108 - ra


    We are making forward progress, but it is slow and I''m getting agitated. So far, in thest hour or so we have found more than a dozen Shadow Markers spanning a five mile radius. We have enough groups to dismantle them, but we are all zig zagging, making sure we don''t miss anything that could potentially hurt uster if the fight gets pushed back this far.


    My mind is spinning as we move along. Ben, Malcolm, Jax, Dev. My Pack, Red Fang, Silver Crescent, the rest of our neighbors. All young packs with young leaders trying to find our ways. Most of us forced into leadership positions early because one person...no, not a person, a greedy ass witch, who thinks she''s owed something has targeted us. Now we are on our way to fight for a magical piece ofnd I should have been told about if my parents knew we were charged with protecting it. Copyright ? 2025 Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions


    But, maybe they didn''t. Maybe another ancestor was assigned to protect it and never passed on the information. Maybe thend hasn''t been here as long as it appears. Brianna and Marietta said thend has a type of consciousness and chooses when to reveal itself. Maybe no one in my family has ever seen anything like it. Who the f*ck knows. I want normalcy and calm. I want a pack that functions, instead of working against me at every turn. The only way to get it is to beat this crazy b*tch and move forward. Who knows maybe the witches we have been working with are the crazy ones and Eliza has really been wronged somehow and we are being used to take her out.


    No sooner do I have the thought, than a sick feeling washes over me over me. I keep walking, the only thing I consciously track is my hand in Ben''s. He''s here. He''s real. We are doing this whole sh*tshow together. Now if I understood which side I am fighting for...maybe...


    "You have been working with this coven for almost a year now. Don''t let the negative side effects of theses markers make you doubt yourself or the people you are working with. Doubt and indecision are subtle arts of war that can do the work for your enemy. You must fight the psychological warfare even harder than the physical."


    My wolf soothes my nerves. "I know that...and yet, it''s still there. How do leaders do it? How did my dad do it?" I ask her. I can be real with her, let my guard down. I know she sees and hears everything going on in my head, but there is something freeing about choosing to say it outloud to someone.


    "The same way you are. One day at a time, one problem at a time. With a calm exterior and the chaos relegated to their mind." Sheughs at me. "No Alpha has it all together, and if you believe they do...well, then, they are doing their job right."


    "ELARA!" I hear Ben shout my name as an iron grip locks around my waist. Ben''s scent surrounds me as my back hits his chest. Once the brief shock settles, I see it. A wall of wolves with eyes shining like rubies. Heads tilted to the ground, eyes locked on us. No sound ising from the forest around us, quietly spectating the battle that is about to happen.


    "Are they even breathing?" Jax asks.


    "Are we going on the offensive, or waiting for them to make the first move, Boss?" Dev says scanning.


    "If my assumptions are right, they will stand here until Eliza gets what she wants. They are waiting for us. She doesn''t care if they die, but I don''t think she would waste her efforts sending them out first." I link out to my whole pack.


    "Ready or not, here wee." Jax sing-songs then charges the nearest enemy.


    All hell breaks loose. Their wall of warriors crashes into ours like a tidal wave. My team has their orders to not kill if possible, but I don''t believe there will be many survivors from their side. They were brought here to die fighting.


    Ben and I shift in mid air joing the fight. "We need to get to the Rift. We need to know if she can get past the barrier too." I shout at Ben. My wolf is doing her best to injure any opponents badly enough to stop them from fighting, but not kill them. She is a force and I love being a spectator in her mind. I do my best to watch over her, most of the enemy is busy fighting whoever is closest to them, but they will figure out where Ben and I are soon enough and start to target. The faster we are inside the barrier the better. I hope killing Eliza will break the spell over them.


    My wolf looks to our left as we hear Brianna shouting something in anguage don''t know. She is


    barefoot, which I find weird, until see foots shoot out of the ground wrapping and suspending rogue wolves around her. Thank you earth magic. She looks at us as though she heard my thoughts and gives me a small wicked grin. This is the Coven leader she hides under her calm and quiet.


    A sh of ck and red streaks across my vision. Jax leaps over Brianna''s head, barrelling into a grubby brown wolfing at her rear. Another root shoots out of the ground pinning the grubby wolf to the ground. Symbiotic. That is what our rtionship to this coven is. I am no longer in doubt where my loyalties lie when ites to these witches.


    A warmth of power washes over me, my wolf''s fur crackles. She takes a deep breath in and it''s like when have never smelled before. The grass the earth, the trees are all there, but there is more. I can feel creatures stirring around und the ground stand on. I can smell the differences in the trees around us, feel the wind''s direction, before it hits my skin. Copyright ? 2025 Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions


    A burst of energy flows through me. I don''t know how I know, but I am now connected to Brianna the way I am connected to my pack.


    "We need to get into the Rift. She''s there, waiting, isn''t she?" I instinctively link Brianna while Ben and I run forward. I can feel that she is following us, with Marietta on her heels.


    "She is close. I cannot feel if she is inside the barrier or not."


    "Whoa! Since when can you talk to us over the mind link?" Jax asks.


    "Since your Alpha decided to embrace all of her abilities."


    There is no exnation beyond that. Apparently I have been holding us all back. With another surge, we fight towards the Rift, power pulsing out like a beacon for me to follow. There would be no doubt where I was meant to go, even if I had no idea what waited for me there.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!