Chapter 14 #3
The capital is alive with color and sound.
Lanterns hang from every building, casting warm light over cobblestone streets packed with people. Music drifts from multiple directions—drums, flutes, stringed instruments I can’t name. The air smells like roasted meat and spiced wine and fresh flowers.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathe, taking it all in.
Seth’s hand finds mine, our fingers interlacing. “Wait till you see the main square.”
He leads me through the crowd, and I marvel at how different he looks here. No uniform, no commander’s bearing. Just Seth, in simple clothes, smiling at me like I’m the only person who matters.
He stops at a vendor’s cart and buys two skewers of some meat that smells incredible. “Try this.”
I take a bite and nearly moan. “What is it?”
“Honey-glazed pork.” His grin widens at my reaction. “Good?”
“Amazing.” I enjoy another mouthful, savoring the sweetness. “You should have told me you know about good food.”
“I’m full of surprises.” He steals a bite from my skewer, laughing when I swat his hand away.
We wander through the festival, and for a few hours, I forget. I forget about Kieran’s warning, about Zane and the Umbra Council, about everything that’s waiting back at the palace. I’m simply Selene, walking with her mate, eating too much food and laughing at his terrible jokes.
“Dance with me,” Seth says when we reach the main square.
Musicians play on a raised platform, and couples spin across the open space. I hesitate, suddenly self-conscious. “I’m not very good—”
“Neither am I.” He pulls me into his arms before I can protest further. “But I don’t care.”
One of his hands settles at the small of my back, the other cradling mine. We move awkwardly at first, finding our rhythm, but then the music swells, and something shifts. The mate bond hums between us, and our bodies instinctively sync up.
“See?” Seth’s voice is warm as I breathe in his scent. “Natural.”
I let myself melt into him, following his lead. The world narrows to just the two of us, and I savor the feeling of his heartbeat, the solid strength of him holding me close.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“For what?”
“This. All of it.” I tilt my head back, meeting his eyes. “For making me forget, even for a little while.”
His expression softens. “You deserve this, Selene. You deserve to be happy.”
A lump lodges in my throat. Before I can respond, he spins me out, then back in, making me laugh. We dance until my feet ache and my cheeks hurt from smiling.
“I need a break,” I gasp, fanning myself.
“Wine?” Seth offers.
“Please.”
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He kisses my forehead before disappearing into the crowd.
I lean against a nearby wall, catching my breath. The festival continues around me—laughter, music, the joyful chaos of celebration. My wolf is content for the first time in weeks, basking in the afterglow of dancing with our mate.
Then, I hear it.
“Selene.”
Seth’s voice. From the edge of the forest bordering the square.
I frown, scanning the crowd. He just left. How did he get over there so fast?
“Selene, please.”
There’s urgency in his tone now. Fear. My wolf perks up, alert.
I push away from the wall, moving toward the voice. The crowd thins as I reach the forest’s edge, lantern light giving way to darkness beneath the trees.
“Seth?”
“I need you. Please.”
His voice is coming from deeper in the woods. I glance back at the festival, hesitating. Something feels wrong. But that’s definitely Seth’s voice, and he sounds scared.
I step into the forest.
The sounds of the festival fade quickly, swallowed by the trees. Moonlight filters through the canopy, casting everything in silver and shadow.
“Seth?” I call again, moving deeper.
No response.
My heart starts to pound. This is wrong. This is very wrong. I’m too far from the festival now, too far from help.
I’m about to go back when suddenly, I freeze.
Red mist seeps between the trees. Exactly like in my nightmares. Exactly like the night I found Zane.
“No.” The word comes out strangled. “No, no, no—”
I try to turn around and run, but my legs won’t obey. They keep moving forward, deeper into the forest, deeper into the mist.
My head feels empty. Hollow. Like someone has scooped out my thoughts and left only the command to walk.
I try to fight it. Try to stop. But my body betrays me, one foot in front of the other, steady and inexorable.
The mist thickens. My wolf’s presence—always there, always alert—begins to fade. The mate bond with Seth, that constant warmth in my chest, grows cold and distant.
No! I scream internally, but my mouth won’t form words. Seth! Seth, help me!
A figure materializes as I move through the red haze.
Kieran.
He stands in a clearing, moonlight illuminating the grim set of his features. His hands move in complex patterns, fingers weaving through the air. His lips chant words I don’t understand.
The numbness eases slightly. Just enough for terror to flood in.
“Stop,” I try to say, but it comes out as a whimper.
Kieran’s eyes meet mine. There’s no malice there. Just cold determination.
His chanting grows louder. His hand motions become more frantic. The red mist swirls around us, thick and suffocating, but his gestures seem to push against it, fighting something I can’t see.
My vision blurs. The world starts to spin, colors bleeding together until I can’t tell up from down. The mate bond flickers—weaker now, but still there, a thin thread connecting me to Seth, somewhere beyond this nightmare.
The last thing I see is Kieran’s grim expression as darkness rushes up to claim me.
Then, nothing.
Just endless, terrifying black.