6. Shadows of Betrayal

CHAPTER 6

SHADOWS OF BETRAYAL

T he cursed forest closes in around them, a twisted maze of darkened trees and jagged shadows. The mist clings to Brynn's fur like a shroud. Every breath tastes of decay, and the faint, sour stench of rot seems to seep into her skin, filling her lungs with the memory of death and betrayal.

She hates this place.

She hates the way the forest seems to whisper to her, mocking her with the ghosts of a time long past. Every broken branch, every twisted root feels like a reminder—a cruel echo of the moment her world shattered.

Of the moment he betrayed her.

And now… now she's bringing Luca into this darkness.

Brynn glances back at him, her gaze lingering on his pale face, the way his eyes dart nervously over the shadows that surround them. He's afraid—she can see it in the way his shoulders hunch, the way he keeps close to her side as if she's his only lifeline in this nightmare.

And yet… he hasn't turned back.

Hasn't given up.

It should be a relief. It should be annoying. But instead, it leaves her feeling… unsettled. Confused. As if something inside her stirs in response to his presence. His stubborn determination, his refusal to see her as just the Beast she's become. It's infuriating. And yet, it's also…

Stop it.

Brynn tears her gaze away, a growl rumbling low in her throat. She doesn't have time for this. For him. Whatever strange, fragile connection is beginning to form between them, it's dangerous. It's a distraction.

And distractions will get them both killed.

"Keep up," she growls, her voice low and rough as she turns away.

The words come out harsher than she intends, but she doesn't care. He needs to understand. He needs to know that this place—this curse—isn't something to be trifled with.

Luca flinches, but he nods, quickening his pace to match hers. "I'm right behind you."

Brynn forces herself to focus on the forest, on the dangers that lurk in the shadows, waiting for a moment of weakness.

But no matter how hard she tries, she can't seem to push Luca out of her mind.

Every time she glances back, he's there—his expression calm, determined, those strange, soft eyes watching her as if he's trying to see beneath the fur and the claws and the monstrous, twisted form she wears.

As if he wants to see the woman she'd once been.

That woman is gone, she wants to snarl. She's dead. She died the day he?—

The thought cuts off, sharp and sudden, leaving Brynn breathless. Her heart squeezes painfully, a cold, bruising pain spreading through her ribs. She can still see it—still feel it. The moment when everything changed.

When everything ended.

Maelor's smile. That cruel, mocking grin as the darkness seeped deeper, his eyes alight with a gleeful satisfaction that made her blood run cold.

"You trusted me, Brynn. Such a fool. Did you really think I would let you?—"

She stumbles, the memory hitting her like a devastating blow. The ground shifts beneath her feet, the forest spinning around her in a dizzying whirl. She can feel it—the sharp, burning pain in her chest, the way her strength drained away as if someone had torn the very essence of who she was out of her body.

"Brynn?" Luca's voice breaks through the haze, soft and concerned. "Are you?—"

"I'm fine," she snarls, shoving the memory back down, forcing herself to stand straighter, taller. She turns on him, baring her teeth in a savage snarl. "Stay out of my head, scholar."

Luca flinches, taking a half step back, but he doesn't look away. "I'm not in your head," he says quietly. "But I… I can see it, sometimes. The way you..."

"See what?" Brynn snaps, her claws twitching, the urge to lash out rising hot and fierce through her veins. "What do you think you see, Luca?"

He swallows, but his gaze remains steady. "The way you look at the shadows. The way you—" He hesitates, then steps forward, his expression softening. "The way you look when you think no one's watching. Like you're… like you're trapped."

Brynn freezes, the words cutting through her like a blade. Trapped. She's trapped. Trapped in this body, this curse, this hell that she can't escape. But it's more than that, isn't it? She's trapped in the past, in the pain of that betrayal, in the memory of what she'd lost.

"You don't know anything," she hisses, her voice trembling despite herself. "You don't understand."

"Then tell me," Luca says softly, his voice achingly gentle. "Help me understand."

For a moment, Brynn can't breathe. She stares at him, her pulse quickening, the darkness of the forest pressing in around them. He is offering her something she hasn't dared to hope for in years—an ear.

A chance to speak.

To be heard.

But the thought of it, the hope of it, makes her want to scream.

"Why do you care?" she whispers, her voice shaking. "Why are you doing this? What could you possibly hope to gain from?—"

"Because I see you," Luca says softly. "Not just the curse. Not just the Beast. You."

The words send a shock of pain and fury and longing through her, twisting and writhing inside her chest like a living thing. She feels something crack, something she'd thought long dead and buried, something she'd tried so hard to forget.

And before she can stop herself, the words spill out, raw and bitter and broken.

"I was their protector," she whispers, her voice trembling. "I fought for them. I bled for them. And when the darkness came, when the world started to fall apart—I was the one who stood between them and the end."

Luca says nothing, his gaze locked on her, his eyes wide and blue and filled with a softness she doesn't dare name.

"And then he came," she continues, her voice low and hard. "He told me… he told me I could save them. That if I just—if I just listened—we could end it. We could stop the darkness. And I… I believed him. I trusted him. I..." She chokes, the memory tightening around her throat, suffocating. "And then he—he?—"

She can't finish. She doesn't have to. The words hang between them, heavy with all the pain and rage and grief that's been festering inside her for so long.

"It wasn't your fault," Luca whispers, his voice soft, breaking. "You were trying to save them."

"But I failed," Brynn spits, her claws digging deep into her palms, the sharp sting of pain grounding her. "I failed, Luca. I failed them, and I failed myself. And now… Now I'm this."

She gestures to herself, to the twisted, monstrous form that has become her prison, her punishment.

"This is all that's left," she whispers. "This… beast. And no matter what you think, no matter what hope you cling to—there's no breaking it. There's no saving me. I'm just... I'm just a shadow of what I was."

"No," Luca says, his voice firm, steady. "You're more than that. You're still you, Brynn. You're still?—"

"Stop it!" she snarls, whirling on him, her eyes blazing. "Stop lying to yourself. Stop… stop seeing me."

But Luca just shakes his head, his gaze never wavering. "I'm not lying," he whispers. "And I'm not giving up."

Brynn stares at him, her chest heaving, her breath coming in sharp, ragged bursts. And for a moment, just a moment, that flicker shifts inside her again. Something fragile and dangerous.

Hope.

And that—more than anything—scares her deep in her marrow.

With a low, broken growl, she turns away, stalking deeper into the cursed forest, the shadows swallowing her whole.

But no matter how far she runs, she can't escape his words.