The morning shine blinded me. An obnoxious ray of light peeking through the curtains, much like the moon. This light, however, was impossible to sleep through. I flopped onto my other side in an attempt to block out the light beaming on my face. Of course, that was fucking useless.
Mariah's scent weaved in and out of my nose as I breathed in, telling me she was near. Soon after, the soft pat on my butt confirmed her presence. "Genesis, it's breakfast time," she said.
"Five more minutes, please. . ." I groaned.
"No. Get your butt up. Now." Mariah slapped my ass harder this time. I rolled over and shot her a glare, trying to ignore the painful sting in my butt. I huffed when a smirk crossed her face. These people and their Goddamn brute werewolf strength were going to kill me one day.
"Take it up with Vincent. He's the one who asked me to wake you." She shrugged. "Straight after breakfast, we are to gather in the meeting hall. We can't be late for the discussion."
"I'm going too?" I pointed to myself, eyebrows knitting together.
"Yes, this is important. We need you there," she confirmed.
"Where's everyone else?" I asked, taking in the emptiness of the room. Oh, I'd just noticed me and her were alone. The cot Dylan slept on wasn't even lying out anymore.
"They woke up a little earlier and headed out already."
"Okay, okay. Fine. I guess I'll hurry up then." I sighed and lazily slid from the bed onto the floor, on my knees. Mariah rolled her eyes, helping me to my feet. She then nudged me towards the bathroom with my bag in hand and shut the door behind me.
After a quick shower and change of clothes, I felt brand-new. My sleep haze wasn't entirely gone but I was alive enough to function. Breakfast was held in the same dining area as lunch but less simplistic. There was a buffet spread for us to choose from. An arrangement of food, drinks, and fruits. But it was short-lived as we now walked in a group to the meeting hall.
The meeting hall resembled the outside of a small church. Well, minus the church monuments and whatever else you'd find around a church. The inside of the hall was an even bigger surprise. I felt like I was standing in the middle of an over-sized conference room.
Black chairs had been neatly aligned in rows of five for all the guests. A black circular table, stacked with mini water bottles, a variety of granola bars, chips, and a bowl of mixed nuts, sat in the corner of the large space. The large white projector screen to the front of the hall finished the look off. While me, Vincent, Bennett, Claudia, and Mariah sat in one of the rows closest to the front (in that specific order), Dylan and Dimitri sat in the row behind us.
I could see Alpha Kai and Beta Odin in the next row over, across from us. Everyone else in this room was foreign to me with the exception of Miranda and the alpha of Grimfur—Alpha Merrick; who was standing at the front, just about prepared to speak. The projector glowed behind him with pictures that I couldn't quite make out in the light just yet.
"Do you want anything before the meeting starts?" Vincent poked my side, then gestured to the table with the snacks. I shook my head no, folding my hands on my lap. The piece of paper in my pocket crumpled when I moved. It was the sketch I had drawn a while back, thanks to the shadow in my head, and decided to bring with me just in case.
He nodded and leaned closer, whispering as low as he could in my ear, "You don't have to feel nervous, by the way. No one will talk to you without confiding in me first." Sometimes, I hated that Vincent could practically feel my nerves a mile away.
I forced a smile. "I know, I'm fine." He didn't believe me for a second. However, he didn't have time to retort because Alpha Merrick cleared his throat. The room fell silent as the lights flickered off. Miranda squeezed through the rows, joining Alpha Merrick at the hip.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to start by thanking you for joining me today." Alpha Merrick's voice projected off the walls. "I called for all of you to meet with me in light of recent issues arising concerning the safety of our packs."
There on the projector screen, was what looked to be an Erebus wolf. If I knew anything about Erebus wolves though, I knew that one wasn't normal. In fact, it resembled the wolf I saw the day Vincent and I were attacked—as well as the Erebus wolf Odin described at their last meeting. A red-eyed wolf with darkness around it. I knew that look.
It was about to be devoured by the shadow.
"This is one of the few Erebus wolves that have been witnessed in multiple different pack locations in the past month." Alpha Merrick pointed to the picture before clicking over to the next slide. "What you see here is the Erebus wolf being absorbed by something."
A few gasps could be heard around the room. From all of the shifters who had yet to witness the Erebus wolves and the shadows for themselves, I presumed. Vincent remained still beside me, his eyes zeroing in on the screen as if he'd see something he hadn't before.
"As you all may know, these Erebus wolf sightings have been on the rise lately"—Alpha Merrick continued to yet another slide—"and that is a close-up of what's responsible"
"Do you know what they are?" I recognized Alpha Kai's voice the minute he spoke up.
"Shadows conjured up from black magic." Alpha Merrick's only response. Whispers ensued throughout the room. Beside me, Vincent tensed. I shifted in my seat. We had just discussed the possibilities of magic being involved with Amaury. But black magic? Amaury never said anything about that. That seemed like it was out of our playing field.
That's when I remembered something. At one point, Amaury and I had thought about the possibility of someone conjuring the shadows up. By the sounds of it, that's exactly what Alpha Merrick was confirming. But that left the question of who and why. It made no sense to me.
"I'm sorry, I'm not following. . ." Alpha Kai said, a sliver of caution in his tone.
"My apologies. Allow me to start from the beginning," Alpha Merrick responded, folding his hands behind his back, "how many of you are familiar with old magic?"
"Old magic was wiped out centuries ago, was it not?" Beta Odin chimed in.
"Precisely," said Alpha Merrick. If old magic was wiped out centuries ago, then what the hell was Amaury doing with five spell books of his own? And how did he get a hold of them? As if my thoughts were projecting, Alpha Merrick went on to say, "Or so that's what's been said."
I leaned forward the slightest bit, curling my fingers into my palms. Vincent and I exchanged knowing glances, both of us wondering where the hell he was going with this. And it didn't take long to find out. Alpha Merrick paced the floor in hauntingly slow steps. His gaze was to the ground and his lips were pressed tightly together in a firm line.
Finally, he spoke, "It was believed that magic was harmful and should only be handled by those strong enough and pure enough to control it. It was eventually forbidden in the majority of packs around the globe. But it never fully went off the grid.
"There are still very few alpha's who practice it because it was never banned universally. However, what we're dealing with now . . . is black magic. It took me a bit to figure out, but I realized we were dealing with black magic when I noticed the shadow's habits."
"Could you please elaborate on that, Alpha Merrick?" Vincent, surprisingly, spoke up. His tone held just as much urgency as my thoughts.
Alpha Merrick nodded. "It is very rare for these shadows to be reported in their original forms. They are usually caught latching onto another life source. That leads me to believe that the shadows cannot survive on their own for long periods of time.
"It appears as though the Erebus wolves are the target. I think they are being used as hosts—which tells me the shadows cannot act on their own either. And by that I mean, I believe they are unable to enter and live in our world unless released into it."
"Our world?" Vincent commented.
"Yes. In other words, they're being controlled. Something only black magic is capable of. The Erebus wolves are the perfect hosts because the shadows seem to feed off negative energy until they've fully possessed their vessels. Whoever is behind this, planned this well.
"I fear that we are dealing with someone who is well-versed in black magic. It takes a lot of practice, power, and corruption to accomplish spells like this. And if they're capable of raising hell like this, I can't help but wonder what else they're capable of."
His words were chilling.
Negative energy? I thought back to Vincent and I's conversation in the woods before we were interrupted by one of those damn shadow things. Negative energy could amount to any kind of negative emotion, even if it was just sadness. There were a lot of negative emotions flowing between us that day, I wouldn't doubt it for a second. Right before it attacked.
That better put things into perspective and made this whole ordeal a lot more scarier. Especially if it was true that Erebus wolves were the target. Erebus wolves were enough of a problem on their own. I could only imagine the damage that'd be done if they were all used as gateways for something that was ten times more dangerous.
No wonder Amaury had been insistent that not only wolfkind was at stake, but humankind too. It sucked that humans got caught in the crossfire. But that didn't matter anymore. These shadows were going to take all of us out one by one soon.
"So, you're saying . . . a person is behind this?" someone further back asked.
"In theory, yes. It is the only logical explanation I could think of to apply to this situation."
"Does that mean there's a traitor among our kind?" Another voice.
"It is very likely," Alpha Merrick grunted.
Shit, I had a bad feeling about all of this. Amaury's missing spell book was starting to look a lot more suspicious. After all, if there were protection spells in that book, what other kinds of spells were in there? Where there was light, there was darkness. Clearly, someone else knew that too. Maybe this was a little more personal than any of us realized.
It would seem I wasn't alone in my feelings because when I looked at Vincent, he was pale in the face. He had recoiled back as if someone slapped him. Next, I looked at Bennett, Claudia, Mariah, Dylan, and Dimitri. They all seemed to be deep in their own thoughts; a concentrated look on each of their faces. As my eyes found Vincent's again, I realized he was staring at me.
More specifically, my eyes.
"Genesis, you must tell them about the area you've seen." Amaury's voice bled into my thoughts. "The one the shadow has shown you in your dreams."
"What!?" Shit, that was a little too loud. Mariah was the first to turn her head. I bowed my head as lowly as I could, shielding my eyes from any onlookers. My eyes were the only ones in the room glowing gold for absolutely no reason. That raised enough suspicion on its own.
"Do not be afraid. You should tell them about me too. Not about me talking to you but about my wolf belonging to you in order to explain how the shadow invaded your mind," Amaury insisted. "Trust me, Alpha Merrick is an old friend of my father's. He'll know what to do."
Public speaking was never something I enjoyed. I envied anyone who was able to stand in front of a crowd and express themselves without stuttering or pausing or whatever else. This was a bad idea. I just knew it. Okay, that was definitely my nerves talking.
I cleared my throat, burying my words in what sounded like a cough, "But I can't." The words rushed out of my mouth in a jumble. By now, I could feel Vincent's eyes burning a hole into the side of my head. Mariah was right behind him—her suspicion meter probably going haywire.
"You can," Amaury said, his voice gentler now, "I'm right here beside you. Vincent is right here beside you. . . We're here to protect you." I grunted, nonetheless I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After opening my eyes back, I ignored the ongoing stares, and stood to my feet.
"Um, if I may . . . I have something to share." I raised my hand, using the other to pull the sketch from my pocket. "May I join you at the front?"
"Please." Alpha Merrick gestured beside him.
Vincent tugged at my finger, whispering, "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, no. It's . . . okay. I'm okay. I'll be fine," I whispered back. Then, I slowly made my way through the chairs until I was standing beside Alpha Merrick. The stares only worsened. As I looked over the crowd, I felt suffocated. Too many important people in one room. All waiting for me to provide them with important information. Now was not the time to fuck up.
"Okay so"—I straightened the creases in the sketch, avoiding eye contact with everyone including Vincent and the rest of our group—"as you all may know . . . I am the young woman who was involved in the recent death of an alpha. Alpha Amaury of Calamitous.
"And well, that night Amaury's wolf became mine. Or I should say Amaury gave me his wolf so that I'd survive. Um, through magic. If not for Amaury, I wouldn't be alive today. Uh, but that's not all. Amaury was a victim of one of these . . . shadow things.
"When he gave me his wolf, I think he also gave me a fragment of the shadow. As in, there's a piece of it stuck in my brain. I keep seeing things. Hearing things. Like jumbled thoughts, I think? Anyways, I only see and hear these things in my dreams when I'm asleep.
"It feels like I'm in the shadow's head. Exploring their thoughts. Maybe their desires. And I think whatever piece of the shadow that's still alive and lingering up there . . . I think it's showing me where they're coming from. Um, I drew this. . ."
Alpha Merrick took a glimpse at the sketch. Slowly, he removed it from my hands. He and Miranda then walked over to the projector to fix the sketch underneath. It took everything in me not to meet Vincent's eyes. I didn't have the courage. Sure, I told him most of the story. This, however, wasn't something I'd confided in him about. This was certainly news to him.
If I was being honest, it may have escaped my mind a few times.
"Genesis, if I may ask, how are you still alive?" Beta Odin was the first to break the silence.
"Well, that's the thing . . . I'm not quite sure. I think whatever Amaury did forbid the shadow from reaching its full potential. So, it hasn't been able to take control. But it's still there."
"And this area. . ." Alpha Merrick drifted off.
"It's an area I've seen in my dreams quite a few times now. If we find this location, we might be able to track the shadows down as well as whoever's behind this." Finally, I found the courage to sneak a glimpse at Vincent and the others. To say they were shocked was an understatement.
Vincent's eyes were narrowed into thin slits—the kind of look that warned me we'd have a lot to discuss back at the pack house. Mariah's jaw lay slack, her arms folded. She was tense. Then, there was Bennett and Claudia who's mouths were slightly ajar, while Dylan and Dimitri studied me from afar. A little too closely, if I might add. Dammit, I hated this attention. I couldn't deny I felt a little relieved to know I had no more secrets though. So, that was a plus.