Chapter Twenty-Six

Pearl

I coughed, trying to dispel the thick cloying darkness that had surrounded Estella, her wolf, and me. The ground fell away, and I panicked for a split second before our feet slammed into the hard ground. My knees buckled, and I fell forward, teeth gritted against the pain. Estella was on the ground beside me, a similar look of panic and pain written on her face. Her wolf growled deep and menacing.

Glancing around, I tried to figure out where we were while simultaneously reaching for my mate bond. Emptiness greeted me. Anger and fear coursed through my veins, making me pray for my mate’s safety to the Moon Spirit. Whatever this was, I needed Rylan to be all right. I could handle whatever came my way, but if he was hurt or something worse, my wolf and I would tear this place down.

“Where are we?” Estella asked, her voice shaky but quiet.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, but after my perusal, I had the nagging feeling that I’d been here before.

‘We have. This is Faela’s cell.’

I suppressed my gasp of recognition, not wanting to give anything away. Our captors were no doubt watching us. Better not to reveal that I knew where we were. Not yet at least.

“Well, well, well,” a condescending female voice echoed around the room.

I glanced around, but saw no one but us, which made me frown. Where was the voice coming from?

Estella’s white wolf lifted her jowls in a snarl, placing herself between the threat and her human half. I followed the wolf’s line of sight, forgetting that Faela’s cell was in the Cage and the opening was in the ceiling.

“I can honestly say that I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Tamra chortled, her gaze roaming over her sister. “The Moon Spirit must have been looking out for you all along.”

Estella didn’t say anything, just lifted her chin, glaring at her sister who had done her best to kill her. Her wolf bared her teeth, an obvious challenge that Tamra ignored.

“I’ll be sure to do it right next time,” Tamra promised, the evil gleam in her eye pointing to the dark power she’d killed for. “Killing you again will be the cherry on top, after I finish with your friend.”

Her gaze moved to me, and like a switch had been flipped, my left arm started to burn, and light emanated from my markings.

“The light show is new,” she mused, watching me with a sort of hunger in her eyes that gave me the creeps.

What was the bitch planning?

“I’m sure your mate knows you’ve been taken by now.” She seemed excited about the prospect.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from commenting. She didn’t deserve any type of response from me, plus I didn’t want to give anything away. I checked the bond and found that nothing had changed. I could only imagine the state Rylan was in right now knowing I’d been taken. I wished I could reassure him that I was all right; doing so would probably help him not do something stupid.

“Get comfortable, pets. It’s nearly time.”

“Time for what?” Estella asked me quietly once Tamra had disappeared from the opening in the ceiling.

“I have no idea.” I reached through the bond again, hoping that something had changed.

Glancing around the room, I searched for something that might have been blocking my connection to Rylan, but nothing immediately jumped out.

Estella shivered, and belatedly, I remembered that she was entirely human. Her wolf couldn’t help keep her warm, and it was obvious that her wolf was annoyed by it. The white wolf patted the stone floor with her paw while staring at her human half. Taking the hint, Estella sat down with her back against the wall as her wolf lay across her lap.

I paced around the room, using all my senses to hopefully find something I could use. Maybe I could call another bone from the wall and use it as a club like I did with Rylan.

It feels like ages since I’ve been here.

The reality was it had only been a couple weeks. The cavernous cell hadn’t changed, and I felt like if I wasn’t able to breath in fresh air soon, I’d go mad.

‘Try reaching for the Moon Spirit,’my wolf suggested.

I tried, reaching out to the universe around me, but there was no reply.

“Come sit.” Estella patted the stone beside her.

“Do you have any ideas?” My skin crawled from the loss of the mate bond. “I can’t reach Rylan.”

“I’ve got a couple theories, but the most important thing we need to figure out now is how to unblock your bond with Rylan. He’s our only hope.”

I took a deep breath, calming the raging emotions that coursed through me making my chest tight.

I swallowed and nodded. Sitting down beside her, I forced my body to relax as best as I could. Once I was settled and breathing evenly, I tried to reach through the bond again. This time there was a glimmer of awareness. I could feel Rylan’s anger and heard a couple mumbled words that didn’t make sense before I was cut off again.

Estella listened as I told her what had just happened, a frown on her pretty face. “Try again but close your eyes and push everything aside as much as you can.”

I did what she suggested, closing my eyes and slowing my breathing before I reached through the bond once more. More mumbled words, an angry shout, and Rylan’s red rage.

“I think the bond is blocked by the darkness that resides in Rylan. That’s what the Shadow Wolf is, after all. The more he rages, the further the bond is pushed away.” Estella explained.

“How do I stop it?” I wondered, anxious about the darkness I’d felt in Ledger being in my mate too.

“You need to be completely relaxed. Here, lay down and put your head on my lap.”

I was willing to try just about anything at this point.

I lay on my side, my head resting on Estella’s thigh, her wolf’s fur mixing with my own hair. Running her fingers through my hair, Estella tried to help me calm down.

“The darkness is blocking the bond from Rylan’s side. If you relax your mind enough, you might be able to find a way in without alerting the Shadow Wolf. Close your eyes and let the exhaustion you are feeling pull you into sleep.”

I closed my eyes and relaxed my body, letting the exhaustion that I felt deep in my bones take over. With Estella’s fingers on my scalp and her wolf’s steady breathing, I fell into the darkness that tugged at my mind, hoping that I would be able to reach my mate.

Something jerked at my consciousness. I snapped my eyes open and looked around. I was still in Faela’s cell, but now I was sitting in the middle of the cavern with my legs crossed. I couldn’t see Estella or her wolf anywhere, which made my heartbeat faster.

“What…” I got out then turned back around, gasping when I saw an old woman sitting across from me.

“Hello, Pearl,” the apparition greeted me.

I swallowed thickly and pinched my thighs, trying to determine if I was dreaming or not.

“This is a dreamscape,” the older woman said with a hint of amusement in her voice. “You are dreaming but also aware of this.”

“What do you want?” I reached for my wolf. She was there but not reacting to the strangeness that was currently going on.

“Don’t you recognize me?” A corner of the woman’s mouth lifted as she smirked.

Now that she mentioned it, she did look familiar.

“Faela?” My eyes widened as I looked at her with new understanding.

“Yes.” She chuckled good naturally.

“What’s going on? How are you here?”

“I’m still dead, but the Moon Spirit and I agreed that it would be best for me to speak to you,” Faela began then shifted, like she was trying to get into a more comfortable position. “I know everything that has happened, and I know where you are right now. Being in my cell has allowed my spirit to reach out to yours. We can speak freely here.”

I nodded, a million questions running through my mind. There was so much I wanted to know and questions that didn’t have answers, but I didn’t want to waste this time with the previous Alpha Seeker. I didn’t know how long this would last, so I’d better make every moment count.

“Do you know… what’s going to happen to me?”

“You are going through a… transformation.” She took a moment to look around at the place that had been her prison for decades. “Being held here was miserable, but it gave me what I needed. Time. The Moon Spirit never abandoned me. We spoke daily, and not too long ago, we started planning.”

“Planning what?”

“I’ll tell you, but you’ve got to shut up and listen,” Faela snapped, the tranquility she was going for forgotten in a split second. “You know as well as I do what the repercussions of the universe are. Balance must be restored, and it will do that by any means necessary, even side with the enemy. The Moon Spirit and I discussed every possible outcome from the most likely to the everything-went-to-shit. In every scenario, we came to the same conclusion. In order to restore balance, the Moon Spirit must die.”

“Um, excuse me?” I giggled, fighting a manic episode that began clouding my mind. “The Moon Spirit is a god. Gods can’t be killed.”

“The Moon Spirit created this mess. In order to fix it, it needs to sacrifice itself for the betterment of everyone.”

“No. No, no, no. This can’t be happening.”

The Moon Spirit was the only being who would stand a chance against the Shadow Wolf. How does a sacrifice lead to balance? I couldn’t wrap my head around what the old wolf was talking about.

“The universe needs its pound of flesh, a sacrifice, and it’ll accept only the Moon Spirit,” Faela continued, ignoring my outburst. “In order to save everyone, the Moon Spirit will surrender to Tamra.”

“Why? There has to be another way.” Tears welled in my eyes at the thought of a world without the Moon Spirit in it.

“There isn’t, I’m afraid.” Faela appeared just as upset as I felt. “I wish there was another way, but there isn’t.”

“What happens after that? Will Tamra gain more power? Take the Moon Spirit’s place?” No one knew what Tamra was after, not even her son.

The look on Faela’s face told me the answer.

“Tamra intends to become the Moon Spirit?” That couldn’t be possible.

“The Shadow Wolf has opened Tamra’s eyes to all sorts of possibilities. She aims to become a goddess, a being of both light and dark.”

“That won’t fix the balance issue,” I grumbled.

“No, it won’t. Which is why we, the Moon Spirit and I, have come up with an alternative.”

“What’s the alternative?” I couldn’t see how they were going to prevent this from happening. Tamra was too powerful.

“You,” Faela whispered, her eyes growing misty, which was more alarming than what she’d just said.

“Wait… me?”

“The transference has already started. The Moon Spirit is passing its powers to you.”

“To me?”

My left arm tingled, drawing my attention down to it. The markings covering it glowed with an inner light that reminded me of moonlight.

I thought light coming from my arm was just another Alpha Seeker perk, but I was transitioning.

“What does this mean? Will I become the Moon Spirit?”

“In a way. You will have abilities and duties that you must perform, but you willnot be a god. You will live a normal life.”

“Will the powers be passed on or will they die with me?”

“That’s a question only you can answer,” Faela said unhelpfully.

Great.

“What about Rylan?”

“He has his own path to walk.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he’ll be faced with a similar decision, one that only he can make. Stopping Tamra is top priority. The Moon Spirit’s power can only be wielded by it or you.”

“What if she succeeds?”

“Then, all is lost.”

No fucking pressure.

“There isn’t much time. Tamra’s coming for you. She will try to weaken you. Hold on for as long as you can.”

“Wait, what does that mean?”

“I’m going to open the bond you have with Rylan. You’re going to need his strength.”

“Faela, wait. Please. I have more questions,” I pleaded with the old woman, but her eyes filled with sadness.

“This is the only time I was allowed. I couldn’t have picked a more worthy person to inherit my Alpha Seeker powers. You’ll do amazing things, Pearl.”

With those final words, the cavern and Faela began to fade. I tried to hold on, needing more time, but there was nothing I could do. The more I held on, the faster the room and the old lady disappeared.

I was alone again in the darkness of my mind. Grief and weariness weighed heavily on my shoulders while my left arm gradually began to brighten, pushing the darkness aside.

“Pearl!”