“Lisa.”
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I stopped.
My heart jumped into my throat. I didn’t have to turn to know who it was. I knew that voice better than my own. I closed my eyes for a second, hoping it was my imagination.
It wasn’t.
I turned slowly.
Rylan stood there, a few feet away from me in the moonlight. His dark hair was a little messy. His jacket was half–buttoned. His eyes locked with mine. He looked tired.
“You were really going to run without even looking back?”
My hands clenched at my sides. I didn’t want to see him again. Not now. Not like this.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“I never left,” he said softly. “I couldn’t. Not after this morning. Not after seeing you again.”
I looked away. The ache in my chest returned, sharp and deep. “You shouldn’t be here. You need to go.”
He took a step forward. “I’m not leaving you here, Lisa. Please. Just come with me. We can go home.”
“Home?” I laughed bitterly. “What home? The one where I found you in bed with another
woman?”
Rylan flinched. “That wasn’t what it looked like. I swear, Lisa. I was framed. Alexandra can explain everything.”
I shook my head. “I don’t care what Alexandra says. I saw what I saw.”
“Please,” he said and reached for my hand.
I pulled back quickly. “Don’t touch me.”
His face crumpled, but he didn’t give up. “I know I hurt you. I know you don’t trust me anymore. But I never stopped loving you. Not for a second. I would never hurt you on
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purpose.”
“Too late,” I whispered.
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“My car is just down that path,” he said, pointing to a clearing. “Jared and Alex are waiting. Let me take you back. I’ll do anything, Lisa. Please. Give me a chance.”
I stood frozen. My heart wanted to go. But my mind screamed to run the other way. Nothing made sense anymore.
“We don’t belong here,” he said. “You know it. Let me help you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t doubt that,” he said softly. “But you shouldn’t have to.”
Before I could answer, a cold voice cut through the air.
“Ah, young love. So fragile. So foolish.”
My stomach turned to ice.
Rylan spun around, putting himself between me and the voice. I peeked over his shoulder.
Fenric stood a few feet away. His arms were folded and there was a smirk on his lips. Behind him were at least ten figures–men and women, dressed in black. They didn’t look like wolves. They didn’t growl or shift. They were too still. Too calm.
“You should’ve known better, Alpha Rylan,” Fenric said. “Coming here like some lovesick pup. How noble. How stupid.”
“Get behind me,” Rylan said to me.
“Don’t do this, Fenric,” he warned. “You don’t want to start a war.”
“War?” Fenric laughed. “This isn’t war. This is discipline.”
He raised his hand. “Take them.”
The dark figures moved. They were so fast.
Rylan shoved me behind him and stepped forward. “Jared! Alex! Now!”
I saw them then; two men running from the trees. Jared and Alex. Behind them came more wolves. They were shifting mid–stride. Their forms grew larger and I could see their long claws.
But Fenric’s people didn’t shift.
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They chanted.
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Words I didn’t understand filled the air. They were sharp and strange, slicing through the night
like knives.
“Vincta lumen! Sero venari! Althira vincam!”
The air grew heavy.
The ground shivered.
Suddenly, roots burst from the soil and wrapped around one of Rylan’s guards, pulling him
down.
Rylan growled and lunged at the nearest attacker. I could hear claws slashing. He made contact. The man staggered, but didn’t bleed.
He smiled.
Then vanished.
Reappearing behind Rylan, he whispered something and blew dark smoke into Rylan’s face. Rylan stumbled and started coughing.
I tried to move, but something gripped my ankles.
There were invisible threads.
“Sierra!” I cried. “Help me!”
“I’m trying,” she snapped. “There’s magic here. It’s old and strong. I can feel it.”
“Break it! Do something!”
“I need you to focus. Pull your energy inward. Try!”
I clenched my fists and closed my eyes.
I imagined light. I imagined fire. I tried to summon my power.
But there was nothing.
“Come on!” I screamed. I opened my eyes.
Fenric stepped closer. His smug face was glowing in the moonlight. “It’s no use, child. Did
you really think you could outrun me? That you could escape your fate?”
“You’re a liar!” I spat. “You pretended to care about my mother!”
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He tilted his head. “I did. I still do. But you? You are something far more important.”
His hand lifted. “Dormira noctis. Vincire anima.”
The words slammed into me like thunder.
My knees buckled. My limbs felt like stone.
I screamed, but it came out weak.
“Rylan!” I called.
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He was still fighting. There was blood running down his cheek, but he turned to me. “Lisa!
Hold on!”
A shadow shot forward and knocked him off his feet.
“Sierra!” I cried. “Please!”
“I can’t break through! It’s like… like I’m locked inside you!”
“Then scream! Do something!”
“Lisa, listen. You have to stay awake. Don’t let him win.”
But the darkness was too strong.
I looked up. The world was spinning.
I saw Rylan crawling toward me. His mouth opened.
“Lisa! Don’t! Don’t close your eyes!”
But I couldn’t stop it.
The last thing I saw was his face.
Then blackness swallowed me whole.
