Chapter 37
{Ryanna’s POV}
I fell through layers of consciousness down, until the world dissolved into the dreamless ink. No sound, no light, only an immense, soft absence pressing in from all sides.
There was neither ground nor sky for what felt like an eternity. Before the poison in my blood screamed, dragging me even further down, weakening my will. But somewhere beneath the dark, something stirred.
My wolf.
She howled, not in pain, not in surrender, but in warning. And then I saw it — a flash of what might have been a memory, or maybe it was just a dream. Whatever it was, I experienced it in stark detail like I was there… yet I remembered nothing but the one line: "WAKE UP RYANNA!"
And just like that, I woke up. Wheezing.
My eyes glided open just in time to see movement from the person above me, his hand lifted, ready to end it all.
I felt helpless. Everything burned and my limbs felt like sandbags, Even then, pain screamed through me, and so did my wolf. She pushed past the fog of poison as my skin rippled, bones cracking. I couldn’t muster a full shift, but even this was enough.
My arm shot up, in a diagonal slash, catching them off guard as they screamed, stumbling back while clutching their cheek.
I didn’t see their faces. Not clearly. But their scent. That vengeful gaze? I burned it into my memory.
I fell back again, dizzy. The rush of half-shifting and the poison tearing at my system both collided. But I stayed awake. Barely, but awake.
“RYANNA! WHEN I FIND YOU, I WILL—” They screamed while retreating.
The final voice I heard was that of this rabid wolf threatening to kill me. Before I could completely process what was happening the forest was engulfed in flames. It ran through the entire ceremony grounds as it consumed everything in its path.
The heat from the flames crackled through the night before my very eyes. It looked like the fire had a mind of its own. I couldn't change position for a split second, my body still numb from the poison. The smell of burning fur, flesh, and blood overpowered my senses. Screams of wolves in agony — and even worse, there was nothing I could do to save anything now.
The poison I was familiar with. “None of this is real,” I repeated in an attempt to calm my wildly beating heart. Anything to slow how fast it spread, even that was futile.
The coward couldn’t even face me head-on! Choosing to escape while it did the job.
I forced myself to move. I had to go. The phantom smoke clogged my lungs as I navigated my way out. Letting the scent of my target guide me on where to go before the poison sets in.
“No looking back now,” I whispered.
I ran at full speed. Chasing the target as branches whipped my face, and sharp roots tugged at my feet, but I didn't stop moving. I couldn’t tell if we were going inside the forest, or rushing out. All I knew was that I was chasing someone.
The air carried the smell of flames, yet I knew that wasn’t the case.
Behind me lay bodies to prove that fact. Bodies that belonged to allies and enemies that were long buried. I wasn’t back in the rogue camp at the edges of the Lycan region. I was simply hallucinating… due to a poison that would eventually kill me if not extracted on time.
Running spread it faster within my veins, but there was no other choice. I kept running, not knowing exactly where I was going — however, one thing was clear: I would get that bastard, and when I was done…. Aurelius would be next.
My heart was already beating fast like it would pop out of my chest at any moment. Sweat, not from running but from the anxiety, stung my eyes as I let out an unstable breath.
All the running was pointless, but… I found them!
My surroundings were still wreathed in flame, and I could barely trust my senses, despite it all— his scent doesn’t lie.
He had partially shifted. I could guess why he hadn’t done so yet. No! That didn’t matter now.
I came to a halt, slowly, knees shaking but locking in place. I let my wolf bleed through to the best of my ability. My spine stretched just a little more, fangs pushing past my lips, claws replacing fingers. Not full… but enough.
We circled each other. My breath was uneven, the poison still biting into every nerve, but I forced my focus on the rhythm of movement as he darted first, claws raking towards me. I twisted left, countering with a wild slash of my own.
"Coward," I muttered in frustration. This was no skilled warrior, yet due to this handicap, they could very well become my worst nightmare.
They growled and lunged at me, but I braced, grabbed their shoulder, and brought my knee into their stomach. It wasn’t elegant. I lacked my usual coordination without my vision.
“Would this be enough?” I thought, already desperate to end this.
In a misreading of his scent and location, he pinned me briefly as sharp claws dug into my shoulder, but I bit down into his forearm.
His blood tasted rewarding in my mouth. He let out a pained scream as he recoiled.
I rolled and scrambled up, barely able to hold form. But I did.
We circled again. Snarls beneath breath and moonlight.
Then something in the air shifted.
We weren't alone anymore.
A figure stood at the edge of the clearing. Subtly changing the air of the forest itself.
My head instinctively turned in their direction, trying my best to focus on their figure; Tall, eerily familiar. The realization crept up on me in bits and pieces as my heart stopped.
Aurelius was here.