I had to escape. If I didn’t make it, she would forever be cursed to live here. If I didn’t make it, Zoey’s soul would be trapped here forever.
Suddenly, right before approaching the portal, I sensed a power starting from behind me. Andrew. He was coming for us. I tried even harder, my lungs pounding as I ran as fast as I could toward the light which was the portal.
I was almost there, attempting to take hold of it when a powerful blow of uneven black magic struck me. I slipped across the ground and fell onto my back, Zoey was also released from my arms. I felt immense pain pulling my body upward, from head to toe but I had to stand up. I couldn’t stop now.
Successively Andrew stood before me, his face all red, full of anger and desperation.
‘You cannot take her from me!’ he screamed out in anger which bounced back at him from the lonely space all around him.
I tightened my lips and hissed angrily.
“Watch me.”
I tackled him, ready to claw his eyes out. I was expecting him to change to his wolf form as well to fight me but he did and I couldn’t help but wonder why. I swiped at him, which caused him to focus on me long enough for me to grab Zoey and step through the portal.
And then, the world that was or seemed to be around us distorted and contorted, and then we plummeted downwards into darkness as we passed through the portal.
When I opened my eyes, the familiar scent of Elara’s house filled my nose. I was back. The physical world felt solid beneath my paws, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Zoey’s small body lay beside me, and for a moment, my heart seized in fear. Was she still with me? Was her soul intact? I shifted back into my human form, reaching out to touch her cheek.
Her eyes fluttered open, and I let out a shaky breath. She was back. She was safe.
“Mama?” Zoey’s voice was soft and weak, but it was her. She was here.
“I’m here, baby,” I whispered, pulling her into my arms. “I’m here.”
I pulled her towards me and listened to her heartbeat which was in rhythm with mine. It felt like tears filled my eyes, but I immediately wiped them off. This was not yet over, not by any stretch of the imagination. Andrew would not let it end this way, but for now, all that I actually cared about was having my daughter back at home.
The relief in Ethan, Aiden, and Elara’s eyes was also accompanied by concern. They asked me question after question but I hardly heard them. All I could concentrate on was the feel of my baby’s skin against mine, the sound of Zoey’s breathing.