His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 119: Departure

The sun had barely begun to dip behind the horizon, casting long, cold shadows across the snow-covered landscape, when the carriage came to a screeching halt. My pulse quickened, and I glanced out of the window, frowning. The horses pawed at the snow, their breath misting in the cold air. The driver muttered curses under his breath, and before I knew it, he was out of the seat, inspecting the carriage.

"Damn it, of course, it breaks down now," Eryx grumbled, his voice laced with frustration. I turned to him as he leaned against the side of the carriage, his arms crossed.

"It would have been fine if you hadn’t insisted on taking this damned route," Cohnal remarked from the other side, sounding far too smug for my liking. His eyes glinted with amusement. "But I warned you. We should have stayed on the main roads."

Eryx growled low, but before he could respond, Cohnal added, "Idalia’s a Princess, not a mercenary. She deserves to be treated with respect, not shoved around in broken carriages. We’ll get the horses sorted."

I bit back a frustrated sigh, feeling more like a child being coddled than a woman capable of standing on her own. I didn’t care much for being treated like royalty in moments like this, but I had to admit, the prospect of being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere wasn’t appealing, especially when some powerful species were after me.

Said powerful species that seemed to like attacking once the skies were dark.

"We’ll have to return to the palace immediately," Cohnal said, stepping forward. "The trip is postponed. No sense in continuing if the carriage is done for."

I nodded reluctantly, accepting the situation for what it was. Eryx seemed equally irritated, but it was clear he wasn’t going to argue further. His usual brooding silence filled the space between us as he stepped away from the carriage and began walking toward the driver.

As we waited for the horses to be tended to, I turned away from the others to catch my breath and calm my racing thoughts. The trip had been supposed to give me some peace, a brief escape from the tension back at the palace, but that was clearly not going to happen now. My fingers brushed against my cloak, the fabric soft against my skin, but the chill that had been eating away at me all day refused to leave.

Then, a movement caught my eye. A figure approached from the edge of the village, cloaked in the shadows of the trees. They walked swiftly, their silhouette a blur against the snow-covered landscape. Then they were in front of me, eery and silent.

The figure was tall and cloaked in black, and they wasted no time in extending a piece of parchment toward me. I took it from their hand without thinking, my heart already beginning to race as I unfolded the note. The words, written hastily but with purpose, were stark and cold:

Idalia, we have your lover. If you wish to see him again, arrive at the ruins of the village at midnight. Come alone. Don’t try to deceive us. Come alone, or he will die.

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Soren. They had him. Guilt claws at my chest as I don’t think of my friend. We’d discussed my knight and his son coming with me to Sun and Fury. With how chaotic and last minute this had been, I forgot about Soren.

How long had he been taken? Was Calix safe? It didn’t state anything about Calix. So, that was one less stress.

The letter was a direct threat, and I knew it. Every instinct inside me screamed to ignore it, to refuse to play their game, but I couldn’t—wouldn’t—leave him to whatever horrors awaited him at their hands.

What if he was already dead, and this was just a ruse?

I turned back toward the others, my hand trembling as I handed the note to Eryx. His eyes flicked over the paper, and the air between us thickened with the weight of what I was about to say.

"They have Soren," I said, my voice tight. "They want me to come alone. It’s a trap."

Eryx read the note quickly, his jaw tightening with every word. I didn’t even think about how Eryx might react to the statement about my ’lover’. But it was Alaric who spoke first, his voice low and dangerous. My brother was only seeing me off until the borderline between our kingdoms, leaving his Beta in charge until his return.

"No." Alaric’s tone was firm, unwavering. "We’re not going. We don’t play into their hands."

I could feel the weight of his words, and my heart sank. He had no intention of rescuing Soren. To my brother, Soren was just my knight; he protected me, and this was part of that role. My chest ached with the thought. Alaric couldn’t be that cruel.

"We can’t just leave him," I said, stepping forward, my voice rising with a sharp edge of panic. "We can’t—he’ll die if we do!"

Alaric’s gaze hardened, and for a moment, I saw the cold, merciless warrior he had always been. "We leave him. It’s a trap, Idalia. They want us to walk right into it. If we go, we’re playing right into their hands. We’ll end up dead, and Soren will still be lost. He wouldn’t want you to come to his rescue."

I felt the blood drain from my face as the horror of his words sank in. Soren, the one person who had protected me, cared for me and had been by my side through everything, was now at the hands of those creatures, and Alaric wanted to abandon him.

I opened my mouth to argue, but before I could say another word, Eryx spoke, his voice low but firm. He watched me, then held my brother’s gaze. "Alaric, you’re wrong. We will go. Together. We will be careful, we will be smart, but we do not leave him to die. He’s one of us."

Alaric clenched his jaw, clearly unwilling to relent, but after a moment, he nodded sharply, though the tension in his posture remained. It shocked me to see him accept Eryx’s command. Perhaps it is because I now fall under Eryx’s authority.

Cohnal stepped forward, his expression grave but not unsympathetic. "Eryx is right. We cannot abandon Soren. But we’ll need to move quickly. We’re not the only ones who are hunting now." He looked sharply at our surroundings, which were growing darker by the second.

I nodded, resolute in my decision even as the darkness tried creeping into my bones, chilling me. But the last thing I would ever do was turn my back on him.

The journey to the ruins was quick, the carriage abandoned as we hurried on horseback through the snow-covered terrain, the moon overhead illuminating the cold, quiet landscape. Every shadow seemed to carry an omen, and every gust of wind felt like a whisper of danger.

As we neared the ruins, my pulse quickened. The air was thick with tension; every muscle in my body coiled with the anticipation of what was to come.

When we finally arrived, the landscape before us looked like something out of a nightmare—ancient stone structures crumbling beneath the weight of time, the snow stained with blood and death. It was a sacrificial altar our ancestors used to use to please the Gods.

There was no time to marvel at the desolation. No time to think about anything except Soren.

Eryx and Alaric shifted into their wolf forms without a word, their massive bodies gliding through the ruins quickly. I felt the familiar tug of panic in my chest, but I gripped the hilt of my knife tightly, knowing I had little else to rely on.

Suddenly, the air shifted. A low, foreboding hum filled the space, and I barely had time to react before a pulse of dark magick blasted through the ruins, throwing me to the ground. My head spun, and my vision blurred as the pain lanced through my body. I barely managed to push myself upright in time to see the shadows shifting around us—Blood Wraiths, their eyes glowing red, their movements quick and deadly.

And then, it happened. Something inside me snapped. A surge of power, primal and furious, exploded to life within me.

It wasn’t just my own rage—it was the wolf. My wolf.

I could feel my body changing, shifting, my bones cracking and reforming. I cried out in excruciating pain. But the power that thrummed in my veins was incomparable.

When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer human. My claws raked through the nearest Blood Wraith, tearing it apart with a savagery that shocked even me. I’d moved on instinct, like another being moved in this form. My wolf.

More Blood Wraiths poured into the clearing. I was outnumbered. We were outnumbered. It didn’t stop my wolf from tearing them into pieces. But as quickly as it had begun, my vision began to fade, pulsing to the beat of my rapid heart as I shrunk, my claws diminishing.

A being appeared before me, their eyes glowing with an ancient, terrifying power. I tried to fight, to move, but my body refused to obey. The force that held me down was suffocating, and I could do nothing but watch as they approached, a cold smile curling their lips.

This wasn’t a Blood Wraith. The taste coating my tongue told me what it was. A High Fae.

"You’re mine now," they whispered, their voice like ice in my veins.