Chapter 43
As soon as the Silvershots entered the Azure Moon Pack again, the warriors of the pack dropped to one knee, heads bowed low in submission.
The Silvershots didn’t wear any clothes.
Their bodies were bare, smeared with blood and mud, the marks of the struggle they had just come from.
Deep claw marks ran down their backs. Some had bites on their shoulders.
Their legs were scratched and torn as if they had run through thorns.
Their breathing was uneven. A few couldn’t even lift their heads from exhaustion.
It was clear the chase in the woods had taken everything out of them. Their eyes scanned the courtyard sharply.
The moment Jared, their leader, stepped forward, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers once. He pointed left, then right, then toward the northern edge of the woods.
Without a word, his men split up and moved in the direction he gave them, still unclad. Every move they made was fast and controlled.
When the last man left, the leader’s voice rang out across the silence.
"Who is the Beta of this pack?"
Beta Axel quickly stepped forward from the line of warriors and bowed low in front of the Silvershot leader.
Jared walked toward him slowly. He stopped right in front of Axel, grabbed his chin, and forced his head up.
"Did Zayron come back to this pack?" he asked. "Don't lie to me!"
Axel tried to stay calm, even though the pressure on his chin made him grit his teeth.
"Has Alpha Zayron returned?"
Axel's voice was steady despite the firm grip. "No, sir. Since he fled, we haven't seen him. After he was struck with the poisoned dart containing silver and wolfsbane, we feared he might have succumbed in the forest."
Jared released Axel's face, placing his hands on his hips as he exhaled slowly.
"There was a moment we believed he had fallen. We tracked his fading scent, expecting to find him incapacitated. Instead, we found him revitalized, as if he'd encountered a healer of extraordinary power."
Axel's brow furrowed. "Did you see anyone else in the woods?"
Jared shook his head. "Our focus was solely on capturing Zayron. We didn't investigate further."
Axel nodded thoughtfully. "Understood. But I assure you, Zayron hasn't returned to the pack."
Jared's attention shifted as he noticed some of his men approaching from the distance, their expressions grave.
"Sir," Bryan said, standing at attention. "We’ve searched the perimeters, north, east, and every clearing within a three-mile radius. No sign of Alpha Zayron. Not even a trail. We can confirm he didn’t come back here."
Jared turned fully toward him, his brows pulling together. "You're certain?"
Bryan nodded. "Yes, sir. His scent stops abruptly in the deep woods. Either he crossed into rogue territory, or something, or someone, covered his trail."
Another operative, Felix, spoke up from behind. "He was heading to the Cliff of Orpheus when he suddenly regained his strength."
Jared folded his arms, listening. "So where is he now?"
Felix tilted his head slightly, glancing toward the east. "I’m certain he will head toward the Cliff of Orpheus now that we are no longer on his trail. The cliff is the best place to hide. It is remote, sacred to some, cursed to most. No warrior dares to search too deep there."
Jared narrowed his eyes. "We’re not most warriors. If he's there, we’ll flush him out."
Just then, another Silvershot operative, Devin, walked toward Jared and leaned in close.
"Sir, I need to speak to you. Privately."
Jared gave him a short nod and stepped aside with him. Devin kept his voice low.
"Before we entered the woods yesterday, Bryan and I spoke with Richard."
"What about?"
"He said something strange. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but after seeing Zayron recover like that..." Devin paused. "He told us if Zayron ever survives the dart with silver and wolfsbane, then there’s only one explanation."
Jared stared at him. "I’m listening."
Devin took a breath. "He said that if that happened, Kayla Dracon must be nearby."
Jared’s brows shot up. "Kayla? The one Zayron has been mourning all these weeks?"
Devin nodded and whispered. "She is around the border. Is she a powerful healer? Because what we saw was extraordinary! Whoever healed him is one of the most powerful healers ever to live!"
"According to Richard, Kayla is a powerful healer. We must head back to the border and check the Cliff of Orpheus. Richard also believes if we capture Kayla and make a public announcement to the werewolf community that she’s in our custody, Zayron will surrender himself willingly."
Jared considered that, the plan already forming in his mind.
"Who is she exactly to him? His true mate?"
"Yes," Devin confirmed. "The one he’s been chasing ghosts for. The one he believes died during the Veridia and Ashokan war."
Jared’s voice came quiet but deadly clear. "Then we’re not hunting just Zayron. We’re hunting her."
Devin nodded once. "The sooner we find any of them, the sooner this ends."
Jared turned and called Bryan over.
"Bryan. We need the clothes Kayla wore yesterday. Any garment she touched recently will still carry her scent. We need to be sure who we are chasing!"
Bryan understood instantly. "Yes, sir. I’ll speak with Richard immediately and retrieve it."
Jared didn’t blink. "Go now. Every minute we waste, they get farther."
Bryan gave a crisp bow and vanished into the shadows of the Azure Moon packhouse.
Jared stood still for a second, then looked around at the warriors and his remaining operatives.
"Forget the old plan. We’re not chasing only Alpha Zayron. We’re chasing Kayla too. Once she’s with us, Zayron will come."
His voice dropped, but every man heard the final command clearly.
"And when he does, he won’t run again," Jared said, and silence fell in the courtyard.
The Cliff of Orpheus wasn’t as deadly as the stories claimed. Kayla climbed it through the night, and though her body ached and her fingers were scraped raw, the path itself had not tried to kill her.
No wolves with red eyes waited behind the trees. No invisible force had pushed her off balance. There were no whispering winds that lured travelers to their deaths. All lies.
She remembered the warnings passed from mouth to mouth back in the college and even among the rogues. They said that the cliff was alive and swallowed anyone who dared to step on its soil.
That there were wolves up there, blind, wild ones, that tore through flesh without thought or hunger. That there was a region halfway up where the wind turned icy and froze travelers until their limbs broke off like twigs.
Some said their spirits remained there, crying for warmth that would never come. Yet here she was. At the top.
Perhaps those stories were made up to keep people away. Perhaps it was all a clever way to protect the Alchemist of Lythos, the woman said to be cursed, said to live between the living and the dead.
No one ever admitted to meeting her and coming back. Kayla paused near the edge and looked behind her.
The climb had been long, and every step had been driven by one thought: saving Zayron. Now that she was here, she stood still.
Ahead of her, not far from where she stood, was an old tower. The structure looked like it had been dragged out of another century. Its stones were worn, blackened by age and weather.
Moss grew in thick patches along its base. The door was slightly open, creaking with every breath of wind.
Not a single soul moved around it. Not even the Vyrekins. The place was quiet and creepy.
The sky had turned a pale gray. The morning sun hid behind thick clouds, and the air was cool but not freezing. Mist clung to the ground in soft swirls, curling around Kayla’s boots.
She stepped forward, then stopped. What if all the stories weren’t completely lies? What if there was something in that tower that no one had ever come back to describe?
Her throat tightened. She wanted to turn back.
But when she looked over her shoulder, she saw movement far below. Her eyes narrowed.
They were warriors. The same Silvershots that chased Zayron were now gathered at the base of the cliff, staring up.
It wasn’t hard to guess why they were there. This time, they were after her.
Kayla’s heart pounded. She forced her gaze away and looked at the tower again.
Then, a voice came. Calm. Low. Strong.
"Go back."
Kayla froze. She looked around, but there was no one in sight. The wind whispered again, but this time it was different.
"You do not belong here. Turn around. Go back before it’s too late."
Then a second voice came. It was gentler, and yet firmer.
"Keep going. You didn’t come all this way to run. You climbed all night. You bled. You fought through the dark. You didn’t listen to the lies about this place. So why would you listen to this one?"
The first voice returned, louder this time.
"This is your last warning. That tower does not hold salvation. Only more ruin."
"And yet you’re still here, whispering in my ears?" Kayla whispered to herself.
Her breath came faster. Her legs trembled. The mist was rising now, curling higher up her knees.
Seraphina’s warning echoed in her head.
"The good Vyrekins speak once. Only once. Their words are simple and never repeated. The dangerous ones talk too much. They try so hard to convince you."
Kayla’s lips parted as she clutched her stomach lightly. Zayron was out there, getting more and more confused. Kayla didn't even see going back as an option.
She had suffered a lot to change her mind. At this point, it was forward ever.
She stared at the tower again. One voice had spoken once and stopped. The other had already tried three times.
Kayla took a shaky breath, lifted her chin, and took a step forward.
The wind tried to howl louder, as if it wanted to pull her back, but she shut her ears to it. She wasn’t going back.
She came for Zayron. And no voice, human, spirit, or cursed, was going to stop her now.
As Kayla stepped forward, her aunt’s words echoed in her mind once more:
"Whatever the Alchemist asks you to sacrifice, that is the solution to Alpha Zayron’s problem."
Kayla tightened her grip on her cloak. She couldn’t wait to hear what the sacrifice would be.