Chapter 38
RYDEN
“Why did the portal take us here?” I looked around. We were in the middle of the forest, with no reception, no GPS, and no map, and I was not familiar with this area.
“Yup. No service.” Amelia had been lifting her phone to get us a service. “Or maybe there’s magic here that disconnected us from the civilization. I mean, she said it herself that there would be tests. Maybe this is one of them.”
“I just hope she had no plan on feeding us to the monster. Let’s go.” I wasn’t typically a pessimist, and I couldn’t lose hope, but lately, I didn’t know what to do anymore. I woke up and got ready for what the day would take us.
I was sure we were fucked, considering we didn’t have a clue who was our real enemy.
As we started moving straight forward, I looked over at Amelia. She seemed to be optimistic and ready for the adventure.
“Well, we have each other, right? How did she know about the ladybug and the beetle? It feels like she’s watching our every move. It’s creepy.”
She smiled and held my hand. “I don’t care, Ryden, but she also said we make a cute couple.”
I stopped as my lips curved into a grin. “I agree. We’re beetle and ladybug.” Then I leaned down to kiss her lips. “Don’t sweat this. Take this as our first adventure together.”
“Right. We have weapons. We might need them.”
I took the sword with us, used her sling, and put on my jacket so I could hide it under. She had her sidearm, and I hoped we didn’t have to use it.
“How’s your mark?” A wave of calm swept over me knowing she was officially mine.
Her eyes shone, eyebrows raising. “You mean, your mark? It’s healed. And I can read your thoughts.”
“Are they naughty?”
She laughed. “Are you naughty, Alpha?”
“Why do you keep calling me alpha? You’re my equal, Amelia.”
“Because you’re my alpha. And I like calling you alpha just like you like calling me ladybug. Why not a queen bee, though, or a butterfly, like the Monarch? But I like ladybug. It’s growing on me.”
“Suck it up, Amelia.” I realized we’d been walking for minutes, and we were not going anywhere, and I still didn’t feel any signature magic around here. “We should have brought water at least. For how long are we gonna walk and where to?”
“Patience, Ryden.” She suddenly stopped and pointed forward. “Look, a cabin.”
“A history professor lives in a cabin?” She was right. There was a small cabin a few yards away. It looked abandoned and old.
“It’s creepy, I know. Reminds me of a movie.”
“Zarah should have given us more info, but we’ll check it out. Just stay alert.” I kept my eyes focused on the cabin as the back of my neck tingled.
The forest was still dead silent, and my wolf was too calm, not sensing any threats.
“Yeah. It’s worth a try.”
We pushed forward, and I checked the surrounding area and sniffed the air. Still, nothing or any threats I caught but the scents of earth and decaying animals.
“Wait.” She held my arm and looked at the ground. “Stop. Did you notice something?”
“What?” I looked at the ground, too. “Should I see something?”
“We’ve been walking for about a minute or so, and we still didn’t get close. We’re in the same spot. It’s like we’re walking on a treadmill. Look.” She pointed on both sides, from the left were the tall trees, and the other was a decaying log covered in wild ferns.
“You’re right. Your observance can save our lives, but what the fuck is going on here? Why did Zarah bring us here in the first place?” Something was wrong.
“Maybe the tests are meant for us, not a ticket to see Calder.” She sniffed the air. “Shit. We’re not alone. I smell wolves.”
“What? Wolves?” I scanned around for the incoming predators. “Maybe now is the time to use your power and this sword. I hadn’t pulled it out yet, but my heart just hammered in my chest. “Stay beside me, Amelia.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere, Alpha.”
A timber wolf just appeared from nowhere, and it definitely headed towards us. It was already snarling with laser-eye focused on Amelia. “Shit.”
“Don’t run.” I snarled back and growled at the wolf. “Don’t shift.”
“Not planning to. I can’t meet Calder naked.”
“Not funny. I don’t think it’s about Calder anymore. I really need to have a word with that witch.” I almost didn’t finish my sentence when two more wolves emerged from the west. “Amelia, where are they coming from?”
“I saw them. Just focus on your side. Remember what Ren told us? We should work together. I’ll take care of mine.”
“Do you realize I’m your alpha?”
“I thought we’re equal. You can boss me around in your house, but not when we’re here alone, about to fight a pack of wolves.” She was right, and she seemed to have it under control until a brown wolf got closer. She opened her palm, and that was when I smelled her fear. “What the fuck?”
“What’s wrong?” I stole a glance at her, and she was already in her stance ready to fight.
“I didn’t realize I didn’t have power here. Where the fuck are we? Is this some kind of another dimension or a blind spot?”
“Or a test.”
“And yes, I’m going to have a good talk with that witch.” She pulled out her gun and fired at the wolf. It fell in front of us. “That was closed.”
“Fuck. I need to shift.” Another one coming closer. I pulled out the sword instead, and it seemed just activated. It rumbled and vibrated in my grip, and my rune shone like gold. Its power rushed towards my arm, throughout my body. A rune just like around my wrist lit up on the blade. “Is this always like this?”
“Not the right time to study it, Alpha, but how does the sword have powers, but I don’t have?” She just shot another wolf. “I don’t know how many are there around.”
I held the sword tight just like how Ren trained me with a stick. One moment I was in the forest with Amelia, and in my next breath, I was standing inside what looked like an ancient rock cave about twenty meters high or so.
“Amelia?” I called her name and spun to look around, and I couldn’t find her. “Amelia!”
She was nowhere. I left her there alone in the woods with those beasts, and I was here alone in Goddess knew where. I knew she could handle herself, but we were meant to be together, work together, and fight together. “Amelia!”
My body froze. My heart nearly stopped as the thick dark shadow cloaked in smoke came in from all sides of the cave and trailed in my direction. I was surrounded and all I had was the sword. If this was a test, fucked this, and fucked Zarah.
“Lift the sword,” someone, an old male voice just spoke. It echoed inside. “Lift the sword, Ryden.”
“Who the fuck are you? What do you want?” I tried to find where the voice came from, but it looked like this cave was empty and abandoned like this hadn’t been touched by humans in a hundred years.
The smoke suddenly formed into a shadow of the shape of a human cloaked in darkness. Shit. Was this a wraith?
“This is impossible.”
“Lift the sword and you’ll live,” said the faceless shadow.
“Is that so? Fuck you. Kill me.” I put the sword back into its sling to challenge it. “Look, whoever you are, show your fucking face. Don’t lurk in the shadow and scare me. I’m not afraid of you or afraid to die, motherfucker. And if you want the sword, go ahead, come and take it from me. If you want my soul, take it, but first, fuck you and your demonic minions!”
Was I frightened? Fuck yes. Maybe that was why it appeared, but I was more afraid of Amelia getting hurt. Goddess knew I couldn’t handle it if something happened to her. I was supposed to protect her, not deal with this faceless asshole alone.
“As you wish.”
Another shadowy-smoky appeared. This time, it had Amelia. It almost brought me to my knees. A smoke made her float in the air and brought her forward. She seemed unconscious.
“Amelia?” I swallowed hard. My knees weakened, and it crushed my heart, felt demeaned, feeling worthless myself that I failed to protect her.
“I thought she might change your mind.”
“No. This is not real. You’re not real. You’re a sick psycho whispering in my head, a devil on my shoulder. My Amelia is stronger than you think, motherfucker! There’s no way she would let this happen, and I know her. She would rather die than make herself your pawn and be collateral. She could have killed you or banished you into the deepest void in hell, asshole! So, yeah I’m not buying it.” I sucked in a breath and fell on my knees.
“What the hell happened to you? You just froze and scared the hell out of me.”
“Amelia?” I stared at her.
“Ryden?” Kneeling before me with her gaze filled with so much worry, she cupped my face.
“Are you okay? You’re okay. Wait.” I looked around, no wraiths, no smoke, no dead wolves, and I was back in the forest. “What happened with the wolves?”
“Don’t do that again.” She pressed her lips against mine and kissed me hard.
I kissed her back and poured all my emotions into the kiss. At this moment, I did not doubt that I fucking loved her. If someone told me having mates was just a distraction, a pain in the ass, a deadweight, I would shove their heads in their asses.
“You made it.”