Chapter 10 - Jade

The pain stops as quickly as it hit, leaving me gasping for air on the ground.

My vision clears, and the world snaps back into focus, but the memory of what I just saw—the shifter, the blood—still lingers like a shadow at the edges of my mind.

“Jade!” Damien’s voice is sharp and frantic as he crouches beside me. His hands are on my shoulders, steadying me, and his silver-gray eyes search my face for some kind of explanation. “What the hell just happened?”

I suck in a shaky breath, feeling the tremors still running through my body. “It wasn’t me,” I whisper, shaking my head. “It was… a vision. I saw something.”

His grip tightens just a fraction, and his eyes narrow in confusion. “A vision of what?”

“Someone’s being attacked.” My voice cracks, but I force the words out. “A shifter. I saw it—he’s in trouble, Damien. It’s happening right now.”

For a moment, his expression morphs, caught somewhere between disbelief and concern. Then, without missing a beat, he stands and pulls me to my feet. “Where?”

“I don’t know exactly,” I admit, “but it’s close. It felt close. I felt it, Damien.”

He doesn’t hesitate. He turns, scanning the tree line like he’s already putting together a plan. “Then we don’t have time to waste.”

I nod, swallowing the panic still clawing at my throat. I’ve had visions before, but none of them ever felt like this—so real, so immediate. Whoever that shifter is, he’s in danger, and we’re running out of time.

Damien’s hand finds mine, and without another word, we’re running through the woods with our feet pounding against the earth in sync with the thunder of our hearts. I can feel the urgency in every step, every breath, like the weight of the vision is pressing down on me, urging me forward.

As we run, I force myself to focus, to sift through the jumbled images that flashed through my mind. The shifter… he was in wolf form, and his dark fur was streaked with blood. The trees around him were dense, and the rocky ground was uneven. It wasn’t far from here, I’m sure of it, but something about the surroundings felt familiar. There was one tree that was bent at an odd angle that I know I’ve seen before…

“The neighboring pack,” I blurt out. “It’s happening near the Red Arrow territory.”

Damien glances at me. “You’re sure?”

I nod, even though the thought of running into Gray Reed’s territory makes my stomach churn. “It has to be. I’ve been through these woods enough times. It was their territory.”

He doesn’t argue, just picks up the pace. “Then we head to Red Arrow. If someone’s attacking one of Gray’s shifters, we need to stop it now.”

The forest rushes past us in a blur of shadows and moonlight as we sprint toward the border. My breath is coming in ragged gasps, but the adrenaline keeps me moving, keeps me focused. There’s no time to think about how dangerous this could be, no time to worry about what Gray or his pack might do if they catch us. All that matters is stopping the attack.

We’re almost there when I hear it: a low, agonized growl that cuts through the night. My heart skips a beat, and I pull up short, grabbing Damien’s arm.

“Did you hear that?” I whisper.

He nods, and his expression hardens as he slows his pace. “Yeah. We’re close.”

We creep forward, moving silently through the underbrush until the trees thin out, revealing a small clearing just beyond the Red Arrow border. And there, sprawled out on the ground, is the shifter from my vision—his dark fur matted with blood, his body twisted in an unnatural way.

“Oh my God,” I breathe as my chest tightens at the sight.

But before we can move, a figure steps out from the shadows—Gray Reed, alpha of the Red Arrow pack. His icy blue eyes lock onto us, and in an instant, his shoulders tense and he eyes me with suspicion.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he snarls, his voice laced with fury. His blond hair catches the moonlight as he steps forward, and his gaze moves between me and Damien.

“We heard someone was in trouble,” Damien says evenly, stepping in front of me like a shield. “We came to help.”

“Help?” Gray scoffs. “You’re trespassing. Both of you.”

“We didn’t have time for formalities, Gray,” Damien snaps. “One of your shifters was attacked. Do you care more about territory lines or saving your own pack?”

Gray’s jaw clenches, and for a moment, he says nothing. His eyes flit to the injured shifter on the ground, then back to us. “You,” he spits as he jams a fat finger in my direction. “This is your doing, isn’t it?”

I blink, taken aback. “What? No! I didn’t—”

“Don’t lie to me,” he growls as he charges forward, his eyes burning with accusation. “Ever since you showed up again, there’s been trouble. My shifter’s down, and now here you are, conveniently showing up in my territory with your witch powers.”

“Gray, she had nothing to do with this,” Damien declares. “She was with me all night. She had a vision. That’s why we’re here.”

“A vision,” Gray repeats, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Right. A vision. How convenient.”

“It’s the truth,” I insist, taking a step forward even though every instinct is telling me to back off. “I saw it happen. I don’t know who attacked him, but it wasn’t me.”

Gray’s lip curls into a snarl. “You expect me to believe that? After everything that happened the last time you were here?”

I swallow hard, fighting the urge to lash out. “I didn’t come here to cause trouble, Gray. I came to help. We both did.”

“Help?” he sneers, his eyes flashing with anger. “You’re a liability, Jade. You’ve always been a liability. And now one of my shifters is dead because of you.”

“Enough,” Damien growls, his voice low and dangerous as he steps between us, his shoulders squared. “You don’t get to blame her for this. She was with me. The only reason we’re here is because she had a vision of the attack.”

Gray’s eyes narrow, and for a moment, I think he’s going to lunge at Damien. But instead, he takes a slow, deliberate step back, his expression dark with suspicion.

“Watch yourself, Lucas,” he says, his voice a low growl. “You’re defending a witch who’s brought nothing but trouble to our packs. If I find out she had anything to do with this—”

“She didn’t,” Damien cuts him off, his tone leaving no room for argument. “And you’re not going to lay a hand on her.”

The two alphas lock eyes, and the tension between them crackles like static in the air.

“You think you can protect her?” Gray snarls. “You’re just as blinded by her as you were before.”

“She’s part of my pack. And I won’t let you—or anyone else—touch her.”

Gray’s eyes blaze with anger, and I can practically feel the air crackling between them. They’re one wrong word away from tearing into each other, and as much as I’d love to see Gray put in his place, I know this is not the time or place for an alpha showdown.

I step forward before things can escalate. “Stop it. Both of you.” My voice comes out sharper than I intended, and for a second, they both glance at me like they forgot I was even here. Typical.

I move between them, turning toward Gray with my hands raised in what I hope looks like a peace offering. “Look, we’re all on the same side here. None of us want more deaths.”

“Do you have any idea what’s at stake right now?”

“I do,” I tell him. I’m fighting my temper with every breath, but I have to stay calm. “That’s why I’m trying to help, Gray. We can’t afford to fight each other when there’s something much worse out there.”

Damien shifts beside me, still bristling with protective rage, but I shoot him a look that hopefully says not now . The last thing we need is for these two to rip each other apart when we should be tracking down whoever—or whatever—is behind these attacks.

Gray narrows his eyes at me, clearly still not convinced. “And what exactly are you planning to do, witch? You think you can just wave your hand and fix this?”

“I’m not trying to ‘fix’ anything. I’m trying to stop another death. I saw the attack. I don’t know who’s behind it, but I know it’s happening again.”

Gray scoffs. “And I’m supposed to trust your visions? After what happened last time?”

His words are like a slap, but I swallow the pain and hold my ground. “This is different. And whether you like it or not, I’m the only one who’s seen what’s coming. If you don’t believe me, fine. But don’t get in the way of stopping this.”

Gray opens his mouth, ready to fire back, but before he can, my hand brushes against his arm. I don’t mean to—I just step forward to make my point—but the second my fingers touch his skin, something sparks.

It’s like lightning shooting through my veins, and suddenly, I’m not in the clearing anymore.

I’m back in the vision, but this time, I’m not just a bystander. I’m inside it, feeling everything—the fear, the panic, the sharp scent of blood on the wind. Another shifter, a different one this time, is fighting for his life, and I can feel the danger closing in around him, feel the claws raking through the air just inches from his flesh. It’s happening again. Right now.

I jerk back with a gasp, and Gray stumbles. His eyes are wide and shocked as he clutches my arm. He felt it, too. He saw it.

“What the hell was that?” he breathes.

“It’s happening again. Another attack. We have to go—now.”

Gray stares at me, his usual bravado shaken for the first time, and Damien steps in, grabbing him by the shoulder. “You felt that, didn’t you? She’s not lying, Gray. This isn’t a game.”

Gray curses under his breath, and his face hardens. “Where?”

I close my eyes, trying to focus on the images still flashing in my mind. The forest. The sound of rushing water. The scent of damp earth. “There’s a stream,” I murmur, my voice distant as I picture the scene. “And rocks—jagged rocks near the edge. It’s not far from here.”

“By the falls,” Gray says, already moving before the words are fully out of his mouth. “That’s Red Arrow territory.”

Damien doesn’t hesitate. “Then we go now.”

Without waiting for a response, the three of us are running as fast as we can manage, like there’s a timer ticking down on someone’s life. And I guess there is.

My legs are burning, but I push harder, ignoring the ache in my muscles. The vision is still buzzing at the back of my mind, like a warning I can’t shake.

Damien stays close to my side while Gray takes the lead. I can feel the tension rolling off both of them, but it’s buried for now, swallowed by the urgency of stopping what I know is coming. They could both shift and make this run faster, but they don’t. I know it’s out of courtesy to me. Well, either that or Gary just wants to keep an eye on me, but I can’t shift like they can.

The sound of the waterfall grows louder with each step, and the crashing water syncs with the pounding in my chest. My heart races as we close in on the spot. The blood, the danger—I can feel it all over again. Like the vision is clawing its way back into reality.

“There!” I shout, pointing toward the jagged rocks at the edge of the falls.

In the dim light, I spot the silhouette of a shifter, one of Gray’s Red Arrow pack members. They’re locked in a deadly struggle with something—something fast and vicious. It moves too quickly for me to see clearly, but I don’t need to. I can feel the violence in the wind.

Before I can react, Damien shifts mid-stride, and his massive wolf form takes over in an explosion of silver and muscle. He’s huge—one of the biggest wolves I’ve ever seen—and even though I’ve witnessed his wolf before, he still leaves me breathless. His size alone is enough to send most creatures running, but this? This is different. Whatever they’re fighting, it’s not scared. It’s hungry.

Gray shifts just behind him, his wolf smaller but just as fierce, and they leap into the fight. Snarls and growls fill the air, teeth snapping and claws slashing through the dark. It’s brutal, fast, and terrifying, their bodies becoming a blur of fur and fury as they take on the attacker.

And then… it’s over.

Too fast. Too easy.

The second Damien and Gray reach the injured shifter, the attacker vanishes into the shadows. It’s like it was never even there. One moment, they were locked in battle, and the next? Gone.

“What the hell?” I mutter, stepping closer as Damien shifts back to his human form.

Gray’s wolf circles the area, sniffing the ground, but it’s pointless. There’s no scent, no tracks. No sign of the attacker at all. It’s like they were fighting a ghost.

Damien curses under his breath, and his eyes scan the trees as if he’s expecting the creature to reappear at any second. “Where the hell did it go?”

“I don’t know. But it was here. I saw it.”

Gray shifts back, and he stomps forward. “What the actual fuck?”

The injured shifter on the ground groans, and his body slowly shifts back to human form. He’s clutching his side where blood drips through his fingers, but he’s alive. Barely. It’s something, at least.

“We stopped it this time,” I say, though the words feel hollow. There’s no satisfaction in this. Not when the threat still lingers in the shadows, waiting for its next chance.

“They’re out there,” Damien declares. “And next time, we won’t just stop the attack. We’ll catch them.”

He says it like a promise, and I hope to hell he’s right. Because something tells me this isn’t the last time we’ll be facing whatever’s out there.