CHAPTER 137: BACKFIRED.
CHAPTER 137: BACKFIRED.
~ Ava’s POV~
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Even hours after Damon had dragged the pack healer into the room, even after Mira forced me to drink something warm and bitter to “settle my nerves,” even after everyone left me alone to rest… I still felt those shadows crawling beneath my skin.
I sat on the edge of the bed now, knees pulled up to my chest, staring at the dark corners of the room like they might move again.
Every creak.
Every shift of the wind.
Every flicker of the lantern.
Everything felt like a warning.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to breathe, but the memory of those black figures—no, not figures… entities—kept replaying in my head. They were real. I knew what I saw. I felt their cold presence like ice slipping down my spine.
Yet everyone thought I was losing my mind.
A soft knock landed on my door.
“Ava?” Mira’s voice. Gentle. Worried. “Can I come in?”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah… yes.”
She stepped inside slowly, closing the door behind her. She had changed into a loose shirt and leggings, hair pulled up, but her eyes, her eyes looked deeply unsettled.
Like she wanted to ask something but didn’t know how.
She sat beside me on the bed. “Damon told me not to upset you, but… Ava, what exactly did you see?”
I flinched at the word see.
Shadows. Moving. Crawling. Hovering over the crib.
My hand instinctively went to my stomach, feeling the faint warmth that always lingered now… like my child was trying to comfort me.
“I…” I took a breath. “I saw shadows. Not normal shadows. They moved on their own. They reached for me.”
Mira stiffened, just a little.
“You don’t believe me either,” I whispered.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
She looked away, guilt flickering across her features. “Ava… the pack is on edge. There have been rumors, strange things happening. But Damon thinks…”
“That I’m hallucinating,” I finished quietly.
Silence.
Then I clenched my fists, feeling my heartbeat thrum painfully.
“Mira, I’m not imagining things. Something was here. Something dark.”
Mira exhaled shakily. “I want to believe you. I really do.” She hesitated. “But shadows don’t move on their own.”
“They do,” I said, voice cracking. “These did.”
Another silence fell over us.
I could tell Mira was trying to hold her composure, but her jaw kept tightening, like worry was building inside her. Not just for me, but for something else.
“Ava,” she said slowly, “you didn’t… feel anything else, did you? Pain? Pressure? A pull?”
The hairs on my arms rose.
Why would she ask that?
I opened my mouth, but before I could respond…
The door swung open.
I jolted, heart leaping into my throat.
Damon stepped inside, chest rising and falling like he’d run here. His expression was sharp, controlled, but his eyes, his eyes were blazing with something between panic and anger.
“Ava,” he said, voice low. “We need to talk.”
I swallowed. “About the shadows?”
“No.” He shook his head. “About something else.”
My stomach dropped.
“Damon… what happened?”
He looked at me for a long moment. Then at Mira. Then back at me.
“A patrol just came back with news. Livia…” His voice tightened. “Something she planned backfired.”
My heartbeat spiked. “What does that have to do with me?”
Damon’s jaw clenched. “It seems the Shadowborn didn’t go after the person they were sent to scare.”
I froze.
“What?” I whispered.
“They went after someone else.” His eyes locked onto mine. “They were near our wing, Ava.”
Coldness rushed through me.
Mira inhaled sharply beside me.
I grabbed Damon’s arm. “So I wasn’t hallucinating. I saw them.”
He didn’t answer.
His silence was the answer.
I felt my entire chest sink. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because,” Damon said tightly, “you are pregnant, terrified, and already shaken. I didn’t want…”
“You didn’t want me to panic?” My voice broke. “Damon, they were in my room!”
“I know,” he said, stepping closer, grabbing my hands. “Which is why the pack healer needs to check you again. Now.”
Fear flooded my veins.
Mira touched Damon’s arm. “Damon… are you sure it’s safe to tell her everything right now?”
“No,” he muttered. “But the truth is already halfway out.”
I felt dizzy. “What truth?”
He hesitated, just a second, but that second felt like a blade at my throat.
“Damon.”
He exhaled, long and heavy.
“Ava… the Shadowborn aren’t supposed to see you. They aren’t supposed to sense your child.”
My entire body went still.
“What do you mean?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “Not now. The healer first.”
My voice trembled. “Damon…”
“No.” His voice softened. “Ava… please. Let the healer examine you.”
I closed my eyes, fear twisting violently inside my chest.
If the Shadowborn were here…
If they sensed something…
If they came for my baby…My throat tightened.
I opened my eyes slowly.
“Fine,” I whispered. “Call the healer.”
Damon nodded once, turned, and reached for the door…
And THAT is where everything inside me twisted into pure dread.
Because right as his hand touched the doorknob, the lantern flickered again.
And for half a second…
Just half…
I saw a shadow curl across
the wall like a dark hand reaching toward me.
My breath caught.
“Damon,” I whispered. “Hurry.”
He didn’t waste a second.
He stormed out and called the pack healer.