Chapter 5 : The Shifter with the Power

Ferrah

I didn’t know how I got here.

The last thing I remembered was being tied up by the Alpha King. He hadn’t spoken a word since securing the rope. He’d been pacing around the forest, staring at me for what seemed like an eternity. I remembered him digging through my bag and tossing my belongings around carelessly, but he hadn’t said a word to me.

I had been unable to speak or move, so there wasn’t anything I could do besides watch him.

I remembered all of that, but now I was somewhere else.

I was no longer tied up. I was standing in the ruins of a village that was still smoldering. At my feet were two large mounds of dirt. I knew that they were my parents' graves. I had dug them myself, although that was a long time ago. At least, it felt like it was.

The dirt looked fresh and when I looked down at myself, there was mud on my hands and my clothes.

The air around me felt heavy and my mind was in a fog. I didn’t understand what was happening.

The village was silent, but I felt like someone was watching me. I knew that there was danger nearby, but I couldn’t resist the urge to move towards the feeling.

I don’t know how long I walked before I saw a figure lying on the ground. I stopped in my tracks as I recognized the form of my brother.

My hands flew to my mouth and I stifled the scream that wanted to escape me.

He was so still and there was blood everywhere. I thought that he was dead, but he lifted his head slowly and his hazy eyes turned toward me.

He opened his mouth to speak, but coughed viciously before blood ran from his mouth to the ground.

My heart wrenched in my chest and I rushed to him. I dropped to my knees. I could feel the blood that had pooled around him soaking into my clothes, but I didn’t care. I reached for him, but my hands fluttered uncertainly over him.

There was nothing I could do. It was obvious that he was slipping away fast.

His body was twisted in an unnatural position and he was struggling to fill his lungs.

“Rhys,” I whispered brokenly. “What do I do?”

His eyes struggled to focus, but he was looking at me. He took a shaky inhale. In a far away, raspy voice he whispered, “The prophecy.”

Before I could do anything, his head dropped to the ground with a thud. The light left his eyes and he was gone.

I sobbed. I felt like my heart was going to tear out of my chest. The force of the grief was too much. I was repulsed by the sight of his lifeless body.

I had to get away from here.

My body convulsed as I tried to jump away from the horrible scene in front of me. Something prevented me from moving and a scream stuck in my throat as I tried to struggle against the hold.

My chest was burning as I struggled to get my breath. I felt like something was crushing my chest. It was dark, it hadn’t been so dark a moment ago. I was disoriented and I felt sick to my stomach. I closed my eyes and forced myself to take slow breaths until the feeling passed.

Once the ache in my chest eased, I opened my eyes and looked up. My gaze darted around as the past few hours came rushing back.

I don’t know how I managed to fall asleep while tied to a tree at the mercy of my worst enemy, but I had.

The gag had made it difficult for me to breathe, maybe the lack of oxygen had caused me to pass out? I couldn’t be sure.

The rope was no longer in my mouth, so I opened and closed it slowly in an attempt to work my sore muscles. I wanted to rub my jaw, but I still couldn’t move my arms. He must have taken the gag away while I was sleeping, although I was still firmly tied to the tree.

There was no fire lit. I couldn’t see anything beyond the trees nearest to me.

I seemed to be alone. Why would he leave me alone here? Did he plan to come back for me once he had backup? Or was he hoping I would be trapped here and starve?

No, that couldn’t be it. He removed the gag, which meant that I could cast spells again. He wouldn’t have done that if he intended for me to rot here.

As I scanned the treeline, a flash of gold caught my eye. My heart jumped at the sight of the flashing, wolf’s eyes. It took a moment to realize that it was the Alpha King.

He had been so still that I hadn’t seen him at all.

I could see him more clearly as he stepped toward me. He was still in his human form. His eyes were roving over me in an appraising fashion.

It set me on edge, but there wasn’t much I could do. It felt like he was looking straight into me, like he could read my mind. I had never heard of a shifter with such a power, but this was the infamous Alpha King, there was no telling what he was capable of.

“You were having a nightmare,” he said. His rough, deep voice startled me. It had been silent for so long, I hadn’t expected him to speak to me again. “It seemed like you were struggling to breathe.”

He motioned toward me, and I understood that he was explaining why the gag was removed.

If he expected a thank you, he was going to be disappointed. It was incredibly reckless of him to allow me to speak again. I could escape in a matter of seconds with the right spell. Was he so confident that he could overpower me that he didn’t care?

“What do you want from me?” I demanded.

He didn’t respond, but he did raise his chin proudly in response to my question. Obviously, I insulted him with my lack of decorum. Good. I owed him nothing, least of all respect.

I growled in frustration as he paced around me, never taking his eyes off of me. I felt like I was on display and I hated it. The way his eyes roved over me sent a strange tingle down my spine. The magnetic feeling in my chest was only growing stronger. It was like having him nearby was strengthening the draw.

I wished that I could teleport myself anywhere but here. The fact that I was feeling this way toward the man that had taken everything from me was a betrayal of my family and all witches. I hated myself for it.

“Why me?” I muttered.

“I’ve been trying to figure that out,” he answered. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why you?”

He stopped pacing and stood in front of me, so close that I could feel the heat emanating from him. It sent a thrill through me, but I was determined not to let him know it.

“Why would the Moon Goddess make a witch like you my mate?” he asked thoughtfully. “She must have a reason, but what could it possibly be?”

“How the hell should I know?” I spat.

Shifters and their Moon Goddess, I thought bitterly. They justified so many horrible things by claiming it was her will. Any excuse not to accept responsibility for their actions was preferable to the truth, I guess.

“I have a theory,” he said. His tone was really making me angry. He sounded so smug. “I believe that you’re here to help me fulfill the prophecy.”

I felt my eyes go wide as I stared at him. Prophecy? The shifters had a prophecy of their own? That would mean that they have seers, too. It had never occurred to me that there may be shifters that were able to use magic in any form. It seemed absurd.

But, they had a prophecy, and he thought that I could help him fulfill it. How could I possibly be involved in it? Was it a prophecy about destroying us? Was he going to kill me and hope that it would somehow help him wipe out the rest of the covens? That was his goal, afterall. That was clear from the years of vicious, merciless attacks.

Or did he think he could get some information from me that would help him? The thought filled me with dread. If he wanted information, he would go to great lengths to get it, I was sure of that.

I wasn’t going to tell him anything, no matter what he did to try to force the information from me. I would die before I did anything that could help the shifters.

What shifter prophecy could I possibly be involved in? Unless…

No. They couldn’t be the same. There was simply no way that the shifters knew about our prophecy, was there? But, what if they did? They would need a magic user to fulfill it. Capturing a strong witch might be part of their plan.

“What prophecy?” I asked as calmly as I could. “What do you mean?”

He looked at me strangely for a second. He looked conflicted. I waited silently as he made up his mind. I didn’t really expect him to answer me. I was his enemy, his captive, there was no reason that he should explain anything to me.

He nodded slightly to himself, then recited, “The shifter with the strength to save their heart–”

“Will stop the war at the start,” we finished together.

He stared at me. I stared back.

I couldn’t believe that this was happening. How could the shifters have the same prophecy as us? Was it a corruption? Had they passed our prophecy around for so many years that it had morphed into their own version?

Or was there a chance that it was a legitimate prophecy and we were in some kind of cosmic race to fulfill the terms first? That seemed too cruel to be real. I had no other explanation, though.

My brother’s face flashed through my mind and tears threatened to well up. I took a deep breath and looked down at the dark ground. I just couldn’t understand what was happening right now.

“How did you know that?” he demanded.

“We have the same prophecy,” I explained.

There was no reason not to tell him. It wouldn’t make a difference. There was no way for our prophecy to be fulfilled anymore. He saw to that. We were struggling against the shifters in vain, just waiting for our resources to run out.

“Except, it will never be fulfilled,” I added.

My head snapped up and I glared at him with hatred clear on my face. He was the reason that the war couldn’t end. He was the one responsible for all of it.

“Why?” he asked.

I wanted to scream that it was because of him, but I held it back.

Instead I said, “Because, I’m going to kill you first.”