36. Asher

ASHER

J udging from how dark the sky was, it'd been about half an hour since Kestrel left, and the feral wolves were still restraining me. I'd tried fighting them, but they pinned to the ground. There was nothing to be done. I was a captive, and everything was crumbling around me.

After Connor killed Edgar, I swore I would never put myself in the position to feel so hopeless again, but here I was, sinking into my despair. For all my blustering in front of Kestrel, she was right. There was nothing I could do to keep her plan from succeeding. Maybe when she got to the mainland someone would kill her, and that would stop her… but it would also undoubtedly kill any chance I had at getting Phaedra back.

I closed my eyes, banishing the thought of her lying dead on the ground. Goddess, not that. Anything but that.

I was close to giving up completely when the pressure on my body eased. Opening my eyes, I found that the ferals were letting me free. I sat up and watched, stupefied as they shifted into their human forms. Their hair was long, unkempt, dirty, and their bodies ranged from emaciated to lean. They stared at their hands and bodies like they weren't familiar with the form. For many of them, this was probably the first time they hadn't been in wolf form in years, decades—maybe their entire lives.

"Hey," one of them said. I couldn't see his mouth under the matted beard that covered it. "What happened? How is this possible?"

I blinked at him. "I… I don't even know where to begin to explain it to you."

He seemed to understand that. "I guess I'll ask… who are you?"

"My name is Asher," I said. "I'm the alpha of the Dagger Pack. Who are you?"

He had to think about it for a moment, then finally said, "I think my name is Bishop."

I got to my feet and took his hand. "Bishop. It's nice to meet you."

Just a short while ago, this man had been feral and on the verge of killing me and my mate. But now, he was frightened, confused, and in need of guidance. As an alpha and a fellow shifter, it was my responsibility to help them get their bearings. It would keep me from losing my head, it would help them understand what was going on, and they might be able to point to the location of the trees Mara had shown me in my dreams.

Bishop said that most of them had been feral for so long, they couldn't remember what they'd done to deserve being sent here in the first place. After only a few days out here, you either starved to death, were overwhelmed by other ferals and killed, or you became feral just to survive. The first time they had any control of themselves was when Phaedra had yelled for them to stop.

"I don't know if I can explain to you how strange that is," he said. "When you're feral, you don't really think. You feel, you hunt, you breed, and you do it all over again until you die. When she yelled at us, it was like seeing the sun for the first time after a never-ending night."

"How did she do that?" a woman asked. She called herself Rachelle, and she had black hair that might look similar to Selene's once she could get cleaned up. "And why did she turn on you like that?"

"She has the blood of a goddess in her," I said, seeing no reason to lie. "Because of that, someone is using her body and that power to hurt people."

They gasped, murmuring amongst themselves. As they adjusted to that news, I took some time to think. Kestrel's control over the wolves was limited by distance, and it had worn off faster than it had when Phaedra and I spent time together earlier on in our relationship. Whether she knew it or not, Kestrel probably didn't have the hang of Phaedra's powers yet. I could exploit that.

"I wish I could explain everything," I said, bringing their attention back to me. "I really do, but right now, I need your help."

"Of course," Bishop said. "We'll get you anything you need, and help you in any way we can, but most of what we have has been eaten or destroyed."

"There's a pair of trees that have fallen over each other, and they sort of look like an X," I said. "There's something buried there that I need."

Bishop frowned, puzzled for a few moments, and then his face lit up. "I know exactly where that is. Sit tight," he said, getting to his feet. "I'll go dig up what's buried there and bring it back to you."

He was gone only a few minutes, and when he returned as a wolf, he brought it to me and dropped it gently at my feet. It looked like a large dirt clod. I pushed away the soil until, to my surprise, I revealed the surface of the puzzle box. I could have cried. Mara had been literal after all.

But what could be inside it that we needed?"

I said " Open " as an alpha command, and the old springs released and popped open. Inside was an amulet the color of an abalone shell. It was a lot like moonstone, but more . The strange gem was heavier than it looked, and when I focused on it, I saw its insides weren't static, but shimmered and swirled even when I held it still. This wasn't something that was natural to Earth. It must have come from Emerys.

I had no idea how I could use this against Kestrel, but we could figure that out later. For now, I needed to find her.