Mia's POVMy brain struggled to comprehend what he just said. "But …" I started to say. But he cut me off. "There's no but, dear. Your parents, are they your blood or not?" Alpha Fenrir asked. I nodded. "Of course they are," I said. Even if they are corrupted now, they are still my blood. "Exactly," Alpha Fenrir said, clapping me in the shoulder. "Actually, when we interpreted the prophecy, that was our interpretation of that line," he said. "We never thought the case of Lycidas would be possible. In fact, it never occurred to us," Saying this, he turned and continued walking forward. Lycidas smiled at me, but mercifully held his tongue. Martha scoffed and put some distance between us, but Mabel had a gentle smile on her face.A knowing smile. The two men, who walked a little behind Alpha Fenrir maintained a blank expression as they have since I first saw them. We walked in silence after that, with only the echoes of our footsteps bouncing off the tunnels and walls. As we wa
Mia's POVMy eyes widened as I looked around the chamber. It wasn't just the corrupted one before us. Every one of the corrupted in their glass cages were convulsing terribly. Their eyes glowed redder than I had ever seen it, and they bared their teeth in a snarl. It occured to me it was the first time I had ever seen a corrupted snarl. Their fangs were surprisingly white, glowing in the dim light of the chamber. They snarled and howled and strained against their chains. "The moonstone!" Alpha Fenrir said, his great coming in short gasps. "I need the moonstone now!" The moonstone? I have heard the name before, but I can't for the life of me remember where. Lycidas looked like he knew what it was though. He darted off to a corner of the chamber. But Mabel beat him to it. She darted to a cabinet at the corner of the chamber and picked out a grey stone. All at once, I remembered where I had first heard the word, moonstone. It was the first day I came down here with Mabel. Then, she
Mia's POV"No," Alpha Fenrir said quickly. "Not kill. Just incapacitate them," However, Martha didn't hear it. Before Alpha Fenrir was done speaking, she had already rushed into the tightening circle of corrupted. Sighing, Mabel rushed in after her. And so did Alpha Fenrir almost immediately. Like his shadow, the two men that had been following him rushed in after him too. That left Lycidas and I. We looked at each other. Lycidas smiled. I was fully expecting him to say something mocking about how I can't fight. To my surprise, he didn't. He just smiled slightly, a sincere smile, and said,"You can stay here. I will take care of any one that comes close —" "No, thanks," the words fell out of my mouth before the stun set in. And then it did and my jaws fell open in shock. Was Lycidas sick? That was the only explanation for his recent behaviours. Either that, or Hazel had somehow managed to swap him out with a very advanced corrupted that didn't know how distasteful Lycidas usuall
Lycidas's POV We stood, panting. Twitching and snarling bodies of corrupted wolves littered the ground around us, but they were harmless now. Unless of course, you got too close. They could scratch you or even bite if you're too close. I looked up at the trapdoor through which Mia had disappeared. A whirl of emotions churned in my heart, many of them unidentified. It wasn't the first time I had seen her suddenly powerful, or felt that….would I call it aura, from her. I had seen her like that just earlier in the day after all, when she saved me from the Silver Hand. But why do I feel like she's gotten stronger since then? Could such thing happen? It doesn't make sense. Hell, her wolf hadn't even surfaced fully, and had stayed less than an hour the last time. She couldn't have gotten so used to it that there is a noticeable increase in her strength in such a short time, could she? "Let's go," Alpha Fenrir said, his breath coming out in short gasps, as was Mabel's. Martha though, d
Lycidas's POVIt was a long walk back to the cottage's underground, with me wondering each time I took a turn whether I took a wrong one. My footsteps echoed in the empty tunnels as I walked, which made the experience even worse. But Mia needed a consoling shoulder at the moment, and it was my duty as her mate to provide it, even if we felt ko mate bond yet. Eventually though, I made it back to the chamber. As I stood at the dark corner that led to the tunnel and looked at the scene inside the chamber, I realised that Alpha Fenrir was right when he talked about the quick recovery of the corrupted. Though they were no longer growling and snarling, they weren't lying as still as we left them. Most of them were already crawling, either pushing themselves with the tip of their toes and their jaws, or pulling themselves with their fingers. I couldn't bring myself to pass right through them, even if they looked harmless at the moment. So I walked around the edges of the chamber till I g
Mia's POVI turned to look at Martha. "Your room? This is my room," I said. I really didn't have strenght to deal with her now. "You mean Mabel told you this was your room?" she asked in an obviously exaggerated shock. I ignored her and rested my head on Lycidas's shoulder. Strangely, the few seconds my head was turned to Martha was really miserable. I just wanted to curl up in the hollow of his neck and go to sleep. Was this the mate bond? Was this how mate felt around each other? It would have made me uncomfortable had I not been so emotionally drained I couldn't care for anything else. But I had barely settled in when I felt a hand yank my veil roughly, forcing my eyea to look into a fierce, angry one. "You don't get to ignore me," she snarled. Under me, I felt Lycidas tense. Somehow, I knew he was going to snap at Martha. But I didn't want anyone to fight my battles for me. I placed a hand on his laps, and he relaxed a bit, though he remained tense. "I need to be alone no
Mia's PovFor the record, I knew that sparring with Martha was a bad idea. And because I knew that - and could bloody well recognise it even through the thickening haze of anger and resentment that threatened to swallow me whole - I forced myself to calm down and take a step back. "Martha," I said as coldly and as calmly as I could manage. "I am not weak. Please leave."Martha's gaze turned downright venomous and her features twisted into a rictus of anger."You fucking lie!" She exclaimed, jabbing a finger at me and making me jerk back in surprise. "You two-faced, pathetic liar! If you were not so pathetically powerless then Maya would be alright!"My fists clenched at my sides as Martha's words dug into me like splinters. I knew that, and I did not need anyone to remind me about it. I reminded myself about it enough...It seemed like a low blow for Martha to drag that out."Mia, you have to face the truth," Martha's voice sliced through the air, sharp and accusatory. " Or would you
Mia's PovRound after round, blow after blow, we battled on, locked in a deadly dance of violence that seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Each exchange of blows was a testament to our resilience, a testament to the indomitable spirit that burned within us both.And then, just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, Martha delivered a final, devastating blow that sent me crashing to the ground, my body a mass of agony as I lay there, gasping for breath. Every muscle screamed in protest, every nerve ending ablaze with pain, but still I refused to give up.This was just round one.....I would argue that I knew what I was doing. And in a way I did. I was losing. Badly.Martha sneered at me as I slammed against the wall and doubled over. Through the haze of agony, I saw Lycidas watching us from the bed, his eyes inscrutable as he bore witness to the spectacle unfolding before him. Shame burned hot in me."Are you sure you don't want to draw your claws?" I wheezed. Martha scoffed. "You