The earth sealed above Callum like a wound. One second he was there teeth bared, muscles straining against the vines the next, gone. Swallowed by the hungry soil of the Vale.
My scream tore through the unnatural silence.
The Shadow Alpha tutted, his fingers still gripping my chin. "So much noise for a man who's already dead."
I spat in his face.
He didn't flinch. The saliva sizzled against his shadowed skin, evaporating into smoke. "Adorable." His thumb traced my lower lip. "But we have work to do, little mate."
The mark between my shoulder blades pulsed, a sickening rhythm that matched the slow, grinding heartbeat of the Vale itself.
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
I clenched my fists. "He's not dead."
The Shadow Alpha smiled. "No. Not yet." He straightened, offering me a hand. "Shall we go collect him?"
*The Underworld*
The ground opened before us, a staircase of gnarled roots descending into darkness. The air grew thicker with each step, the scent of damp earth and rotting meat clogging my nostrils.
"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, my boots slipping on slick bark.
"To the beginning," the Shadow Alpha said, his voice echoing oddly in the cramped space. "To the first sin of your beloved's bloodline."
The roots around us pulsed, glowing faintly with bioluminescent fungus. In their eerie light, I could see faces dozens of them frozen in the wood. Men, women, children, their mouths open in silent screams.
Sacrifices.
I recoiled, my shoulder scraping against a particularly twisted knot. The moment I touched it, the wood moved, peeling back to reveal
A cell.
And inside, Callum.
*The Cage of Bones*
He was on his knees, wrists bound by living vines that bit into his skin. Blood dripped down his arms, pooling in the grooves of what I realized with dawning horror was a massive, circular pattern carved into the floor.
A summoning circle.
"Rhea." His voice was raw. "Don't look at it"
The Shadow Alpha backhanded him. Callum's head snapped to the side, blood flying from his split lip.
"Now, now," the Shadow chided. "No spoilers." He turned to me, gesturing grandly at the carvings. "Do you recognize it?"
I forced myself to study the markings. Ancient wolf runes, older than any I'd seen in the pack archives. And at the center...
A gate.
Identical to the mark on my back.
*The First Alpha's Sin*
"Centuries ago," the Shadow Alpha murmured, circling us like a vulture, "your mate's ancestor stood where you stand now. He begged for power. For victory in a war he was losing." His shadowy fingers trailed along the wall. "The old gods answered."
A ripple passed through the roots. The faces in the wood moved, their mouths forming words I couldn't hear.
"The price was simple," the Shadow continued. "A bloodline. A sacrifice. One gatekeeper every hundred years to keep the veil thin." He stopped behind me, his breath cold on my neck. "But the first Alpha was clever. He lied."
Callum snarled, straining against his bonds. "You're lying."
"Am I?" The Shadow grabbed my wrist, pressing my palm to the carving. "Ask her."
The moment my skin touched stone, the vision hit
*The first Alpha standing over a pregnant woman, a knife in his hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered then slit her throat. Her blood filled the carvings. The gate flashed. And the shadows beyond it...*
*...stirred.*
I wrenched away, gasping. "He killed his own mate."
The Shadow Alpha's smile was a knife wound. "And every generation since has done the same." His gaze dropped to my stomach. "Until yours."
*The Child's Power*
Callum went perfectly still. "What?"
"The cycle broke when you forgot," the Shadow crooned. "When you chose her instead of your duty." He leaned down, whispering in Callum's ear. "Your father would be so disappointed."
Callum's roar shook the roots. He wrenched forward with inhuman strength, the vines snapping
The Shadow Alpha flicked his wrist.
Callum collapsed, choking, as black veins spread across his chest.
"No!" I lunged, but the Shadow caught me by the hair.
"Ah-ah," he tutted. "You'll get your turn." He forced me to look at Callum's convulsing form. "The poison won't kill him. Not unless I will it." His grip tightened. "But your child can save him."
My blood went cold. "What?"
"The babe is pure," he murmured, pressing a hand to my stomach. "Uncorrupted by the curse. Its life force could cleanse the poison." His fingers dug in. "All you have to do is"
"Never." Callum's voice was a ragged scrape. He'd dragged himself onto his elbows, sweat dripping down his face. "Rhea, don't"
The Shadow sighed. "So tiresome." He snapped his fingers.
The roots moved.
One speared straight through Callum's shoulder, pinning him to the ground.
His scream tore through me.
*The Decision*
The Shadow Alpha released me, stepping back. "Choose, Gatekeeper. Your mate's life?" He gestured to the carving. "Or your child's?"
I stared at the runes, then at Callum his teeth gritted against the pain, his eyes locked on mine.
Run,he mouthed.
The mark on my back burned hotter than ever, the pain a living thing. But beneath it
A flicker.
A pulse.
Something new
I placed both hands on my stomach. Closed my eyes.
And pushed