Chapter 109: Time is running out

Chapter 109: Time is running out
Kieran woke up with Gwendolyn's name on his lips. 

He sat up abruptly, panic hitting him the moment he didn't find her beside him. 

He looked towards the pool, then searched the dim interior of the cove. She wasn't there. 

"Gwen?" He called out, getting to his feet. When he reached for his cloak, he discovered it was gone. 

He assumed Gwendolyn must have taken it. But why would she leave the cove without him? It was unlike her. 

He quickly pulled on his jacket and pants, and barefooted, he walked out of the cove. 

The forest was silent, an eerie silence that didn't sit right with him. Where was she?

"Gwen?" He called out again, his voice echoing through the dark forest. He waited, hoping he would see her returning. Maybe she took a walk. Maybe... 

But as he stood there, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Just seconds ago before he awakened, he had seen her in his dream. 

In that dream, she stood before a cloud of black smoke, like she was being controlled. When he tried to reach for her, his feet merged with the ground, preventing him from moving. 

He had repeatedly yelled her name as she stepped into the black smoke and disappeared. That was when he woke up, with her name on his lips. 

Without wasting another second, he pulled out his wings and ascended into the air. He didn't want to panic yet, but deep down, he knew the moment they had been dreading was here. 

The immortals had taken her. It had to be them. And if he didn't find her soon enough, they would kill her. 

The thought of it made him burn with rage. He would burn down every last one of them if they dared to harm his mate. He didn't care if the realm fell to ruin. Nothing mattered if Gwendolyn wasn't with him. 

He soared over the forest, his eyes alert as he searched for her. A part of him didn't want to conclude yet that she was gone. He still hoped she was somewhere in the forest. 

Suddenly he felt a change in the air. A shift, and the atmosphere turned heavy. 

He flew down swiftly, landing heavily on the ground. It was almost dawn, and the sky was slowly lighting up with the sunrise. 

The more he walked into the forest, the more the air turned heavy. What was this change he felt? 

As he reached the edge of a large tree, he paused. A familiar scent hit him–Gwendolyn. She had been here. 

That location was miles away from the mating cove. What was she doing so far away? 

At that moment, the air before him rippled and pulsed, and black smoke spilled out of thin air. 

He took a step back, his entire body going rigid. Then a figure materialized through the black smoke, and his rage increased immensely. 

"I told you we would meet again, son." Khal stood there, faceless. He was covered entirely in black smoke, his hands clasped behind him. 

Kieran glared at his father in hate, the same man who had cruelly banished him from the Wilding's cove after the death of his mother. 

"What are you doing here?" He growled. 

Khal chuckled as his body glided forward, moving through the air like smoke. 

"Is that anyway to greet your own father?" He asked, his voice low and mocking. 

"You stopped being my father the day you disowned me."

"That was years ago, Kieran. It's time you let it go."

Kieran scowled and turned away. "I don't have time for this." He started to walk away, intent on finding Gwendolyn. 

But Khal's next words stopped him. 

"Searching for your mate?" 

He froze, and the pieces finally clicked together. That smoke he saw in his dream, it was the same one swirling around Khal right now. 

He slowly turned around, his eyes flickering from red to black, a sign of his beast threatening to emerge. 

"What did you say?" He asked in a cold, calm voice. 

Khal, knowing exactly what he was doing, continued to taunt him. "Young, foolish Kieran, thinking he can spend eternity with his precious little Onyx mate."

He turned and smirked through the smoke. "Did you really think you would have a future with her?" 

Kieran started to shift. His arms bulged as thick muscles and fur erupted. His bones snapped loudly, reshaping, taking the form of his beast. 

Through all this, Khal just watched with amusement. As the smoke swirled, his face kept coming into view before disappearing again, revealing blood red eyes. 

Kieran shifted halfway and took a threatening step towards Khal. 

"Where is she?" He snarled. 

When Khal didn't answer him, he roared and lunged, his claws shooting out to strike him. 

But he didn't make an impact. Instead, Khal's body dissolved into smoke and materialized on the other side. 

"Don't waste your time, son. This is merely a projection. If you want to fight me, journey to Tartarus. I will be waiting, and so will your mate."

"YOU BASTARD!" Kieran roared in rage, his entire body trembling. But there was nothing he could do. 

"I told you." Khal continued, and his voice dropped low. "I won't be the one to kill her. You will. And the time has come. You will feel the pain I felt the day I lost your mother."

"Why are you doing this?" Kieran yelled, his voice shaking with emotion. "Mother wouldn't have wanted this. She's dead! She's been dead for years! You have to move on."

Khal's face darkened suddenly. In a flash of movement, he appeared before Kieran and the black smoke wrapped around him, holding him in a tight grip. 

Then his full face emerged, and Kieran glared into eyes so identical to his. He felt he was staring into a mirror instead of his father's face. 

"You don't know what's coming." Khal growled, and the emotion he always managed to hide surfaced. His face cracked, and his true form struggled to reveal itself. "The moment those lycans took Andromeda from me, they declared war. And I will not rest until every last one of their kind is buried under Tartarus."

"My mate is innocent!" Kieran yelled back. "She isn't even a lycan. She isn't their real daughter. What does she have to do with this?"

Khal's fury disappeared suddenly, replaced with a smug smirk. 

"When you come to Tartarus, you'll find that out." He released Kieran and glided away, his face disappearing into the smoke. "Time is running out, Kieran. I expect you in Tartarus before nightfall. Else, she dies!"

His laughter echoed eerily as the black smoke swirled out and dissolved. 

Kieran instantly crouched and shifted into his beast form. As he turned and raced back to the pack, his mind cramped up with millions of thoughts. 

All he could think about was saving Gwendolyn and facing his father in battle. And he swore to end him once and for all. 

"I'm coming, my love." He whispered. "I swear, I will save you."