Lily
I had never felt the weight of time press so heavily on my shoulders. Every heartbeat seemed louder, dragging me closer to the moment that would either save us or destroy everything.
Eva set down the last of the rune stones in a neat circle on the cabin floor, her lips moving in soft incantations. Imo, steady as always, was at my side, weaving threads of energy into the air with careful precision. The air shimmered faintly, like sunlight bending through water.
I forced my trembling hands to still as I tightened the last knot on the pouch that hung from my belt—salt crystals, moon water, and one selkie shell I had kept hidden until now. A piece of my father's essence, and my only link to the sea's strength.
"We're ready," Eva whispered, her eyes glowing faintly, strands of her dark hair rising as though tugged by an unseen wind.
I swallowed hard, staring at the shimmering oval forming before us; the psychic gate we had agreed on. Beyond it lay the place where land kissed sea, the only ground where my bloodline's power would answer fully.
My stomach twisted. Elis. Soon I would see him again. But would he even recognize me? My reflection in the mirror these last days had been a stranger; hair streaked with silver, eyes no longer soft brown but glowing with Selkie-blue fire. I was no longer a village healer. A Grand Witch reborn.
Imo touched my shoulder, steady and grounding. "It's time."
I nodded, drawing in the taste of salt and smoke around us, then stepped into the gate. The world pulled, stretched, then released.
We arrived at the shore. The sea roared in welcome, its spray cool against my skin. Behind us, the rocks stood firm; before us, the endless waters breathed with the power I knew was mine to command.
We waited.
Then the wind shifted, carrying with it the scent of wolves long before I saw them. My pulse quickened, my chest tightening as I lifted my gaze toward the ridge. And then they came into view—Nakoa leading with Ita close beside her, their steps measured, solemn, and united. Behind them strode Douglas, shoulders squared like the warrior he was, flanked by two other Alphas. Between them, the royal cot swayed gently, borne upon the strength of the wolves and the steadiness of the two human diviners who walked with reverence, as though carrying not just a king, but the fragile thread of hope itself.
My breath caught when I saw him. Elis. My Elis. His body lay motionless upon the cot, pale, too still for the king whose voice once shook the walls of his halls, whose laughter had been my sun. A thousand emotions surged at once; love, grief and fury at the injustice of it all, and it took everything in me not to fall apart where I stood.
Beside me, Eva's hand brushed mine in silent grounding. Imo's aura pulsed at my side, steady as stone. Yet all my senses funneled into that cot, into the man I loved, into the unbearable stillness that pressed against my chest like a blade.
And then my eyes shifted—met Douglas's. His stride faltered for half a breath, just a flicker, when his gaze locked on me. I saw the shock in his eyes, the unguarded awe. He had known me as the healer, the quiet witch. Now he saw me remade: hair glinting like threads of silver under the dim light, eyes burning with the power of the Grand Witch that flowed through me. I was no longer the woman he had tolerated in the shadows of the pack. I was something other. And his stare told me he knew it.
The air thickened as the two groups finally stood before each other—wolves, witches, and humans, three of each, the balance of beings destined to face what was coming. The silence was heavy, filled with unspoken questions, with grief and fragile trust.
But I could not look away from Elis. My feet carried me forward, each step sinking into the damp earth between land and sea, until I was before him. I sank to my knees beside the cot, my hands trembling as I reached to lift its cover.
The moment I opened it, the air around us stirred, full of salty winds rising from the waves, earth humming beneath my knees. A strange current swept through the gathering, and something shifted; deep, unseen and threatening.