After running for what feels like eternity, my lungs heaving and legs aching, we finally manage to get away.
They lose us, don't ask me who, because I still have no damn idea. But yeah, you bet they're werewolves. Why the hell they're after us? I don't know.
Maybe it's high time I accept that I messed up, bad, and there's no undoing it.
The mystery guy says nothing. He just walks ahead, silent and determined, toward what looks like a cave tucked behind a veil of thorny brush and mossy rocks. The air grows colder, heavier. Oh God. I wish all these were nightmares.
I don't even care anymore. They can murder me, rip me apart, or whatever else supernatural creatures do. I've given up.
He bends slightly to enter the cave, vanishing into the darkness like he's done this a hundred times before.
I follow like a zombie, barely aware of my own footsteps. Inside, there's a fire already lit, flickering flames casting shadows on the uneven stone walls.
It looks... lived in. Like someone actually calls this hidden hole in the wilderness home.
A middle-aged man appears from deeper within. His worn face softens into a smile as he spots us.
Then suddenly he pulls him into a hug, exhaling like he's been holding his breath forever.
"Axel! Thank the Moon Goddess!"
Moon Goddess? What the...
The man turns to me, his eyes scanning like he's seeing more than what's visible.
"You found him," he whispers, voice rough like gravel, but gentle.
Found me?
"Zane, don't worry. You're safe here," he says, stepping toward me with a hand slightly extended, like he's trying not to spook a wild animal.
"I don't want to know if I'm safe or not," I snap, stepping back. "All I want to know is what the actual hell is going on. Because this doesn't seem like just a wish on the fucking mountain which grands wishes!"
"Watch your language," Axel mutters. Even though it sounds like a scolding, his voice is low and calm, unsettlingly so.
It trickles into my nerves again, and soothes the adrenaline thrumming under my skin. It's not normal.
"You're right," the older man says, eyes flickering with something I can't name. "It's not just about the wish."
"Then what is it? What's really going on?" I demand, my voice rising with desperation. "I need to go back home. My dad must be looking for me."
The second I say dad, they both stiffen__ subtle, but there. They exchange a look. Like they know him. Like he's not just my dad, but something more.
They don't answer me. The older man simply takes Axel's hand and pulls him to the far side of the cave. I want to scream. I want to rip through the walls. I want answers.
Even though they're whispering, I can hear them clearly, like their voices are being piped directly into my brain.
"This is the only chance, Axel," the older man says. "Tomorrow the mating season begins. If you don't mate him then, forget about awakening Seth's powers in him. And we don't have time."
His voice is serious, sounds like he's pleading.
"Uncle," Axel replies, "I already told you. I'd rather die than mark him. Mate him. I'm not going to do it."
By now, I have no clue they're talking about me. But their words burn through me like smoke. I don't understand half of what they're saying, but I know enough to feel the danger behind them.
"Then what was the point?" the man snaps. "Why go after him? Why bring him here if you weren't going to do what has to be done? The Moon Goddess herself has chosen this! For him to be the one after Seth's death! Are you really going to defy her?"
"I will never mark anyone, or mate anyone, or even look at anyone romantically if it's not Seth, why don't get that?!" Axel says. His voice cracks. He's hurting. "So just forget it."
"Do not forget," the man says, "Seth's spirit is merged in him. Where's the difference? Just the body? The name?!"
"You don't understand," Axel says, his voice trembling. "You never cared about how much it hurt. You only care about what has to be done."
"Axel, I'm the last person you should accuse of that," the man says, softer now. "I know exactly how much it broke you to lose him. But you're stronger than this. And like I said... we can't fix the past. Whether you like it or not, the Moon Goddess has bound you to him. And you both have a long journey ahead. You know you can't defy her."
"So what?" Axel hisses. "Am I going to face her wrath because of him? The Moon Goddess didn't even choose him because she wanted him. She chose him to trap his father. She doesn't even care about him enough to punish me if I walk away. I don't even understand why the moon goddess thinks that choosing him will trap Maxwell, I mean, the man killed his own mate, so how about his son?!"
That's it.
My brain is spinning. Maybe they're not talking about me, but come on, who am I kidding?
Of course it's me. Maxwell Sanderson?!
And if they're talking about my dad like that, like he's some dangerous villain, they've crossed a damn line.
No one talks about my father like that. No one dares. Not when I'm alive.
I barely register my feet moving. I'm already walking toward them, hands clenched, fire pooling in my gut.