Alethea
My eyes open in shock as my hands tremble. My heart pounds wildly, so hard it feels like it might explode right out of my chest. I can’t breathe right. I can’t think straight. What I just found out, it’s too much.
It’s one thing to be marked by someone who isn’t my mate. That’s already hard to accept. But needing my blood? For what? For some twisted ritual? For some unknown purpose only the goddess knows?
This is madness.
I stumble back from her, still clutching the knife tightly in my hand. My knuckles turn white from how hard I’m gripping it. Then, out of nowhere, a high-pitched ringing fills my ears. It’s sharp. Blinding.
I back away until the back of my knees hit the edge of the bed, and I collapse onto it. The knife falls beside me with a dull thud. I press both hands to my head, trying to hold myself together, trying to stop the world from spinning.
“This has to be a fucking joke,” I mutter.
“Are you okay?”
Her voice pulls me back to the present like a rope dragging me out of deep water. I look up, and there she is-eyes full of concern, stepping toward me slowly.
What the hell is she doing?
I just held a knife to her throat. I threatened her. I could’ve hurt her. And now… she’s walking toward me?
Is she insane?
Does she have a death wish?
But then I look at her, and I see it in her eyes.
She has something to tell me.
Do I want to hear it?
Part of me does.
If I know more, maybe I can figure out a way to escape.
But another part of me is afraid.
What if it’s just more pain?
What if it’s something else that will break me a little more than I already am?
“It’s a secret, Ally,” she says softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I overheard him… talking to one of the elders.”
“Really?” I ask, keeping my voice steady as I force myself to meet her eyes.
I want to see her truth. I want to understand why she’s telling me this.
I’m surprised she lets me.
The first night I got here, I tried to read her emotions-and she blocked me. She was like a wall.
But now, she’s letting me in.
“Do you have a brother?” I ask gently.
She nods. But it’s the way her eyes drop that hits me hardest.
Like just the mention of him tears something open inside her.
“He was killed,” she says, her voice tight with pain. “Because he had… special powers. I think he tried to stop Alpha Craig. That’s why he died.”
It all makes sense now. Her sadness. Her quiet help.
She wants Craig gone.
And maybe, she believes I can do it.
She stands, brushing her dress down as she walks to the door.
“I should go now, Ally. Before they get suspicious.”
Her hand pauses on the doorknob, and she doesn’t turn around when she speaks again.
“Please,” she whispers. “I don’t know why, but I feel it in my heart-you’re the one who can save us.”
She turns her head slightly, just enough for me to see the shimmer of hope in her eyes.
“They say someone will come. Someone who will break the bonds and the chains we’ve lived in for years.”
She looks at me like I’m that someone.
And in that moment… I wish I believed it too.
I stand frozen, confused, as I watch her step out of the room. My brows furrow tightly, and I raise a shaky hand to my head, gripping my hair and pulling until I feel pain shoot across my scalp.
My blood.
They need my blood-but for what?
I pace across the room, turning back and forth like a caged animal. My heart is heavy, my chest feels like it might crush me. I try to close my eyes, to force myself to sleep, to escape the pain that claws straight into my soul.
But it doesn’t help.
My head pounds. My heart won’t slow down. It feels like someone is trying to reach me.
Could it be… Asher?
I take a deep breath and lower the mental wall I’ve kept up, just in case he’s trying to connect through our blood bond. Maybe he can feel my fear. Maybe he’s out there, searching for me.
But the questions won’t stop.
What will happen if they use my blood?
Will I still be alive… or just a shell?
Will I lose my powers?
And how could my blood be the key to freeing this cursed pack?
I can’t take it anymore.
A sudden pressure in my bladder pulls me from my spiraling thoughts. I rush into the small bathroom and ease myself down, trying to steady my breathing. The silence there is louder than anything.
When I return to the room, my eyes grow heavy with exhaustion and my body aches with tiredness. I climb back into bed, and finally… I drift off.
But the moment my eyes closed, something changed.
It feels like I’m being pulled-yanked-by an invisible force I can’t fight. My body feels weightless, floating through a thick, empty space.
I panic. I kick and swing my arms, trying to grab hold of something to keep myself from being swallowed by the emptiness.
Suddenly, my feet hit solid ground.
I blink and find myself standing inside a large, ancient temple. My heart pounds hard against my ribs as my nose fills with the scent of blood and smoke.
A shiver runs down my spine.
Am I dreaming?
Or has Alpha Craig somehow pulled me into this place to begin the ritual, to take my blood?
My instincts scream at me to run. My legs respond, and I try to bolt-but then something grips me.
An invisible force drags me back, no matter how many times I try to escape.
Over and over again, I fight it-screaming in frustration-but it pulls me like a puppet on a string.
Then, something shifts.
My instincts change.
They tell me to stop fighting.
They tell me to look around.
To see. To understand.
So I do. With wide, searching eyes, I scan every inch of the strange, eerie temple. And that’s when I see her.
My heart leaps to my throat the moment I see her.
A she-wolf stands before me, her eyes glowing faintly in the shadows. I take an instinctive step back, trying to distance myself.
Suddenly, the ground beneath us begins to crack, splitting open like it’s being torn from the inside. Darkness seeps up from the cracks like thick smoke-but within it, there’s a strange, pulsing red glow, like burning embers.
My breathing quickens.
My heart pounds so loudly I can barely hear myself think.
Then, out of nowhere, they appear.
Wolves. Dozens of them. Powerful, ancient creatures.
Their fur shimmers like silver dipped in moonlight, glowing faintly under an invisible sky.
My mouth falls open.
I can’t move.
Can’t breathe.
Who are they?
Why are they here?
One of them steps forward, slow and majestic, his golden eyes locking with mine. The moment he looks at me, something stirs deep in my soul.
It’s strange. Like I’ve been here before.
Like I’ve seen this moment in another lifetime.
A soft whisper brushes my ear. It’s the she-wolf.
She’s speaking directly to me.
“You are of my blood,” she says, so low that no one else can hear.
“The last of our true line.”
My breath catches.
What?
“You must stop him… before he takes everything.”
Her words drop heavily in my chest, and my throat tightens with fear and confusion.
Who is “him”?
Alpha Craig? Or someone worse?
Before I can ask, pain explodes in my thigh-sharp and sudden like a dagger slicing into my flesh.
I gasp. My body jerks.
My eyes snap open.
I’m back in my room.
Sweat covers my skin as I sit upright, my chest heaving. I press a trembling hand over my heart, feeling its wild rhythm pounding beneath my ribs.
“Goddess,” I whisper, trying to catch my breath.
What kind of dream was that?
And who am I meant to stop?