Andrew’s POV
The air in Paris had its unique feel or, maybe, weight to it as I began to get near the old house where those witches had been captured. The building was old and shabby, it was very gloomy and deserted-looking, with broken windows and plants crawling up dilapidated walls. It was here that Elara told me the way to the power I’d been seeking for so long. Elara had warned me several times about this place not to come for this power because she thought it would drain me and I would be lost forever. She even threatened to cut ties with me if I ever disobeyed her but all was just a lie. When I become the most powerful person alive, what would I need her for, she would be the one rolling and begging to come back into my life. Elara never knew what I required, what I was due for. I wasn’t going to let Aiden and Shenaya have all the fun with their proud victory. I was created for something better than this.
I opened the door slightly and stepped into the dark room. Inside, the room was dark and whatever magic filled it was suffocating. As soon as I entered, feeling it-an ominous and ever-present presence, attempting to enter me. The approach was a very careful one, I am not one to run around and make irrational decisions for myself. The witches cast their spell directly onto me, and their words ricocheted inside me.
And then I saw her.
Skylar.
She was standing in the middle of the room assertive and towering as if she was born and raised in the house. Her presence seemed even more powerful and more dangerous now, but I wasn’t afraid. I’d known she was alive, I just wanted to know how she survived. I’d just hoped that maybe… she wouldn’t be here. That I wouldn’t have to face her.
“Skylar…” I breathed, taking a step closer. “You’re still alive?”
Skylar’s lips curled into a cruel smile.
“Oh, Andrew, don’t act surprised. You knew I was alive. You just didn’t know how, so you decided not to believe it.”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure.
“I-” I paused, trying to think of the right words. “I thought they killed you.”
“You thought wrong.” She stepped forward, her eyes glowing with the dark magic coursing through her. “You were always a fool, Andrew. You never understood the true power I held. You still don’t.”
I ground my teeth, my palms also making a fist at the sides of my body.
“I want power Skylar,” I clutched at her hands as though whatever this place contained whatever the witches had been lured here, and now imprisoned, meant something I desperately needed.
Skylar’s laugh bubbled out of her annoyingly and devilishly low.
“Of course you do. Always hungry for more. But do you even know what you’re asking for? I learned many things for example the power here is not something that one can grab. It’s linked with lineage, Andrew.”
“What are you talking about?” I frowned, confused.
“Zoey,” she said quietly to me but raised to a ominous growling tone. “She’s the key, Andrew. She’s special because she’s part of my bloodline. The witches here can only pass their power through a bloodline vessel. One of the witches here is my ancestor which gives me the upper hand”
I blinked, stunned.
“Zoey? She’s is a vessel?”
“I found out after she came here-when she was possessed. It was then that I realized who I truly am. I am a descendant of the ancestral witches, Andrew. Their blood flows through me and Zoey.” Skylar nodded.
I took a step back, trying to process what she was saying. Zoey? My daughter?
“You… you’re saying the witches can only pass through her?” I asked, my voice thick with disbelief.
“Yes,” Skylar confirmed. “And that’s why they took her. That’s why she’s so important.” She paused, her eyes narrowing at me. “But you… you’re not a bloodline. You can’t hold their power.”
I felt my stomach drop. All this time, I thought I was close. I thought I could just take the power and leave. But now, she was telling me I couldn’t? That I wasn’t enough?
“I can still get Zoey’s soul,” I said without thinking, my voice low, determined. “If I can get her soul, I can use her.”
“You’re willing to give up your daughter’s soul for power? After everything?” Skylar tilted her head, studying me.
I hesitated. This was the moment. I had to decide. Zoey was my daughter, but this power… was everything I had ever wanted. I swallowed hard, pushing the guilt aside.
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” I said finally. “I need this power, Skylar.”
A slow, wicked smile spread across her face.
“Then you’ll have to give up something, too. You can’t just waltz into the spirit world and take her. You’ll need to give up your wolf.”
“What?” My heart stopped.
“You heard me,” Skylar said, her tone matter-of-fact. “To enter the spirit world, you’ll need to give up your wolf. You’ll be wolfless. But once you bring Zoey’s soul back, the spirits of the ancestral witches will inhabit your body. You’ll be one of the most powerful witches alive.”
Wolfless. The word echoed in my mind, heavy and unthinkable. Without my wolf, I’d be nothing. Just a man, weak and vulnerable. But the promise of power… the promise of being unstoppable…
I closed my eyes, wrestling with the decision. My wolf growled inside me, sensing the betrayal, but I ignored him. This was bigger than anything I had ever imagined. Bigger than being Alpha, bigger than my wolf.
“I’ll do it,” I said, my voice steady. “I’ll give up my wolf.”
“Good choice.” Skylar’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
Then, she slowly approached me with her hands up, chanting something I couldn’t comprehend. My wolf became restless as a force hit me, it felt as if my soul was being separated from my body. I experienced a sharp pang of an ache in me and my wolf growled, but there was no room for stopping. I couldn’t stop.
The pain increased and kept on increasing to a level that tore through my entire corporeal self. I could feel my wolf almost ripping free, determined to stay within me, I forced him to back down. I had no choice as it was the price I had to pay.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, I was able to feel him slowly slip away until I couldn’t feel him anymore. My wolf was gone. I was alone. I was empty.
But then at some point, I felt something that I had not before. The spirits of the ancestral witches started migrating into me and I felt the power from them slowly filling my veins. It was heady and overwhelming, but it still wasn’t enough. I needed Zoey’s soul to complete the transformation.
I opened my eyes, breathing heavily. Skylar stood before me, her eyes dark with satisfaction.
“You did it,” she said softly. “Now, go. Find Zoey’s soul. Bring her back, and the power will be yours.”
I didn’t waste any time. I wheeled around and walked out of the house, my bones crying out from the absence of my wolf companion.
I was standing right by the gates of the portal I created to take me to the spirit world and I knew exactly how to proceed.
I stepped across and the environment swarmed before my eyes in a manner that felt as if everything was an ethereal and surrealistic blur. Despite the place being built, the ground was uneven, curling, and turning in ways that required a life to do it. There were shadows everywhere taunting me all through, I kept eschewing their reality.
I had one goal. Zoey.
I tried to sense her but nothing, that was when I remembered had lost my wolf and would live this life without my wolf, I was fighting through the changes of the spirit world’s environment and trying to adjust to my new form when I saw her. She was lying on the ground all still but she possessed a swirling soul.
Well, l it was a lot simpler than I expected it to be. I got down beside her picking her up slowly. She was so small, so fragile.
“This must be it,” I told myself. “This is what they refer to as power when I’ve been waiting for.”
AI I was about to turn around and get out of there when I heard a malicious growl. I turned, and there she was, Shenaya in her wolf form. Her wolf was massive, her eyes burning with fury. She turned back into her human form and my mind wondered why Skylar told me I couldn’t come here with my wolf.
“Put her down, Andrew,” Shenaya growled, her voice low and dangerous.
I stepped back, clutching Zoey tighter.
“You don’t understand, Shenaya. This is for her. This is for us.”
“No,” Shenaya snapped, her fur bristling. “This is for you. You’re using her. She’s just a child, Andrew!”
“I’m doing what needs to be done!” I yelled, my heart pounding. “You don’t know what it’s like to be powerless!”
“I know what it’s like to be a parent,” Shenaya growled. “And I know what it’s like to love my child. You’ve lost sight of that.”
She lunged at me, her claws aiming for my throat. I dodged, but she was faster. Her teeth sank into my arm, and I screamed in pain, dropping Zoey.
“No!” I shouted, but it was too late. Shenaya grabbed Zoey and took off, racing through the spirit world toward the portal.
I watched them go, powerless, helpless. The witches’ spirits raged inside me, but without Zoey’s soul, I was nothing. When I returned to the physical world, I would be wolfless. Powerless. Useless.