*Isla*
“Where are we going?”
I ask the person who is grasping my hand now, but there’s no answer. It’s not my mother. I know that much. The grip is tight and painful, and Mom would never hold onto my hand so tightly.
In response, I hear a voice that sounds like it’s coming from beneath the waves say, “You have to stay with me, Isla.”
“But why?” I ask. Glancing down, I see that my feet are not on the ground anymore. When I stepped onto the wood of the dock, going out onto the boat, my feet never made contact with the ground again, and now, I am floating away, up into the sky.
The only thing that seems to be tethering me to the ground is this person whose face I cannot see, whose grip is so strong, I can’t break away from it.
“Because… you must,” is all the person says.
I can’t tell if it is a male or a female, young or old, or even where the voice is originating from. I can’t see them at all. When I try to look down to see the grasp on my arm, all I can see is a band of silver that reminds me of a snake.
Silver—is that why it hurts so badly?
Why does it hurt so badly?
I’m only walking to the boat with my parents. We are leaving our homeland behind because of the war. My father doesn’t want to go, but he knows it will no longer be safe for us there—my three sisters, my mother… and most especially him. I remember now, the conversation he had with my mother just the other night. I am too small for him to know I am eavesdropping. My parents often think that because I am only three, I cannot comprehend what they’re speaking about.
But I remember now.
“Constance, if we stay, they will most definitely break through the defenses any day now, and we will be killed. I can’t take that risk, not with the girls. You know I don’t want to abandon the pack, but what choice do I have? All of our allies have already been killed or imprisoned.”
“I understand that, Daniel, I do.” My mom is crying. It’s hard to understand her through the tears. “I want the girls to be safe, too, I just feel like maybe I should stay behind. If anyone can speak reason to Tony, it’s me. He’s my cousin, after all.”
“No, Constance. The girls need you. We should’ve known better than to listen to his advice. Ever since your father died, he’s been scheming. It doesn’t matter now. The decision has been made. I only wish we could’ve prevented this war from ever happening. If I’d gone when the hostilities first started, tens of thousands of innocent lives would’ve been spared.”
“Daniel, don’t talk that way!” My mother seems more angry than sad now as she shouts at my dad, and I think she is mad at him. But she’s not really, is she? She’s mad at Tony—Uncle Tony, that’s what we used to call him, but not anymore. Not since he got mean.
“Constance, it’s true,” my father says. “I should’ve let him have it to begin with. I’m not fit for this sort of work. I don’t even know how I became your mate.”
“You’re my mate by the Moon Goddess’s divine power!” My mother sounds angry at my father now, not just in general. “Your grandfather was a mighty—”
My father cuts her off. “I know who my grandfather was! But that was ages ago, and he gave that up for my grandmother. You know that.”
“I do know that,” my mom says. “Which is how you got to be here… so I could fall in love with you.”
“So I could be the cause of a war that’s destroying our pack.” Now, my father sounds sad. I want to run to him and hug him tight, but they don’t know I’m listening in.
“It’ll be all right,” Mom says. “We’ll start over where no one knows who we are. I’ve heard that the Alpha King of Crescent Falls is very welcoming.”
“Yes, but he’s also quite old and not liable to be king much longer. If his son finds out who we are, he may banish us back here.”
“Well, then, we’ll have to find a pack that is small and unassuming, far away from the castle, where we can blend in. We’ll get normal jobs and be normal people.”
“But what about the girls?” my dad asks. “I know that Isla’s too young to remember any of this, but Kenna and Brandy will remember. They will know the truth.”
“We will make them understand that they can’t tell anyone,” Mom says.
“What are the chances of that?” My father sounds cynical. “Two growing girls, not ever going to tell anyone, not even their best friends, that their father was once—”
“Isla!!”
I feel a sharp pain in my wrist and my eyes fly open. I stare at several faces, but I have no idea who any of these people are or what I’m doing here.
I’m lying on a cold, damp concrete floor, darkness all around except for the light from one swaying, naked bulb above their heads. The man leaning over me has blond hair and brown eyes. He’s shirtless, mostly naked except for a pair of old shorts, and he looks concerned.
Next to her is a woman I don’t know who is also nearly naked. She is holding a rag against my arm. Her red hair is messy, and her eyes are wide with fear.
“Are you awake?” she whispers.
I nod. “Y-yes.” My voice sounds foreign to me. “Wh-where am I?” I try to sit up, but she gently pushes me back down, and then I realize that there is another man at my feet, and he is doing something with a tool of some sort.
“This is going to hurt a bit,” he says, and then I feel the same sharp, burning sensation in both of my ankles for a moment before it dissipates.
“There,” he says, “I got them.”
“We need the antidote,” the woman says. “She’s going to end up like the other one without it.”
“He’s ten minutes out,” the blond man says. The other man has dark hair, and he is now holding something against both of my ankles. It’s soft, but it doesn’t make the lingering stinging pain go away.
“Who are you?” I whisper, or at least, I try to. I’m not sure all of the words come out right. I’m starting to fade away again, my head swimming. For a moment, I think I see a boat across the room, bobbing up and down on imaginary waves. I’m starting to fade away.
“We’re friends,” the woman says. “We are members of Willow pack. We got here as quickly as we could.”
“We ran for hours,” the dark-haired man at my feet says. “Don’t worry. Mystica will be here in a few minutes.”
All I can force out is, “Wh-who?”
“She probably hasn’t met her yet,” the woman says. “She’s only been at the castle a few weeks.”
“Wouldn’t see go there first? She’s a Breeder, isn’t she?” the dark-haired man says.
“Maybe he hasn’t… done anything,” the woman reasons.
“My name is Greg,” the blond says. “This is Holly, and that’s Rob. We work at the castle. Mystica is our royal healer. She’s on her way.”
I relax a little since I can see now that these people are here to help me.
But I don’t remember why I need helping.
“Wh-what happened to me?” My voice doesn’t sound stronger now that I am more aware. It sounds weaker than ever.
“You were kidnapped,” Holly explains to me. “Given wolfsbane and bound with silver chains. Mystica has the antidote to the wolfsbane, just keep breathing. We’ll get it in you.”
“Kidnapped?” I repeat. Why would anyone want to kidnap me? I am nothing. I am….
Wait—that’s not true! I know who I am now. I just heard my parents talking about it, only a few moments ago.
But then… that can’t be right. I’m not three anymore. I am a full-grown woman. I’m nearly twenty years old.
So… that must’ve just been a dream….
And yet, I remember it all like it just happened in real life.
“I’m going to go up and watch for the car,” Greg says. “Use the mind-link if you need me.”
“All right,” Holly tells him, and she watches him leave before she returns her attention to me. I try to smile at her, but I can’t keep looking at her. My head lulls to the side, and I fight to keep my eyes open.
Then… I see him.
Lying on the ground about five feet from me, still chained, still unconscious. I try to sit up again as shock hits my system. “Parker!” It takes all of my strength to say his name.
“I’m sorry, honey.” I feel the brush of Holly’s hand along my forehead as she pushes my hair back. “We didn’t make it in time for him.”
“Dead?” I can only ask my question with one word.
“I’m afraid so. Were you friends?”
“No,” I say. “But… he died for me.” I remember going to the market that morning with Parker.
And… Poppy… and….
“Wylie.”
“Who?” Rob asks.
“The other guard,” Holly tells him. “The one they locked up.”
I want to tell them that Zabrina had a hand in this, too, but I can’t say all of that, and the mind-link will not work because I am too tired.
“He’s here!” Rob and Holly both say at the same time, and I suppose they’ve gotten a mind-link message from Greg.
But I thought we were waiting on a woman. Mystica. The healer.
So when they say “he” is here… who do they mean?
I close my eyes. They are too heavy. I can’t keep looking at Parker’s body anyway. I know he is dead because of me. Because of who I am.
But it doesn’t make any sense.
How did they find out?
No one knows who he is…. No one knows that my dad is the—
“Isla? Oh, thank the Goddess!”
I look up into the most handsome face I’ve ever seen, and everything comes back to me. That’s why they want me. It has nothing to do with my parents. It has to do with him!
“Maddox!” It’s all I get out before everything goes black.
I am not on the dock anymore. I am floating above it.
In an inky black sky full of stars, and in front of me, I see the full moon.
In front of the moon, is a beautiful woman with long flowing golden locks, floating along with me, her arms outstretched as she beckons me.
“Isla, come home!”
I go to her.