When Autumn stepped out of the room, Dax was standing there, waiting for her ,his head hung.
He took Autumn towards the other edge of the border. A car waited for them there. He helped her inside and then drove... in complete silence.
Autumn sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her fingers clenched around the fabric of her jeans, her gaze fixed on the blur of trees rushing past the window.
Dax had not yet spoken a word since they left. Neither had she.
Her heart was a leaden weight in her chest, aching with a grief she could not even understand.
"This isn’t goodbye," Kieran had said. But the way he had looked at her...like he was carving her into his bones...felt like a farewell. His words... felt like a goodbye.
She lost track of time while the car rushed through the woods. It must have been hours at least.
She had no blindfold on this time.
Everything looked... off. The trees were taller here, thinner, as if stretched unnaturally. The colors too sharp, almost bruised
The terrain shifted. The air grew thicker, charged with something ancient. The trees twisted into grotesque shapes, their bark blackened as if scorched by an unseen fire. And then...
Autumn gasped as the car passed through what felt like a wall of water, though no droplets touched the windshield. The world beyond shimmered, distorted, before snapping back into focus.
Magic!!! Ancient magic in the middle of the woods?
Dax’s jaw tightened, but he did not explain.
Soon, the fortress loomed ahead.It was a monstrous structure of jagged stone, its towers clawing at the sky like the fingers of a buried giant.
Autumn’s breath hitched.
Last time, she had been blindfolded and angry. So the view hadn’t registered too well. Now, she saw it all...in details...the crumbling statues of wolves with hollow eyes, the thorned vines strangling the walls, the eerie glow of bioluminescent moss painting the stones in sickly greens and blues.
Dax parked the car, his movements too mechanical. He did not look at her as he opened her door.
"Stay close," he muttered.
He punched in some code...a series of clicks, a hiss of hydraulics...and the doors groaned open.
The air inside was colder, heavy with the scent of damp earth and old blood. Their footsteps echoed through the empty halls.But each sound was swallowed by the expanding silence.
Autumn’s skin prickled as they passed them...those oil painted faces of long dead Alphas, their eyes following her just like last time. Autumn could swear one smirked. And another bared fangs.
"No shit! They are alive." She murmured to herself. She quickened her pace, nearly colliding with Dax when he stopped abruptly before a set of towering doors.
The inner fortress was vast,just like before...lit by torches that burned with unnatural blue flames.
They marched straight into the heart of the fortress, through a series of winding corridors until finally they stopped in front of a great iron door. As Dax paused there,his breath hitched.
Autumn turned to him. "Are you okay?"
Just pushed the door open and entered first.
The room was dim, lit only by the blue glow of fire torches lining the walls. And there...standing at the center of it all, arms folded behind his back ...was Kieran’s father...Alpha Malrick.
The moment Dax saw him, he froze.Like literally petrified.
Then... he dropped. To one knee. Then the other. Then lowered fully, his forehead pressed to the floor, shaking. " You are... You are alive," Dax gasped, his voice breaking. "Alpha... we all thought we lost you..."
Autumn watched, wide eyed, heart constricting as the stoic, gruff ,well composed Dax fell apart.
Alpha Malrick stepped forward slowly. His boots echoed ominously in the chamber. When he reached Dax, he placed a firm hand on his shoulder and then knelt slightly to help him up.
"Well," he said, voice low, rich with a time worn weight. "You have grown into such a strong, big man, Dax. I finally get to see that my son has a capable Beta."
Dax’s throat worked, but no words came.
Alpha Malrick did not wait. He pulled Dax into a tight hug. And then patted his back a couple of times before releasing him and nodding at him.
Dax looked like he was about to break into tears. He was shaking. He was literally wearing his emotions.
Alpha Malrick turned. He was taller than Autumn remembered. His presence was heavier...more like a physical force.
Autumn noticed more silver streaked his dark hair this time, but his eyes...Kieran’s eyes...burned with undimmed intensity.
"Dax," Alpha Malrick murmured,he turned back, a little disappointed when he noticed no one was following him. He gripped Dax’s shoulders, shaking him up. "Look at you. Get yourself together.We need to get work done. "
Dax’s throat worked." I...I can not tell you how happy I am. All these years... Alpha never stopped mentioning you in every training...every pack summit...and I...We missed you..."
Malrick’s expression darkened. " I missed my pack too,Dax.But some prisons aren’t made of walls."
Dax stood there, nodding. When he finally let go, he turned to Autumn.
His eyes settled on her.Autumn shifted uncomfortably.
Malrick’s gaze slid to her eyes, her face. "Autumn." His voice softened. "You have grown stronger since our last meeting...and a little tame...l don’t know if that is a good thing or bad one..."
She swallowed. "I did not have a choice."
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "No. You didn’t."
He turned back to Dax. "We should begin. The ritual requires precision."
" Ritual? " Autumn thought they would just... draw blood! What ritual was he taking about?
Malrick did not answer. Instead, he gestured towards a stone altar at the room’s center...its surface was etched with runes that pulsed faintly, as if breathing.
"Lie down," he ordered.
Dax stepped between them, his voice low. "Autumn.Please."
She stared at him...at the desperation in his eyes, the unspoken plea...She had this growing unease...but this was about Kieran, of course.
With a shaky breath, she moved to the altar, lying back against the cold stone. The runes beneath her flared brighter, their light searing her skin.
Malrick unsheathed a dagger...obsidian, its edge glinting with something darker than steel.
"This will hurt," he warned." I will try to make it hurt as little as possible...but..."
Autumn clenched her fists. "Just do it."