Chapter 47: You're Safe
Ariel’s POV
The car moved fast—too fast.
The city lights blurred past us like streaks of gold and white. My heartbeat refused to settle. I tried to breathe slowly, but every breath felt tight.
Damien’s hand covered mine.
Warm. Steady. Unshakable.
“You’re safe,” he murmured. “I’m here.”
But even his calm voice couldn’t drown the echo in the back of my mind.
Ariel…
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Damien… he’s still calling me.”
Damien cursed softly under his breath.
“He shouldn’t be able to. We’re out of his radius.”
“Then why can I still hear him?”
Damien didn’t answer.
He just pulled me closer until my head was against his chest.
Marcus kept glancing through the mirror. “Sir… the energy reading behind us is rising again.”
“What?” Damien snapped.
I lifted my head and turned.
The darkness behind the car… was shifting.
Like shadows running.
No—
Like something inside the shadows running.
My breath caught.
“Damien—look!”
Black shapes darted between the trees lining the road.
Fast. Silent. Too smooth to be human.
Witches?
Or something worse?
“Marcus,” Damien said sharply, “push the car. Now.”
Marcus didn’t hesitate. The engine roared louder.
But the shadows… moved faster.
One shape leaped onto the road.
Marcus swerved.
I screamed, grabbing the seat.
“What was that?” I gasped.
Damien’s voice dropped low. “Hunters.”
“Hunters?” I breathed.
“For witches,” he said. “And sometimes… for wolves.”
The shadow creature leaned forward, its outline barely visible, but its eyes glowed bright silver.
Damien growled. “They were sent by your father.”
I felt cold. “Why? To kill us?”
“No.”
His fingers tightened around my hand.
“He wants to catch you.”
Before I could respond, the shadow lunged at the moving car.
Marcus yelled, “Hold on!”
\---
Damien’s POV
The creature hit the roof hard.
Metal dented.
Ariel screamed.
Marcus lost control for a second, swerving into the opposite lane.
I shoved Ariel down.
“Stay low!”
The creature clawed at the roof, metal screeching.
I could hear its breaths—sharp, hungry, unnatural.
Marcus panicked. “Sir, it’s tearing the car!”
“I see that!”
I reached up and slammed my fist into the roof.
My punch echoed like thunder—
the creature shrieked and fell off the side.
But more shadows rushed after us.
A whole pack.
I clenched my jaw.
“Ariel, listen to me.”
She looked up, terrified but brave. “Yes?”
“When I tell Marcus to stop the car, you must crawl out the other side and hide behind me.”
“What? No!” She grabbed me. “I’m not leaving you!”
“Ariel.”
I cupped her face, forcing her eyes into mine.
“If they grab you, I will burn the entire world trying to get you back. And I don’t want to burn the world.”
Her eyes softened with fear. “Damien…”
“You stay behind me. Always.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay… I trust you.”
I kissed her forehead.
Then slammed my hand forward.
“Marcus—STOP!”
Marcus hit the brakes.
The car screeched across the road, tires burning.
The creatures closed in.
Ariel screamed as shadows flooded the sides.
“Damien—!”
“I’m right here.”
\---
Ariel’s POV
The moment the car stopped, Damien jumped out.
He didn’t shift.
He didn’t need to.
His presence alone burst out like a wave of raw power.
The shadows paused— like they were afraid.
Damien spread his arms slightly.
“Come then,” he growled.
“Let me show your master what happens when he touches something that’s mine.”
The creatures hissed.
I crawled out the opposite door like he told me, my heart hammering painfully.
I stayed behind him, gripping the edge of his shirt.
Damien whispered, “Good girl. Stay close.”
A shiver ran through me.
One shadow lunged.
Damien moved faster than air.
He grabbed the creature mid-jump and slammed it into the ground so hard the earth cracked.
I froze.
The shadow thrashed, gasping, breaking apart like smoke.
Damien’s eyes glowed wolf-bright.
“Tell him,” he growled at the dissolving creature.
“Tell her father she is mine.”
The creature screeched and vanished.
Two more leaped.
Damien snarled, “Marcus! Cover her!”
Marcus jumped out, shield in hand.
Magic—his magic—formed a faint blue barrier around me.
“Stay inside,” Marcus ordered.
I nodded, shaking.
Damien fought like a storm—
fast, brutal, unstoppable.
Every strike tore a creature apart.
But then—
I felt him again.
The voice.
Stronger. Closer. Like a hand trying to reach my heart.
Ariel… come home.
I screamed, holding my head.
“No—no! Get out!”
Damien turned instantly.
“Ariel!”
One shadow creature broke through Marcus’s barrier and grabbed my ankle.
I choked.
Damien roared like an animal in pain.
“Don’t touch her!”
He destroyed the creature in seconds, ripping it apart with claws that flashed in the dark.
Pieces of shadow scattered.
He grabbed me, pulling me into his chest.
“Ariel,” he whispered desperately, “stay with me. Stay here.”
I sobbed.
“I’m trying—but his voice—Damien, it feels like he’s inside me—”
He held my face with trembling hands.
“Look at me.
Only me.”
I forced my eyes open.
His forehead pressed to mine.
“You are not going to him,” he said, voice cracking with emotion.
“You belong here. With me.”
“I know,” I whispered. “But I can’t… stop the call…”
“You can,” he said. “Because you’re stronger than him.”
My hands gripped his sleeves.
“I don’t feel strong.”
“You don’t have to,” he said softly. “You only have to feel loved.”
My breath hitched.
He kissed me.
Fierce.
Desperate.
Claiming.
The voice in my head trembled—
and faded.
When Damien pulled back, he rested his head against mine.
“There she is,” he breathed. “My wife.”
Something warm filled my chest.
“Damien…”
But before we could move—
Marcus shouted:
“SIR—BEHIND YOU!”
We turned.
The shadows parted.
A tall figure stepped out of the trees.
Not a witch.
Not a hunter.
A man with eyes burning the same gold-red color as mine.
He smiled slowly.
“Ariel. My daughter.”
Damien’s grip on me tightened instantly.
“Stay behind me,” he whispered. “That’s not your father.”
The man laughed.
“Oh, but I am.”
I froze.
My blood turned cold.
Because the voice inside my head whispered one chilling word:
Welcome.