Awakening The Silver Wolf

DARIUS POV 

The poison burned like ice in my veins, draining every ounce of strength I had left. My body trembled under the weight of it, but I refused to go down. I had to protect her. I had to—

Another figure lunged at me, their syringe aimed at my neck. I fought with everything I had left, swinging out wildly, but my limbs felt like lead. 

I caught the man by the wrist and threw him across the battlefield, but before I could recover, two more were on me. They moved with brutal efficiency, and before I could react, their needles found their mark.

"No..." I gasped, my voice barely a whisper, as the poison spread faster now, flooding through me like a wave of frost.

I fought harder, I couldn't let them take me down, but the world blurred at the edges. 

My body was slowing, my movements sluggish, like I was moving underwater. I felt like I was sinking into it, and no matter how much I fought, my strength was draining too fast.

I wanted to scream for Ravenna but I couldn't. My tongue felt too heavy. My vision was swimming, but I could still see her—see her struggle to get to me, her eyes full of desperation.

I reached for her, but my arm felt like a dead weight. 

But she was too far away. The world tilted, and I stumbled. I couldn't stay upright anymore. My knees buckled, and I dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

Through the haze, I saw Ravenna moving toward me, crawling, her own body shaking with the same poison coursing through her. "Darius..." she muttered, but it was too soft. I could barely hear her.

"No, no, Ravenna!" I tried to push myself up, but the strength wasn't there anymore. My vision darkened at the edges, and every part of me screamed in defiance.

The poison was winning.

Fear filled me without mercy, mixing with the poison. Ravenna must have seen that fear in my eyes before hers widened. 

Then, I saw it. 

They were coming for her. Hands—rough hands—gripped her, pulling her away from me. 

I tried to scream, tried to fight, but everything in me was falling apart. My body was failing. My head spun, and the world tilted in ways I couldn't control.

"Darius!" she cried, but the sound was distant now like it was coming from another world. My heart screamed, but I couldn't move. I couldn't—

Ravenna's eyes—those fierce, beautiful eyes—began to lose their focus. 

I saw her body slump, her face going pale as the poison took hold of her too. She reached out to me, but her hand didn't make it. She lost consciousness, her head falling to the side.

"Ravenna!" My voice cracked, full of raw desperation, but I was too weak. The fury inside me, the rage, couldn't break through the suffocating weight of the poison.

I saw them drag her away—drag her away from me. My chest felt like it was being ripped apart. I wanted to tear them apart and make them pay for what they were doing, but all I could do was watch, helpless, as she was pulled from my reach.

I tried to push myself up again, my arms trembling with the effort, but my body was betraying me. My muscles refused to respond. My vision blurred and darkened.

"Ravenna," I whispered through gritted teeth, my heart breaking as I watched them disappear into the shadows, taking her with them.

I couldn't save her.

The rage inside me burned hot and wild, but it wasn't enough. It never was. The poison had done its job. My body went cold, my vision narrowing to nothing. The world around me twisted and darkened.

I screamed though I didn't know if it was a sound that anyone could hear. The darkness came for me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. From my fading vision, I saw Rowan towering above me, a grin on his face. 

And then… nothing.

***

I haven't had a nightmare in so long, but now they are back. And this time it wasn't about my father burning my skin or slicing through me. 

It was about Ravenna being taken away from me, being dragged away as I watched and couldn't do anything. 

She held out her hands towards me, begging me to save her, screaming at me, but I could do nothing but watch.

I was helpless, powerless, useless. 

I tried to reach for her but I was being dragged back. I screamed and fought against the restraints holding me, but it was useless.

Right before my eyes life left Ravenna's eyes.

I jerked awake, gasping, and panting, my body covered in sweat. I looked around and saw I was in an unfamiliar room, but by the look of it, I was still in the village.

I threw the blanket off me and stood before immediately falling on my knees as the room spun. I swallowed hard and I tried to keep the bile down, breathing hard.

Once the room had stopped spinning and I felt like I wasn't going to empty the contents in my stomach I stood up and walked to the door but stopped in my tracks when I saw I was naked. 

I wrapped a blanket around myself and stepped out, the sudden light making me hiss. I shielded my eyes as I walked through the silent village, haunted eyes following me as I went. 

I didn't know where I was going, only that I needed to find someone. And I did. 

"You shouldn't be out of bed," Mia said as she stepped in front of me. There wasn't the usual liveliness in her voice. Her voice and face looked blank, dead.

"Where is she?" I asked, my voice hoarse. 

A silver of tears formed in her eyes. "They took her."

I was already shaking my head before she even spoke. "No, no, no... " I repeated, nausea turning my stomach. "No! They can't take her! They can't! Where the hell is she?!"

"They took her, you fucking idiot!" Mia shouted back, tears falling. "It's been days! Days and we couldn't find a single trace of her!"

Days… How could I be unconscious for days when my mate was out there in the hands of the enemy? What were they doing to her? What if she was–

I paused that trail of thinking and searched deep within me where the mate bond was. I felt… nothing.

"No, no, no… " This isn't right. Why was I feeling nothing? Why was the bond not throbbing like it usually did? 

"Mia." My voice cracked, and my hands shook as I held Mia's shoulders. "Mia, I can't feel her. Why can't I feel her, Mia? The mate bond is not there. Why is it not there?!"

Mia's shoulders slumped, my head bowed. "Dalian also said he couldn't feel her." Her voice was barely a whisper.

My vision blurred and tears filled my eyes. No, it couldn't be. My Ravenna was not dead. There was another reason why I couldn't feel the mate bond. There has to be! I refuse to accept anything else. 

"Where is Dalian?" I asked, trying to get my shit together. I needed to get my head together if I wanted to find my mate.

"Here," his voice answered. I lifted my head to see him walking towards me. The expression on his face made pain shoot through my chest.

"Tell me you've found anything," I said as I walked to him with unsteady legs. He said nothing and just stared at me with empty eyes. "Tell me!" 

He held his hand out, his palm facing up. I averted my eyes from him to look down at his hand. 

Another pain, much harder than the last, shot through me. I took the ring with shaky hands. It was my mother's ring. The ring I proposed to Ravenna with. And it was covered in blood. 

Everything else faded except the ring. That night was meant to be a happy night, but everything has gone to hell. 

I had told Dalian about my plans to marry Ravenna since that day he came. He had told me there was a lake back here where I could do it. And that was why I waited till we got here to propose to her. 

It was supposed to be a happy night. We were supposed to be celebrating right now. She was supposed to be here, smiling up at me with bright eyes. 

Tears fell from my eyes and landed on the ring.

I threw my head back and roared, the sound shaking the trees. My wolf was at the edge and I let him out as I lost myself to the darkness.