<b>+25 </b>Bonus


    E’s POV


    “What the fuck?”


    My mother and I stood in the empty living room, staring at the space that had once been full of life, chatter, and the warmth of a crackling fire. Now, it was dark and cold andpletely devoid of the man who had once called this ce home.


    “Where did everything go?” my mother whispered..


    I shook my head, scanning the bare walls. There were lighter patches where picture frames had once hung, rectangles of clean paint surrounded <i>by </i>dust. The floorboards were scratched in ces where furniture had been dragged across them.


    Something told me that this wasn’t just a typical move. This felt like an evacuation, or worse–a coverup.


    “Something’s wrong.” I moved toward the hallway. “We should look around. See if we can find any clues.‘


    My mother followed close behind. We checked each room systematically, but found nothing but emptiness. The bedrooms were stripped bare, the bathroom cabs hung open and hollow. Even the kitchen had been cleared


    out.


    But it was in the kitchen that I noticed it.


    There was a dark spot on the floor near the back door, barely visible in the moonlight streaming through the window. I crouched down, squinting at it in the darkness. I brushed my fingers across it; it was dry and ky, but when I sniffed my fingertip, it smelled metallic. Blood.


    “Mom,” I said quietly. “Look at this.”


    She knelt beside me and inhaled sharply.


    I looked up, stomach churning, and scanned the floor around us. A few feet off, in the direction of the exit, I saw another droplet. I moved over to it and scanned again. Another, closer to the back door.


    “We should go.” My mother tugged on my arm. “This isn’t safe, E.”


    But I was already moving toward the back door. I needed to see where this trail led. More droplets appeared once I knew what to look for, leading out into the yard. The door creaked when I pushed it open.


    “E, please-”


    “Someone might be hurt.” I stepped outside into the cold night air. “We can’t just leave.”


    My mother cursed under her breath but followed me anyway. We shifted back into our wolf forms, our senses sharpening immediately. The scent of blood became stronger, more distinct. Old blood, mixed with earth and decay.


    The trail led away from the cottage and deeper into the woods. Every few feet, another droplet appeared, sometimes on a leaf, sometimes soaked into the dirt. Soon, I caught sight of more than just blood–leaves crushed, twigs snapped, patches of dirt that looked like something had been dragged through it.


    <b>1/2 </b>


    +25 Bonus


    Finally, about half a mile into the darkness, the trail ended at a patch of fresh dirt.


    We shifted back into our human forms and inspected the disturbed earth. To my horror, it was roughly six feet long and three feet wide. The soil had been recently turned, dark and loose and fragrantpared to the cold, packed soil around it. Leaves and branches had been hastily scattered across the top, but not enough to hide what it really was.


    A grave.


    “Oh, Goddess,” my mother breathed.


    I approached slowly. Each step made my legs feel weaker and weaker, but I had to see. I had to know. I knelt at the edge of the site and pressed my hand to the dirt. For a moment, I swore I could feel the crystal pulse faintly in my chest, but it was over too quickly to know if it was truly the crystal or just my heart pounding.


    “Should we…?” I looked up at my mother, and was surprised to find her staring at the grave with a resolute expression. She was already pushing her sleeves up.


    “We need to know,” she said. “I need to know.”


    I nodded. If this grave contained the body of the man who had lived in that cottage, then my mother had a right to know. He had been her friend once, no matter how long ago, not to mention her staunch supporter up until the end, which could only mean one thing…


    He had been killed for his beliefs. His existence was erased. And my father was likely behind it.


    D


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    <strong>Sara Lili</strong> is a daring romance writer who turns icyndscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of d’s breathtaking cold.