Violet

I stood on the tallest structure still standing in the ruins. My eyes were still heavy from the tears I had shed, but the view before me stole my breath.

I had thought about how we would move from here. But I then realised that I was far stronger now. A whole lot stronger.

And what was wrong in spreading out my syzgy as far out as I could?

That way, I would be able to pinpoint where Bei was, and what direction I would need to go.

So, I had climbed one of the tallest structures to at least see where the sea was. At least, then I would know I needed to head in the opposite direction.

But to my shock, the body of water was closer than I expected.

The desert stretched in every direction, an endless expanse of pink sand rolling in dunes that caught the light of the setting sun.

But shortly after the ruins, to one side, was the sea.

No wonder I hadn’t heard anything.

It was blood red, and still.

The red sea stretched across the horizon like a wound torn into the earth. Just looking at it from this distance alone, made my skin prickle with unease.

There was no smell coming from it either.

I turned to face the other direction. Dry land. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

I closed my eyes and reached inward.

My syzygy responded instantly, stronger than it had ever been. The connection with my wolf had changed something fundamental inside me.

I spread out my senses and my awareness expanded past the ruins, past the immediate dunes, and stretched across the desert like a wave rolling toward a distant shore.

I could feel the sand beneath my feet and the sand miles away.

Further.

I needed to go further.

My syzygy strained, stretching thin across the distance. My head began to pound and my vision blurred at the edges.

Just from that alone, I knew I had covered an insanely long distance. Possibly even wider than a territory’s capital.

But the power still held steady.

I went even further and joy kicked up in my chest when I finally sensed Bei.

Her energy was faint but unmistakable.

I felt relieved, but a short distance away from her, at the very edges of my senses... I sensed wolves.

My blood turned to ice.

They were closing in on Bei.

No. No, no, no—

I pushed harder, straining to sense more details, and that’s when I felt that familiar presence.

Palisa.

The shock nearly broke my concentration.

She was here.

HOW?!

I thought Kael had taken care of her?

And just sending wolves after me hadn’t been enough? The fact that she was here herself, with that same relentless hunger I had seen, terrified me.

"No," I breathed, my eyes snapping open.

My wolf was already on her feet, her golden-marked fur bristling. She could feel my terror and my desperate need to move too.

I scrambled down from the tower, half-climbing and half-falling in my haste. The moment my feet hit sand, I was running toward Zephyr.

"We have to go. Now!" I gasped.

I didn’t need to explain.

Zephyr lowered herself, and I immediately climbed her back.

Without wasting another second, she ran.

Zephyr’s speed shocked me as the world blurred around us. She moved faster than anything I had ever experienced.

I pressed myself flat against Zephyr’s back, my heart pounding with terror and determination.

I hoped she wouldn’t be hurt.

Please...

[ - ]

Zephyr slowed before I told her to.

She must have sensed it before I did, or maybe she was responding to the way my entire body had gone rigid on her back.

The clearing near the cascading pools came into view and everything in me stopped.

Bei was on the ground.

She lay face down in the sand, her dark hair fanned out around her head. Her clothes were shredded across her back, the fabric soaked through with blood that had spread beneath her in a wide, dark stain.

She wasn’t moving.

There were wolves everywhere. At least a dozen of them in their shifted forms. They stood in a loose formation, alert, watching.

Damon was here...

So was Palisa.

I slowly shifted my gaze away from them. Back to Bei.

I remained frozen on Zephyr’s back, unable to move.

’She’s fine. She’s unconscious. She’s just hurt...’

I searched for her energy, for that steady, familiar presence. The quiet pulse that had been beside me for weeks, that had kept me company through sleepless nights, that had asked me what I wanted my life to look like.

Nothing.

The breath left my lungs and didn’t come back.

No...

I slid off Zephyr’s back. The sand crunched beneath my feet and the sound was deafening in the silence.

The others were just watching me as I took a step towards Bei.

Then another.

I dropped to my knees beside her.

It was worse up close.

The gashes across her back were deep, exposing muscle and the pale edge of bone.

I had still sensed her energy mere minutes ago...

My eyes watered.

I should have sent her back.

I should have made her go back to Silverwood. I should have dragged her to the border of the unclaimed lands and refused to let her follow me further. I should have never even come to her for suggestions on the map in the first place.

If I hadn’t been so stupid, she would still be alive.

And now she was dead because of me...

My breathing came in short, sharp gasps that scraped my throat raw. My vision swam. My hands were shaking against the sand.

I could not even bring myself to touch her.

What have I done?

’I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—’

The apology looped in my head, hollow and useless and directed at someone who would never hear it.

The grief didn’t disappear. But it changed shape. It compressed, folding in on itself again and again until it became something else entirely. Something hard and dense and white-hot, settling into the hollow of my chest like molten iron being poured into a mould.

My hands stopped shaking.

My breathing steadied.

I slowly lifted my head.

Even in her wolf form, I could see the sinister amusement in her sharp gaze. She was enjoying this!

"You..." I trembled in rage.