Chapter 83 84
Marigold POV
Okay, so here’s the thing—when Barbie said “this place is untraceable,” I actually believed her.
Big mistake.
But let’s rewind a little before everything went to hell.
We were camped beside this ridiculously majestic lake—like, I’m talking misty waterfall, glowing blue fish, enchanted air that smelled like rain and lilies and probably ancient secrets. The whole scene screamed “healing retreat ad for supernatural influencers.”
The lake mirrored the jagged cliffs above us, and the ravine nearby dropped so deep it felt like it led straight to hell—or, you know, Monday mornings.
According to Barbie, the place was magically untraceable. Even human tech couldn’t find us here. Something about Fae energy scrambling satellites, sensors, drones, you name it.
So yeah, for a hot second, I relaxed.
We had a small fire going, fish sizzling on a rock pan, wild potatoes roasting in ash. Alpha Gregor sat across from me, his shirt half torn, his face scratched, looking all heroic and broody under the moonlight. Typical Alpha aesthetic.
Meanwhile, I looked like a swamp gremlin who crawled out of a horror movie—mud streaked on my arms, a rip in my jeans, and Barbie had the audacity to tell me I needed “hydrating mist.”
“You need hydrating mist,” she said, like I wasn’t halfway between dead and hangry.
“Barbie,” I grumbled, poking the fish with a stick, “the only mist I need is this damn lake evaporating.”
Gregor chuckled, the deep, rumbling kind that made my stomach do that annoying flip thing. He’d cleaned his sword, his wounds mostly healed, though I caught him watching me now and then. You know, the kind of look that says ‘I’d die for you, but also you drive me insane.’
We ate in silence for a while until I finally asked, “So, what’s the plan, Alpha?”
He sighed, running his hand through his messy hair. “The plan is survival first. Then we find Leon and Sugar.”
I groaned. “Of course. The heroic rescue arc. I’m still processing that our entire camp was wiped out two nights ago, and now we’re out here eating lake fish like a couple of nomads.”
“You’re alive,” he said simply. “That’s all that matters.”
I shot him a look. “That’s not all that matters, Gregor. My butt hurts, I haven’t showered in days, and the last time I slept on anything soft was—oh right—never. The Black Fang are still out there, ASA’s tracking us like we’re their favorite science project, and the Queen probably has my face printed on wanted posters.”
Barbie, who was floating upside down near a flower, piped in, “Technically, your face is quite poster-worthy. If I were a queen, I’d put you on coins.”
“Thanks, Barbie,” I deadpanned. “Truly comforting.”
Gregor chuckled again, but the tension in his jaw didn’t fade. “We move north at dawn,” he said. “There’s a ridge past this ravine—if we cross it, we reach the old ruins. It’ll be safer there.”
I raised a brow. “You mean safer as in ‘maybe we don’t die,’ or safer as in ‘the ruins will probably collapse on us but hey, at least it’s scenic’?”
Before he could answer, Barbie fluttered down, frowning. Her tiny wings glowed faintly blue. “Something’s wrong.”
I froze. “Wrong how?”
She twitched midair. “Magic shift. The wards I placed… they’re trembling. Someone’s trying to track through the veil.”
Gregor was instantly alert. He stood, grabbing his sword, eyes scanning the treeline. “Impossible. No one should be able to detect us here.”
“Should being the keyword,” Barbie said, her voice tight. “But whoever this is, they’re using human tech and supernatural blood magic.”
My stomach sank. “Oh, crap.”
Before we could even move, the first bullet hit the lake.
It sizzled—yes, sizzled—as it hit the water, the scent of wolfsbane filling the air like burning poison.
Gregor snarled, shoving me down behind a rock.
“Get down!”
The next moment was chaos.
Gunfire erupted from the trees—ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!—like thunder and death had decided to duet. The air filled with the acrid stench of wolfsbane bullets and gunpowder. Shadows moved at the edge of the forest—Black Fang warriors, a dozen at least, maybe more, their eyes glowing crimson.
And behind them—taller, armored, mechanical—came the ASA agents.
Humans in black combat suits, their helmets glowing blue, guns humming with energy cores.
One of them shouted through a speaker, “Targets located! Engage and capture! Use non-lethal on the female—repeat, non-lethal on the female!”
“Oh gee, how considerate,” I muttered, ducking another shot. “They want me alive. I feel so honored.”
Gregor’s wolf form tore forward in a blur of silver and blood. He hit the first Black Fang soldier so hard that the man went flying into a tree with a sickening crack. Another came at him with twin daggers—Gregor ripped his throat open with his claws.
I shifted halfway—fur spreading down my arms, claws bursting through my fingertips, eyes blazing gold. My wolf howled inside me, hungry.
I charged the nearest ASA agent, ducked under his rifle, and slashed his chest open. Sparks flew where my claws hit armor.
He screamed. I grabbed his head and smashed it into the ground.
Barbie darted through the chaos, her tiny hands glowing with blue light. “Oh, for Fae’s sake!” she shouted, blasting a group of Black Fang soldiers into the lake. “Do you mind?! Some of us were having a peaceful existential crisis here!”
“Barbie!” I yelled, ducking under a burst of fire. “Less complaining, more magic!”
“EXCUSE ME, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO CONCENTRATE WHEN YOU KEEP YELLING?!”
Wolfsbane smoke choked the air. I could barely breathe, my throat burning. Gregor was bleeding from his shoulder, still fighting three enemies at once.
An ASA drone hovered overhead, blue light scanning the area.
“Gregor! Drone!”
He hurled a spear through the air—it impaled the drone mid-flight, sending it spiraling into the trees. The explosion lit up the night like fireworks.
For a heartbeat, I thought we might actually win.
Then Captain Hanson stepped out from the mist.
He was tall, broad, his armor reinforced with shimmering runes. The barrel of his gun glowed red with wolfsbane-infused rounds. “End of the line,” he said coolly, aiming straight at me.
Gregor growled, stepping in front of me. “You’ll have to kill me first.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Hanson replied. “That’s the plan.”
He fired.
The shot hit Gregor in the chest. He stumbled but didn’t fall, snarling through the pain as smoke rose from the wound. I screamed his name, my wolf trying to rip free, but then a blast hit me—a net, crackling with electricity.
Pain exploded through my body. I convulsed, the wolfsbane burning like fire in my veins. My claws retracted; my vision blurred.
I hit the ground hard.
Barbie shrieked from somewhere above, “MARIGOLD!” Her magic flashed blue-white, teleporting erratically as she dodged the incoming bullets. “I’ll find you!” she cried. “Just stay alive, you stubborn werewolf!”
I tried to reach her, to say run, but the words caught in my throat.
The world was spinning.
Gregor was still fighting, half-shifted, covered in blood, eyes wild with fury. He tore through two more soldiers before they finally brought him down with silver chains and electric restraints.
“Alpha Gregor of the Northern Claw,” Captain Hanson announced, stepping closer, his voice almost smug. “And the infamous Dark Wolf girl. The Queen will be pleased.”
I tried to snarl, but the net crackled again, searing through my skin until everything went black.
The last thing I saw before consciousness slipped away was Barbie—tiny, fierce, and furious—disappearing into thin air in a burst of blue light.
And then—nothing.
Just darkness.
And the faint echo of Gregor’s voice calling my name before the world vanished.