Pushing through the nagging pain, I get to my paws and distend my sharp claws, lunging for the demon and slicing its back. As it falls onto its side, I act quickly and race toward Rissa, my paws pounding the ground at alarming speed despite my injuries. Her magic retracts in a heartbeat, and she flings herself onto my back without needing a command. It’s like we’re working in tandem without needing words, not even telepathically.
As I run through the woods with Rissa on my back, I can feel the demon’s ominous presence lurking close behind. It’s still chasing us, but thanks to Rissa, we got our window of opportunity to run away.
The prophecy was true…
Rissa is the third witch who will help Alpha Elias and Luna Aurora’s child defeat the underworld for good.
I’m just not sure what that means for us. For her. Or for me.
For now, we just need to get to safety. But I can’t lure the demon to Girdwood when the others are not prepared.
Chapter 5 - Rissa
Adrenaline pulses through me like hot licking flames that consume me, keeping my fists tightly wound in Brooks’s fur as he races through the woods. I can sense the demon behind us, but I’m too afraid to look back over my shoulder.
I can hardly believe I just did that. Wielding magic was not on my list of achievements ever since I could remember. In a moment of desperation, watching the sub-Alpha of Snehvolk being overpowered by the demon, the magic sprang out of me without my control or conscious doing.
Too high on the adrenaline coursing through my veins now, I put to rest my raging thoughts, hanging onto Brooks’s fur for dear life. Instead of giving my attention to the malevolent spirit chasing us through the woods, I shut my eyelids and chant the Moon Goddess’s name in desperation.
“Lord Selene…Lord Selene…”I mentally plead for deliverance from this evil, feeling as if my thoughts are not my own when Brooks’s breaths come out in hot, desperate pants as he navigates the forest, heading in the direction of Girdwood. It’s as if his breath is in sync with my thoughts and utter despair while I cling to him, his agile wolf dodging every obstacle in our way.
The moment I open my eyes for a brief second, I see a thatched-roof hut in the near distance. Brooks’s pounding, galloping steps take us closer to the tiny structure, and he doesn’t stop running until we’re near enough for him to lift up on his hind legs, kick the door in with his large front paws, and swiftly fling me off his back. He shifts into human form and quickly steps inside, then spins and slams the door shut.
His head hangs at the closed door, palms flattened on the wooden frame to brace himself into calmness.
“We’re safe here…” he pants unsteadily without turning toward me. “This place is sealed with Luna Aurora’s magic.”
Relief washes over me, but it’s short-lived the moment I’m snapped out of my daze and the comfort of the adrenaline that had been keeping me sane. The breath I let out convulses my body into a chaotic spree of sobs that I spew from deep within, forcing me to throw my head into my trembling hands as I weep.
What the hell just happened?
My fingers remain tingling where I’d expelled magic at the demon in an attempt to save us. I draw them away from my face, my eyes hazy from the tears I’d been shedding, only to stare at my palms in shock and fear of what I’d done, and what I’ve become.
I’d never thought I had it in me, even when Yvonne’s vision was revealed to me last night. I’d been struggling to accept that I am a witch destined to unlock my powers in the emergence of a mate bond with the sub-Alpha of Snehvolk. The revelation was enough of a shock to my system, but the unraveling of those powers out of the blue tonight is even more of a shock that has me responding with what feels like the claws of anxiety and panic constricting my throat.
No one in my bloodline has these kinds of gifts, so why me?
It’s too overwhelming, and now that the reality of who I am is cemented, I know there’s no escaping it.
Coughing and spluttering over the panic I’m choking on, I feel it winding through my veins and skittering through my fingers.
Oh no.
I can’t breathe.
I’m having a panic attack.
The panic infiltrating my body doesn’t allow for a sound to escape my lips, keeping me bound to the floor where I’m keeling over myself, unable to pick myself off the spot where Brooks had thrown me to safety. My vision becomes a blur of my trepidation, and I feel my body crumbling just where I am.
A sudden warmth envelops me in its presence, shielding me from the coldness of my panic attack. I don’t bother to open my eyes, wallowing in my sorrows, while the embrace of strong arms allows me to just be and feel the weight of emotions hanging over me. Curling into myself against the solid wall of a chest has me finally sobbing again, and it’s a good sign because it means my sensations are returning to me.
“Shh…” I hear a calming voice soothe me through the deafening cries of my anguish. “You’re safe now, Rissa…” Brooks’s voice pushes through the walls of discontent. “The demon dog can’t get to us in here.”
Though he believes I’m panicking over our encounter with the demon we just escaped, I don’t want to correct him, and I can’t seem to push him away, either. I don’t want his comfort, but his arms wrapped around my fragile frame seem to be calming me down, turning my shallow breaths into longer ones that finally ease the discomfort of the anxious attack.
The claws of anxiety slowly loosen, allowing me to breathe fully and lift my eyes to Brooks’s concerned, radiantlysilver eyes as he watches me climb down from the cliff of panic. Gulping hard, I realize that I’d just basked in the comfort of his protective arms—something I shouldn’t be doing when logic sprouts to mind and throws warning flags all over this situation.
“Sorry,” I apologize flatly, quickly turning my face and becoming rigid and tense in his arms. My response to finding him crouched on the floor, holding me, has him quickly removing his arms and clearing his throat as he gets to his feet.
