Chapter 6 Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
GHOST IN THE DARK
ZARIAH NIGHTBORNE POV
The plan was simple.
Too simple.
Which meant it would probably get me killed.
Damien had waited until Lucien left—some urgent pack business that required the Alpha Don's favorite son. The moment the door closed behind him, Damien moved.
"We have ten minutes," he said, pulling a small vial from his pocket. "Maybe less."
I eyed the vial suspiciously. "What is that?"
"Wolfsbane extract. Diluted. It'll mask your scent long enough for us to get past the guards." He uncorked it, the sharp, bitter smell filling the air. "It'll hurt like hell, but it won't kill you."
"Comforting," I muttered.
He knelt beside me, his fingers working quickly on the silver chains. I watched him, every muscle in my body tense, ready to fight or flee—I hadn't decided which yet.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked quietly.
His hands paused for just a moment. "Because I made a promise."
"To who?"
"Your mother."
My breath caught. "You knew her?"
"I met her once. Years ago, before..." He trailed off, his jaw tightening. "She made me swear that if anything happened to her, I'd protect you. Even from my own family."
I didn't know what to say to that. Didn't know if I could trust it.
The chains fell away with a heavy clang, and I rubbed my raw wrists, the silver burns still stinging.
Damien handed me the vial. "Drink half. Pour the rest on your skin."
I hesitated, then did as he said. The liquid burned going down, like swallowing fire. I gasped, doubling over as pain radiated through my chest.
"Breathe," Damien said, steadying me. "It'll pass."
It didn't. It got worse.
My vision blurred, my heart racing as the wolfsbane worked through my system. But underneath the pain, I felt something else—a shift, a change. My wolf was retreating, hiding, making me invisible to others like her.
I poured the rest on my arms and neck, hissing at the burn.
"Good," Damien said, pulling me to my feet. "Now move. And stay close."
We slipped out of the chamber and into a narrow corridor. Torches lined the walls, casting flickering shadows that danced like ghosts. The air was thick with the scent of earth and stone and something else—blood.
How many others had been kept here? How many had tried to escape?
Damien moved like a shadow, silent and sure. I followed, my bare feet padding against the cold stone. Every sound felt amplified—my breathing, my heartbeat, the distant echo of voices.
We turned a corner and froze.
Two guards stood at the end of the hall, their backs to us, rifles slung over their shoulders.
Damien's hand shot out, stopping me. He leaned in close, his breath warm against my ear. "When I move, you run. Don't look back. Don't stop. Understand?"
I nodded.
He stepped forward, and in one fluid motion, he shifted.
His bones cracked and reformed, fur rippling across his skin as he dropped to all fours. A massive black wolf stood where Damien had been—sleek, powerful, deadly.
He lunged.
The guards barely had time to react before he was on them. I didn't wait to see the outcome. I ran.
My legs burned, my lungs screamed, but I didn't stop. Couldn't stop.
The corridor twisted and turned, branching off in a dozen directions. I had no idea where I was going, but anywhere was better than that cage.
Behind me, I heard shouts. Gunfire. Snarls.
Then footsteps. Heavy. Fast. Gaining.
I pushed harder, my bare feet slipping on the smooth stone. I rounded another corner and hit a dead end—a massive iron door, locked and sealed.
No.
I spun around just as three wolves burst into the corridor, their eyes glowing amber, their teeth bared.
I pressed my back against the door, my heart hammering.
This was it. I was trapped.
The lead wolf stalked forward, growling low. The others flanked him, cutting off any escape.
I had no weapon. No plan. Nothing.
Except...
I closed my eyes, reaching for that strange power I'd felt before. The one Lucien had called ghost-shifting.
I didn't understand it. Didn't know how it worked.
But I was out of options.
I focused on the sensation—the feeling of being untethered, weightless, free. I imagined my body dissolving, becoming air, becoming nothing.
The lead wolf lunged.
And I phased.
His jaws snapped shut on empty air. He stumbled, confused, as I flickered—solid, then translucent, then solid again.
I moved without thinking, slipping past them like smoke. Their claws raked through me, but I felt nothing. I was there and not there, real and unreal.
I didn't stop to think about how or why. I just ran.
The corridor opened into a massive chamber—a circular arena with stone benches rising up on all sides. In the center was a pit, dark and deep, the smell of death rising from it.
How many had died here?
I didn't have time to wonder. The door on the opposite side was cracked open, light spilling through.
Freedom.
I sprinted across the arena, my body flickering in and out of solidity. Behind me, I heard more wolves, more shouting.
I burst through the door and into—
A forest.
Thick trees, tangled undergrowth, the scent of pine and earth. The night air hit me like a slap, cold and sharp.
I ran.
Branches tore at my clothes, roots tried to trip me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.
Behind me, howls echoed through the trees. They were hunting me.
My lungs burned, my legs screamed, but I pushed harder. I had to lose them. Had to find—
What?
Where was I even going?
I had no plan. No allies. No safe place.
I was alone.
The thought hit me harder than any physical blow.
Kael had betrayed me. Lena had sold me out. My father had traded me like cattle. And Damien...
I didn't know what Damien was.
A branch snapped behind me. Close. Too close.
I veered left, sliding down a steep embankment. My hands scraped against rocks, my shoulder slamming into a tree trunk.
Pain exploded through me, but I bit down on the scream.
I scrambled to my feet and kept moving.
Then I heard it.
Voices.
Not wolves. Humans.
No—not humans. Something else.
I slowed, creeping forward until I could see through the trees.
A clearing. A fire. And five women gathered around it.
They were dressed in strange clothes—leather and fur, tattoos covering their skin. Their eyes glowed faintly in the firelight, and I realized with a jolt—
They were wolves. But different. Rogue. Outcast.
One of them looked up, her gaze locking onto mine.
"Well, well," she said, her voice carrying through the trees. "Look what the hunt dragged in."
I tensed, ready to run again.
But then she smiled—a real smile, not cruel or calculating.
"Relax, Luna. We're not here to hurt you."
I stepped into the clearing, wary, my body still flickering slightly from the ghost-shift.
"How do you know what I am?" I asked.
The woman stood, and I recognized her.
The girl from the forest. The one who'd called me Luna before.
"We've been waiting for you," she said. "My name is Veda. And we're here to help you survive what's coming."
I stared at her, at all of them.
"Why?"
"Because you're not the first Luna they've tried to cage," another woman said, stepping forward. Her eyes were scarred, her face hard. "But you might be the first to break free."
"And if I don't want your help?" I challenged.
Veda shrugged. "Then you'll die. Tonight. Tomorrow. Doesn't matter. They won't stop hunting you until you're dead or collared."
I looked back at the forest, hearing the distant howls growing closer.
She was right.
I had no choice.
"Fine," I said, my voice steady despite the chaos inside me. "But I'm not here to be saved. I'm here to fight back."
Veda grinned, something wild and fierce lighting up her face.
"Good. Because we don't save Lunas." She gestured to the others. "We make them dangerous."
One of the women tossed me a bundle—clothes, a blade, supplies.
"Get dressed," Veda said. "We move in five. The pack hunters are close, and if they find us here, we're all dead."
I caught the bundle, my mind racing.
This wasn't escape. This was survival.
And for the first time since waking up in chains, I felt something other than fear or rage.
I felt power.
Not the kind they wanted to control.
The kind I was going to take back.
I dressed quickly, strapping the blade to my thigh. The other women were already moving, extinguishing the fire, erasing any trace of their presence.
Veda fell into step beside me as we moved deeper into the forest.
"You're different from the others," she said quietly.
"How?"
"You ghost-shifted. That's not a Luna power. That's something else."
I glanced at her. "What does that mean?"
She smiled grimly. "It means you're either blessed or cursed. Maybe both."
"Great," I muttered.
Behind us, the howls grew louder.
"They're closing in," one of the women hissed.
Veda cursed under her breath. "We need to move faster."
But I stopped.
Turned.
"No," I said.
They all looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
"If we run, they'll just keep chasing," I said, my voice cold and clear. "It's time they learned what happens when they hunt a Luna who doesn't want to be found."
Veda's grin was sharp as a blade.
"I like you already."