The Wolf Series #3: Between Two Worlds

Chapter 25

A/N: Here's to regular Wednesday updates! Long may they last!

Chapter 25

This is the first time I've seen the ruins in person, and they steal my breath away. Mostly for the sheer fact that the hike to them is incredibly draining. The muscles in my ribs are seizing up and begging me to take a break.

Adrian hasn't even broken stride. His breathing has barely changed. The same goes for Mansel and Mac. As for me, I'm just puffing away and making sure that Gracie doesn't overtake me.

Eamonn brings up the rear alongside my Sentinels and Adrian's Sentries. Our party isn't large, but it isn't as small as I would have liked. Adrian and Mac are deeply attached to the concept of 'strength in numbers'. All I can think is that more Wolves will bring forth more roaming spirits. But after what happened last time they all ventured these caves, I can't blame them for objecting to my idea of a small party of four.

Those chains must be heavy. I glance up at Adrian, who's waiting with Mansel for the rest of us to catch up. Gracie is hot on my heels as we reach the top of the steep, unstable incline.

I take a deep breath and ignore her as she steps past me. These childish games between us remind me a lot of what it was like with Natalia and I in high school. Pointless.

So when she grasps Adrian's hand, who was initially offering it to me, I just pretend that I don't see. Mansel grasps my forearm and hoists me up the rest of the way.

"Prophet?" He asks as I sit down to catch my breath. I unzip my robes halfway down to let the cool air hit my chest. My Sentinel offers me some water as I reach for the silver seal that rests against my sternum.

"I'm okay," I puff between gulps. Despite dragging thirty pounds of silver chains up and down this hike, it feels great to be like this. Exerting my body in the woods with dirt on my hands and face—it fills me with nostalgia of my days running with Diurnal and Breccia. I smile and wipe water from my chin, "I'm okay, Mansel."

My chest is filled with this warmth that feels all too familiar. I used to feel it around Jace when he was smiling at me. I feel it now, except it's Adrian's gaze I catch. It's not for more than a fleeting second, but it fills me with a feeling I can only describe as liquid sunshine. I'm overflowing it as I sense his feelings cascading through the link we've created.

Eamonn has been watching the two of us the entire way, and I'm quite sure he knows what has happened. He seems to be the only one who has sensed the change in the way Adrian and I interact.

I redo my boot laces and stand up. We continue along the spine of the slope for a couple miles before I feel a humming boom through my body. No one else but Eamonn seems to have sensed it initially, but when they do, a collected gasp echoes through the party.

The silver chains begin to feel hot against my skin, and I stop abruptly. My vein are protruding again, and my body is surging with power. I rest my hand against my chest and try to breathe through it.

"We're close," Mansel states as he helps me stand straight. He leads me to the edge of the slope, where the trees have parted way to a steep cliff. "Your eyes are glowing."

Waves crash against the caves below us in a bone-chillingly deep swirl of sea foam and blue. I peer over and noticed a steep path carved into the side of the cliffside. The steady humming has now transformed in a roar that is almost louder than the sea waves.

I can smell more than just the salt from the ocean. "The Moon."

"You smell Her too," Adrian is beside me. The wind whips his hair and clothes, but he's never looked more alive. He smiles down at me and speaks over the thundering waves, "There's so much than just a gateway here, little wolf. So much more."