OnyxWhen I lifted my head from my work to find Ferrah standing a few feet from me, I was surprised and oddly relieved. The feeling only lasted a moment before the pull caused my heart to twist painfully with desire. I forced the feeling aside as quickly as I could. The look on her face made it clear that she wasn’t here for the pleasure of my company. Something was very wrong. I stood and approached her. I stopped myself before I reached her, although my instinct was to comfort her as she was obviously upset. When she didn’t reply to my question, a spark of anger flashed through me. I turned to follow her eyes and glared at Rydel and Emron. I swear, those two lacked any sense of social grace. She was obviously here in a distressed state, yet they were standing at the door, staring at her in anticipation like they were watching a play. “Get out,” I told Rydel. He could hear the irritation in my voice and turned to go immediately. Emron didn’t move. Rydel grabbed his brot
FerrahI stared at Onyx in shock as he snarled at me. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. I was trying to warn him that his people were in danger, and he was judging me. Just like everyone else here did. I had been so wrong about him. I had been so wrong about everything. I couldn’t even be angry right now. All I felt was defeat and humiliation. My eyes were welling with tears, but I held them back. I would not cry in front of him. I turned my back to him and rushed to the door. He didn’t call after me or try to stop me. The office door opened to reveal Emron and Rydel standing just beyond it. They had obviously been eavesdropping, but it didn't matter. None of this mattered anymore. I carefully closed the door behind me, then I pushed past them and hurried down the hallway towards my room. I heard them exclaim in confusion and surprise, but I didn’t stop. I was distantly aware that my guards were at my heels, but I didn’t slow down. It didn’t matter if they were c
OnyxIt had been three days since Ferrah escaped. I still didn’t understand how it happened. The guards that had been placed outside of her room insisted that they couldn’t remember anything after she ran crying into her room and slammed the door. I wasn’t surprised. She had her magic back, Rydel had seen her use it to evaporate the iron bars that had secured her window. She must have done something to make them forget. I didn’t know how she had broken the bracelet, but without it, she was able to escape. I was more than a little disturbed when I found it on the ground. If the bracelet was the only thing holding back her magic, then she had been a willing prisoner in the packhouse for nearly a week. All the time she had been here before I put the bracelet on her, she had been able to use her magic and had chosen not to. Why? She could have attacked us at any moment. She could have killed me in my sleep. She could have killed us all. She did nothing. I just couldn’t make
FerrahThe last few days were far more difficult for me than I could have anticipated. I should have been overjoyed at finally being free of Onyx and his prison cell, but I wasn’t. I felt numb, more than anything. It was like I was just going through the motions because I didn’t know what else to do. I was back to my usual routine, back to my old life. Everything was familiar and easy, again. I covered my scent and my tracks the way I always had, and I slept safely in my glamored tent. It was simple. I should have been relieved. This is what I had wanted, right? Everything was peaceful and quiet. I was alone with my thoughts again, far from the howling and boisterous banter of the shifters. No matter how many times I tried to repeat these reassuring thoughts to myself, nothing changed. I still felt like a ghost of my former self. I packed my belongings into my travel bag slowly. There was no reason to rush. Once my tent was packed away and my bag was slung over my shoulder,
OnyxI was running through a towering forest of pines, leaping over fallen branches and berry bushes. My heart was thundering in my chest and my lungs were burning from the extended exertion. I had been running for hours. It was an unfamiliar forest, which made it dangerous to move at this speed, but I didn’t have time to slow down and explore. If I didn’t catch up to Ferrah soon, I would lose her for good. It had been a very long time since I had gone so far from the village on my own. Normally, if I ventured outside of pack territory, it was with a number of my men and we were preparing for a raid. There was something freeing about being out on my own, even if it was under unfavorable circumstances. I enjoyed the feeling of the dirt beneath my bare feet and the cool wind whipping my face. Focusing on those things helped to keep my anxiety from becoming overwhelming. It had been days since she left, so I knew that finding Ferrah wasn’t going to be easy. Still, I had to try.
OnyxI launched myself from the bushes, ready to attack the figure that was approaching me. My teeth were bared, ready to clamp down as soon as I landed. There was an explosion of pain in my ribs and I was sent flying backward. I crashed down onto the bushes and slid several feet in the dirt. As I slid, my fur gave way to flesh which scraped painfully on the ground. Something had forced me to shift back into my normal form. There was a loud, high pitched tone ringing in my ears. When I tried to move, pain lanced through my limbs. I groaned and tried in vain to lift my head. I needed to shift back. I needed to attack. Every time I tried to initiate the shift, red hot pain filled my chest. I had never felt anything like this before. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. What the hell just happened? I forced myself to move and managed to shift my position until I could see my torso. My skin was rapidly darkening in a deep bruise and my chest was rising and falling rapidly as I s
Ferrah I pulled Onyx to his feet and he stumbled slightly. I grabbed his shoulders and steadied him. The sensation in my chest was almost unbearable with him this close. I could feel the thrum of my own magic pulsing beneath his skin. Knowing that I had given so much of myself to heal him filled me with an emotion that I didn’t have a name for. He was staring at me in a way that made me think he could feel it too. I felt my face heating up. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Onyx. I was amazed that he had found me. I expected someone to come after me, but not him, personally. He’s the Alpha King and I broke a deal with him. Surely that meant that I was nothing more to him now than a rogue witch. He should be sending his men out to kill me, shouldn’t he? I could only imagine the trouble that my escape had caused him. He had vouched for me. He had convinced the elders that I would be an asset to them and that they could trust me. I had no doubt that he was humiliated by what h
FerrahThe clattering sound outside of the tent repeated and goosebumps spread over my arms. Whoever was making that sound was trying to draw us out. The clatter was distinct. It was the sound of bones banging together. I had heard the sound a hundred times before. I didn’t throw bones myself, but plenty of witches do. This was different, though. There was a rhythm to it that was somehow familiar. My eyes went wide as I recognized it. It was a sound that I had heard every year in my home village. “What is that?” Onyx asked quietly. “Antlers,” I replied. He looked at me in confusion. “During mating season, deer fight for territory,” I explained. “Hunters will sometimes clatter two antlers together to mimic the sound of deer fighting in the hopes of drawing out a big buck by making it think that its area is being fought over by other bucks.” “You think someone is out there trying to deer hunt?” he asked skeptically. I shook my head. “It’s the wrong time of year,” I replied