The chains had long since stopped hurting. That was the worst part. Hazel thought- the moment pain becomes normal, expected, woven into the rhythm of breath. She sat against the cold stone wall of the mountain cell, Edward only a few feet away, his wrists bound above his head with runic cuffs that flickered faint, sickly green in the darkness.
She had learned to measure time not by daylight-there was none-but Edward's voice. Every few hours he murmured something, even just her name. Even when he drifted into half-sleep, he reached for her with his mind, brushing her through their mate bond like fingertips gliding over silk.
"Still with me?" he whispered now, his voice rasping from dehydration and disuse.
Hazel lifted her head. Her lips cracked, but she smiled. "Always."
He breathed out in relief, a sound that still managed to warm her despite the frigid air. His amber eyes glowed faintly in the dark. Even in captivity, even starved and weakened, he was an Alpha. Not because of rank-because of who he was.
"We're going to get out of here," he said again, the same phrase he had repeated for months. "Anastasia will find us."
Hazel closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall. Their daughter's name was both balm and blade.
"Our little moonfire," Hazel whispered. "If she only knew..."
"She will" Edward said, voice suddenly fierce. "She's alive. I feel her. And she's stronger than anything they ever prepared for."
Hazel didn't disagree, but she also saw the truth Edward his behind determination. Their mate bond allowed them to sense on another's emotions, and right now he was burying fear under layers of stubborn leadership. Fear that Anastasia might have grown up without warmth. Without love. Without safety. Fear she was suffering somewhere-maybe just as they were. She curled her knees to her chest. "Sometimes I thin the Moon Goddess is cruel."
Edward shifted his weight, the chains clattering. "Cruel? No." He paused. "Demanding, maybe."
"Then why let this happen? Why let Richard betray us? Why leave Anastasia alone?
Edward lowered his head. "Hazel, look at me."
She didn't want to. She felt too brittle, too close to breaking. But she lifted her gaze anyway. "This prison isn't the end of our story," he said quietly. "It's the the pause. And Anastasia-she's the continuation. Whatever happened to her...whatever she endured...she survived it. And she's searching for us. I can feel her closer each day."
Hazel released a choking sob "Oh Edward, can you really feel her?"
Edward nodded "Yes, love. Our father-daughter bond is strong. Focus on your bond with her and you will be able to feel her too."
She closed her eyes, focusing until the stone room faded. She let the bond stretch outward like a strand of silver light. In the darkness a spark of light flickered, moments, when she felt warmth, movement, distant emotion. Hazel's heart fluttered as she concentrated harder, chasing the echoes of her daughter...and it was getting stronger.
"She's running." Hazel whispered. "Or fighting. Or something. There's adrenaline in her aura."
Edward released a shaky breath. Hope. He hadn't allowed himself to feel it in years. Hazel pushed herself unsteadily to her feet and shuffled closer until their foreheads touched. The chains restrained Edward from lowering his arms, but he tilted his head to her forehead as if they were standing in their home, not a stone tomb carved into the side of a mountain.
"We'll see her again," Hazel murmured "We'll see the pack again." Edward's voice hardened, steel beneath the exhaustion and pain. "And Richard will pay for every breath we lost here."
Hazel's wolf stirred and growled with agreement, a low rumble in her chest that warmed the cold air. Hatred and the need for revenge ravaged through her body as she remembered the smug look on Richard's face as guards dragged them out of their packhouse. The bastard had told lies to their pack, he told lies to other Alpha's and their packs. All while hold her infant daughter and whispered about how "useful" she will be. Her wolf pressed hard to shift then, only to be restrained by the runes and spells carved around them. She had tried to claw out his throat that night and regretted that she didn't succeed.
A sudden vibration traveled through the stone beneath their feet. Hazel's eyes snapped open.
"Did you feel-?"
"Yes" Edward said, vice razor sharp. "Something shifted outside. That wasn't natural."
They both stilled. The mountain prison was sealed by ancient fae magic-layers upon layers of shadow runes and earth binding spells. Nothing disturbed it, this prison was impenetrable, impossible to escape, impossible to enter without the knowledge.
Until now.
Another shudder rolled through the stone, subtle but unmistakable. Edward and Hazel straightened as much as their restraints would allow. "Someone found us," Edward breathed. "Or someone is trying."
Hope flared inside them both-dangerous, blinding. An emotion long forgotten. Hazel felt the bond to Stacy pulse once, an emotional spark she didn't recognize. It felt like determination. It felt like desperation. It felt like movement.
The wall beside her trembled, stirring dust and strands of magic. Hazel stepped back as the dust floated around her in soft puffs. Edward strained against the cuffs, muscles tight, instinct roaring awake despite his exhaustion. His wolf surged beneath his skin, furious and ready to tear the mountain apart.
"Hazel-" Edward said suddenly.
"Don't" Hazel snapped. "Don't you dare say it. Or even think it!"
"But if we did," he continued, refusing to let his voice soften. "I need you to know that we survived this long because of you. Stacy survived because she has your heart, your courage, your-"
"Stubbornness. Your stubbornness." Hazel said with a small, choked laugh.
A faint crash echoed from somewhere deeper in the tunnels of the mountain. Fai magic hissed across the runes on their cell door, like a hot blade scraping across the spell work. Hazel's heart thudded violently against her chest. "Someone is breaking through."
Edward's eyes burned gold as his wolf fought to shift through. A low guttural growl escaped from his throat. "Hold on love."
Hazel closed the distance between them again, pressing her forehead to his, sharing his breath, warmth, and the echo of their daughter's presence.
"We will fight my love. Look at me" Edward commanded. Hazel lifted her eyes to meet his, the gold glimmer in his eyes pulsating as his wolf fought to be freed. "We are not giving up."
The runes on the cell door flickered-once, twice- then dimmed entirely. Suddenly every rune lit up like fireworks, colorful light danced across the stone prison as it pulsated, brightening, dimming, dying in darkness. Each rune was emitting it's own color unleashing a dizzying amount of light. A sound like cracking ice tore through the air.
The Rescue
The mountain entrance was hidden beneath layers of illusion magic, woven so tightly that even Colt's wolf couldn't scent through it. But Stacy didn't need scent. She felt her parents through the bond-thin, distant, fragile like spider silk flowing in cold air.
"They're close," she whispered, breath shuddering "Somewhere behind this stone."
Olivia stepped up beside her, shadow wisps curling around her fingertips in smoky ribbons. Her silver-streaked blond hair lifted slightly, as if touched by a breeze no one else felt.
" I think I can clear the barrier. Shadow magic is woven into the runes." Olivia said. "Just tell me when."
Nessa, standing behind them, had already begun carving runes into the dirt with the tip of her dagger. Her sapphire eyes glowed faintly as the symbols lifted from the ground, floating in the air like molten gold.
"Give me sixty seconds," Nessa murmured. "I'll weaken the mountain wards and sharpen Olivia's shadows. Stacy, stay ready. As soon as we break through, I suspect we'll have company."
Stacy nodded, heart pounding. Her palms glowed faintly with soft lunar light-warm, silver, alive. Healing magic hummed beneath her skin, waiting.
Waiting for her parents.
Behind them, Colt growled low, scanning the tree line. Ladies, remember the training. We make this clean. Fast. No one gets separated."
Niall rolled his eyes. "You forget who you're talking to. I trained them myself, Commander of the Fae Guard."
Stacy didn't speak. She was focused- every sense reaching inward, down through stone and runes and ancient shadow. She felt her parents like two dim flames flickering in the dark.
"Now" Stacy whispered.
Nessa clapped her hands together, releasing her runes. The symbols shot forward in a crackling stream of gold, striking the mountainside. A thunderous boom shook the ground, splintering the illusions and revealing a sealed stone archway tangled with black runes.
"Olivia!" Nessa barked.
Olivia was already moving.
Shadow exploded from her hands, a swirling vortex that swallowed the runes whole. The symbols hissed, trying to fight back, but Olivia's power surged - dark, elegant, and merciless. With a flick of her wrist, she snapped the shadow into a blade and slashed downward. The stone split clean in half.
Colt muttered, "Remind me never to make you mad."
Olivia winked. "No promises."
The moment the rock cracked open, cold air rushed out- air from deep tunnels. Air heavy with dampness, fear, and faint traces of blood. Stacy pushed forward before anyone else could move. "This way."
The tunnel was narrow and winding, dimly lit by dying runes that flickered like embers. Nessa drew more symbols in the air, illuminating their path with soft blue light. Halfway down the corridor, Olivia stiffened. "Shadows incoming. Not mine."
Three forms surged out of the darkness-prison guards, twisted by forbidden magic, faces hidden by runic masks. "Take them," Stacy said softly.
Olivia stepped forward, letting her shadows anchor her to the ground. The first guard lunged, claws extended, but Olivia tilted her head as if bored. Her shadow shot upward like a spear, striking the guard in the chest and pinning him to the wall. He didn't scream. He didn't have time.
The second guard dodged left- straight into Nessa's trap. "Burst!" Nessa shouted. A glowing sigil detonated beneath his feet, sending him crashing into the ceiling before slamming to the ground unconscious.
The last guard rushed Stacy. Colt tensed-but Stacy raised her glowing hand calmly. Moonlight pulsed. The guard froze mid-step, bathed in silver radiance. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed, breathing but still.
Colt blinked. "What the fuck was that?!"
"Pacification," Stacy whispered. "Moon magic...it soothes, or it destroys, depending on what I want."
"That not what I meant, but okay..." Colt said still shocked.
Olivia chuckled "Colt, that's how you fight like a girl." and she touched his nose as if speaking to a small child.
Nessa motioned to the tunnel ahead. "No more delays. Their signatures are getting weaker."
Stacy didn't need convincing. She broke into a run. Every step she took, the bond to her parents brightened, growing clearer. When the reached the final chamber, Stacy stumbled to a halt.
Hazel was on her knees, hands bound behind her back. Edward hung from heavy shackles, chest rising shallowly. Both looked starved, bruised, but alive.
Stacy's heart broke open. "Mom," she breathed. Stacy launched forward- but Olivia grabbed her arm sharply. "Wait. There are traps." Nessa nodded in agreement scanning the room. "Shadow sigils. Hidden on the floor." She sliced her palm and let blood drip onto her dagger. With a sharp motion, she drew counter-runes that shimmered like blue fire. The moment her runes hit the ground, dark sigils flared up-hundreds of them.
The women exchanged a glance. "On three" Nessa said.
"One" Olivia whispered. "Two....three!"
Shadows and runes exploded across the floor, colliding in brilliant bursts. The entire chamber shook as the traps disintegrated under the combined assault of Olivia's dark mastery, Nessa's runic precision, and purified by Stacy's moonlight. When the last sigil died, Stacy dropped to her knees beside Hazel. Her hands glowed so brightly the light cast long silver streaks up the walls.
Colt finally entered the chamber, eyes widening at the destruction and glowing magic still crackling in the air. "You three," he muttered, half horrified, half impressed. "Remind me never to get in your way."