“Please get them home safely,” I asked my sister.
“Dec, wait! We need you.”
Our woods were comforting as I ran. The scents of pine, the rustle of snow on branches, the taste of life holding its breath for spring to arrive. Old Magic filled me to bursting. My bones cracked and grew. My muzzle descended into a nightmare of teeth. Any human part of my shifter nature crumbled as I became the thing every pack member would be without the Old Magic, without me as their Alpha.
It was better this way. I would watch over my pack without them having to look upon my grief.
Ned raced beside me, faithful until the end. He tried to herd me back to Nightfell, but the monster in me knew no master. I ran faster, trying to outpace him, scare him away and still he kept on coming, a little ball of sunshine in the increasingly black and whiteforest.
Winter rose to greet me. Tendrils of icy wind ruffled through my fur until I no longer had a pelt. I headed to the deepest part of the forest where my people daren’t tread. The heart of Old Magic beat strongest here. The trees bleached of color. Giant hares left trails where they burrowed beneath the snows. Wassets hunted in the night. Ice wraiths wailed their mournful songs to the snowbirds dressed in their finest grey and white.
Not even Ned presenting a squirrel at my feet cracked the ice forming around my heart. I nudged it back to him, barking at him to leave. He bowed to me as if this were a great game.
Then he barked right back until we were in some sort of demented competition to see who could be the loudest until my voice cracked like thunder across the wood and even Ned was silenced. My best boy shook with the force of it and my heart submerged into an icy brine.
All the racket brought out the stranger parts of the Old Wood. A great, shaggy Koguhpuk led with its gigantic curving tusks, peeking from its burrow, ready to defend its territory. Its large, toothy grin didn’t hide the exposed intestines it dragged out of its hole in a nauseating display of dominance.
Hurt and angry, this was the first time I’d ever felt mean. Stomping square feet meant nothing but a challenge. What good was my kindness without Honey? That was how the rest of the Kings and Queens of the Harrowlandsruled–with fear and strength, right? Some part of me recognized I was turning Ajak. Most of me didn’t care.
I chuffed out a warning despite my resolve and the Koguhpuk charged forward. There wasn’t any more rational thought. I was just a monster without her. Those tusks met my side and the pain barely registered. I was already full of it. But the blood in my mouth, the dying squeals of the creature who dared harm me, spread a blank kind of soothing over my mind.
Ned whined below me. He was so far away now, or I had grown. I tossed the carcass of the Koguhpuk from me, hearing its bones rattle in the dead silence of the forest.
My claws dug into the earth. My teeth met the bark of the trees. I released my rage upon the forestland. A Stavian elk took flight and the thrill of the chase filled me. I hungered for more blood, more destruction. The elk fell to my claws and I feasted in giant, messy gulps. I needed more to elude these emotions. More to fill the endless void.
Animals took to their burrows. The moon hid behind a skirt of clouds. Even the wind died to escape my notice. The forest shuddered under my wrath.
I would be the face of winter, the coming of the storm, the whisper of death itself. For if I couldn't be Honey's light, then I would be darkness itself.
Chapter 28
Fallon
Ifollowed Ned deeper into the forest. The groan of crying trees wasn't exactly reassuring but I trusted that dog. More than that, the full force of Declan’s pain hit me through the bond now that we were closer together. His agony almost swept me under. The Hollow Fever was nothing compared to his mourning. My mind scrambled to understand why I had left him in the first place.
I blindly stumbled through the woods, magic pulsing deep inside. It was strange to be in a forest without any life until I realized everything was hiding. The mists curled around my ankles, drawing me forward.
This was Maggie’s sort of place. Skeletal tree branches and a witchling type of moonlight that only encouraged a creeping dread. I was more kitchen fires and warm cups of mead. Ithought Declan was too, so I wasn’t exactly sure why he was out here in the howling winter wind. Creepy as fuck was too kind a description, and the scream that rent the air rippled fear over my body in a chill.
I ran before reason caught up with me and Ned gamboled beside me, not even panting. Unfortunately, I wasn’t made for running, no matter how scary the woods, so despite my body’s every intention, I slowed after what seemed like 3 days but was probably only a few minutes.
“Declan!” I called out into the mist-shrouded night.
Then I realized I probably shouldn't be shouting into the uncanny wood with Godds knew what kind of creatures roaming it.
DECLAN!I shouted into his mind instead.Please come back to me.
The silence that followed gripped my heart. I understood that this part of the Harrowlands was different, rawer with Old Magic but I felt it for the first time. The darkness had weight. I tasted the bitter air left behind by a spell. Surely, my best friend wouldn’t be here. This was the home of nightmares.
My mind flipped through fifteen lists of actions I could take and none of them would be worth a fistful of salt in this place. And when I saw movement in the shadows, I had to accept that none of my lists, preparation, or hard work were going to save me from the horror that moved in the dark. Because in this wood I didn't need to worry about a stray cougar or even a magical bear. The thing that slithered through thegloam to my right didn't have much of a form other than ten gaping mouths twisted into the night itself. Eyes blinked along a section of rising dark and then winked out.
I edged away, trying to pull Ned with me, but the stupid dog insisted on bristling up between me and the dark shape.
“We’re not heroes, Ned,” I whispered, hoping against hope the thing hadn’t seen us.
The dog’s huff would have done Noth justice.
DECLAN!I yelled again, now praying.Now’s the time to sweep me off my feet.
