Chapter 147 The Traitor's Moon
The cave felt like it was shrinking. The smell of wet fur and betrayal filled the air. I backed away from the fire, my hands shielding my stomach. The fast, tiny heartbeat inside me was pounding like a hammer. It knew the danger. It wanted to fight.
"Mrs. Higgins, why?" I whispered. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by a cold hand. "You were the only family I had left."
The black wolf that had once been my neighbor didn't look at me with love. She looked at me like a piece of meat. "Family doesn't stop the pain, Cassia. Every night, the moon tears my bones apart. The Board has a serum. They can make me human again. All I have to do is hand over the map."
"I am not a map!" I shouted. "I am a person!"
"You are a Marlowe," the woman with the Board pin said, her body twisting and snapping as she changed. "That means you belong to the project. Now, be a good girl and stay still."
Evan was struggling to get up. The gash on his chest was deep, and the blood was thick and dark. He groaned, his eyes flashing a desperate gold. "Cass... run... get out of here..."
"I’m not leaving you!" I looked around the cave. There was no way out except through the waterfall.
I looked at the old man with the scar. He was standing still, his eyes fixed on me. He wasn't moving to help the traitors, but he wasn't helping us either.
"Help us!" I begged him.
"I cannot fight the Alpha's will," the old man said solemnly. "But I can tell you this, Cassia. The map isn't just on your skin. It’s in your voice. The music Thorne taught you... It's the key to the gate."
I didn't understand. But I didn't have time to think. Mrs. Higgins lunged.
She was a blur of black fur. I moved instinctively, my new reflexes saved me as I rolled to the side. I felt the wind of her claws as they passed inches from my face. I hit the ground hard, a sharp pain shooting through my abdomen.
"Stop!" I screamed.
The heat in my blood surged. It wasn't the fever of a wolf. It was something higher. Something louder. A white light flared behind my eyes, and for a second, I saw the cave not as stone, but as a series of vibrations.
I opened my mouth and let out a sound. It wasn't a scream. It was a high, piercing note, a note I remembered from the silver whistle.
The wolves in the cave froze. They clutched their ears, howling in pain. Even Mrs. Higgins tumbled to the ground, whimpering. The sound felt like it was ripping through the air itself.
I grabbed Evan’s arm and pulled him toward the waterfall. "Now! While they're down!"
We burst through the water and into the cold night. The forest was silent, the Board's hunters nowhere to be seen. But the moon was high and full, a giant white eye watching us.
We ran blindly through the trees, my breath coming in ragged gasps. Every step felt like a needle in my side. The pregnancy was moving so fast I could feel my waist expanding, my clothes tightening.
"Evan... I can’t... I can’t go much further," I wheezed, stumbling into a small clearing.
Evan caught me, his own face a mask of pain. He looked at his chest. The wound wasn't healing. It was turning a sickly violet color.
"The claws," Evan whispered, falling to his knees. "She had... silver on her claws, Cass. It’s poison."
I knelt beside him, tears blurring my vision. "No. No, you can’t leave me now. Not when we’re so close."
"The gate," Evan said, his voice fading. "The old man said... the music. You have to find the gate. Save the baby."
"I can’t do it without you!"
I looked at the mark on my neck. It was glowing bright now, the map of the valley etched in light. I could see the path. It was right ahead, behind a wall of vines that looked like solid rock.
But behind us, the black wolf was emerging from the trees. Mrs. Higgins had recovered. And she wasn't alone. Six other wolves followed her, their eyes fixed on the map on my skin.
"The hunt is over, Cassia," Mrs. Higgins growled.
I looked at Evan, dying on the grass. I looked at the wolves. I felt the tiny life inside me kick with a fierce, wild energy.
I didn't reach for a stone. I didn't reach for a knife.
I reached for the silver whistle that hung around my neck.
"I’m not a masterpiece," I whispered, the words from my hallucination coming back to me. "And I’m not a map."
I put the whistle to my lips.
If I play the note, will it open the gate to safety, or will the sound call every monster in the valley to our location?