Elaria's POV
I was flung through the air by magic, no direction or control. My mother's final magic hurled me across unknown lands, spinning through sky and shadow until gravity seized me and the earth rose up to punish me.
I crashed hard.
The impact cracked through bone and soul. My ribs screamed. My back split open on stone and Earth greeted me like it wanted me to stay buried.
When the dust settled, for a moment, I couldn't breathe. I lay there, limp, bleeding, and broken beneath a sky that no longer felt like it belonged to me. Memories of all that happened came rushing back and then came the scream.
Raw and unholy. It ripped out of me like it had been waiting, lurking in my chest all along.
"AHHHHH!"
It wasn't a sound, it was pain, it was my mother dying, my mate turning and my wolf fading. It was the Alpha's lies and the Luna's blade and Kaelen's silence. It was the betrayal of everything I had ever trusted.
I screamed until my throat tore. Until blood laced the back of my tongue and until the wind trembled around me.
Then I cursed.
"I HATE YOU!" I sobbed, clutching at the ground like it owed me something. "Moon Goddess, do you hear me?! I HATE YOU!"
My voice cracked and my fingers dug into dirt.
"You gave me nothing! You took everything! My mother's dead. My wolf's gone. And that bastard...he LIED!"
My chest heaved as fresh agony lit up every nerve.
"I should've died with her…"
I curled inward, trembling. My tears soaked the soil. My arms ached. My lungs burned. I felt hollow. No strength. No bond. No mate. No magic.
Nothing left but a broken name and a body too stubborn to die.
I didn't know how long I lay there before I heard them.
Voices, familiar and close.
"Find her!"
"She landed this way!"
"The Alpha wants her head...don't let her get away!"
My breath froze and my heart lurched.
Crescent warriors.
They were coming for me.
For the kill.
"No…" I groaned, forcing my hands under me. My arms buckled, but I shoved again, teeth grit, pain slicing through my side as I staggered up.
I stumbled toward the forest, dragging my weight forward, breath hitching with every limp step. My legs barely moved and my vision blurred.
But I didn't stop, I couldn't.
Branches clawed at my skin, thorns bit into my calves but I didn't flinch.
Because behind me were wolves who would tear me apart. They would kill me without hesitation and despite wanting to die, my mothers last words kept me moving.
I couldn't let them finish what they started.
Not yet.
Not like this.
"Goddess," I whispered, panting, "just one more step…"
My head spun, my wounds reopened and I tasted iron.
Still...I ran.
Through dead woods and empty wasteland. Through roots and shadows. Through the ache of my own bones trying to give out. They'll find me at this rate, my scent, the blood dripping from my wounds... I'm not going to make it.
But suddenly, something stirred, faintly and almost forgotten.
Her.
My wolf.
Her voice came softly, weak and barely there.
"East..." she whispered.
My knees shook. "What?"
"East… something… its calling us…"
I didn't have time to argue or question it.
Couldn't afford to.
I turned east.
My body moved east as if the word itself had become my compass. The faint tug of instinct and magic guided me through twisted woods, my limbs barely holding me upright. Every step sent pain shooting through my bones, but I kept going,one staggering foot in front of the other.
Behind me, the shouts grew louder and closer.
"She couldn't have gone far, track the blood!"
My blood.
It trailed behind me, every drop a beacon and I cursed it, I cursed everything.
And then, just ahead, I saw it... quiet, and hidden.
A cave.
Massive and still, swallowed by the forest itself. Thick vines curled over its entrance like the roots of time had tried to bury it. Moss clung to the stone, and strange glowing runes pulsed faintly beneath the moonlight, carved into the rock like they'd been etched by hands no longer living.
Silver light shimmered across the symbols, casting soft glows against the vines. Some pulsed slowly. Others blinked in clusters, as if reacting to something unseen. I'd never seen markings like these before, yet the magic in the air felt oddly... familiar. Like it recognized me.
I stumbled forward, breath catching.
The energy surrounding the cave made my skin prickle. It wasn't threatening, it felt old, powerful, and watchful. The magic hummed, vibrating faintly in the soles of my feet, whispering in a language my bones almost understood.
Then...
"THERE!"
Voices were too close now
My head snapped back toward the forest. The warriors had caught up and then it happened.
The runes flared brighter, one by one, as if sensing me... my presence.
And the cave... opened.
The vines parted, the stones shifted and the air pulled inward.
It was as though the mountain itself had exhaled, and made space for me.
I didn't hesitate and threw myself inside.
The moment my body crossed the threshold, the entrance sealed behind me with a thundering boom, muffling the voices outside.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
The air was thick, damp, and cold. I couldn't see more than a few inches ahead. The scent of earth and old power surrounded me.
I fell to my hands and knees, crawling deeper into the cave. My body trembled. I was cold, shaking and bleeding too much. My palm left smears of red across the stone. I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.
"I need... to heal," I murmured. "Just a little... please..."
But nothing came.
No warmth. No light or even a spark.
Just more blood and more pain.
Everything inside me was unraveling.
I slumped fully to the ground, wrapping my arms tightly around my middle as I tried to slow the bleeding with what little strength I had left. My body trembled, my head growing heavier with each breath, and my eyelids began to droop, thick with exhaustion.
Just as the darkness threatened to pull me under, a sharp crack echoed through the cave.
The sound was close and deliberate, like something had shifted in the stone.
My eyes snapped open as my entire body went still, instincts screaming.
Then came another sound, a deep, heavy thump, followed by another, and another, slow and deliberate, like footsteps too heavy for any normal creature.
I held my breath, heart pounding painfully against my ribs.
The air thickened and then I heard it.
A growl.
Low and guttural, rolling out from the shadows, it wasn't just sound, it was presence.
Ancient, wild and powerful.
My spine stiffened as every inch of me tensed. I didn't need to see it to know.
I wasn't alone.
Something else was in here with me.
Something massive.
And whatever it was… it had just woken up.
Fear was pressing down on my lungs, wrapping around my limbs, and squeezing the breath out of me. The cave wasn't just a hiding place anymore, it was alive and it was watching.
I tried to move, to call on the last flicker of strength in my limbs, but my body refused. I was too weak and too broken. If whatever lurked in this darkness was a monster or a rogue… then this would be the end.
My heart pounded wildly against my ribs, each beat louder than the last. I didn't want to die here not like this. Not in a cave surrounded by strangers' bones and the echo of betrayal still screaming in my blood.
Slowly, trembling, I turned.
That's when I saw them.
Eyes.
Glowing red. Burning with something raw and otherworldly, fixed solely on me.
A massive figure stepped forward, hulking and shadowed, its broad shoulders scraping the air itself. It moved with silent power, too smooth to be human, too large to be anything I could face.
It was unfamiliar, unnatural and dangerous.
My breath hitched and then...
"Mate."
The word didn't come from the cave.
It came from inside me.
My wolf.
She didn't whisper or hesitate. She declared it, her voice strong and certain, dragging herself from the edge of fading just to say that single word.
"Mate."
The shadow paused and then it spoke.
A deep, rumbling growl rolled through the air, and though it carried no threat, it vibrated with something primal and possessive.
"Mate," he declared.
My eyes widened but before I could speak, before I could even breathe, pain struck.
White-hot agony flared along my wrist, so sudden and sharp I screamed.
A mark began to carve itself into my skin, glowing, ancient, and alive.
It wasn't just pain, it was branding.
It seared through me, burning deeper than bone. My body twisted violently, writhing on the stone floor as the symbol etched itself into flesh and soul, curling in patterns I couldn't understand but somehow felt were meant only for me.
"STOP!" I cried, clawing at the mark, but there was no stopping it.
It pulsed once, twice and then it thrummed, syncing with my heartbeat, charging every cell with energy I didn't recognize. My vision swam, my body convulsing with each wave of power that tore through me.
This wasn't like my first shift.
It was worse, it was deeper and painful.
The world tilted.
My bones felt too light, my skin too tight and my heart was beating with renowned vigour.
And just before the darkness took me, I heard him again.
The silhouette took a step closer, voice dropping to something softer and almost reverent.
"You came at last, huh?" he murmured. "How long I've waited for you."
Then everything went black.