ECLIPSE
Not one scream tore through her throat.
Eclipse made absolutely no sound.
She just stood, watching her nightmare. The woman she loved as a sister and parent, hanging on a rope with her protruding belly that once housed her future nephew or niece.
She must have been mute for a long time, for she was almost startled when Ronan finally spoke. "Forgive me, Miss. But I witnessed with my eyes when you wavered, believing that your fated mate is incapable of such cruelty. So I had to make you witness with your own eyes what has happened."
A choked sob wormed its way to her throat, seizing her breath and disallowing her from speaking. And that was when she noticed it; her now dead maidservant wearing her masquerade ball gown while hanging by Rose's side.
She staggered back, while Ronan entered her line of vision, eyes brimming with hate.
Her maidservant had not only disguised her, but was hung by Malric and his people who believed it was her.
She who was his fated mate.
Ronan clenched his fists, "I shall see you to safety as the Alpha ordered, I swear it. And after that, I shall hunt Malric NorthSteed and take his life."
Ronan gripped her arm comfortingly. "I know this is hard for you. But I shall now swear before you that I will not stop at anything until I make sure he is dead, Alpha Prince or not. Even if it costs my life, Miss!"
That was it… that was when something just snapped in her. She couldn't take it anymore. From the tears that couldn't form and the words that couldn't be spoken, everything just exploded.
She ripped her from Ronan's comforting grip, face contorting into something that was unrecognizable as it was scary.
"And who asked you to take my revenge?! Who asked YOU?!" She screamed.
Ronan stood confused, a flicker of fear passing through his eyes. "You heard it from the Alpha; Malric NorthSteed is an original Supreme Shifter. You cannot harm him…"
"This vendetta is MINE! Mine you hear!" She howled, her voice coming out unnatural.
So what if she had no wolf?
So what if she was an insignificant thing he believed he could crush easily?!
She covered the space between her and Ronan, and gripped him by the collar. "His life is mine!" She screamed, voice hoarse even as a burning sensation warmed her stomach.
"As he burned my family today, I shall burn his! I will raze his empire to the ground with him in it! I will destroy him, you hear! I shall kill Malric NorthSteed!"
A violent cough took over her and she released Ronan, clutching her chest that was tightening.
She was burning all over, and strangely, it reminded her of the fateful day, five years ago, when she first shifted.
The feeling like her flesh was being roasted over fire, and her bones being torn apart. But something about this was more visceral, inadvertently causing her eyes to be drawn to the full moon that hung in the sky.
"Miss! Are you okay?"
A growl tore from her as she fell on her knees. The world around her went silent, and next thing she knew—she was running. With the kind of speed that felt foreign to her.
She had never run this fast. Not even when she had a wolf.
Not to mention it seemed she was running on four legs. Yet she knew it couldn't possibly be her wolf. It had never been this capable.
She felt Ronan, Lycan Shifter he was, trying to catch up with her. But to her shock, she outran him so much that it confounded her.
Hours might have passed with her running without control. But her last memories before she passed out from exertion was a vast green forest that told that she might have ventured into a different territory.
—
When Eclipse came to, the ugliest man she had ever seen stood over her. His face was totally burnt in what seemed like an act of twisted brutality that took one of his eyes.
But that was not the most peculiar thing yet about him. It might be the fact that he was holding an umbrella over him when it was clearly not raining. The umbrella was intricately designed with silver and gold that contrasted with his rather modest dressing.
"You've finally come to." He mumbled in a voice that sounded like a drought. Clearly, whatever caused the scars on his face might have also affected his vocal cords.
Eclipse struggled to stand up, but her body felt heavy like it had gone through extreme abuse and couldn't take anymore physical torture.
Behind the man though, something caught her eyes. Ronan was gagged and bound while easily held down by two women dressed in leather.
He couldn't even afford to struggle under their custody. Which was baffling because Ronan was one of the strongest men he knew.
"Do you lack the ability to speak?" The man mumbled, "I do not think so. Seeing how your eyes first observe your environment, you're a deep thinker. I like that."
"I don't think I like you." She snapped back, thinking that somehow, Malric NorthSteed must have seen through her sister's plot and had sent this man to finish what he could not.
The man leaned down, still holding the umbrella over his bald head. "Is it because of my face?"
She swallowed, clenching her fists. "I am not that shallow."
"Good. Perhaps some introductions will make me more likeable. I am called the BloodHound. A part of the Hollow Assassination Organization. And currently, our number one mission is to bring down the North. Especially the Alpha King; Malric NorthSteed."
Eclipse blinked in confusion. "Alpha King?" She ended up saying.
"As of yesterday night after he massacred the Stones pack, yes. Malric NorthSteed is now Alpha King, married to his new Luna Queen from the Lupine Pack."
Barb wires circled her heart once again, but this time around not in the form of the mate bond—she could no longer feel that. This time, all she felt was hate. The kind enough to cause a volcanic eruption.
"It seems you've tracked me down to taunt me. Then use me as some sort of pawn, right?"
He chuckled. "I have no need for Eclipse Stones, the unfortunate fated mate of the Alpha King. But I do have a need for the Ashen Wolf."
What? "The Ashen Wolf?"
"Correct. Right now, you possess the most vengeful wolf to ever exist. Born on the night of the full moon of those who suffer the deepest grievances once every ten centuries, tonight, you're the chosen one."
The chosen one?
"You must have felt it, didn't you?" The BloodHound continued in that grating voice of his, "That raw power and strength like nothing you've ever encountered before. Best believe if you want vengeance against Malric, you finally stand a one percent chance of success."
Eclipse didn't know which confounded her more. That possessing a wolf much acclaimed in folklore gained her a measly one percent chance against Malric NorthSteed. Or that she actually possessed the Ashen Wolf?
The Ashen Wolf was spoken of in rare shifter folklore. Said to possess no scent, no tracks and an uncanny ability of its shifter to hide that they possess such a wolf in the first place, it was much lauded.
But the last known Ashen Wolf was ten centuries ago. Given the gap, many have long turned the tale of the Ashen Wolf into a folklore used to entertain pups to sleep.
Exerting much effort, she hauled her naked body from the bare ground. Her hair fell over her, and she noticed for the first time they were no longer midnight black, but an ashen white-like color.
She gripped her hair, eyes bulging out slightly in surprise.
"When you master your wolf, your hair will turn back to its normal midnight black once you shift back." Bloodhound recited like this was some damn lecture, "With more practice, you will be able to decide whether or not you want your hair to shift."
She sucked in a deep breath, glancing at Ronan who was still held down.
She was being threatened as much as he was selling to her that she would benefit from him.
"What do you want from me?" She asked.
He didn't smile. "To train you into the ultimate weapon that will stand a fifty percent chance against Malric NorthSteed.