Chapter Twenty-One

Pearl

I had no idea what I was looking for when I entered the second room. As soon as I stepped over the threshold, the darkness felt sinister. The fine hairs all over my body stood on end as I struggled to draw a breath through the danger that hung heavily alongside the air. My wolf squirmed under my skin, wanting to fight as much as she wanted to flee.

I raised my arm, hoping the light I possessed could displace the shadows that hung in the air like curtains. Swirls of shadow reached out like fingers, seeking the beams shining from the markings on my arm.

A deep rumble shook the floor, and I stumbled sideways, wondering what was causing these shakes. Then, I heard it. A deep chuckle rocked me to my core, it was the same one I’d heard earlier.

The sinister feeling morphed into something much darker. Violence floated through the air like fog, causing panic to bubble up and my muscles to tense.

What, or rather, who was chuckling?

Ledger and I had never been friends, but I never associated him with something downright evil. He always seemed high and mighty, with a swollen ego and arrogance that barely fit through the door. What I sensed now was the opposite of that.

Gathering my courage, I took a step farther into the room than another. The darkness weighed down on me like a blanket trying to suffocate me. I gritted my teeth and moved forward, determined to figure out what this was.

I lifted my arm higher, ignoring the burn from my muscles as I tried to see what was in this room.

Just when I thought there couldn’t be anything here, the light glinted off of something else metal. Was it a cage? Taking a final step, I arrived at the edge of a cage that was identical to the one holding the boy in the other room. I tried to make out what was inside but didn’t see anything.

Slipping my arm through the bars, I held it aloft, searching the small lit area for whatever the cage held. Something glinted in the darkness, making me stop and stare in its direction. Two round pinpoints appeared to be floating in the air. I swallowed, my heart speeding up when whatever was moved. I could barely make out the creature’s outline, but I knew instantly that it was a wolf.

“Hi,” I greeted it, flinching when my voice seemed to echo through the room like a gong. “The boy in the next room sent me here to… help.”

I wasn’t sure how I could help. The boy’s cage had no discernible door or any obvious way of getting out. Instead of exploring around this cage, I decided to treat it differently.

The wolf prowled from one end to the other, making no sound except for its soft padded footsteps. I wracked my brain, trying to come up with some way to get it out of here. I had a hunch that this was Ledger’s wolf. He was locked away just like the boy was.

Wrapping my hand around the cold bar made me shiver, and my arm began to burn.

This cage isn’t right.

Why would there be cages in someone’s mind? Both parts of Ledger were imprisoned, and I had no clue why.

“Why are you in this cage?” I wondered if Ledger had somehow created them, but I had a suspicion that this wasn’t his doing.

A deep chuckle came from the darkness, and I realized it wasn’t the wolf laughing but something else entirely.

“Who are you?” I asked the room, doing my best not to show how creeped out I was.

“Who are you?” a voice asked back, sounding oily and unnatural.

“My name’s Pearl.” I hoped that by answering, the voice would respond.

“The light bearer,” the voice rumbled, sounding like rocks tumbling over each other. “There is nothing for you here.”

“I’m not here for me.” I fought a shudder.

“For the boy and his wolf?”

“Yes.”

“They are mine. You cannot have them.”

“What are you doing to them?” Gripping the bars, I considered whether my wolf and I were strong enough to bend them.

“I’m… caring for them.” The voice paused, like it really didn’t believe what it was saying.

“By putting them in separate cages in different rooms?”

“They are being punished.”

“For what?” I couldn’t think of any reason why the two would being punished like this.

“I was instructed to imprison both of them if the bond was severed.”

“What bond?”

“The bond between mother and son.”

Oh shit.

My mind started going a mile a minute, connecting the dots of the past few days. I knew that Rylan had the power to sever pack bonds; that was how he created his own pack.

This was a failsafe in case Ledger ever broke his mother’s control. Anger lit a fire in my head that spread through the rest of my body.

What sort of mother could do that to her child?

Whatever this unholy darkness was, it was working for Tamra, which meant it couldn’t be trusted.

“Let him go,” I commanded, my voice shaking from my suppressed anger. “Let them both go.”

The darkness swirled around my little bubble of light, laughing menacingly at my request. “I don’t answer to you, little light bearer.”

“Then, who? Tamra?”

“She is not my master.”

I seemed to have struck a nerve. My wolf shifted uncomfortably under my skin. The sinister weight returned, making it difficult to remain upright.

“Then, who is?” I wondered, fighting to stay standing as I waited for answers.

“The blackness that lives in the shadows of shifter minds. The part of them that craves violence and power. The Moon Spirit unknowingly created its downfall when it created the Alpha Seeker. I am the end. We will rip through your kind then remake you. You will all serve the darkness, just like the witch.”

What the hell?

My wolf howled, a warning that this was not somewhere we should be. She urged me to turn and run, but I couldn’t. Not without Ledger and his wolf. My heart pounded in my ears, and I prayed that whatever the darkness was didn’t hear it.

Frantic but not wanting to show my panic, I reached for my bonds. They were still muted, but I knew they were there. I needed help to get out of here, and last time, it was Rylan. Though, I didn’t think the darkness would let me go without a fight.

My emotions overwhelmed me to the point that I was scared I’d shift and then be swallowed up by the darkness.

I need more light.

My arm pulsed, and a pressure grew inside my head that verged on pain.

“Darkness is coming, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

I bit back a groan as the pressure built, pushing everything aside until it filled me so completely that I feared my head would split open. Another mind touched my thoughts, one I recognized. Rylan’s presence swept through me, adding strength and support. I was able to refocus and concentrate on getting out of here.

My wolf surged forward, adding her strength to mine, and together we pushed the pressure aside. A thought occurred to me, and I searched for the source of the pressure. I felt the consciousness of the Moon Spirit and realized that it had given me access to more light. An endless supply was now open to me, and I instinctively knew that this was the solution to getting out of here alive.

I wrapped my fingers around the bars of the cage, feeling the coolness of the metal.

The cage is made of darkness.

With my wolf’s help, we gathered as much light as we could through our connection with the Moon Spirit then pushed it down my left arm. Heat infused my skin as my markings began to shine brighter and brighter. The darkness pounded against the light that I was forcing into the metal.

The blackness growled around me, furious that it was losing its hold on the wolf inside the cage. The dark wolf within howled its excitement as it paced close to the bars, ready to get out. My wolf and I continued to pump light into my arm, and slowly, the bars of the cage started to fade, turning from dark metal to wispy shadows. When they were see-through, Ledger’s wolf approached, swiping its leg through the lightening shadows. The residual darkness evaporated at the wolf’s touch.

It was free.

Wasting no time, Ledger’s wolf yipped and growled while running toward the door I’d come through earlier. Holding my arm aloft in order to keep the darkness at bay, I backtracked into the other room. Once at the entrance, I sent out a blast of brightness. The shadows scattered, withdrawing into the deep recesses of Ledger’s mind.

I couldn’t leave knowing there was a possibility it could corrupt him again. With the Moon Spirit’s guidance, I built a barrier made of light to block the entrance to the other room. The darkness couldn’t get out without hitting the wall, which would make it dissipate. It was crude and crooked, but it would have to do.

Turning, I searched for the cage that contained the boy but found both were gone. A much older man was on the floor where the cage used to be, his arms wrapped around the wolf that I’d helped set free. The man looked up, and I saw the same eyes as the boy’s staring at me from an older version his face.

“Thank you,” Ledger said, emotion filling his gaze as he clung to the wolf in front of him. “We couldn’t do it on our own.”

“We’re a pack now.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

The tunnel began to fade around us as he and his wolf became acquainted with each other. There was no telling how long they’d been separated in their own mind, but the aftermath of that sort of abuse would leave its mark on anyone. He had a long road ahead with healing and accepting what had been done to him. It wouldn’t be easy, but I knew that our pack would rally and keep him safe while he worked through it.

‘Time to go,’my wolf nudged me.

‘How?’I didn’t know how we were going to get back.

‘Mate,’my wolf said, but I could hear the silent ‘duh’ in her words.

I reached for the bond I had with Rylan. Warmth and love enveloped me when I dipped my conscience into our connection. I closed my eyes, welcoming the feeling of my mate surrounding me. I buried myself in it, never wanting to leave this place where I belonged.