Chapter 149
The morning was peaceful, deceptively so. The kind of quiet that made my heart uneasy. The pack had been rebuilding itself from the damage done in recent months, and today felt like a fresh start—or at least I tried to convince myself of that.
I sat at the large wooden table in the packhouse, sipping tea while watching Fatima and Sophie bicker about who made the better breakfast. The scent of eggs, sausage, and pancakes filled the air, and for a moment, everything felt normal. Jake was out with his warriors, reinforcing our border patrols, while Althea and I planned another round of protective spells for the territory.
“Are you going to eat that or just stare at it?” Fatima asked, nudging my plate with her fork.
I blinked, realizing I’d been staring at my food for too long. My appetite had been all over the place lately—some days I couldn’t eat enough, and others, I could barely stomach anything.
“I’m eating, I’m eating,” I mumbled, picking up my fork and forcing a bite of eggs into my mouth.
Sophie plopped down in the seat across from me, eyeing me suspiciously. “You’ve been weird lately. Not in the pregnancy-weird way, just... off. What’s going on in that complicated head of yours?”
I hesitated. I couldn’t tell them. I couldn’t tell anyone. Not until I figured out a way to stop this fate from coming true.
“I’m just tired,” I said, forcing a smile. “That’s all.”
Sophie didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t push.
As we ate, I felt an odd sensation in my chest—a sudden tightness that made it difficult to breathe. My fingers curled around the wooden edge of the table as a cold sweat broke out along my back.
Althea walked in, her expression shifting the second she saw me. “Prisca?”
Before I could respond, the earth trembled beneath us. Plates and cups clattered against the table, and a few of the warriors rushed in from outside.
“What was that?” Fatima asked, standing up so fast her chair scraped against the floor.
One of the warriors, Darius, wiped sweat from his brow. “The patrol found something at the southern border. Or rather... something found them.”
Jake.
I pushed myself to my feet, my heart slamming against my ribs. “Where is he?”
Darius hesitated. “He’s fighting. But it’s bad, Luna.”
I didn’t waste time. I bolted out of the packhouse, ignoring the voices calling after me. The moment I stepped outside, I felt it—an overwhelming, suffocating presence in the air.
The skies darkened unnaturally, thick clouds rolling in like a storm was about to break loose. The air was heavy with the scent of blood and something foul—something wrong.
Shadow wolves.
I ran toward the southern border, my magic crackling at my fingertips as I prepared for the worst. I could hear the sounds of battle before I even reached the treeline—snarls, growls, and the clash of bodies.
Then I saw them.
Dozens of shadow wolves, their black forms shifting unnaturally as if they weren’t entirely solid. They were massive, larger than any normal wolf, their eyes glowing like burning embers. Our warriors fought desperately, but for every wolf they took down, another two appeared.
And then I saw him.
Jake.
His massive wolf tore through the enemies, his fur stained with blood. He moved like a force of nature, but even he couldn’t be everywhere at once. A shadow wolf lunged at him from behind, but before it could sink its teeth into him, a blast of magic erupted from my palm, sending the creature flying.
Jake’s wolf turned, his black eyes locking onto me. A flicker of relief crossed his gaze before he shifted back, his chest heaving.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he growled.
“And you shouldn’t be fighting alone,” I shot back.
Before he could argue, a deep, guttural roar echoed through the battlefield, freezing everyone in place.
A new figure emerged from the treeline.
Not a wolf. Not even a creature I could name.
It was tall—inhumanly tall—its body covered in black, jagged armor-like skin. Its face was twisted, its mouth stretched too wide, revealing rows of serrated teeth. Its hollow, sunken eyes locked onto me, and the moment they did, something inside me recoiled.
I knew this creature.
I had seen it before.
In my visions.
“No,” I whispered.
Jake moved instantly, stepping in front of me. “Stay back.”
The creature let out a sickening laugh, the sound distorted and unnatural. “Ah... the cursed witch and her Alpha.”
My fingers curled into fists. “What do you want?”
The creature tilted its head, its lips curling into a grotesque grin. “A trade.”
A cold wave of fear washed over me.
“What kind of trade?” Jake growled.
The creature’s eyes flickered down to my stomach. “The child.”
My breath caught.
Jake’s entire body tensed. “Over my dead body.”
The creature chuckled. “That can be arranged.”
Before I could react, it moved—faster than anything I had ever seen. One moment it was standing before us, the next, it was right in front of me.
Jake lunged, but it was too late.
Pain exploded through my body as the creature’s clawed hand sliced across my stomach. I gasped, a choked cry escaping my lips as I crumpled to the ground.
“Prisca!” Jake’s voice was distant, panicked.
I pressed my hands to my stomach, warmth spreading between my fingers. My vision blurred, my breaths coming in shallow, ragged gasps.
The baby.
No.
No, no, no—
Jake’s roar shook the battlefield, his wolf taking over as he launched himself at the creature with a fury I had never seen before. Claws tore, teeth ripped, and blood splattered across the ground.
I barely felt it when Althea and Fatima rushed to my side. Their voices were muffled, distant.
I felt so cold.
“Stay with me, Prisca,” Althea begged, pressing her hands over mine, trying to stop the bleeding.
But I knew.
I already knew.
Tears blurred my vision, slipping down my cheeks. “I... I lost him.”
Fatima cursed under her breath, her voice shaking. “No, you didn’t. We can fix this.”
But we couldn’t.
I felt it—the absence. The unbearable, aching emptiness.
The life that had once been growing inside me was gone.
Jake’s agonized roar echoed through the battlefield, a sound so raw, so broken, that it made my heart shatter all over again.
I turned my head, watching as he stood over the lifeless body of the creature, his chest heaving, his entire body trembling.
His gaze found mine.
And in that moment, he knew.
I saw it in his eyes.
The devastation.
The grief.
The unbearable, soul-crushing loss.
Jake fell to his knees beside me, his hands shaking as he cupped my face. “No... No, no, no—”
I reached up, touching his cheek, my own vision darkening.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
And then everything went black.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
