Eila's eyes snapped open to darkness.
For a moment, she thought she was dreaming. The air was damp and metallic, pressing down on her lungs like a weight. Her wrists ached, and when she tried to move, the sharp pull of chains bit into her skin. She gasped, the sound echoing faintly against stone walls.
No… not stone. This place felt wrong. The walls breathed. Shadows curled unnaturally, like they were alive, slithering in and out of cracks that didn't exist.
She swallowed hard and did what she had always done in moments of fear—she reached for Sera.
"Sera?"
Silence.
Her chest tightened. Panic clawed at her ribs. Never—not once since her sixteenth birthday—had Sera been silent. Even when she was angry, even when she withdrew into herself, Eila could always feel her wolf lingering, tethered to her soul. But now it was as if someone had cut that cord, leaving her adrift.
No, no, no. Please, answer me. Please…
She tried again, whispering her wolf's name like a prayer. Nothing. Not even an echo.
Her knees buckled beneath her, and she sank against the cold floor, her chains clinking against themselves. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes, but she bit them back. Crying wouldn't help. Sera wouldn't want her to break.
But gods, the silence was unbearable.
She forced herself to breathe, each inhale sharp, each exhale ragged. If she panicked, she would lose control. If she lost control, she would never escape.
A flicker of memory surfaced—Lukas's laughter by the fire, Zois's hand brushing hers, the way they looked at her as though she was their whole world. The way Leonard's cold gaze softened when he thought no one else saw. Her eyes brightened she mind-linked Leonard, Micheal her brother, her parents and then Alpha and Luna but to no avail. It was just like a blank sheet. She couldn't reach any of them.
Were they safe? Did they know she was missing?
Or worse—did they think this thing wearing her face was really her?
The thought twisted like a knife in her gut.
She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the damp wall. There was power here, she could sense it—a realm not of her pack, not of the Moon Goddess, but something older, darker, woven with threads of malice. The basement itself seemed to hum with it, a low vibration that rattled in her bones.
That's when she heard footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.
Her heart leapt into her throat.
A figure appeared at the edge of the cell, the torchlight flickering across a face she knew all too well. Valeria. Moon Goddess's cursed older sister.
Only… not her, not the fragile sister she remembered. Valeria's eyes gleamed with unholy light, her smile sharp and cruel.
"Poor Eila," she crooned, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "You look so lost without your wolf. Does it hurt, the silence? The emptiness?"
Eila's lips trembled, but she forced herself to meet her cruel gaze. "What did you do to her? Where is Sera?"
Valeria tilted her head, the torchlight casting sharp shadows over her face. "Locked away. Just like you. Don't worry, though—you'll see her again… once I've reached my goal."
The words slithered into Eila's chest like poison, but she clenched her fists, feeling the sting of her chains. She would not give Valeria the satisfaction of seeing her crumble.
"Someone will come for me," Eila whispered, her voice hoarse but steady. "You won't win."
Valeria's smile widened. "Oh, you poor thing. They already think they have you. And by the time they realize the truth, it will be far too late."
Her laughter echoed as she turned away, leaving Eila in the suffocating dark once more.
And in that moment, truly alone, Eila did the only thing she could—she closed her eyes and prayed. Not to Sera, not even to herself, but to the Moon Goddess, hoping desperately that Her light could reach even here.