AMELIA
My fingers tremble uncontrollably on my lap as Nickolas and I sit in the car, the anticipation and dread swirling within me like a storm. After so many days apart, I can barely contain my eagerness to see my parents again.
Nickolas gives my trembling hand a reassuring squeeze. “Everything is going to be alright, I promise.” His words soothe my frayed nerves like a salve, and I tighten my grip, drawing strength from his presence.
“I hope so,” I whisper, my voice thick with emotion.
“We are here,” the driver announces, causing my breath to catch in my throat.
Nickolas steps out first, then walks to my side, pulling the door open. I take a deep, steadying breath before accepting his outstretched hand. The crisp autumn air carries the familiar scents of fallen leaves and pine, evoking a comforting nostalgia as my heightened werewolf senses drink in the surroundings.
“Trust me,” Nickolas murmurs, linking our hands together as we walk into the moonlit woods. Our boots crunch over the carpet of leaves, and the cool breeze caresses my skin, temporarily distracting me from the anxious knot in my stomach.
I pull away from my wandering thoughts, glancing around to ensure I haven’t strayed from the path. We’re meeting my father near one of our vacation homes, a place that once held so many cherished memories. As we approach the clearing, I release Nickolas’s hand and slit my wrist, allowing my blood to drip onto the ground and amplify my scent.
The snapping of a twig shatters the peaceful silence, and I spin around, a wide smile spreading across my face in anticipation of my parent’s arrival. But my joy quickly fades as it’s one of Nickolas’s guards emerging from the shadows.
As I turn back, my name rings out in a voice I recognize instantly, filling the air with a scent that unleashes a torrent of emotions. “Mom, Dad, is that really you?” I rasp, tears of joy blurring my vision as I slowly turn to face them, afraid this moment is just a cruel dream.
“Yes, honey, it’s us. Turn around,” my mother’s sweet, familiar voice beckons.
I swipe away my tears, but more stream down my cheeks the second I lay eyes on them. “Dad, Mom,” I choke out, my voice thick with emotion. I cannot begin to describe the overwhelming sense of relief and joy that washes over me in this moment. They both appear to be well and fully healed, with no visible scars or traces of the terrible condition in which I left them.
“We missed you, dear,” Mom says, opening her arms wide in invitation.
I don’t hesitate a second longer, moving to run toward their embrace, but before I can take a step, a searing pain shoots through me, and I find myself frozen in place as blood spills from my mouth. Panic surges within me as confusion clouds my thoughts, leaving me grasping for understanding.
“Amelia!” My parents’ voices pierce through the haze of my mind, their cries filled with alarm and fear. Reacting instinctively, they shift into their wolf forms, their fur bristling with urgency. But in that moment, I wish desperately that they hadn’t shifted.
I watch helplessly as both of my parents collapse to the ground, whimpering in pain. My mind races with confusion and terror, unable to comprehend the sudden turn of events.
“What the fuck is happening?” I choke out, the taste of blood staining my mouth as panic tightens its grip around my heart.
Amidst the chaos, Nickolas’s voice cuts through the turmoil, sharp and commanding. “Now!” he yells, and in an instant, a shimmering shield materializes around us, encasing us in an impenetrable bubble. I whirl to face him as my legs crumple beneath me, pulling me to the ground. I cough up thick streams of crimson that spill over my lips and chin.
“Thank you, Amelia,” Nickolas purrs, his voice dripping with malice as he throws a silver blade to the grass, the metallic tang of blood tainting the air. But it’s not just any blood-it’s mine. A chilling realization sends shivers down my spine.
“Wha-a-t,” I choke out, more blood gurgling up my throat as a fiery ache blossoms my back. The realization hits me like a sledgehammer. I’ve been stabbed in the back, both physically and mentally, the betrayal cutting deep into the core of my being.
Nickolas stalks towards my parents, his eyes glittering with sadistic glee as they revert to their human forms, but it’s too late to stop the dark magic coursing through their veins and sapping their strength. I fight to push myself upright, but my limbs are leaden, and I collapse sideways with a muffled thump, each ragged breath a battle as blood floods my lungs.
I frantically attempt to unmask my scent, hoping to gain some strength from my lycan side, but to no avail. The relentless agony persists, refusing to relent its grip on me. It dawns on me with horrifying clarity-the blade must have been laced with oak tree venom.
“Lord Easterlin and Ember send their regards,” he sneers, wrenching my mother’s head from her shoulders with a sickening crunch of severed vertebrae.
“No!” The scream tears from my raw throat as he flings her decapitated head towards me, her vacant eyes forever frozen in an expression of horror.
“They told me it would be a sight to make you watch me kill them, and they were right.” His lips curve into a cruel smile as he grasps a fistful of my father’s hair, wrenching his head back.
“Please, stop, please,” I beg, my words garbled by the blood pooling around me as life drains from my veins with each feeble beat of my heart.
“So beautiful watching you beg.” With a vicious tug, he tears my father’s head from his shoulders, flinging it carelessly aside to join my mother’s.
An unholy wail of anguish rips from the depths of my soul as I watch their severed heads roll across the grass, their beloved faces twisted in death.
“Now it’s your turn,” Nickolas growls, advancing on me. But the forcefield flickers and dies, and a massive wolf – a mirror image of my father’s beast form – lunges from the shadows, clamping its powerful jaws around Nickolas’s throat.
“Caleb,” I whisper, my vision blurring as the life seeps from my mangled body. I force my gaze to my parents’ severed heads, drinking in their beloved faces one final time before the darkness closes in. My heart shatters into a million jagged shards, each one slicing through me with the realization that I have brought this upon them. Foolish, naive girl, believing Nickolas’s lies and leading my parents to their brutal slaughter. Tears scorch my cheeks as I drown in waves of guilt and grief.
With trembling hands, I pick the bloodied blade that has pierced my heart. Despite Caleb’s desperate cries for me to cease, I am consumed by a relentless determination. With a final, decisive motion, I drag the blade across my throat, embracing the blessed oblivion that awaits, welcoming death’s cold embrace as the sole release from this unbearable agony.