Chapter 143: Simone’s Trap

Calix Pov

I stood in the middle of the field and watched the white shape of Maddie disappear into the trees. My chest felt tight. I wanted to run after her but my feet felt like they were stuck in the mud. The roar I had let out was still ringing in my ears. I looked at my hands and they were shaking. I hated that she was going there alone. I hated that Theo had the girls.

Then I heard the laugh again. It was low and it was sharp. It came from the shadows by the equipment shed. I turned around and reached for the knife in my belt.

"You can put that away, Calix," Simone said and she stepped into the moonlight.

She looked different than she did at the river. Her hair was pulled back tight and she was wearing a dark tactical vest. She did not look like a cheerleader anymore. She looked like a soldier. She was holding something in her right hand. It was the purple stone. It was glowing with a heavy, thick light that made the air around it look blurry.

"You were supposed to be at the mines with Theo," I said and I did not move.

"Theo was useful for a while," Simone said and she walked in a slow circle. "He provided the distraction. He provided the army. He even provided the girls."

"Where are they?"

"They are exactly where the note said they would be."

"You are going to let them go."

"I am not going to do anything of the sort," Simone said and she stopped moving. "Like I said, Theo was useful. But he is a tool. I always planned to finish this myself."

"You stole the stone from the vault."

"I did," she said and she held it up higher. "Elder Vance was very easy to convince once I showed him what this could do. He is resting now. Permanently."

"You killed him."

"He was old, Calix. He did not have any vision."

I looked at the stone. The purple light was pulsing. It matched the rhythm of my own heart and it made my head start to ache. I felt a surge of heat go through my arms. It was the same feeling I had when the green liquid hit me, but this was colder. This felt like ice water in my veins.

"Give me the stone, Simone," I said and I took a step forward.

"I don't think so," she said.

"The pack is coming. My father is on his way. You cannot fight all of them."

"I don't have to fight them," Simone said and she smiled. "You are going to do that for me."

"I am not doing anything for you."

"We will see about that."

Simone closed her fingers around the stone. She did not say any magic words. She just squeezed it. The purple light exploded outward in a wave. It hit me in the chest and I felt like I had been kicked by a horse. I flew back five feet and hit the grass hard. The impact knocked the wind out of me and for a second I could not see anything but purple spots.

I tried to push myself up but my arms would not move. I looked down and saw my muscles locking up. My fingers were curled into claws and they were stuck that way. I tried to shift but the wolf would not come. It felt like there was a heavy iron gate inside my mind and someone had just locked it.

"Stop it," I wheezed.

"This stone is different than the others," Simone said and she walked over to stand over me. "The green stone was for control. The white stone was for power. But the purple stone? This one is for the Alpha."

"What does that mean?"

"It means it talks to the blood," she said and she knelt down. "It finds the rage that you try so hard to hide. It finds the part of you that wants to be king. And then it gives that part a shove."

I felt the heat in my chest change. It was not just heat anymore. It was a burn. I felt my vision start to turn red at the edges.

I looked at Simone and I did not see a girl. I saw an enemy but then the feeling shifted. I looked past her toward the pack house.

I saw Leo standing on the back porch. I saw two other guards walking toward us. Usually, I would feel safe seeing them. I would feel like they were my people. But now, when I looked at them, I felt a deep, oily hate. I wanted to run at them. I wanted to bite and tear.

"Calix, fight it," I told myself but my own voice sounded far away.

"You feel that, don't you?" Simone asked. "That is the command. You don't serve the Crescent Pack anymore. You serve the stone. And the stone serves me."

"No," I said and I bit my lip until I tasted blood.

The pain helped for a second. The red in my eyes cleared just a little bit. I looked at Simone and I tried to reach for her throat. My hand moved an inch and then snapped back to the ground.

"By morning, the Crescent Pack will belong to me," Simone said and she stood up. "Your father will be gone. The elders will be gone. And I will have an army of black and grey wolves that do exactly what I say."

"What about Maddie?"

"Maddie is already too far away to help," Simone said and she looked toward the woods. "Theo has instructions. He is not going to wait until midnight. He is going to kill the girls as soon as she arrives. And then he is going to kill her."

"You lied to him."

"I lie to everyone, Calix. It is my best quality."

I let out a sound that was half a growl and half a scream. I tried to roll over but my body was doing its own thing. I felt my bones start to rattle against the ground. It was not a shift. It was something else. It was the rage trying to find a way out.

The two guards reached the edge of the field. They were holding silver spears.

"Calix? Simone? What is going on?" one of them asked.

I looked at him. I knew his name was Marcus. He had been my training partner for three years. He had a wife and a baby in the pack house. I tried to tell him to run. I tried to tell him to get away.

I saw more wolves coming out of the house. They saw the fight and they were shifting. They thought I was under attack. They thought they were helping me.

"By morning, you will be the only one left standing," Simone whispered. "And your mate will be dead in a hole in the ground."