Chapter 360 - 94: One or Many

Destiny made it barely ten steps into the dense growth before Marcus caught her.

"Destiny!"

"I said I need space!" She didn’t slow down, shoving a hanging branch out of her path.

"And I said you’re not acting like yourself."

In three heavy strides, Marcus closed the distance. He reached for her shoulder, his hand hovering in midair—a instinctual gesture of comfort that hesitated, wavered, and finally dropped back to his side as she spun around.

Her jaw was locked so tight the muscle twitched. "I’m fine."

Marcus stared down at her, his dark eyes shadowed with frustration and concern. "No, you’re not."

Behind them, the forest floor crunched under approaching boots. Dane, Henrik, and Helena forced their way through the tangled underbrush, their breaths ragged. Near the clearing’s edge, Kaelen lagged behind, his blade still drawn, scanning the swaying treeline with white-knuckled vigilance.

Dane reached Destiny first. "Destiny."

She glared at him, a wall of stony silence her only response.

"I know you’re angry," Dane said, his voice dropping an octave as he tried to catch her eyes.

"I’m not angry."

"You were screaming at me two minutes ago."

"I said I’m fine!"

Marcus and Dane exchanged a long, tired look over her head. Neither man believed a word of it.

Before either of them could press the matter, a sound ripped through the canopy.

It was a howl. Low, reverberating, and chillingly controlled—nothing like the frantic, broken cries of the beasts they had fought earlier. It was a call of organization.

Everyone froze.

A second howl answered from farther south, rolling over the ridges. Then a third, closer this time, rising in pitch before snapping off into silence.

Henrik adjusted his grip on his sword, his knuckles turning white. "They’re moving."

"Where?" Dane demanded, his head snapping toward the dark shadows between the trunks.

Kaelen pointed blade-first down the treacherous slope. "South. They’re circling."

Destiny barely heard them. Down at her side, her fingers tightened reflexively around the Heartstone. It was warm against her skin. Too warm.

She looked down at her fist. The sharp, crimson light that had blazed during the fight had faded, but beneath the stone’s smooth, jagged surface, a faint light throbbed.

Pulse.

Pulse.

It wasn’t a spark of magic. It felt like a heartbeat.

Dane’s eyes fell to her hands. The tension in his shoulders spiked instantly. "Put it away, Destiny."

"Why?"

"Because we don’t know what it just did," he snapped, stepping closer.

"It saved your life!"

"It also killed that wolf!"

Destiny’s chin lifted, defiance masking the spike of sheer terror in her chest. "That wasn’t the stone."

"The dying beast said your blood triggered it," Dane said, lowering his voice into a fierce whisper as he stepped into her space. "We need to understand what you’re carrying before you throw yourself into using it again."

"I wasn’t trying to hurt him..." Her voice faltered, the conviction slipping just a fraction.

"I know." Dane’s expression softened, the anger bleeding out to reveal the raw worry beneath. He reached out, gently touching the back of her hand. "I know you weren’t. That’s why I’m telling you to put it away."

Destiny opened her mouth to argue, but a desperate scream tore through the trees, shattering the moment.

"Destiny!"

Destiny went rigid. "Aurora..."

Dane’s face changed in an instant. The hesitation was gone, replaced by lethal focus. "That’s her."

He was already moving, vaulting over a rotted log. Marcus drew his weapon with a metallic scrape, Henrik and Helena falling in right behind him. Kaelen shouted a warning from the rear, but Dane was already charging down the loose incline, and Destiny had no choice but to plunge after them.

The hillside was a trap of loose dirt and exposed roots. Their boots slid and tore into the earth as the howls echoed around them, closing in from the front.

Then, abruptly, the oppressive treeline gave way.

Aurora stood in the center of a wide, shadowed clearing.

She looked half-broken. Her clothes were torn and smeared with dark soil, one hand pressed tightly against her ribs. Her hair had tumbled down in matted strands, and a streak of dried blood dragged across her left cheek. Yet, despite it all, she stood upright.

Behind her, looming like a mountain of shadow, waited the Alpha.

Scattered throughout the perimeter of the clearing were the cursed wolves. Some crouched low, snarls vibrating in their chests; others stood deathly still on all fours. A dozen pairs of gleaming yellow eyes swung toward the newcomers.

Dane immediately put himself between the pack and Destiny.

"Aurora," he breathed.

She lifted her bruised face, her eyes locking onto his. "Dane."

"Are you hurt?"

A short, bitter laugh escaped her lips—dry and devoid of humor. "That’s your first question?"

"Answer it."

"I’m alive," she spat softly.

Her gaze drifted past his shoulder, methodically tracking the group behind him. Destiny. Marcus. Henrik. Helena. Kaelen. She mapped each face, a calculating glint flashing beneath her exhaustion, before her eyes returned to Dane.

"You found her," Aurora said.

"Who?" Dane’s voice turned dangerously cold.

The Alpha stepped forward, his massive frame cutting off the faint moonlight. "You brought more than I expected."

Dane didn’t flinch. He drew his blade, pointing it straight at the beast’s chest. "Let her go."

The Alpha ignored the weapon, his eyes locked onto Dane. "She isn’t the one I want."

A cold dread pooled in Destiny’s stomach. Beside her, Dane shifted his footing, physically blocking as much of her as he could.

"Then you should have left her out of this," Dane growled.

The Alpha finally looked past Dane’s shoulder, his gaze piercing right into Destiny. "No."

In her palm, the Heartstone gave a sudden, violent throb.

The Alpha’s eyes dropped to her hand. "There it is."

Dane’s eyes flicked backward for a fraction of a second before locking back on the monster. "What do you want with her?"

"I want her away from the wolves," the Alpha stated plainly.

Destiny couldn’t stay behind Dane any longer. She took a step out from his shadow, her heart hammering against her ribs. "Why? So you can infect me too!"

"I won’t infect you," the Alpha admitted. "Because I know what happens if they bite you."

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the clearing. The wind died in the branches above.

Dane’s shoulders went rigid. "You’re not touching her."

"No," the Alpha said. There wasn’t even a flicker of hesitation in his gruff voice. "I’m not."

Destiny stared at the monster, utterly bewildered. "Why?"

The Alpha took one slow, deliberate step forward. "Because Hollow Death doesn’t behave in you the way it does in everyone else."

Dane lunged half a pace forward to match him, sword raised. "Stay right there."

The Alpha stopped, but his gaze remained fixed on Destiny. "You healed him."

Dane’s brow furrowed in confusion. "What did you say?"

"When she used the stone," the Alpha said calmly.

"How would you know that?"

The Alpha looked directly into Dane’s eyes. "When you were infected... I could see through you."

Destiny’s stomach dropped into a bottomless pit. "You were there," she whispered, her voice trembling. "In his head."

Dane turned slightly toward the beast, his eyes wide with rising fury. "You were inside her mind?"

"For a time."

With a subtle, sickening sound, curved claws slid from the tips of Dane’s fingers. His wolf was fighting to burst through.

Around the clearing, the cursed wolves stirred, low growls building into a chorus of threats.

The Alpha casually raised one massive hand. Instantly, the pack went dead silent.

"I didn’t come here to fight you," the Alpha said smoothly.

Dane gave a harsh, humorless bark of a laugh. "You surrounded us with a horde of cursed monstrosities!"

"And they are still holding," the Alpha replied. His golden eyes swept over the armed group. "If I wanted blood, none of you would be standing here talking."

Dane’s jaw tightened until the bone showed white against his skin. "Then talk."

The Alpha looked back at Destiny. The declaration fell like an executioner’s ax.

"I need you dead."

Marcus lost his mind, lunging toward the beast. "You’ll pay for saying that."

Dane pulled him back.