F O U R T Y - F O U R

PHOENIX

"Do you have any idea of what the fuck you've just done?" I hissed at the traitor in front of me, my Wolf lingering just beneath my skin, urging for violence and blood and death.

Whose death...I'm not too sure yet at this moment.

Atlas ignored me, instead focusing on the woman of our dreams as she tidy up the small safe room, his eyes practically shining with adoration and those heart emoji's.

"Hey fuckface," I snapped in his face, gripping his chin and moving his head until we were face to face "Focus."

"That kiss was so worth your bitching and complaining" He muttered, taking a step away from me and towards the beauty at the bed "I think I'm even more in love with her than I was yesterday."

I stared at him like an alien sprouted from his forehead "Bullshit."

"No Nix, I'm serious" he gripped my arm with one hand while the other touched the center of his chest "I feel like an entirely different person. The moment our lips touched, it felt like I could breathe again. Like I had no worries in the world as long as she remained by my side."

My eyes widened at both his words and the awed tone he said them.

Because for as long as I've known him, Atlas has never been someone emotionally in tune with his feelings.

Hell...he's never been one for words at all, with anyone, always choosing to listen from the shadows instead.

So to hear him like this, emotionally invested, was insane.

"It was one kiss."

"It wasn't just a kiss Phoenix" Atlas said, eyes shining with emotion "It was so much more than a kiss."

"I..."

Before I could comment on anything, the safe room door burst open.

Atlas and I moved fast enough to cover the most important thing in our lives...Nova.

I was a second away from shifting when I realized who was standing in front of us.

"What the fuck dude?" Atlas relaxed "What..."

"We need to leave" He hissed out, eyes frantically looking over us until they settle on one thing.

Or person...

Nova

"We need to leave" Kass strutted forward, reaching Nova's side in less than five seconds, tugging on her arm and dragging her forwards until she was within reach of us.

"What's going on Kassian?" her nose scrunched in confusion as her eyes briefly glanced at me, questions swirling in that icy gaze of hers "Why do you look so freaked out?"

His lips pursed as he looked at us.

"Another one of those things are coming."

I immediately tensed "What?"

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

"How?"

"Because I just watched someone fucking summon it" he whispered, his eyes scrunching at the corners in stress "And that's not even the worst part."

"It gets worse?" Atlas grunted.

"So much worse."

"How?"

"Because someone controls that thing" he said "And he only has one target in mind."

"Who?" I asked, already dreading his next words considering that I'm pretty sure I knew what his answer was.

"It's Me, isn't it?" Nova whispered "All of this is my fault."

~~~~~

KASSIAN

One Hour Ago

"Silence" The Marksmen named Donovan hissed at his followers "We either open it tonight or we can kiss the chance for harmony within the Packs goodbye."

Wait...What?

Why would Marksmen, our literal supernatural enemies, care about any type of harmony within the Packs?

And now that I think about it...how did they get onto the Academy's grounds...grounds that I know were warded with a special type of ancestral Magik that was infused within the Castle's walls the moment it was created.

Son of a Bitch.

The answer was right there in front of my face this whole time.

Either we had traitors in our midst or...These weren't the real Marksmen.

They were imposters.

These people standing in front of me were just shifters disguising themselves as the Marksmen so that in case someone stumbled upon them, we'd have no choice but to retaliate against the real Marksmen and not these pretenders.

"Do it number Seven" Donovan hissed "Open the Portal."

"Once I open the portal, I have no way of knowing who or what comes through it" the Figure name Seven stated "They don't send who they want...who they think will be most useful to our cause."

'They?' I thought in confusion 'Who the hell is they?'

"And look how well that went" Someone muttered "That thing nearly killed all of us last time."

"Open it" Donovan commanded "NOW!"

The figure stepped towards the border with raised, glowing hands, muttering incomprehensible things as another figure started outlining some weird sigils in the dirt surrounding the Witch.

Double shit.

Because not only were Shifters involved in this horrendous crime, possibly people from my own Pack, but they also somehow managed to convince the Witches that lived within our perimeters to get involved too.

Which meant that whatever their cause was, whatever they were fighting and creating all this chaos for, must have been an worthy enough cause to fight for if the Witches decided to go against our Treaty for.

And considering that the exiled Witches that lived among us kept to themselves and their tight knit groups, never once getting involved with Shifter affairs no matter how much they disagreed with them, to risk their forged homes and livelihoods, as well as the livelihoods of the innocent Witches, was unsettling.

"What if you can't control this creature?" The woman voiced her same opinions to her leader "What if it tries to murder my son?"

"We're in this mess because of your son" Donovan growled, gripping the woman's arms "In fact, we're in the mess because of all of your sons and their penchant for getting involved in business that doesn't pertain to them."

"But..."

"Not another word" Donovan growled, pushing up the sleeves of his shirt before nodding at the witch "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be" They said "Remember, you must establish the connection first before you're able to command them to do your bidding."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you'll have a rogue wolanních on your hands" the witch said "And since this one's been kept alive the longest, I'd say it only be a matter of hours before half of the Academy's population dwindles away."

"Donovan..." Someone interrupted "I don't think we should..."

*WARNING: SELF INFLICTED HARM, BLOOD, AND GORE AHEAD; SKIP TO THE (***) IF WANT TO AVOID READING: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**

"Do it" Donovan hissed, ignoring his followers as the Witch immediately slashed her Athame across his arm before dragging it across the wrists of every follower in attendance.

I watched in equal parts of horror and fascination as they lifted their collective bloodied hands to the border wall, smearing sigils across the invisible barrier in hurried strokes.

The barrier shimmered for a few seconds before going completely still again.

It wasn't until a familiar creature, ten times bigger than the last one, stepped over the border did I decide that it was time to go.

I didn't realize my mistake until it was almost too late.

The branch snapping underneath my foot caught the ears of not only the masked figures a few feet away from me, but also from the terrifying creature at their side.

"How about we see how much control I have now, shall we?" Donovan dipped his fingers into his own blood and whispered something to the creature that I couldn't hear "Now my creature, go hunt and kill whosever out there watching us. Make it painful and make it be known that we will not fail again. We will not stop until the blood of the two Heirs bless our people once more."

The creature, so much more preserved than the other ones before it, tilted its head back and let out such a terrifying howl that it chilled me to my bones.

Because not only was the sound hauntingly horrifying, it was also mixed with a type of despair I didn't think was possible.

"Do not stop creature until you feel the cracking of her bones beneath your monstrous jaws" Donovan commanded "Until you feel the life draining from her pathetically weak body...until her soul is devoured by our Gods as retribution for those who have not only wronged us but tried to exterminate our people and our culture."

Shit...

This was bad...hell, this was the worst possible scenario I could have ever thought of.

Because not only did this creature look like it could rip twenty shifters to shreds at once, I recognized a familiar glint in its eyes.

The glint of intelligence, something that told me that this creature was probably smarter than the others, hell, probably even smarter than those that summoned it.

And for that reason, its intelligence would make it impossible for anyone to kill it.

I needed to get to Nova and the others before this creature did...

I needed to warn them about what was coming for us...what was coming for her.

Because if anything would be the death of us, it would be this creature right in front of me.

The creature who held a thousand different secrets in those glassy white eyes of his.

Terms:

Wolanních: Ancient word for Resurrected shifter.