Chapter 63 Running to her
Lucian had woken up for a bit, but he still looked very tired so Hazel tucked him under his covers, smoothing the sheets like she used to when he was a baby. But just when she was about to leave, he clung to her wrist.
“Don’t go, please”.
He whispered. Hazel smiled and kissed his hand.
“I’m not going far, just outside your door, I just need to have a quick word with Aunt Dona”.
She said and soon, she walked out with Dona.
She stood by the rail and sighed.
“Why him? Why Lucian”?
Dona hesitated.
“Hazel… you need to understand something important. Children who carry both your bloodline and Kael’s are rare. Lucian is probably the only one to ever exist. Power like that attracts things… dark things, especially from the underworld”.
Hazel swallowed.
“So she wants him because of his power?”
She asked.
“That is a possibility, but it's also possible she wants him because of you”.
Hazel froze.
“What”?
Dona turned to her, looking at her seriously.
“Think about it Hazel, every prophecy, every vision… it circles back to you. Every single time, you're always the center of all of it”.
Hazel didn't care if they wanted her, but she was going to protect her son.
“I won’t let anything happen to him”.
“You may not have a choice”.
Dona whispered but Hazel turned sharply.
“What is that supposed to mean”?
But before Dona could answer, Hazel’s chest suddenly burned. The exact spot where the key had shot into her earlier.
She gasped, gripping her shirt.
“Hazel”?
Dona grabbed her arm.
Hazel’s knees buckled and she fell to the ground as a violent pulse of heat radiated from her chest outward.
The room around her became blurry, her ears rang, and then… a voice.
She could hear him, he was loud, almost painfully loud.
“Unlock what has already begun”.
Hazel gasped.
Another pulse hit her, stronger and this time, she screamed.
Dona caught her shoulders as Hazel yelled, her eyes glowing faintly gold.
“Hazel! Hazel, breathe”!
But Hazel wasn’t seeing the room anymore.
She wasn’t feeling the pain.
She was somewhere else entirely.
A vast dark place with a figure standing in the center, cloaked in light and shadow simultaneously.
Hazel spoke out.
“Who are you”?
The figure’s head turned, but its face remained hidden behind an ever-shifting blur.
“You must find me”.
It whispered.
“Where?”
Hazel asked without wasting any time.
“Where the first blood was spilled… and the last one will be”.
Hazel didn’t understand.
“I don’t know where that is”!
She yelled, tired of the puzzles.
The figure stepped closer.
Hazel’s chest burned again.
“The answers have been given to you Hazel. Find me and you will have the greatest chance to winning this battle”.
Before she could ask anything else, the vision shattered and Hazel was thrown back into her own body.
She gasped violently, clutching her chest.
Dona held her face.
“Hazel! Talk to me”!
Dona was panicking. She had been trying to bring her back but nothing was working.
Hazel’s breathing slowed… just enough to speak.
“I'm fine… I'm alright”.
Far from the pack house, deep in a ruined chapel lit only by dead candles, Rave stood before a glowing pool of black water.
The surface rippled, and the face of the little girl appeared… bruised, smiling, wicked.
As soon as she appeared, Rave flared.
“You got too close! I told you not to reveal yourself yet”!
The girl giggled, swinging her legs like a child on a playground. While picking her ears like Rave's screams were too loud but Rave could tell she was mocking her.
“I wanted to see him. He’s cute”.
Rave narrowed her eyes.
“How did you even manage to get to him”?
She asked and the little girl looked her in the eyes with a smile so evil it could make one lose their mind.
“Growing in hell makes you stronger than you can imagine.
You should know that, you're the one who put me there… mother”.
Rave ignored her words and simply asked.
“Did you meet Hazel"?
The little girl could feel something bitter in her mouth.
“I don't like her”.
Rave moved closer to the water, showing her next words were serious.
“Do not touch the boy again until I say so. We need him whole”.
The girl rolled her eyes.
“You’re so dramatic, I'm not going to kill him, I'm just having fun. Besides, Dad said it was alright”.
Rave's voice grew cold.
“Do you want to be free or not”?
The girl went quiet.
Then she smiled again.
“Fine, I'll do as you say”.
She said and Rave nodded.
“Good”.
She knew she couldn't keep her under her control for long, but she wasn't going to let her ruin everything she has planned and worked so hard for.
Kael and Miguel were half a mile from the pack border when Kael suddenly stopped running.
His chest tightened, and his wolf surged violently inside him.
Miguel turned.
“What is it”?
Kael looked forward.
“Hazel”.
That was the only word that came out of his mouth.
Something was wrong with her, he could feel it in his bones.
Miguel’s expression changed instantly.
“Kael…”?
Kael’s eyes flash brightly as he shifted into his wolf without warning and launched himself forward through the trees.
Miguel cursed underneath his breath and ran after him, struggling to keep up as the man was suddenly much faster than usual.
Hazel pushed herself up, still dazed, and shaking.
Dona helped her up, with worry evident on her face.
“What did you see”?
She asked after helping Hazel to a chair.
Hazel swallowed hard, still feeling the burning echo in her chest.
“Something about the first blood spilled. And the last one”.
Dona frowned.
“That sounds like a location of some sort. Could it be like a ritual”?
She asked but Hazel shook her head still feeling very weak.
“I'm going to have to find out”.
Before Dona could answer, the house suddenly shook with a powerful, familiar force rushing toward it from outside.
Hazel closed her eyes as a sense of comfort and security suddenly enveloped her.
“He's here".
She whispered but Dona turned to her a bit scared and asked.
“Who is”?
Hazel's eyes opened and she looked towards the ground floor.
“Kael”.