Chapter 17
Dahlia’s POV
I looked at my children; Aidan and Ariana asleep on the couch, and Axel dreaming in the bed. I realized then that Gina wasn’t the monster at the top of the food chain. She was just the one who had opened the door. I wondered if this was her plan all along.
Did she know about my children long before now?! Was this some part of her mastermind?
A loud crash came from the hallway outside. It sounded like glass shattering, followed by a heavy thud.
“Nate?” I called out, moving toward the door.
No one answered. The hallway was silent. I reached for the handle, as my hands were shaking, but before I could touch it, a dark liquid started to seep under the door.
It was thick. It was black. And it smelled like a grave, just like Gina’s blood.
I backed away from the door, my heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. The black liquid moved like it was alive, crawling across the white tiles in thick, oily ribbons. Everywhere it touched, the floor hissed and turned a bruised, sickly purple.
I was shocked for a moment. Was that really happening?
I didn’t scream. I couldn’t afford to. I turned and lunged for the couch where Aidan and Ariana were sleeping.
“Aidan! Ariana! Wake up!” I hissed, grabbing them by the shoulders.
Aidan was awake in a second, his eyes snapping open with that sharp, wolf-like alertness he’d inherited from Nate. Ariana was slower, rubbing her eyes and let out a tiny, confused whimper.
“Mommy? What’s that smell?” she asked, her voice thick with sleep.
“Don’t look at the floor,” I told her, my voice was low and urgent. “Aidan, get on the bed with Axel. Now! Don’t let your feet touch the black stuff p>
Aidan didn’t ask questions. He saw the fear in my eyes and grabbed his sister’s hand, pulling her onto the high hospital bed where Axel was still out cold.
They huddled together at the headboard, their small faces were pale and terrified as they watched the liquid surround the bed like a moat.
I looked around for a weapon. There was nothing but a metal IV pole and a plastic tray. I grabbed the pole, ripped the bag of saline off and held the heavy metal rod like a spear.
The door didn’t open. It began to dissolve.
The wood bubbled and peeled away, turning into ash before my eyes. Standing in the doorway wasn’t Nate or Gina as I had expected.
It was a man I had never seen before, yet he had the same hollow, red eyes as the prisoner I’d seen in the dungeon. He was tall, thin as a rail, and wore a tattered grey coat that seemed to smoke at the edges. His skin was the color of wet clay, and he wasn’t breathing. I realized with a jolt of pure terror that he wasn’t a shifter. He wasn’t even human.
“The Alpha is busy,” the man said. His voice sounded like dry leaves scraping on a tombstone. “He is fighting shadows in the hall. He cannot hear you p>
“Stay away from them,” I said, stepping between the bed and the door. The black oil was swirling around my boots now, eating at the leather. It felt freezing cold, a chill that went straight to my bones.
“The Silver-Crest blood,” the man whispered, ignoring me. His eyes were fixed on Axel. “The mountain has been quiet for too long. The pact was broken when they hid the heirs. We have come to collect the debt p>
“I don’t care about your debts,” I spat, tightening my grip on the IV pole. “You touch my children, and I will tear your throat out with my bare hands p>
The man smiled, revealing teeth that were sharpened to points. “A mother’s love. It tastes so bitter p>
He raised a hand, and the black liquid on the floor suddenly rose up like a wave. I swung the metal pole, but it passed right through the dark mist as if I were hitting smoke. The wave crashed against my chest, throwing me backward. I hit the wall hard, as the back of my head snapped against the plaster.
Stars danced in my vision. I tried to stand, but my legs felt like weak and heavy. Through the haze, I saw the man walking toward the bed. He wasn’t walking on the floor; he was gliding over the black oil.
“Mommy!” Ariana screamed.
Aidan stood up on the bed, his small chest heaving. He bared his teeth, and a low growl vibrated in his throat. It was the first time I’d heard him sound so much like a wolf. He was trying to protect his brother and sister, even though he was half the size of the intruder.
“Step away, pup,” the man said.
“Leave us alone!” Aidan shouted.
Just as the man reached out a long, grey hand to grab Axel, the window behind the bed exploded.
Glass shattered inside the room, and a massive shape leapt through the opening. It was a wolf, but not Nate. This wolf was smaller, with fur the color of autumn leaves and bright, golden eyes.
It was Elena, Nate’s younger sister.
She landed on the bed, shielding the kids, and snapped her jaws inches from the man’s face. Behind her, two more wolves from the pack guard vaulted through the broken window, their claws dug into the floor despite the black rot.
The grey man hissed, drawing back. “The pack protects its own? How quaint. But you cannot fight the earth itself p>
Suddenly, the floor beneath us groaned. The entire medical wing tilted. I heard the sound of stone grinding on stone deep beneath the floorboards. The pack house was built into the side of the mountain, and it felt like the mountain was trying to swallow us whole.
“Dahlia! Take the kids!” Elena’s voice echoed in my mind through the pack link, it was a frantic command. “Nate is trapped in the stairwell, the shadows have the whole lower floor! Go through the window! Run for the tree line p>
I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the throbbing in my head. I couldn’t fully grasp what was going on, but I scooped up Ariana in one arm and grabbed Aidan’s hand.
The guards were occupied, tearing into the grey man, but their teeth and claws didn’t seem to do much damage. The man just kept reforming, his body shifting like smoke.
“Axel!” I cried out.
Axel was awake now, his eyes were wide and terrified. He looked at the chaos, then at me.
“Mommy, the ground is crying,” he whispered.
I didn’t have time to ask what he meant. I grabbed him, pulling him off the bed. With all three children huddled against me, I backed toward the shattered window. The wind was howling outside, smelling of snow and ancient earth.
“Jump!” Elena barked, her wolf form was pinned under a mass of black shadows that had suddenly sprouted from the floor.
I looked down. It was a twenty-foot drop to the terrace below.
“Hold onto me!” I yelled to the kids. “Close your eyes p>
I didn’t think about the height. I didn’t think about the cold. I just jumped.
We hit the stone terrace hard. I took most of the impact on my side, rolling to protect the children. The air was knocked out of me, and for a second, the world went black.
When I opened my eyes, we were in the dark. The pack house lights had gone out. Above us, the medical wing was glowing with a strange, sickly purple light. I could hear the sounds of a heated battle; howls of pain and the screeching of that grey man.
“Is everyone okay?” I wheezed, checking over the kids.
They were shaking, but they were alive.
“We have to go,” I whispered, pulling them toward the woods. “We have to find a safe place”
“What about Dad?” Aidan asked, looking back at the dark, crumbling house.
I looked back too. I saw a flash of silver fur in one of the lower windows. It was Nate. He was surrounded by dozens of those grey, shadow-like figures. He was fighting like a demon, his claws were ripping through them, but for every one he killed, two more appeared.
He looked up and saw us on the terrace. For one heartbeat, our eyes locked.
’Run, Dahlia,” his voice rang in my head, clearer than I’d ever heard it. ’Don’t look back. Take them to the sanctuary. I’ll find you p>
“Mommy, look!” Ariana pointed toward the forest.
The trees weren’t still. They were swaying, even though there was no wind. And standing at the edge of the woods was a line of people. They didn’t seem like shifters. They were tall, and dressed in robes, holding lanterns that burned with a cold, blue flame.
“The ancient Elders,” I breathed. Everything happening seemed like it was straight out of history books.
But the elders weren’t here to help. They were standing perfectly still, watching us like hunters watching prey.
The one in the center stepped forward. She was an old woman. She held up a hand, and the blue light from her lantern revealed us to the others.
“The Alpha’s children have returned,” she said, with an eerie smile.
“Bring them to the Stone. The harvest must be completed before the moon sets p>