Chapter 2 #2
I knew that they could feel my surprise and nervousness through our bond, their wolves pressing toward me in comfort.
“Once we receive the intel we need, we leave,” Basir agreed. “If you want to, Gracie.”
“I do,” I said. “I’m just nervous. I’ve never left the territory I grew up in, not really, and now I’ve gone to two other territories within the span of the past month… and now more. I want to do this. I won’t hide from it, but I am nervous.”
A small surge of pride strummed through me at my ability to so openly express that to them.
“We will be there next to you, and I think having your voice—as long as you’re comfortable with it—to explain what is going on in Cold Moon will be invaluable,” Ravik pointed out.
“Just think of it as a vacation,” Thornar offered with a wink.
I let out a small laugh. Thinking of it that way did make me feel better…
sort of. The last trip I’d taken was with my parents to one of the territory's larger cities for a week. It had been over a decade since I’d even considered the concept of a vacation.
“So where are we going to have lunch?” I asked.
“The central gardens,” Ravik answered. “We have something we want you to see.”
“They come here every day?” I asked softly. I sat on a patio between Basir and Ravik, with Thornar across from me, his feet locked with mine so we were still touching as I ate my sandwich.
“Ever since the group of you arrived,” Basir explained.
Nearby, about twenty people from the Cold Moon Pack had gathered, enjoying the fresh air of the garden. It was a beautiful place, a winding stone pathway lined with trimmed hedges and garden beds surrounding fountains.
“I get it,” Thornar said. “It’s easier to get through shit when you can talk about it with someone who went through it with you.”
I had a feeling he was remembering what Elowen and him had gone through before coming to Ironsun territory.
“I’m glad they’re safe,” I whispered. “I hope they’re adjusting…” My words drifted off in thought. The transition to Ironsun was a lot, even with the help and support of my mates.
Ravik’s gaze shifted to me. “We made sure they have places to stay and work.”
I recognized the faces I saw, but I didn’t know any of them well.
They knew me, though, and I felt the urge to go talk to them.
What would I say, though? Would they expect me to have answers because of the company I kept?
To have some sort of comfort to share? I could see it in the glances they sent my way, the questions they had about their loved ones who were still trapped with Ivan.
I truly believed we would try to save them all, but it felt ridiculous to tell them that.
Who was I to promise that I could bring their children back? Their partners? Their parents?
Trapped in thought as my mates talked quietly around me, I let the gravity of the mission we were embarking on sink in.
It would have been easy to hide away, to wash my hands of this.
To bury that part of my life and replace it with the happiness and comfort that these men brought me.
I had been through so much…but I couldn’t do that.
That wasn’t true healing, and if there was a chance to stop more suffering at Ivan’s hands, I had to help.
That was all I needed to remember when I doubted myself.
My wolf suddenly surged forward. I let out a sound of discontent, rubbing my chest as my head began buzzing. My wolf had been hidden for so long that having her so vibrant and powerful inside of me was frustrating at times.
We hadn’t fully learned to coexist again. I could feel she wanted to shift, but that wasn’t possible. I wasn’t ready to be that vulnerable with so many eyes around. More so, the color change in my wolf felt significant—something to keep quiet for now.
Unfortunately, I realized too late that it wasn’t really about my wolf.
“Child of shadows and moonlight.”
The world around me swarmed with darkness as a voice echoed loudly in my head.
I gasped under the pressure of pure, raw magic as a cold wind whipped past me.
The taste of power—of Nyxarra—but something even more filled the air.
Silence rang in my ears, and my eyes leaked with tears before I finally landed on a hard, cold floor.
At first there was nothing, but slowly my vision filled with a dim light that highlighted thick bars that disappeared up into the sky. Behind them stood Nyxarra, her chains broken and on the floor. She stared at me, a single hand extended.
Was this what her words from before had meant? “You freed me from my chains, but I am still held prisoner.”
Trying to find my footing, I stood and walked forward, but the liminal space in front of me seemed to stretch and stretch, her name for me echoing on repeat in a soft whisper.
There was fear threaded through her voice, and I could feel something else moving behind the bars, the sound of shuffling causing my stomach to sink.
When I fell to my knees, realizing I wouldn’t reach her like this, I saw it.
Two gigantic shadows shifted behind her, their forms abstract yet terrifying. I could feel their gaze. I could feel malice leaking off of them.
“Help me,” she whispered, her eyes widening in horror as a massive hand came down on her. A physical shockwave radiated through the room, her scream ripping through the air as I was thrown out of the vision.
Voices and hands surrounded me, my mates asking me in low and urgent tones what happened and if I was okay. I couldn’t answer because no, I wasn’t okay.
“We were wrong,” I said, my voice shaking as I tried to sit up. “It isn’t just Nyxarra. There are…others.”