Chapter 2

Delphine

The night was silent, but my heart thundered as I slipped through the thick trees at the border of the Black Fang Pack’s territory. I could barely see my feet beneath me, but I knew the way by heart.

I had tried escaping Cassian’s grip before, but all that earned me was a severe black eye and a blood oath more painful than Cassian’s punches and blows.

Each step forward took me further from the life I wanted to bury, and each step solidified my desperation to reach Crystal Lake, a place Cassian’s claws couldn’t reach.

I clutched my small bag closer, feeling the weight of my healer’s license pressed inside, a bittersweet promise of freedom and fear.

As I put distance between us, memories of Cassian’s oppressive grip clawed at my mind. The bruises, his harsh words, the “accidents” that left me struggling for breath in darkened hallways, and those chilling encounters with his men, all flooding back to me.

I was never allowed to ask questions about the men he forced me to heal, no matter how severe their injuries. It had become second nature to obey in silence, but it had taken a toll.

The strength I once found in my gift, the pride I felt, had all withered under his influence, and now I could barely heal a cut without feeling drained. Cassian had taken everything from me, my freedom, my peace, even my wolf felt weaker, as if suppressed into nothingness.

Tonight, though, I was leaving it all behind. I’d crossed the first threshold. I was outside his reach.

The trees gradually thinned, and my feet touched a dirt path. I’d planned the route so carefully, but paranoia nagged at me, whispering that Cassian would find me. I forced myself forward, almost in a trance, as memories twisted into warnings.

After hours of walking, I reached a small, run-down motel, isolated on the outskirts of nowhere. The neon sign flickered, half-dead, casting eerie shadows over the cracked pavement. It was perfect. I stumbled into the lobby, oblivious to the clerk's raised brow at my unkempt appearance. I paid with cash, took the room key, and went inside.

The room was small, filthy, and smelled of old cigarette smoke, but I didn't notice as I collapsed on the bed. Exhaustion made my limbs seem heavy, but a little, brittle flame of freedom erupted in my chest.

I tried to forget about the anxiety and dread of the day, but I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I was being watched.

I blamed it on paranoia, remnants of Cassian’s constant intimidation. But a soft scrape echoed from the hallway, too deliberate, too close. I froze.

The door creaked open, and in a swift, brutal moment, a shadowed figure lunged at me. I barely had time to roll off the bed, dodging his knife by inches.

My heart pounded with terror as I faced the assassin, his face hidden beneath a black hood, his eyes devoid of mercy. I scrambled backward, knocking into the small table, but he advanced with deadly intent.

A surge of desperation flooded through me, and instinctively, I tried to fight with everything I had. I felt my powers tingle in my chest, but they were as useless as using a hammer to tighten a screw.

I tried to pull it back, to quench the burning in my chest but warmth built in my hands, my healing touch sparking to life. I raised my hands to defend myself, though it was like bringing a candle to a storm.

But something… shifted. Instead of the soothing glow I knew, dark energy spiraled around my fingers, thick and tangible. My heart twisted with dread.

The assassin swung his knife, but I met his hand mid-air, gripping his wrist tightly. Shock jolted through me as the darkness pulsed from my fingertips into his skin, spreading like ink into water. His eyes widened and his body tensed in dread as the life drained from him.

I gasped in horror as he fell to the floor, dead. His face was frozen in misery, and his skin had gone pasty white.

This wasn’t healing. This was something different, something sinister, something perverse.

My hands trembled furiously as I stared down at them, my chest tightening. My gift, the one thing that had always brought me peace, had just killed. My insides were being clawed at by a black wave of nausea that threatened to overflow.

I fell back, battling the urge to scream while choking on my breath. What had I become? Was this part of the blood oath’s curse, Cassian’s final punishment, warping my gift into a weapon?

The bile rose in my throat, and my legs gave out beneath me as I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my hands to my chest. I didn’t recognize the power that pulsed through me, didn’t recognize myself. Cassian had done this to me, warped me into a monster.

But there was no time to dwell on it. I felt a sharp pain that radiated from my chest, piercing every muscle and vein like glass fragments. I gritted my teeth and curled up to avoid yelling. It was the blood oath that drew me back to him as punishment for my attempt to flee.

My will to lives was being eaten away by the unrelenting waves of searing agony, which I tried to ride out by clawing at the floor.

The anguish abated for a brief while, and I used the opportunity to pull myself up, putting one foot in front of the other. I wanted desperately to quit, to give up, to let the curse lead me back to him, but I was unwilling to do so.

"Move, Delphine," I whispered through clenched teeth, pushing myself forward.

With each burst of pain, I was reduced to nothing and had to struggle to keep moving ahead while gasping for air. As the first rays of dawn appeared on the horizon, I staggered onto a lone bridge that stretched across an unending body of water. The night air felt chilly on my hot skin.

It was my only choice and my last resort.

I held onto the railing of the bridge and gazed down at the water below. I was exhausted and felt a mixture of fear and sorrow.

It felt so natural to let go at that point, to let the water carry me away and remove all of the darkness that had been holding on to my spirit.

But then I recalled the taste of freedom I had craved my entire life, the glimmer of promise I had experienced upon receiving my healer's license. Now that I had come this far, I couldn't give up.

I forced myself to cross the bridge one step at a time, resisting the impulse to give in and the anguish.

The pain followed me everywhere, but I clung to what little strength I still had, to the final shreds of my former self.

Another wave of pain hit me as I got closer to the bridge's end, taking my breath away. I dropped to my knees and grasped the hard, cold wood under me, tears streaming down my cheeks. I was breaking, splintering from the inside out.

“Cassian…” I whispered, hating myself for even saying his name. He had turned me into this, into something dark, something I could barely control.

The darkness in my powers… was it because of him? Had he done this to me deliberately, knowing it would break me? Was this how he planned to kill me?

Anger rose in my chest, but it was like a tiny flame against the blazing storm inside me. I was more scared of myself than I had ever been of him, and I felt more alone than ever.

I took a trembling breath as I gazed out over the wide lake as the last of the agony subsided.

I didn't know what was waiting on the other side. I wasn't sure if I would ever be free of Cassian's curse or the monster he had made me. However, I was aware that there was no way to turn back.

With clenched teeth, I stood up and pushed myself forward, one step at a time, toward whatever lay ahead.

But as I approached the final stretch, a shiver ran down my spine. I was not alone.

The air felt thick, charged with an unnatural stillness, and I turned slowly, my heart hammering.