Blackthorn 104
_Kael’s POV_
The road twisted beneath my tires like a serpent. It was dark and winding through the trees. The sky above was black and heavy with storm clouds. I drove fast. I was pushing the car harder than I should have. My hands gripped the wheel tight. My knuckles were white.
I tried calling her. Again.
No answer.
“She’s not picking up,” I muttered.
Valric growled inside me. “She never does. She has always been secretive.”
“Not tonight,” I snapped. “She has to listen. She has to help.”
The scent of pine filled the air. The forest was thick. It was closing in around the road. I knew the way to Morana’s cabin like I knew my own heartbeat. It was tucked far from the main Nightshade territory and hidden in a shadowed valley. No one went there unless they had to.
Tonight, I had to.
I reached the clearing and slammed the car door behind me. The air was cold. It was biting into my skin. I marched up to the wooden porch and knocked hard.
Nothing.
I knocked again, louder this time.
“Morana! Open the door!”
Still nothing.
I slammed my fist against the door. It rattled on its hinges.
“You’ll wake the entire forest,” Valric muttered.
“Good. Let the trees help if she won’t.”
Finally, the door creaked open. Morana stood there in a long dark robe. Her hair was messy and her eyes were half–closed.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?” she snapped. “Who do you think you are, banging on my door like a wild animal? Even if you’re the Alpha’s son, you don’t get to disturb me in the
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middle of the night.”
She moved to shut the door.
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“Wait! Please,” I said quickly, stepping forward and holding the door. My voice cracked. “It’s urgent. Lisa’s in danger. I saw her….she was taken.”
Morana blinked slowly. She looked tired, but my words got through. Her eyes sharpened.
“Taken? By who?”
“Supernaturals. They used magic. Black magic. They weren’t wolves. They didn’t shift. They chanted, and the ground moved. They took her and Rylan. They vanished.”
Her face changed. The lines of irritation faded. She looked at me like she was seeing something deeper.
“Come inside,” she said. Her voice was soft now. “But only you.”
Jared and Alex had followed me in the car. They tried to step forward, but Morana raised a
hand.
“No. He comes alone.”
I glanced back at them and nodded. They stayed near the car. They looked tense.
I stepped into the cabin. The air inside smelled of herbs, wax, and something older. Books were stacked on every surface. There were crystals, bones, and jars filled with strange powders. Candles flickered along the walls.
Morana sat on a deep red couch and motioned for me to sit across from her. I sank into the
chair. My muscles were tight. I felt like I had run for miles.
She stared at me. Her face was unreadable. “Make it quick. I’m tired. And not in the mood for
drama.”
I nodded. I took a deep breath and told her everything.
How I had followed Rylan. How I saw Lisa trying to escape. How Rylan stopped her. How the Alpha of Shadowrune and his people appeared from the shadows.
“They didn’t smell like wolves,” I said. “They didn’t shift. They chanted. They controlled the earth. The smoke. The air. One of them blew something into Rylan’s face. Lisa was
screaming. Then they vanished with them.”
Morana didn’t speak for a long moment. Her fingers tapped the edge of her armrest. Her eyes were half–closed, like she was listening to something far away.
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Then she whispered, “Are you sure they were from the Shadowrune Pack?”
“Yes,” I said. “They called Fenric their Alpha.”
Her body went still.
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“They’re not wolves,” she said. “They’re witches. A coven hiding under the name of a pack. I should’ve known… I should’ve seen this.”
I leaned forward. “You know them?”
“I knew of them. Long ago. But I thought… I thought they were gone.”
She stood and moved to a small table covered with bowls and tools. She picked up a silver dagger.
“I need your blood.”
I blinked. “What?”
“To see your memories. It’s the only way to know what you truly saw. Magic lies. But blood
does not.”
I hesitated. Valric growled low. “I don’t trust her.”
“We don’t have a choice,” I muttered.
I rolled up my sleeve. Morana stepped close, her eyes locked on mine.
“This might sting.”
She sliced the blade across my palm. Pain flared. Blood dripped into a small silver bowl. She added herbs, black ash, and something that looked like ground bone.
Then she lit a flame beneath the bowl.
Thick smoke rose. It was curling through the air. I coughed. My eyes were watering. The
scent was sharp and bitter.
But Morana inhaled deeply. She sat cross–legged before the bowl. Her eyes rolled back.
Silence filled the cabin.
Valric was tense inside me. “What is she doing?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
The smoke thickened. It swirled around her like a living thing. Her lips moved, whispering in a
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language I didn’t understand. Her hands hovered above the bowl.
The candle flames flickered wildly. The temperature dropped.
Then….
Her eyes snapped open.
She gasped and pulled back from the bowl.
“No,” she whispered. Her voice was hoarse. “This is not possible.”
I stood. “What did you see?”
She stared at me. She looked pale and shaken. Her hands trembled.
Then she said the words that chilled me to my core.
“He is the one.”
And that’s where everything shattered.
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Chapter 105
Chapter 105
