Zirah, the woman I love, is tied to a stake and surrounded by menacing guards. The air is thick with tension and anticipation, and I know we don’t have much time.
Our wolves pounce on the guards, tearing through them with ferocious snarls and powerful jaws. The crowd gasps and recoils in fear, their cries of surprise and terror adding to the chaotic chorus that fills the air.
“We won’t let you do this!” Lyon roars, but it’s as if our father doesn’t hear a word.
“Father, stop this madness!” Zeke’s voice is desperate, his eyes wide and pleading.
“She’s not Litha! She’s not responsible for the curse!” I argue, trying to make him see reason.
“Burn her . . .” Father shouts, his cold eyes locked on Zirah.
My brothers and I attack the guards, trying to reach Zirah before it’s too late.
“Stop them,” our father bellows as one guard douses the pile of wood with fuel, and my heart stops. This can’t be happening. I can’t lose her.
The flames explode, and she screams as fire engulfs her legs. Her cries pierce the air, tearing through my heart and breaking my soul as I try to get to her.
“Stay in position!” a woman screams amid the chaos, and the crowd breaks. Kelly steps forward, hands raised, followed by another woman, and another.
Zeke is the first to break through the wall of guards, and his injured hands work frantically against Zirah’s chains. Her head rolls forward onto his shoulder as he tries to free her, and I can feel his panic and pain as clearly as my own.
Lyon is at her side next as I snap a guard’s neck and toss him to the ground. My father’s angry shouts seem distant as our wolves keep a perimeter around Zirah.
A phantom fire heats my legs, and I know we are running out of time. As I break past Kelly and the formation of women with their arms raised, recognition hits me. These are the daughters and granddaughters of Litha’s coven.
I rush toward Zirah, flames licking my skin as I try to help Zeke with the chains, but we’re losing her. Her head swings limply as I shake her shoulders, and the flames sear my legs as we struggle with her binds.
Without thinking, I lean forward and sink my teeth into her soft flesh. “I won’t let her die!” I scream toward my father, toward my brothers, toward the dark sky twisting above us.
The taste of her blood fills my mouth, but something is wrong. Instead of the warmth and connection I expected, I choke on the metallic taste like its charcoal and embers scorching my throat, leaving a rancid taste in my mouth. My body is weakening as I realize that marking her isn’t healing her but poisoning us all.
The coven’s magic crackles around us as their words weave through the stormy night, and Zirah’s eyes flutter.
“Shadow Mystics weave magic, strong and true,
As one we stand together, a coven formed anew.
Beneath the moon’s shadow, our sisterhood holds.”
Their voices grow louder and more powerful with each line, and as I glance up at their faces through the wall of flames flickering around us, my heart clenches with a mix of awe and fear.
The coven steps forward, one by one, continuing the rites of their mothers and grandmothers, standing defiant against our father and his tyranny.
“Stop them!” our father orders, but their magic is strong, and as they chant, I can feel the energy pulsing through the air.
“I call upon the timeless force to guide our path and set the course. From the flames she rises, fierce and bold.”
Before I can stop him, Lyon sinks his teeth into Zirah’s exposed neck, marking her just as I did. His eyes flash to mine with confusion just as Zeke strikes, plunging his teeth deep into her shoulder.
Zeke chokes violently and clutches his throat, and understanding seems to wash over us all at once.
If we can’t save her, we’ll die alongside her by our father’s hand.
Chapter Two
The witches continue their chant, their voices gaining momentum and power. The storm above us is growing more violent with each passing moment.
As Zirah opens her eyes and gasps, her suffering shatters my heart into pieces. The witches' power and defiance reverberates through the air around us. The storm churning above us is fierce. Lightning cracks through the sky like a whip, illuminating the scene in stark, terrifying detail.
