Ryder rembered Reana. She was waiting for him. Ryder had seen what his dark self was capable of – it was destructive and obsessive. He’d repeat his mistakes in the past...sa mistakes that made him lose Reana for good.
Ryder didn’t want that. He didn’t want a life where Reana would call him a monster or insane.
With a fierce, eat-shattering roar, the ntal pull snapped and Ryder’s body jerked forward and he crumbled to his knees.
He was back in his body.
The cave trembled with the force of his collapse and spat out blood. Images before him blurred as his vision swam in and out of focus.
Ryder’s breath ca in sharp, shallow gasps. His hands trembled as his body rattled from the aftermath of the ntal battle.
But the man before him – Dark Snow, looked untouched by the struggle. He tilted his head, confused for a mont before his blue eyes focused on Ryder’s trembling form.
"So..." Dark Snow’s voice was a dangerous whisper. "You’re , and I’m you... and you don’t want ?" His tone shifted, growing colder with each word. "Why? What’s wrong with being ?"
The words hung in the air, charged with an eerie calmness. Ryder’s body trembled with exhaustion. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, staining his lips a dark crimson, but still, he struggled to push himself upright, leaning on the wall of the cave.
His chest heaved as his breathing grew more labored. His head spun, the reality of what he’d just learned, what he’d just confronted, spiraling in a dizzying chaos.
"Because everything about you is wrong," Ryder murmured through gritted teeth, his voice low and rough.
Dark Snow chuckled, the sound cold and mocking, a twisted mockery of what Ryder used to be. "How very perceptive of you. Yes, I’m wrong. But who made , Snow? You."
Ryder’s chest tightened. He had made so many mistakes in the past, had hurt his woman because of his dark side—his heart had torn itself apart with guilt over the destruction he’d caused in her life. Even after he made a deal with an unknown god, Ryder couldn’t rid himself of the guilt and evil that drove him to almost take his own life.
But the god he didn’t know decided to separate his evil side from him and then made him die and be reborn. Otherwise, he would have been reborn with a heart as dark as midnight.
Ryder couldn’t afford to repeat the sa mistakes. He couldn’t let the dark Ryder take over and ruin everything he’d carefully built with Reana.
The idea of her calling him a monster... He couldn’t bear that.
With that thought, a surge of defiance flooded through him. "You were born by a mistake and I regret it."
Dark Snow’s laugh was sharp, biting, and full of dark amusent. "A mistake? No, Snow. You’re the mistake. You’re a delusion. One that shouldn’t exist."
Ryder shook his head, trying to clear the fog of pain and exhaustion. "You have no place here. I refuse to be bound to you."
As if on cue, his wolf growled. He too didn’t want the monster. Dark Snow almost killed it in their previous life.
Dark Snow’s form twitched, like a shadow shifting in the darkness. "You can’t stop ." With that, he lunged forward with a wild, unrestrained rage, a blur of darkness aiming to strike.
Ryder was too weak to fight or dodge but just as Dark Snow drew near, a black figure, cloaked in black, appeared between him and Ryder – Shadow One.
Shadow One moved swiftly, ready to defend Ryder.
But Dark Snow wasn’t afraid. He was enraged. He knew Shadow One and if anything, he loathed him.
"Good you’re here." Dark Snow moved with terrifying speed, a dark blur, and in an instant, Dark Snow struck Shadow One before he could react, sending him lodging into the cave with a thunderous boom that shook the cave.
The cave scread.
A thunderous crack split the air like the sky itself had been torn open. The walls of the ancient Stonefang chambers trembled violently, dust raining from the jagged ceiling as if the mountain had co alive, roaring in fury. Stones groaned and shifted, cracks racing like veins across the walls, and then—
Boom.
The central chamber exploded inward with a sickening crunch. Rock split, torch sconces shattered, and the ceiling of the fighting hollow caved in, vomiting a plu of dust and shards out through the passageways like a dragon exhaling its final breath.
Far above in the carved living quarters, the sound hit like a war drum. It was deeper than thunder, heavier than an earthquake—more like a pulse from the earth’s core. It shattered silence, and all who heard it stopped in their tracks. The council guards stood a good distance away from the crumbling cave, eyes wide, hearts hamring in sync with the quaking floor beneath their feet.
Even the seasoned warriors, those hardened and scarred by war, rushed over, but none dared to go too close. They exchanged alard glances. So clutched walls for balance, others instinctively reached for their blades. But every single one of them knew...
That sound wasn’t natural.
It was sothing primal. A beast made flesh. Sothing ancient and angry.
Reana jolted upright from the stone bench in her chamber, heart leaping to her throat. Her bare feet hit the cold floor before her mind could even catch up. She didn’t wait to throw on shoes or a coat. She just yanked the heavy door open and burst into the corridor.
She ran.
The mountain walls trembled again, a second shockwave rolling through like a growl. Reana’s hair whipped around her shoulders, her breath sharp in her lungs. Her body knew before her brain did.
Only one person could cause that kind of chaos. Only one soul in all the mountains could shake the world just by breaking.
"Ryder..." she whispered, her voice lost in the roaring silence.
Her feet pounded over stone as she erged from her quarters to find that the place had been crowded with Alphas, warriors, and guards. Reana pushed through the crowd, heart clawing its way out of her chest and stood beside Marcus.
"What’s going on?" she asked him quietly.
"Luna," Marcus and his team of warriors greeted her.
"Is he still in there?" she looked forward, at the crumbling cave. The debris, dust, and snow making it impossible to see.
Reviews
All reviews (0)