Della waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The small room Mara had shown her felt suffocating now, and every passing second reminded her that Lian was still back at IronRidge.
She imagined a thousand things during her wait.
Lian thrown into prison.
Lian not being checked on, or fed for days.
Lian crying out her name, still waiting for her.
Lian...dead. That was the worst, and that was why she had to escape.
Midnight had passed a long time ago, and Della didn’t move just yet. The Castle gradually quieted as servants disappeared into the quarters, and the torches burned lower.
Della sat on the edge of her bed, listening and waiting.
When enough time had passed, she stood carefully and almost hissed. The herbs had helped, but the pain still felt horrible.
She grabbed the edge of the bed until the dizziness passed, then she limped toward the door as quietly as she could. Still, every step felt louder than it should.
The corridor outside was empty when she peeked out.
Good.
Della immediately headed toward the servants’ wing.
She had spent the entire day observing as she had moved around the castle with Mara. People tend to underestimate her because of who she was, and that was their mistake.
She noticed a lot, things even wolves would miss. And she had already memorized how the guards switched positions, and the time they did so. She already knew which corridor would most likely remain busy, and which one people didn’t use much. She even knew the doors that remained locked and unlocked.
And right now it was the only thing helping her.
The first obstacle appeared almost immediately when she saw two guards standing beside a narrow corridor she needed to cross.
She froze and hid behind a large pillar, then glanced at them. The guards at IronRidge were usually chatty at night and that got them easily distracted, but these wolves weren’t talking.
They were paying attention to everything around them.
Damnit!
Think.
Think.
Think.
Her eyes moved across the hallway, and she noticed a laundry cart sitting there. It was half filled with folded cloth and seemed to have been abandoned.
Perfect.
Della slipped toward it, but pain shot through her ankle and she almost made a sound. Instead, she hit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
Then, she pushed the cart slowly and it rolled forward.
The guards barely glanced at it. Why would they?
It was laundry. A servant’s job.
And for once, being wolfless actually helped.
Hardly a scent.
No aura, and no wolf.
The moment it passed them, Della slipped behind it and crossed the corridor.
Her heart hammered violently, silently praying they wouldn’t decide to go after the cart. Once she made it past them, a low sigh of relief slipped out of her mouth.
One obstacle, and probably many more to go.
The castle seemed endless at night as she kept navigating her way out. She came across corridor after corridor, courtyard after courtyard, staircase after staircase.
Every time she believed she was close to freedom, another checkpoint would appear or she would have to turn back and turn another corner to avoid the approaching guards.
They were endless.
Eclipse Crown truly was a fortress. No wonder nobody challenged them.
Breaking in seemed impossible, and breaking out wasn’t much easier.
Twice she nearly got caught. Once by a patrol rounding a corner unexpectedly, and Della had instantly crouched down and folded herself into a ball, hoping that might help her suddenly become invisible.
It didn’t.
And yet, for some weird reason, the guard didn’t notice her and had just walked past like a moving statue.
The second incident was worse as she had run into a servant carrying some lanterns. The servant had looked directly at her, and her heart had nearly stopped.
But the woman simply turned away like she hadn’t seen anything, and had walked away. It was almost as if...she hadn’t seen her either.
Perhaps she simply didn’t want trouble, or didn’t want to alert anyone or talk to Della and risk getting her blood tainted.
Either way, Della wasn’t about to question her luck.
Hours passed as she kept slipping back and forth in the castle, and her ankle worsened.
Every step became harder, and sweat soaked her back despite the cool night air.
More than once she considered giving up, but the thought of Lian wouldn’t and she would never forgive herself if she ever turned her back on him.
Especially now when he needed her the most!
Eventually she reached the outer grounds, and the sight nearly made her cry.
Freedom.
Actual freedom.
The castle stood behind her now, looking massive and terrifying in the night. Ahead stretched open roads and forest, and her heart leapt out of her chest.
Somewhere beyond all that, far beyond, was IronRidge.
A laugh almost escaped her.
She had done it.
Moon Goddess help her...she had actually done it!
She started to limp forward, thinking of how to go through with the journey because walking all the way to IronRidge was a very, very bad idea. Even without her bad leg, a Rotblood attempting to travel was terrible. And the collar on her neck that had Eclipse Crown Pack’s insignia would only make things worse for her.
Suddenly, pain exploded around her neck and Della screamed. The force hit her so hard that her knees buckled and she crashed into the dirt.
"What—"
White-hot , unnatural pain burned beneath the slave collar, and the metal tightened violently around her neck. She could barely breathe, and her fingers wildly scratched and tried to pull against it.
"What is happening?!" She barely said, trying to inhale but not much air. was getting into her lungs.
The collar pulsed again, or maybe it was somehow in her chest — and the pain worsened.
Of course something bad would happen. Her escape had seemed too good to be true, and knowing her nature and the blood she carried, she should have known something terrible was going to follow.
Was she going to die here?!
"Lian...," She choked, her eyes going red and face turning pale. She stretched a hand out into the darkness like something out there was going to step out and save her.
She knew better than that. The word, ’save’ has never been part of the words she was privileged to experience.
"Lian...," She muttered again, "I’m sorry...,"
"You will be," A deep voice that sounded calmly devastating suddenly replied from the darkness, and Della instantly hoped the collar would just finish the job at that instant.
Instead, she could only stare into the darkness and watch as her demon as a mate walked up to her, his eyes even colder than before.
Malachi.
Like a pressing door had been thrown open in her chest, she felt him emotions slip into the Mate bond.
Rage.
Violence.
And it was terrifying. The sheer force of it had her choking even more.
She thought he would have been asleep by now, and by the time he would awaken, she would already be long gone. But just as others had underestimated her, she has also underestimated him.
It was like the man had predicted what she would do, and had come out here to patiently wait for her.
Wait for her to feel the wings of freedom sprouting out her back, taste the feeling of relief, and then rip them both out of them.
She staggered upright, ignoring her screaming ankle and the choking, painful collar.
She stared him dead in the eyes still gnawing at the collar.
She had been caught...yes.
By the worst person possible...also yes.
But it didn’t change the fact that Lian was still waiting for her, and she wouldn’t give up now.
Malachi snapped his fingers, and the pain and grip of the collar suddenly stopped.
Della breathed shakily, trying to catch her breath. There was now a deep bruise around her neck, and her eyes had watered.
She took a step back from him, biting down on the pain from her leg. It was clear to her now that the collar was connected to him, since he was the one controlling it.
"Where are you headed to, Moonfire?!"
She glared at him, "Stay away from me!"
"I cannot do that, unfortunately," He said, still approaching her as she hastily stepped back, "You belong to me, whether you like it or not,"
"I do NOT belong to you!"
"Tell that to the Moon Goddess!" He spat, also clearly irritated.
"You clearly do not want this mateship between us," Della continued, "So why not just reject me?! Why?!"
"The same goes to you, Moonfire. Why not reject me?"
Della gritted her teeth. She once witnessed a mate rejection, and the pain from the bond severing between them had been so hard that both wolves had fallen into coma for years.
That was the price for rejecting the Moon Goddess’s gift.
And in her case, a rejection wouldn’t lead to a coma. She would instantly fall down dead. And she couldn’t afford death just yet.
"Hanging unto life with everything you have," Malachi continued, still stepping closer to her, "Even when life is tired of having you harbor it, even when you wish death upon yourself," He smirked, his eyes glinting with dark humour, "And it’s all because of...what was his name again? Ah, that’s right. Lian, your little, helpless cousin,"
"Don’t you say his name!" Her heart squeezed hard, and her flare became even more vicious, "Don’t say his name!!"
He was suddenly in front of her, and gripped the underside of her chin hard, tipping her head up to look him straight in the eye.
The night surrounded him like it was his Shadow, the Moonlight sharpened the harsh angles of his face, and his blue eyes promised something sinister, "You still seem to misunderstand your situation, Moonfire," He said quietly.
Della tried to jerk away from him, but his grip only tightened.
"I understand it perfectly!" She hissed.
"Oh, do you?" Something dark flickered across his face.
"Then tell me why?" Malachi asked softly, his thumb pressing harder against her jaw, "Does hearing me speak about him upsets you?" He tilted his head slightly, studying her face with an intensity that made her skin crawl, "Or because deep down, you’re finally beginning to realise the truth?"
"What truth?" Della’s stomach tightened.
Malachi’s eyes never left hers, "That every second you’re standing here arguing with me is another second further away from him. Who knows what your helpless cousin just be going through right now?!"
The words struck harder than a physical blow, and her face immediately lost colour.
He watched as her pupils dilated, her breath quicken and then, to her horror, she felt something almost resembling satisfaction slip through the mate bond.
"Tell me, Moonfire, " He sounded almost conversational, "What exactly do you intend to do once you arrive?"
Della’s lips parted, but nothing came out.
Because she didn’t know.
She had been so desperate to get back to Lian that she hadn’t thought beyond reaching IronRidge.
A humourless smile touched his mouth,"You have no plan."
"And how is that any of your business?"
"You, and everything that has to do with you, is my goddamn business, Moonfire!"
"Then what are you still waiting for?" She fired back, "Drag me back and punish me! That’s what you’ve been awfully good at. You cold, fowl demonic entity that calls himself an Alpha!"
The moment the words left her mouth, she knew she had made a mistake.
"Careful, Moonfire," His eyes flashed.
"I said what I said!" She yelled again, "Your heart is dark and monstrous and burning. Of course it is! You all easily believed the helpless girl when she was trapped, because of Moonfire. You all believed I would attempt to kill you, and work with the enemy. They all pin the blame on the Rotblood because everything points at me! You wouldn’t even believe me even though you feel what I feel!" A tear slipped down her face, "So, go to hell, Malachi!" She shoved hard against his chest and it barely did anything to him.
Instead, she was the one who was pushed back. Taking the initiative, she forced her ankle to move and started to run away from him.
The wind whipped against her face as she stumbled through the darkness. Behind her, she heard nothing.
No rushed footsteps to catch up to her, and no growl.
When she finally glanced back, she saw the bastard walking like he was taking an evening stroll. But what really terrified her was how his long strides devoured distance effortlessly.
He seemed so sure of himself that he didn’t have to run to catch up to her.
She pushed harder and got into the forest, running deeper and deeper while he kept casually closing the distance between them. The forest was enormous with large, old trees stretching toward the sky like black pillars and roots twisting through the earth.
Thorns clawed at her legs, but it didn’t stop her.
Then, her foot snapped at something and she pitched forward and hit the ground hard. A soft cry left her lips, and she heard something crack beneath her.
Metal.
Metal?!
She froze and looked down.
Half hidden beneath roots and dead leaves was a circular iron hatch. What the hell?
Behind her, Malachi’s footsteps continued.
Della immediately clawed leaves away, revealing an old, rusty metal door. Luckily the hatch was unlocked and without thinking she grabbed the rusted handle and pulled.
The door groaned open, and cold, trapped air rushed upward.
A tunnel rolled down, and her eyes widened.
She looked back, and Malachi was much closer now.
Far too close.
Della slipped inside immediately, and pulled the hatch shut from above. She picked up a small metal bar sitting at the side and quickly jammed it in, efficiently locking it from the inside.
Darkness swallowed everything, and for several seconds she didn’t move. She couldn’t even blink, her heart beating thunderously in her chest.
She hoped he wouldn’t find her.
But she already knew...
Something hit the metal door from above, and Della nearly screamed as the door shook heavily.
Then, she heard the sound of someone running very fast above her head.
Malachi.
Something close to panic began oozing through the mate bond from him, and Della didn’t wait to find out more, or stay there to feel more.
She limped deeper into the darkness, one hand pressed against the rough stone wall as she forced herself forward despite the pain shooting through her ankle.
The tunnel sloped downward sharply beneath her feet, twisting deeper beneath Eclipse Crown with every step she took.
Strange symbols had been carved into the walls on either side, and although she couldn’t understand a single one of them, they still made her uneasy. Some had been scratched out entirely, as though someone had desperately wanted them erased, while others looked burned directly into the stone itself.
And the deeper she went, the... hotter the air became.
Far behind her, a loud metallic groan suddenly echoed through the darkness. It was quite distant, but she recognised it immediately
The hatch.
Malachi had finally broken through the entrance!
Panicking even more now, she pushed herself forward again, ignoring every pain holding her back. Every instinct told her to keep moving.
She didn’t know where the tunnel led, and she didn’t particularly care anymore. All she knew was that turning around would mean facing Malachi, and right now she would rather throw herself into the unknown than let him drag her back.
The tunnel twisted again, and the slop descended even further.
The hot air grew even hotter and heavier, and she was beginning to tell herself that she might just be heading towards an active volcano.
Up ahead, she saw a passage and moved even faster. Stepping into it felt like stepping into a new world, and her jaw dropped instantly.
The chamber before her was enormous, so enormous that she couldn’t immediately see where it ended. The walls stretched upward into darkness, and yet despite being buried deep beneath the ground, silver light illuminated everything around her.
At first she thought it was moonlight, but there’s no way moonlight would be able to penetrate the earth and reach down here.
The light was coming from the stone wall itself. Silver veins ran through the walls, spread across the floor, and crawled over the ceiling like glowing roots beneath the earth.
Della felt her heart atop.
Moonfire!
That wasn’t possible.
There was too much.
Barrels lined entire sections of the chamber. Iron containers stood stacked upon one another, ancient cages reinforced with black metal sat hidden in the corners, and every single one of them carried traces of the same silver glow.
Moonfire.
Enough Moonfire to destroy entire territories.
Enough to start wars.
Enough to reduce kingdoms to ash.
And Eclipse Crown had hidden it directly beneath their castle, in this eerie forest.
Between her being accused or something she didn’t do, and now standing in the middle of something she didn’t even know how to process, she was beginning to feel dizzy.
Nobody was supposed to possess this much.
Nobody.
Her eyes slowly moved further inward, and that was when she noticed the chains.
Massive black chains stretched across the chamber from every direction, each one thick enough to wrap around the trunk of an ancient tree. They disappeared into the darkness near the center of the room, converging toward something she couldn’t fully see.
A strange feeling immediately settled into her stomach.
Something was being chained there, something probably important...and hidden.
And before she realised what she was doing, she had already taken several steps closer.
The chains became clearer as she covered the distance, the shadows around it also lifted.. and then she saw it.
A claw, and it was so massive that it was bound beneath layer after layer of black chains.
The body was also entirely wrapped with the chains, and Moonfire glowed beneath dark skin like liquid silver flowing through veins, and the sight of it sent a chill racing down her spine.
Then the creature moved, and a deep pulse suddenly echoed throughout the entire chamber. The ground trembled beneath her feet, dust falling from the ceiling as the vibration travelled through the stone.
Della should have stepped back. She knew she should have. Instead, she found herself moving closer.
Because the longer she looked at it, the stronger that strange feeling became. The strange feeling that somehow...also tugged badly at the mate bond.
The creature looked terrifying, and the silver light beneath the creature’s skin flickered. Before she realised what she was doing, her hand slowly lifted toward it.
The feeling pulling at her chest was becoming unbearable now, almost like a voice she couldn’t hear and an instinct she couldn’t understand had decided she needed to touch it.
Then suddenly, the mate bond exploded and Della gasped. The force in it nearly knocked her backwards, and an emotion flooded through her chest so unnaturally violently that she found herself unable to breathe.
It was Fear.
Fear...at its purest form.
The strongest emotion she had ever felt from Malachi Astridge.
And for the first time since meeting him, Della realised something that should have been impossible.
Malachi was terrified. He was scared to the very core!
A second later, his voice thundered through the chamber, "Moonfire!"
She had never heard him like that before. He sounded extremely panicked.
"DON’T TOUCH IT!"
Della’s eyes widened at his warning, but it was already too late. Her fingers had already brushed against the creature’s fur.
And the moment contact was made, something terrifying happened!