Page 2 of Prey of the Lycan Queen (Unwanted #2)
Chapter Two
The witches continue their chant, their voices gaining momentum and power. The storm above us is growing more violent with each passing moment.
As Zirah opens her eyes and gasps, her suffering shatters my heart into pieces. The witches' power and defiance reverberates through the air around us. The storm churning above us is fierce. Lightning cracks through the sky like a whip, illuminating the scene in stark, terrifying detail.
My brothers and I fight with everything we have to free Zirah from her chains, but our attempts don’t work, and our strength is waning.
Our bodies are succumbing to the poison coursing through our veins, and the pain of burning is becoming all-consuming.
We’re running out of time, and my desperation grows more frantic with each passing second.
The witches' voices ring with the finality of a death I’m willing to endure at her side. I can feel the power in the air, the storm above us raging with a ferocity that mirrors my anguish.
Zirah’s teary eyes meet mine one last time with a look of determination shining through the pain, and I realize who I am looking at...
I am staring into the eyes of Litha.
She screams. It’s like a shock wave when she blasts us back with insurmountable power.
“No!” I choke as the air leaves my lungs, and I find myself staring up at the stormy sky. Sitting up, I gasp as the flames engulf her.
A woman steps out of the crowd. Her hands glow like beacons in the night as she walks toward Zirah’s burning form. Her graying hair flows freely in the wind like a veil behind her, and her eyes burn with a ferocity that matches the fire.
“And from the flames, an oracle is born.
The last female lycan.
Your true queen.”
As the final words of the chant echo through the night, I feel a sudden surge of energy. The air crackles with magic and power. The storm above us reaches its peak. The wind howls, and the sky cracks, unleashing a torrential downpour.
In this moment, as Zirah’s body is consumed by the flames, I know exactly who I am looking at.
The baby my mother helped me save. The girl I’ve been hunting for years. The true Queen of the High Kingdom. Litha’s daughter. Our mate.
Blue flames encase her, so hot the ground heats and steam rises. The flames seem to reach through to the clouds, and all hell breaks loose.
Charisse, her grandmother, a woman I haven’t seen since the day I helped her escape, utters a chant and speaks in a voice that resonates with ancient power.
“A queen of virtues that rings true, but make no mistake, she no longer bows to you.”
The old woman’s chants grow louder, and I can only watch in horror at what I’m witnessing.
“In the face of sacrifice, the truth of destiny shall reveal itself.”
Charisse raises her arms, and a smile graces her lips just before a bolt of lightning strikes her down.
Darkness consumes everyone. The only light emanates from the burning blue flames that flicker in the distance, and then slowly, even they are consumed by the rain.
As the storm dissipates, the moon shines with an intensity I’ve never seen before, casting its silvery glow upon us all.
Everyone’s eyes are drawn to the pillar, now reduced to flaming rubble and white ash that resembles snow. I choke on the sob rising in my throat. She is gone. We killed her. We killed our only chance, killed our mate.
Zeke wails, and I see Gnash, Hunter, and Shadow howl in anguish as they lay on their stomachs, and my soul feels like it’s cracking as I hang my head and sob. Time seems to stop around me, and the silence is deafening when murmurs break out, making me lift my head.
From the ashes, Zirah emerges. Her naked form is illuminated by the runes shining like beacons in the night. I gasp at the sight. There’s an ethereal aura surrounding her as she steps forward, and her runes glow like the blue flames that I thought killed her.
Just below her neck, a column of runes sits stacked, one on top of the other like a totem pole seared into her flesh.
Starting from her throat and traveling down: the eye rune, the star rune on her sternum, the wave rune, and below that, the runes for air, fire, and earth.
The moon rune sits just above her belly button.
Lastly, on her pubic bone, the rings rune, which I can’t seem to take my eyes off.
Interlocking rings symbolize connection, unity, and partnership.
We thought she was an unwanted mate, but now I realize we are.
Whispers and gasps fill the air. The gathered crowd is awestruck by the sight of their true queen.
My father’s shock is palpable as she stands before us, her dark hair cascading down her back, and her skin untouched by the flames that engulfed her moments before.
She looks like a goddess, her beauty radiating from within.
Her eyes burn with intensity, her face a mask of fury, and I can almost feel the power emanating from her body.
Her posture is regal, as if she has been born and made from the very flames that awoke her.
“But the curse...It said the oracle?” my father whispers as he watches the scene unfold.
“You’re looking at her,” Kelly snarls at him.
“Kill the oracle...reveal the seven virtues, and the last female lycan.” Kelly directs her fury at my sputtering father, who has fallen to his hands and knees, and I turn my gaze back to Zirah.
Her steps falter, grief washing over her as she notices her grandmother’s lifeless body on the ground. The coven around her sobs. “Granny?” she murmurs before her scream of heartbreak resonates around us, guttural and loud as she races over and falls to her knees, clutching her grandmother.
The weather seems to respond to her emotions, changing swiftly as Zirah screams her anguish.
The skies darken, and the wind howls as if in response to her unbearable grief.
The thunder claps, lightning fills the night sky, and rain falls in sheets.
The ground shakes with the force of the storm, and the trees sway in the wind.
It is as if the heavens are mourning with her.
The next second, a blue bolt of lightning strikes her body, and her head jerks back violently.
A fountain of sparks erupts around her, and the cobbled ground trembles beneath us.
Her runes shimmer with life, and it’s as if the thunder roars and the lightning in the sky dances by her body’s wordless command.
It’s a sight to behold, one that fills onlookers with fear.
Silence falls over everyone except the coven, who moves in to comfort her. As they do, a gasp breaks the silence, and everyone freezes. Zirah lifts her head, and the coven steps back when I notice Shelley across the square, getting up from the fallen rubble and debris.
A growl ripples and echoes around us as Zirah turns her gaze to Shelley. Scrambling to her feet, Shelley rushes over and drops to her knees just as Zirah stands. She clutches Zirah’s legs and begs for mercy.
“It was Theron. I had no part in it. I loved her,” she pleads.
Zirah pats her hair, and Shelley thanks her, tears streaming down her face while I gape at the woman’s audacity.
Zirah’s expression turns cold as she lifts Shelley’s chin with her fingertips. “Loved her so much that you killed your own sister?” Her hands clamp on the sides of Shelley’s head, and she gasps. Black tendrils snake across Shelley’s face like intricate webbing.
Her breath forms clouds of smoke in the air as Shelley’s body freezes solid, her face twisting in terror. With a resounding crack, the ice breaks apart, shattering and leaving nothing but shards of the woman who betrayed her mother.
My father’s scream rings loudly through the night while I watch the crowd of people back up in fear. Father crawls forward, clutching the shards of his lover.
Zirah looks down at him with pity, but I feel nothing as I watch him scrape fragments of ice into his hands, sobbing as they melt and slip between his fingers. Malachi holds the stance of a soldier, but he feels the same grief as his brother. He swallows hard and turns away from my father.
“You...Litha said it would break the curse,” my father sobs, peering up at Zirah.
“I am your curse, your mirror, a reflection of how you betrayed my mother,” Zirah says coldly. “How does it feel, Sloth? Can you sense it, your imminent death? Is it as cold as the betrayal my mother felt?”
She lifts her head, her eyes going to Zeke, then Lyon, and finally to me. Her anger, grief, and something else I can’t decipher burns in her gaze.
Lyon, Zeke, and I get to our feet. I stagger toward her when, with an air of regal authority, she peers around at the crowd and speaks.
“This is my kingdom now. Bow to your queen or face the wrath of my wolves,” she orders, glaring at the guards before glaring at me.
Gnash, Hunter, and Shadow join her, standing at her side.
I swallow, trying to figure out what just happened.
All around me, people fall to their knees. Their heads bow in submission to their true ruler. The weight of her words and the power of her presence leave no room for defiance.
“Zirah,” I murmur, and her eyes snap to mine.
“Bow!” she yells with tangible fury. Zeke falls to his knees with an audible oomph, and so does Lyon when she walks toward me. Our wolves follow her steps, and as she stops in front of me, she lifts her chin to meet my gaze.
Her anger burns brightly. We hurt her, and now she is going to make us pay for it.
Clenching my teeth, I fall to my knees before her, my gaze not leaving hers. She tilts her head to the side, and Gnash growls at me until I bow my head.
“Now your fate lies in my hands, and what a damned place to be,” she says before her hip hits my shoulder as she walks toward the path leading back to the kingdom.