Chapter 122
-Dorothy-
After the fake Johan and his shifters dispersed, the Bielke gathered to count casualties and tend the
wounded. I went about healing as many soldiers and civilians as I could, but there were some who
were already too far gone.
Looking at the injured shifters, and the way they had been so thoroughly brutalized by the vampire
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onught, I became even more convinced that the fake Johan’s ‘rescue had been a farce.
The vampires were setting a trap for us, and it was only a matter of time before the Bielke would be
snared.
I ced my palms over yet another wounded shifter, a shivering young girl from Stonespoke who had
simply been in the wrong ce at the wrong time. But even while I went about healing people, my mind
was somewhere else.
I thought back to the vampire I had killed, his words repeating over and over in my head.
He had to have been talking about the Seilvanne pack. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had recognized his
scent too. That overwhelming scent of blood and rust,
I remembered his face pressed to the window, smiling at me. The younger version of myself crying into
Rita’s shoulder when he broke through the ss pane and chased us through the house.
Were my people the pack Elliot had referred to in his journal? Was it my bloodline that Morgana had
been hellbent on destroying?
Had Ignatius known all along?
I nced over my shoulder at Ignatius. My mare stood a few feet away, head bent low as he conversed
in hushed whispers with Angie and Fae.
Johan’s appearance had caught us all by surprise. But worse than that, his rescue had overshadowed
all the work the Bielke had done to protect the vulnerable packs.
Already, Belile and Stonespoke shifters were talking under their breaths, swapping stories of the
legendary savior who brought their salvation. In the eyes of many, the Bielke had failed. And something
told me that was exactly what the vampires had wanted
“Dorothy” Another voice caught my attention, a baby-faced boy I recognised from Angie’s training
squad. He was far too young to be on this battlefield.
“I mean, Luna” The boy delivered a clumsy bow, scratching theck of his head sheepishly. “They’re
asking
there
g for Now
you over
He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, towards the hastily erected tent where the bitten shifters
There was nothing I could do for them.
There was nothing any of us could do but wait and watch over them as best we could. I looked at the
boy nkly and he shifted ufortably. “They want to know if you have any advice on what to do.
Some of the shifters are worsening-
I barely noticed Iganaus until he was sitting down beside me, crossing his legs with a sigh of fatigue.
“Seram Julian, She’ll be there in a minute
The terrified young boy bobbed his head up and down, and raced away without another word.
“Thank you” I said numbly, focusing my attention back on the wounded young shifter. She had been
knocked out with some of the strongest medicine we had on hand, enough to keep her unconscious
until her b*dy was able to fully heal.
When Ignatius didn’t speak for several minutes, I sat hack, wiping my glowing palins on my grimy
jeans. My shirt was still stained with the vampire’s blood, and the acrid stens of it filled my nose and
made my stomach turns unpleasantly.
Fri, Jan 26
“I’m worried, Ignatius, faced my mate, unable to breach the barrier that had gone up between us. “The
vampires are nning something. Something big”
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Ignatius pinched the bridge of his nose between his bandaged fingers. At some point during the battle
he had dropped his de, and ended up fighting with his fists instead. His hands were bruised and
bloody. Both of our palms were stained a dirty red.
“Angie and Fae discovered something that might help us piece things together,” he murmured, but the
news didn’t seem to excite him. He sounded even more morbid than before. “They ran into the vampire
that tried to take Angie. He mentioned the vampiric House Lethia.”
“Lethia?” My nose wrinkled as I struggled to recall where I’d heard that name before. “From the old
vampire stories? But House Lethia was always said to be a friend of the werewolves. Why would they
be attacking us now?”
Ignatius shrugged. “That was centuries ago, if the stories are even true. I guess some allyships can’t
years.”
1 curled my knees to my chin, watching the first golden rays of sunlight break over the horizon.
Ignatius fell silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, there was a lighter, more hopeful note to
his tone. “Do you know where the Stonespoke pack got its name!”
Their Alpha likes to talk to boulders?”
“Not exactly, Ignatius chuckled, easing me onto hisp and propping his chin on my shoulder. He lifted
a hand to point at something in the distance, guiding my eyes with a bloody bandaged finger. “See that
giant rock down there?”
“The one that looks like a beached whale?” The rock was massive a dark monument on the otherwise
sunny hilltop
“There’s a grave under there, Ignatius murmured in my ear, mimicking the mysterious tone I took on
when rying bedtime stories to our children.
“You’re making that up.”
“It’s true!” Ignatius insisted. “Every Beilke knows the story.”
“Alright then, I leaned against him, anything to escape the million questions in my mind. “Tell me a
story.”
“A hundred years ago or may be more, a Bielke shifter fell in love with a faerie. Ignatius k*ssed the top
of my ear, whispering his words while shivers prickled down my spine. “The story changes slightly
depending on who you ask, but every iteration confirms that this faerie was beautiful.”
I winced suddenly, reminded of my precious faerie de that was most likely lost to the ruins of the
burning house by now. It had been a gift from Rita, a delicate little weapon that had always served me
well. And now it was gone.
Sensing my sadness, Ignatius dropped his hand from my shoulder, wrapping his arms around my
waist. His hot breath on my neck had my hairs standing on end, but his arms around me were a source
offort.
“All the shifter wanted was to be with his faerie lover. But back then, people weren’t very trusting of
faeries. Everyone thought
They brought bad luck and ruin. He had to keep her a secret. Even so, they eventually had a kid
together. But when their romance was discovered, the shifters chased the faerie off of Bielke territory.
They hunted her down to this very ce.”
“Charming,” I mumbled, but I was intrigued by the morbid tale all the same. “What happened to them?”
“The faerie was killed while she tried to flee, and her lover arrived just toote to save his beloved.”
Ignatius held me a little tighter then and I leaned back against his chest, watching the golden light of
day spread across the sky like fire. “Is that the end?”
“Of course not. Ignatius pecked a k*ss on my neck.
“That would be a terrible story. No, after discovering his fallen love, the shifter flew into a rage. He
attacked her killers and
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cut them down. His anger was so powerful that it shook the mountains. One of the boulders from the
mountains broke loose and tumbled down to this very spot, crushing the shifter where he crouched
over the b*dy of his facrie wife.”
“This is a very depressing story,” I mused, lolling my head to lean against his own. “What happened to
their kid?”
“Their kid abandoned the Bielke pack, and started a park of his own. Right here. He wanted to build a
sanctuary where shifters could live free from violence and bloodshed. He was the first Alpha of the
Stonespoke park.”
“So why is it called Stonespoke?”
“Because that very holder that crushed the shifter and his lover is cursed, or enchanted. It’s said that
anyone standing nearby on the night of the full moon will be able to hear the shifter and the faerie,
professing their love for one another even in death”
I turned in his arms, swiveling my head to look him in the eye. “Why are you telling me this Ignatius?”
He touched his nose to mine, a small smile on his lips. “Because I would shake mountains for you.”
I wanted to tell him everything that was weighing heavy on my mind. I wanted to tell him that I’d love
him forever. But before I could open the floodgates and pour out my innermost thoughts, we were
approached by a grave-faced Angie.
She held her phone our to Ignatius, tilting the screen for us to see the pixted face of Johan. “You’re
going to want to see
this
“What is this? Ignatius’s tone took on a sharper edge and 1 watched him warily from the conrer of my
eye
It’s being broadcasted to every cellphone in the region from what I can gather, Angie spoke grimly,
tempered fear had dted her pupils to dark moons, “I would seem the vampires understand
technology afterall.”
I leaned closer to Ignatius, struggling to hear what the fake savior on the small screen had to say.
Ignatius had his eyes glued to the fake shifter’s pixted features. Fine creases bracketed his mouth
and his eyes darkened to a deep, stormy blue.
The fake Johan’s voice crackled through the flimsy speakers of Angie’s cell, “The Bielke can’t help you,
can’t protect you They are weak and our enemies are aware of this, the vampires will not stop their
attacks until every shifter is ground beneath their bootsTM
I nced over my shoulder as dozens of the nearby shifters began checking their phones.
Everyone watched the same broadcast, gripping tightly to their cellphones while the fake Johan ryed
his message, “M and my loyal followers can help you, I am here to lead all shifters into a new age of
prosperity. An age free from the thre of vampires, and liberated from the control of the Bielke pack.”
I swallowed the cold stone that had lodged in my throat. Johan continued on, “I am aware that the
poison of the Bielke pack does not run through all of its people. There is a singr source
Your alpha cannot protect you. He has led us all to ruin. Therefore, I am calling for an uprising. I will
step forward to lead the Bielke pack. And for the sake of every shifter, I call for Ignatious Armound to
step down as Alpha”
The shifters around us exploded in uproar, but another distinct scream could be heard over the din.
Julian, the young shifter from before, emerged from the wounded tea.
He rushed toward us crashing to the ground before me to grip my sleeve in urgency. “The bitten
shifters. They’re not turning into Vampires”
His eyes were wide and wild, vacant with the kind of dissociative ze thates with witnessing
something horrifs, “You have to do something. They’re dying. Everyst of one them”
I dislodged the quaking boys lists from my sleeve, already climbing to my feet. “Show me”
As the young boy led me away to the tr
tent filled with the dead and the dying. I fixed my eyes on my mate. Ignatius gripped the cellphone,
unblinking as he stared at the strOTIL
SEND GIFT
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He seemed obliviotis terthe chaos around him, apathetic to the shifters who looked to him for guidance.
He flexed his forearm, closing his fingers tight until the flimsy device crumpled in his hand,