WILLA
"Nyra. Is that you?" I whispered.
After days of not hearing from her! This felt refreshing.
I glanced around. Everyone had started pairing up again. Professor Marcus was busy talking to Elliott, and the others were distracted with their own partners.
Good. I could slip away without anyone noticing.
"Respond to , Nyra. I have questions," I murmured.
Silence.
I swallowed hard and climbed down from the platform slowly to avoid tripping on my feet. Yeah it was ridiculously high.
I moved farther from the crowd until the noise faded enough that no one would think I was insane for talking to myself out loud instead of ntally.
"Please," I tried again for the third ti. Nothing.
Frustration clawed up my throat. My fingers curled tightly at my sides as I waited another few seconds.
Still nothing. I snapped.
"You said I was a werewolf, yet I feel nothing! You promised you would tell things about myself, but you disappeared the first chance you got." My voice shook with anger. "You promised so many things."
The bitterness burned through every word. "You’re my wolf, Nyra. You’re supposed to help . Protect . Be there all the damn ti...!"
I couldn’t even rember doing anything to make her pull away from like this. But everything in my life always ca backwards. Twisted. Wrong.
At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was missing because of .
"Fine," I said louder this ti, glaring at the startled boy standing nearby.
"Do you want sothing?" he asked with a flirtatious grin.
Disgust curled in my stomach. I looked away at once and turned from him. "If you won’t give answers, I’ll find them myself..."
"Don’t, Willa."
Her voice crashed through my head. I froze.
"Nyra," I breathed.
There she was. Faint. Weak. But there. I could feel her again yet she sounded wrong.
"Don’t look for answers," she murmured, her voice strained.
"Why not?" I snapped.
I wanted to know who I really was. Why I had stayed human for so long and only got thrown into this world when it suited fate. Who my parents were. Or maybe Elyse and I shared the sa ones.
Was I really Elyse?
What happened to ?
Why were monsters hunting ?
And the damned oath I had taken. The consequences waiting for .
"Because..."
The connection flickered.
The familiar warmth that always ca with Nyra twisted into sothing colder. Sharper. A shiver crawled down my spine as dread washed over .
The sa feeling I always got around the monster.
My eyes flickered across the vast field. They lingered on the students for a mont. I waited for an illusion only I could see, a possession, sothing out of place.
Nothing. I found nothing.
"Nyra?" I clutched my throbbing head, wincing.
I searched frantically through the bond, trying to strengthen the mindlink. It was still there. But Nyra wasn’t.
I couldn’t feel her anymore. The thread between us stretched painfully thin before snapping taut like a wire ready to break.
"Are you alright, Nyra?"
I expected silence again. Instead, crackling filled my head. It was so intense, I nearly passed out.
Then ca a low, smooth male voice with an accent I couldn’t place. It drifted through my mind like smoke over dark water.
"Because..." the voice drawled.
I jerked violently, my heart slamming against my ribs.
I shoved hard against the foreign presence in my head, but it only coiled tighter around the bond, wrapping itself through my thoughts like a serpent.
"Stop trying to push out," the voice chuckled.
My stomach twisted.
"I’ve been waiting for a chance to speak to you." His tone turned almost amused. "A perfect opportunity now that she’s weakened."
Wanting to speak to ? Nyra!
Pain ripped through my palm.
I groaned and lifted my hand. The sigil I thought had faded suddenly flared bright again, burning into my skin.
Smoke curled from it.
Agony shot up my arm so violently that I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself from screaming.
"How do you like my gift, little one?" the voice murmured.
"What the hell did you do to Nyra?" I forced out through clenched teeth. "Let her go right now!"
"Fix your attitude," the voice said smoothly. "Or would you rather everyone hear you talking to yourself and start asking questions?"
My gaze darted across the training field.
Students still sparred and trained like nothing was wrong. My body shook uncontrollably. My head spun so hard I thought I might collapse.
It wasn’t the weather. The air was warm. The sun still hung high. This had nothing to do with the wind either.
It was him!
"Good," the voice continued. "As for your questions, I rely wanted to check on my girl and remind you of the oath you made."
Like I could ever forget it. I wanted to snap at him but I swallowed back the words.
"Now that I’ve done both, I can leave."
His presence began to fade little by little. I held my breath, waiting for the horrible sensation to disappear completely.
"Lastly," he added, his voice quieter now, "listen to your wolf. If you seek answers...you die."
My heart lurched.
So I was supposed to stay here and remain completely clueless?
"And if you don’t?" he went on, like he had plucked the thought straight from my head. "You die."
I blinked hard. Wait. What?
"What do you an I’ll die?!"
No answer.
The mont his presence finally disappeared, exhaustion crashed over .
My knees buckled. I stumbled toward the stone bench a few feet away, but my legs gave out before I could reach it.
I braced for impact as my body tipped forward. My eyes squeezed shut.
One second. Two.
Nothing happened. Confused, I opened my eyes. I gasped.
I was suspended in the air, my face barely inches from smashing into the edge of a stone.
I turned my head just enough to see what had stopped . Elliott. He was holding onto my blazer.
He pulled upright, then released imdiately.
I grimaced and looked away from his questioning stare, heat rushing into my cheeks.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I am," I muttered. Then quieter, "Thanks for not letting break my face."
Before he could say anything else, I tried to walk past him. Elliott stepped in front of almost instantly.
"You don’t look fine," he pointed out.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," I shot back, thick sarcasm coating every word.
A crease ford between his brows. He dragged a hand through his hair, making the ss of dark strands even worse.
"You’re mad at ," he said.
"No."
"You are," he muttered, blocking again when I tried to move around him.
"I said I’m not." I glared at him.
I was more angry at myself for being useless. For the damned voice in my head. For the sigil.
I pulled my hand from my pocket and stared at my palm. Nothing. The mark was gone.
I scoffed softly. Did it only appear whenever they were close?
"I’m sorry, Elyse."
I lifted my gaze to his. "Why are you apologizing?"
"For us," he replied.
Oh God. Here we go again.
I rolled my eyes. "I don’t want to talk about that with you."
"Please don’t ignore ," Elliott said, stepping closer.
My frown deepened. "What exactly do you want to say?"
The answer already seed obvious to him.
Elliott shoved his hands into his pockets, jaw tight. "We don’t have to do what our parents want."
"I don’t want to sneak around with you," I said imdiately.
His eyes darkened. "But you’d do it for those boys, wouldn’t you?"
"I don’t want to do this." I shook my head. "Not now."
Not here.
I tried to move past him again, but Elliott grabbed my wrist. His grip tightened painfully.
"You’re hurting ," I winced, staring up at him.
He didn’t let go.
"I was there before them," he ground out. "I loved you before they ever did."
I yanked against his hold. But his hold remained unyielding.
"I don’t give a fuck about the bonds or whatever relationship you have with them." His shoulders rose and fell with each harsh breath.
The expression on his face softened. So did his grip. He lifted my hand and pressed it to his chest.
I shuddered and drew in a sharp breath as his heartbeat thudded steadily beneath my palm.
Our eyes locked.
"This heart still belongs to you, Elyse," he said in a strained voice. "It’s... breaking."
I opened my mouth, but no words ca out. I really did feel sorry for him, for what he shared with Elyse and everything tangled up in their parents.
I didn’t know what to say to make it better. Worse still, I felt sothing I shouldn’t have felt at all, for him.
"Please," he stepped closer until our chests were almost touching. "Put out of my misery..."
"And I’d do just that!"
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