Chapter 15 : The Vanishing Act…

(Jay's POV)

Why can't this girl just catch a break?...

One second Olivia's lying peacefully, resting and the next she just up-ed and vanished… leaving only residual magic behind.

Naturally, this immediately pulled Thalia into a frenzy…her hands started glowing as she's chanting.

My claws shoot out before I can stop them, digging into my palms.

The pain barely registers.

All I can focus on is how WRONG it is that the place where she was laying a few seconds ago is now empty…just like that.

"Do something. NOW." The words come out more growl than speech. My wolf is clawing at the surface, desperate to protect what's ours.

Thalia wasn't just standing there, hands hovering above where Olivia once rested…the chanting was still going on.

Residual magic settling on my hair smells like defeat. That's the thing they don't tell you about being a werewolf… sometimes raw power means jack shit. Can't fight what you can't touch. Can't protect someone from their own spirit getting yanked into another realm and taking their body with them.

Olivia's scent is everywhere yet she is nowhere to be found...The wolf in me wails. She was right here, heart beating, breathing, but GONE. It's messing with my head, making my teeth sharpen against my will.

"You need to calm down," Thalia says, like she's talking to a rabid animal. Maybe she is. "I need to concentrate and your energy could interfere with"

"Interfere?" I laugh, and it sounds unhinged even to me. "She's nowhere to be found because of your witch games, and you're worried about my ENERGY?"

The room feels too small suddenly. The walls press in, reeking of Thalia's magic… sharp and sour, like fear wrapped in power. Through the window, I catch movement in the trees. Something's out there.

Something is wrong.

My muscles coil instinctively. The wolf wants to run, to hunt, to DO SOMETHING. But the human part of me knows leaving Olivia's position defenseless might be exactly what they want. Whoever THEY are.

"Don't even think about it." Thalia moves to block the door, her hands sparking still with magic both as a warning and trying to do something about Olivia's disappearance. "You charge out there blind, you don't know what is going to happen!"

She's right. I hate that she's right. But there's something in her voice… a tremor she's trying to hide. She knows more than she's saying.

"Move, witch. Last warning." The words rumble out in that subsonic growl only shifters can really hear. "She's MINE to protect."

Thalia's eyes widened… not at the threat, but at something behind me. I spin around, hoping against hope that Olivia's back and waking up. Instead, I catch a glimpse of her face contorting in pain. A mark appears on her arm like frost spreading across glass, but darker.

The change hits me then, violent and unstoppable. Bones crack like gunshots as my wolf surges forward. The transformation usually feels natural, like slipping into another skin. This is different; choppy, painful, driven by fear instead of anger. I don't fight it.

The window shatters around me as I leap, glass slicing into my haunches. The pain's nothing compared to leaving her behind. But I caught that scent on the wind… gunmetal and hatred. Kael's pack.

FIND, PROTECT, KILL if necessary.

The mantra pounds through my blood as I hit the ground running. Behind me, Thalia shouts something about artifacts and silver, but I'm already gone. The wolf has control now, and he only knows one truth:

If they want my mate, they'll have to go through me first.

I just pray I'm not running straight into their trap. But the thing about traps? Sometimes you have to spring them to save what matters.

The moon rises, full and mocking. Somewhere in the spirit realm, Olivia's fighting her own battle. And out here? Well, let's just say Kael's pack is about to learn why you don't mess with another werewolf's mate.

Even if it kills me.

My muzzle skims the ground, tracking scents through decaying leaves. They're getting sloppy – overconfident. The trail's too clean, too obvious. Like they want me to follow.

Too bad I'm going to give them exactly what they want.

The wind shifts, bringing a cocktail of smells: pine needles rotting in the autumn damp, deer spoor, and… THERE... gunmetal and silver. Kael's signature. That paranoid bastard never goes anywhere without enough firepower to level a small town.

Something else hits my nose… a scent like ozone and ancient graves. Magic, but not Thalia's kind.

I should retreat. Should think this through. That's what I'd tell any of my pack members. But all I can feel is that Olivia is a fight alone. Who knows what… who knows where. Logic's got no place in this fight.

The first sign I've walked right into their trap is the whisper of metal through leaves. My muscles bunch to leap, but I'm a half-second too slow. The silver net drops like liquid fire across my back, searing through fur to the skin beneath. I roll, snarling, trying to shake it off…but that's when the real trap springs.

The chains come out of nowhere, humming with magic older than cities. My wolf recognizes them instantly: Grandmother's Bindings. The kind of relic they used to use on alphas who went feral, back when the old laws still held power. The irony would be hilarious if I weren't choking on my own rage.

"Always the hothead, Jay." Kael steps out of the shadows, looking exactly like I remember… all clean lines and cold efficiency. "Some things never change."

I try to lunge for his throat, but the chains tighten, forcing my wolf down. The transformation hits like a sledgehammer, bones cracking back to human form against my will. The net falls away, but the chains remain, burning cold against my skin.

"Where's your witch?" Kael circles me slowly, boots crunching on dead leaves. "Oh right…trapped in the spirit realm. Convenient timing, wouldn't you say?"

Blood fills my mouth… I've bitten my tongue trying not to scream as the chains pulse with sickly green light. Every point of contact feels like acid eating through to bone. But something else cuts deeper than pain: the implication in Kael's words.

"You planned this?," I spit out, along with a mouthful of blood that lands on his polished boots.

His smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Not really, The spirits have their own agenda. We just... Took control of the opportunity provided."

A scream tears through my skull Olivia's voice, distant but unmistakable. Spirit realm bleed-through, or am I finally losing it? The chains pulse brighter, feeding off my rage.

Five more wolves materialize from the trees, forming a circle. I recognize them all… former packmates, now Kael's loyal dogs. The artifact in Kael's hand pulses in sync with the chains, its green heartbeat making my wounds glow like toxic fireflies.

My leg trembles as I force myself to stand. The wolf inside howls for blood, even as the chains try to strangle its power.

GET UP. KEEP FIGHTING.

The first one dies quick… overconfident, thinking the chains mean I'm helpless. His throat ruptures under my hands, blood hosing hot across my face. The second tries to circle behind; I catch him mid-leap, using his momentum to snap his spine against a tree.

The third almost gets lucky… teeth graze my neck before I can twist away. The tree trunk splinters when I throw him into it.

But there are still two more, plus Kael. And the artifact's magic is spreading through my veins like poison, making every movement harder. My muscles start seizing up, betraying me one fiber at a time.

I tried rapid healing…

For half a breath, the pain vanishes. But it's not enough. The artifact pulses one final time, and darkness rushes in like a tide.

As consciousness fades, all I can think and mutter is: "I will never let her be taken by you".

The last thing I hear is Kael's laugh, cold as cemetery dirt: "Don't worry. She'll come for you. That's the whole point."

Then nothing but black.