Chapter 1
Zirah
The howling sounds of wolves echoing through the cave alerts me first to the knowledge that the small
bubble we all live in is being invaded. Which is something we all have lived in fear of. We have waited
for this day, it was only a matter of time, and it appears our time is finally up. At first, I think I am
dreaming, that the echoes and screams are just part of the nightmare my mind is conjuring up.
Nightmares of this time have always gued me, so I knew just like grandma something wasing,
but still we held onto the hope that our dreams were only based on our subconscious fear of this exact
moment.
Another blood-curdling scream has my eyes opening. It is too close, too loud to be mistaken for
anything in the dream world. Snarling and shouts has me sitting upright in my bed, followed by the first
vicious growl somewhere down the cave’s corridor.
My eyes scan the dark cave while I secretly pray that I am wrong. Yet the sound of flesh being ripped
apart and ws scraping rock has me tossing my legs out of bed. A bed is too nice of a word. It is
actually a boulder covered in bear’s fur and anything we have scavenged for cloth.
The caves are cold at night, and they are even chilly during the day, too, but they are our only ce of
safety. Well, not anymore. My eyes dart to my grandmother''s bed. However, she is no longer asleep
either. Instead, she is moving toward the fire that is reduced to glowing embers as thest of the log
burns away. She douses it with water, holding a finger to her lips, while my eyes move to entry into this
part we live.
These aren''t regr wolves. Oh, how I wish they were. Ordinary wolves, I would have preferred. No,
these were werewolves: part human, part animal. Beasts of man.
These savage beasts are part of the reason the human poption is being so terribly decimated. They
are also the reason we live in these caves, far away from the monsters that linger on the borders of the
mountains and surrounding the neighboring Kingdom.
More screams ring out loudly as I jump down from my resting spot, before making my way over to her.
She nces in the entrance direction, where the screams areing from and growing louder, while
ushering me to follow her.
Not that there is any need. We have practiced this scenario more times than I can count, it has been
drummed into me for as long as I can remember. We move quickly, making our way deeper into the
cave, climbing the rocks and squeezing through tight crevices. Despite my grandmother being nearly
70, she moves fast for an old woman.
“Hurry, Zirah, it isn''t just werewolves,” she whispers, and I peer over my shoulder, suddenly fearing the
dark. My eyesight is better than most, but this cave is blinding in the darkness. We would be lost if we
weren''t counting our steps right now and using our fingers that are scraping the walls for direction.
“What else?” I ask.
“The Lycan king''s guards,” she answers. I know better than to doubt her. My grandmother has the gift
of sight. She is a witch, a seer, old yet no less powerful. However, her parlor tricks, potions, and spells
would hold no ground against a Lycan. They are another beast entirely. Simr in a sense to
werewolves, but vastly different. They walk on two legs and are faster, stronger, and deadlier—also a
hell of a lot bigger.
“This way, hurry,” Grandma hisses, pushing me faster and further into the cave. “We can''t let them find
you,” she says, grabbing my hand and leading me down another branch of the cave. Her words make
me nce at her, but her features are obscured by darkness.
“I knew it. I knew when that bastard left that he would rat us out. Now he has ruined everything. I need
more time, I should have had more time, the prophecy’s isn’t for another year,” she mutters before her
words cut.
“Grandma–” I try to question when her hand mps over my mouth. We listen to the sounds of people
running, and I know it is the Lycans. Their pace is much faster than werewolves, and I can hear them
moving in closer. My grandmother''s hair swipes my face as she stares in the direction wee from.
Her hands tremble as she muffles me. “If the King finds you and figures out what you are—” she trails
off, grabbing my arm and ripping me into a narrower area.
“Grandma, what are you talking about?” I hiss. She sounds like a madwoman.
“Hush, my child, keep your voice down.”
“You''re making no sense,” I whisper as she stops at the narrowing incline. She nces up at the hole
above, which looks like a tiny speck from the minimal lighting off the moon.
Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.
“I promised your mother. Now I have failed her. That fool led them right to you,” she whimpers, and I
grab her arm. Only for her to spin and clutch my head in her hands.
“Listen to me; they can''t find out what you are. You must keep it a secret from the King. Death would be
more merciful.” She stammers, her hands shaking on either side of my face.
“What are you talking about?”
“The King''s sons,” she says, letting me go, and she starts climbing. I hurry after her, wanting to know
what she is talking about, but I get no more answers.
The sounds of running and men hollering make my breath halt in my throat as we climb through the
narrow gap to the opening above, using our feet and hands to keep us from slipping back to the cave
floor. Each step my grandmother makes has dust and small rocks hitting me behind her, yet my hands
and feet refuse to lose the little traction I have on the small opening.
“Zirah, hurry!” my grandmother hisses, and no sooner had she breached the opening above did I hear
a snarl below. Grandma hauls herself out, and I look down to see amber eyes reflecting back at me.
Nothing gets you moving faster, knowing the only thing that awaits you is ws and teeth below. I
shriek. I can''t help it, my grandmother waving her hand above my head when the Lycan jumps into the
narrow gap. He grips my ankle and nearly makes me slide back down.
My nails tear from my nails bed as I w at the cave wall, shaking and kicking my leg. The Lycan roars
below, his ws slicing through my delicate skin like a hot knife on butter.