NEW CHAPTERS DAILY!!! The same suffering, rejection, betrayal, and exile from her pack hurt Liana Elrend. Her father's failed rebellion had stained her name, and the pack had cast her off for her father's sins. When rogue wolves aim to threaten the vulnerable peace of Shadow's Vale, they need her back to wield a cursed relic. The cost? An unwanted mating bond to Kael Drayve, the pack's new lawless alpha and ruthless bastard of a leader. Kael is already a fragile leader. Of course, unless you count the fact that he has rival factions plotting to overthrow him. The Veilstone Shard enters the scene, a cursed relic so powerful the consequences of it leaving Liana's hands could see many cities torn apart by its power. The sacred Shard could be the making or breaking of everything. Kael and Liana go searching for it, in direct violation of everything in their world they exist in believing, and their connection only grows stronger. She has visions of destruction that grow to haunt her. She wants to fight the dark pull of the Shard's power ... but she has to protect her unborn child. Her journey is about pain, sacrifice, and choices that could change all of this if it were anyone else.
Chapter 1 Summoned Back to the Pack of Shadows
The howl of the wind rippled through the jagged cliffs of Shadow's Vale, damp earth and bitter memories carried with it. Tightening her thin cloak around her shoulders, Liana Elrend stared hard at the tattered note crumpled between her hands. Years of exile in the outside world, but the Eldrek Pack had called on her to return. Not requested-summoned. The pack itself was curt, almost emotionless, and so were the words on the page.
They needed her.
She trudged towards Ebonhowl Keep, the towering fortress it had been, and it was once her home. Her stomach churned. Shadowed by the jagged peaks of the Vale, the gates rose into view. From this distance, she could just hear the faint growls of wolves pacing the walls. She was careful not to turn away as she approached as their sharp eyes were on her every step, suspicion weighing as a physical mass upon her chest.
One guard at the gate barked, "Liana Elrend." Rough, the edge of his voice was contempt. "Are you back from the dead?"
"I said not by choice," she grinned, but she forced the grin. She refused to show weakness, even as her heart pounded in her chest.
The gate swung open, the guard hesitating. Silence filled the air, and the creak of iron filled it as Liana stepped inside. The courtyard was cold and unwelcoming, as she had remembered, and full of wolves (in human form). Their conversations died mid-sentence, and they stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Whispers like shadows followed her.
"Why is she here?"
"Didn't her father-"
"They shouldn't let her back in."
She squared her shoulders and kept walking, chin held high. They wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing her falter. Her father's betrayal had poisoned her name, but she wasn't here to prove herself. They had no one else, so she was here.
The growing darkness was darker, more flickering torches than she remembered. Familiar faces encircled the long stone table in the center of the hall, but none of them seemed happy to see her. Kael Drayve, the new alpha, sat at the head of the table. He was younger than most of the council, but the weight of leadership was on his pale features and the hard line of his mouth.
Kael's deep voice rose through the tension. "Liana," he said. "I didn't think I'd see you again," he said.
"I didn't," she answered as she met his gaze. His amber eyes, intense and unyielding, drilled into her flesh, holding her there. The room had its breath, waiting for his following words. She could feel it.
He continued, "You've been called back because we've lost good wolves." Three nights ago, rogues attacked us." Fifteen dead. Six more are missing. 'You're the only one who knows how they operate,' we need to understand their tactics.'
But she asked, her voice bitter, whether that was what he was to her. "A tool?"
Kael folded his arms in front of him on the table. The pack needs you; that's why you're here. That's all that matters."
Some voices were less certain, but the council murmured their agreement. Liana stared back at Elder Mora, who had pulled her graying hair tight into a bun. "Can we even trust her? She's her father's daughter."
"No, I'm not my father," Liana said matter-of-factly, trying to suppress the lump rising in her stomach. Do you think I came back here for fun? 'I came because you begged for my help,' I said."
Kael's tone went icy. "Careful." "We allowed it, and you're here."
Conversation in the room died off, the silence along with the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Liana ground her fists at her sides and tried to suppress the sharp retort burning her tongue. For now, anyway, she had to play their game.
A young scout stumbled into the chamber, his face pale and scratched, slamming open a door behind him. He panted, "Alpha, I've returned from the border." "It's worse than we thought."
Kael moved quickly and rose to his feet. "Speak."
The wide eyes of the scout hesitated, looking at Liana. Kael glanced past him and gestured impatiently. "Say it."
The scout swallowed hard. "The rogues," he said. Someone we've heard stories about leads them." The Scarred One."
That name sent a shiver up Liana's spine. The Scarred One had whispers floating through the pack for years of a rogue that survived death and destruction to become something even worse. She had heard those stories, too, but hearing the name now was different. Too close. Too real.
"You're certain?" There was a flicker of something else-unease-in Kael's voice, but it was cold.
The scout said yes, his voice barely above a whisper. "I saw him with my own eyes. It's burned, twisted, his face. And he's strong, Alpha. "Stronger than anyone I've ever seen."
The room erupted into chaos. Voices clashed, voices screamed like thunder above each other, and the council shouted.
"We can't fight him!"
"He'll rip through the pack!"
"What if-"
"Enough!" The chamber fell silent to Kael's roar. Looking at Liana, he tried to read his expression. "Do you know him?"
She steadied her breathing, and her heart raced. She pushed down the memories she had buried, threatening to surface. "I've heard the stories. That's all."
His gaze pierced her for a long moment, and Kael studied her. Finally, he dismissed the council with a wave and said, "We'll talk later." "All of you, leave."
The room cleared out, but not without standing glares in Liana's direction. Soon, just Kael and I remained, enveloped in a thick silence, a silence heavy with unspoken words.
He asked quietly, "Are you lying to me?"
She looked at him, shook her head, and quietly said, "No." "You don't trust me anyway, do you?"
Kael's lips twitched into a smirk, or a scowl, or something in between. "You're right. I don't."
She took a step closer and demanded, "Then why let me stay?" "Why not throw me back out there?"
"He said because if you can help us stop him, it is worth the risk."
Liana opened her mouth to argue, but the words wouldn't come out of her throat. The Scarred One was too much of a danger to the pack; he was a shadow from her past. It was one she had hoped never to face again.
Kael crossed his arms and leaned back against the table. "We'll start tomorrow. 'Don't give me a reason to regret this.'"
Her mind was racing with questions she couldn't answer as she left the chamber. How had the Scarred One come to power? Why was he going after the pack now? But most importantly, what would she do when she saw him again?
The frosty night air hit her face, and her chest tightened. Ebonhowl Keep's shadows had never seemed so dark, and I hadn't been that scared in years.
The Scarred One was waiting somewhere out there. And he knew she was back.
Chapter 1 Summoned Back to the Pack of Shadows
20/11/2024
Chapter 2 A Forced Bond That Burns Deep
20/11/2024
Chapter 3 Whispers of the Shard in the Dark
20/11/2024
Chapter 4 Vilric's Treachery and Liana's Secret
20/11/2024
Chapter 5 Alone and Pregnant in the Wilderness
20/11/2024
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