Chapter 17

Chapter 17
A Deadly Invitation 

In the morning, the invitations are sent out.

Really, summons.

Every Alpha. Every bundle. Just one thing.

They call it unity.

Restoration of tranquiliFalsehoodsoods.

It's a display of power. A final reminder to all those who still assert authority.

It's hosted by the Silverfangs.

They do, of course.

The illusion remains even if the impostor has passed away.

Jake has left.

However, the mask he wore remains.

The world is unaware that he never existed.

Not quite yet.

My actual mate, Jake, is still unconscious.

His chest still bears the burn from the mark.

He is still accompanied by the Whispering Shadow.

I haven't either.

However, the incident

This is my chance.

I'm back.

Not behind closed doors.

Not in quiet.

They'll see me this time.

Each and every one.

They will recall.

They will also regret it.

I am the only one that walks the way.

My just-acquired armor is dull. It consumes little liquid.

Old runes carved on blackened steel.

Below it my wolf hums. Not agitated.

All set.

The event is held on historic property.

Neutral land. No man's land.

Tradition alone makes this claim.

But I was never explained by tradition.

No more.

I'm late.

Not to conceal.

To be observed.

They pivot.

All heads.

All Alphas.

All warriors.

People who used to despise me now look up.

I move like fog through them.

Untouchable.

Selena is here.

She makes an effort to grin.

She is currently dating another Alpha.

She holds on to it like a shield.

My father is here.

He avoids eye contact with me.

Coward.

Beta Marcus is visible to me.

He lowers his head.

Not out of deference, though.

Fearful.

I don't slow down.

A stone platform serves as the main stage.

Formerly used for vows of alliance.

It's for politics today.

Posing.

Until I walk on it.

After that, it changes completely.

First to speak is the Master Alpha.

An elderly wolf with an excessive number of secrets.

He urges solidarity.

I say a single word.

"No."

Gasps reverberate.

He stumbles.

Others object.

I look at them and silence them.

"I question the Silverfang Alpha's legacy," I declare.

Nobody is breathing.

The Alpha Council twitches.

"You can't."

I hold up my hand.

The mark shines.

Not crimson.

Not silver.

Both.

Storm and shadow bind.

At my side, the Whispering Shadow emerges.

The child does, too.

They remain silent.

However, they serve as my anchor.

Then I spot her.

A fresh participant.

Do not pack. Not a rogue.

Half shade, half-light, she stands at the far edge.

She's dressed in white.

Dagger-like eyes.

When I see power, I recognize it.

She is not present to observe.

She's come to make a decision.

And she never takes her eyes off of me.

Alphas quarrel.

They attempt to turn down my challenge.

Make a claim for gaps. Technicalities.

But what the bloodline cannot prove, the bond does.

One of them is my partner.

I also bear his flame.

Even when he didn't say anything.

I push the problem.

An honorable trial.

A ceremony that predates all councils.

They are unable to deny it.

The conditions are established.

Just one duel.

One fatality.

A single seat was claimed.

Not only Alpha.

High Alpha.

I agree.

The audience twitches.

Nobody anticipated that I would aspire so high.

Nobody thought I would live this long.

They still don't comprehend that I didn't make it out alive.

I was remade.

The contestant takes a step forward.

Not Jake.

A female.

Tall. Scarred. Cruel.

A general of the Silverfang breed.

Their most formidable fighter.

Their covert weapon.

She beams as if she's already triumphant.

I don't return the smile.

I take a step forward.

Below me, the stone fractures.

She is unaware.

She lunges, shifting in midair.

I gave her permission to enter.

It's a quick blow.

Powerful.

However, my body remains still.

It takes in.

Then comes back.

I feel my wolf surge.

Fangs are like blades.

I dig my nails into her chest.

She lets out a scream.

It's not pain, though.

It's acknowledgment.

She recognizes me.

Something more profound.

No, Alpha.

Not a rogue.

Shadowborn.

The battle is over before it even begins.

She's lying down.

Pooling of blood.

Barely breathing.

I don't murder her.

Not quite yet.

There is silence among the throng.

Then there's a clap.

Slow.

Measured.

The white-clad woman.

She takes a step forward.

Like water, all Alpha parts for her.

She grins.

Additionally, I sense pressure.

She is strong.

Older than she appears.

She ascends the platform.

Look at me.

Then utters words that make me gasp.

"I have been trying to find you."

I remain silent.

She is displaying a necklace.

My mom's.

One that I interred alongside her body.

She claims to have known your mother well.

I take a closer look.

She is telling the truth.

The necklace has a slight glimmer.

Blood knows blood.

She bends in.

Whispers in my ear.

"She belonged to our group."

We.

Something inside of me is broken by the term.

"Your mom wasn't merely a Luna."

She takes a step back.

She points up to the sky.

To the ominous storm that swirls overhead.

"She was the Abyss's daughter."

Echoes of gasps.

Not only from me.

From the Shadow that Whispers.

From the youngster.

Even the Council.

They were unaware.

The white-clad woman's smile gets bigger.

"You are, therefore, the Heir of Two Thrones."

Darkness and light.

Abyss and Alpha.

My wolf awakens.

The storm reacts.

The mark flares.

The crowd disperses.

However, then

The sky divides in a crack.

And someone else appears.

In the shadow of light.

Blinding.

Lovely.

Male.

My heart twitches.

It's him.

My friend.

Get up.

Alive.

But there's a problem.

He has crazy eyes.

Not him.

The kid lets out a scream.

The Shadow of Whispering moves.

But not quickly enough.

He avoids eye contact with me.

He sees right through me.

He then utters a single syllable.

"Leap."

His body then trembles.

He tears wings from his back.

Not the shadow.

Not light.

Something halfway.

His hands shake.

Waves of power flow from him.

He lacks authority.

The bond is being hijacked.

I attempt to contact him.

However, the white-clad woman takes hold of my arm.

"Don't," she cautions. "You don't have him yet."

The tears in the air.

The stage collapses.

The sky yells.

And out of nowhere comes a voice.

And all over.

"I own her."

Not his voice.

Not my friend.

Something more ancient.

Darker.

Claiming me.

I'm being marked.

My wolf snarls.

She's not scared, though.

She is upset.

The white-clad woman draws me in.

"Lily, you have to make a decision."

I look over at her.

"What?"

She gestures up at the sky.

Then to my friend.

Afterward, to my wrist, Mark And declares, "Select your throne. Or lose both of them.

The world stage is ignited by Lily's return, but the relationship she has only just begun to comprehend has reawakened an ancient and possessive force that threatens to take her mate, her power, and her fate if she doesn't make a decision quickly.

The air becomes glassy.

Sound warps. Light bends.

The throng fumbles. Alphas disappear as cowards do. The Council also runs away. I don't move, though.

Not when my friend's body is suspended in midair, held by an uncontrollable force.

Not when my name is always being whispered like a claim and a curse by the non-his voice.

I own her.

The whirlwind of energy blasting from his chest drowns out the woman in white's shout.

Silver lightning at the center, blue fire on the periphery of rings of force. Trees are uprooted. Stones fly. Wolves naturally change positions. Echoes of screams.

I haven't moved yet.

I'm not afraid because of this force inside of him.

It appeals to me.

My wolf isn't scared. She pursues it.

With one foot on a broken rock and the other on the open air, I advance.

My body rises.

My wrist has a mark that burns, pulses, glows, and then flares uncontrollably. My skin splits in the middle, turning light and dark.

One side is stormy. Abyss, nevertheless.

And my friend notices me.

For a moment.

Only long enough to grab me.

Then it seizes him once more.

He is twisted.

He screams, but his voice has changed.

It's a terrible sound that escapes him. Demonic. Inhuman.

He seems to be being used by something ancient.

I extend my hand.

I'm yelled to stop by the Whispering Shadow. The kid lets out a scream. I won't, though.

Because he will be lost if I don't go to him right away. To himself as well as to me.

I take hold of his arm.

Blinding white fire and slithering darkness are illuminated by the link.

Then everything blows up.

I awaken to darkness.

Not the Whispering Shadow's reassuring darkness.

The haunting woods, no.

It's a void.

Never-ending.

Quiet.

However, I'm not alone myself.

He is present.

He was kneeling.

Shaking.

He raises his head.

He has glass eyEmptympty. However, his mark glows similarly to mine.

However, his is brokShatteringring.

It is the food source for the darkness.

His lopenpens to speak, but nothing comes out.

Rather, someone emerges from behind the clad in a starry cloak. Galaxies for eyes. Grin as sharply as you can.

The voice.

The thing that took me.

Then it talks once again.

"The Abyss should have been your choice."

My fists clench.

He holds up his hand.

His robe's stars whirl before degenerating into anarchy. My father, Selena, my mother, and I all have faces that flash through.

He claims, "You were born of the void." "But you act like you're light."

I remain silent.

He cocks his head.

"The world will soon plead for your wrath."

Then he follows my frieReachesches out, touches his shoulder, and presses.

His chest mark becomes more pronounced.

He lets forth a soundless screen and disappears.

The emptiness does the same.

I wake up with a gasp.

The stage has been destroyed.

From the crater, smoke rises.

Alphas are coming back slowly, their faces pale.

The white-clad woman kneels next to me, panting heavily.

It's a faint Whispering Shadow.

The youngster trembles and clutches her chest.

And my friend has left.

Not simply absent.

Lost.

No smell. No trail of bonds. No whisper of the psychic.

The connection remains intact.

It's concealTakenaken.

By him.

The old power.

The one who referred to me as "daughter."

The one that is a part of me.

I get up, just about standing.

However, I already know what will happen next.

Politics was never at the center of this incident.

Never about atonement.

It was baTo.

To entice Tor to test the boTo.

to take the heir.

They desired him.

They desire me more, though.

They now possess a part of both of us.

I'm steadied by the white woman.

She has a raspy voice.

"There is something you must see."

I follow her behind the destroyed platform.

To a black, locked door that no one has previously seen.

It hums when I get close.

My wrist mark provides an answer.

The woman takes a step back.

She responds, "You need to open it."

Yes, I do.

The stone dissolvInsideside a throne, tOf.

of bone.

Of fiOf.

of a shadow that whispeWithwith my name carved on it.

And hanging in midair behind it

A blood-sealed scroWithwith the words, "Claim your seat, or he dies," in an old-fashioned script.

An ancient entity connected to Lily's lineage has captured her partner, and a dark throne now commands her to sit or risk losing him forever. Power is no longer the game. It's in your possession.