Chapter 116: Moonbeam

NATALIA

My mind starts to race, and panic floods my body as I flail my arms around, trying to hit Xavier with every ounce of strength I have.

I need to get away.

~Now.~

But Xavier’s grip on my neck is as inescapable as a wolf’s bite. Pain burns in my throat as I struggle to take air into my lungs.

“Xavier…please…,” I manage to get out.

But any trace of the man I knew is gone. His eyes are completely feral.

“I have to admit, Natalia. I’m surprised to see you here. I only came here to kill Alex so I can finally bond with my destined mate…”

His claw squeezes even harder, making my vision start to blur.

“But sending you here too is a nice little present from Fate,” he hisses.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alex charging toward us, yelling out in fury.

~Help.~

~Please.~

But the ground beneath him—covered in a carpet of webs—rips open, and, before he can take another step, he falls through the sinkhole, sliding off to Goddess knows where.

My heart sinks as my vision starts to fade to black.

ARIEL

There’s no time to worry about Alex right now.

Natalia’s only got moments left.

A bloodcurdling battle cry rises from my lips, and I leap over the black hole that Alex fell into, running toward Natalia and Xavier.

I’m going to make sure one thing happens tonight:

Xavier’s not going to leave this cave alive.

As I get closer to Xavier, something descends from the darkness above me.

Hanging in the air, Fate’s razor-sharp spider legs hold on to a silver web, and she stares at me with eight glinty, beady eyes.

I hear a loud ~hiss~ and she covers me in her silvery webs. They pin my body to the ground and squeeze my limbs together.

I struggle with all my might, watching Natalia give her last ounce of strength to Xavier a couple feet away.

“Xavier!” I cry out. “Let her go!” I tug and pull at the webs, but the strands feel like they get even stronger the more I struggle against them.

“Just give in, little one,” Fate whispers into my ear. “Accept your destiny.”

A victorious grin spreads across Xavier’s face as Natalia stops moving.

~No…~

~Please…~

Suddenly Natalia springs to life, kicking his leg out from under him and grabbing his arm, flipping him onto the ground.

~The move I taught her.~

Xavier groans out in pain, distracted for a moment.

“NATALIA, RUN!” I scream out.

NATALIA

My boots pound against the wet cave floor, echoing throughout the tunnels.

I sprint as fast as my feet can take me, but I’ve completely lost track of where I am.

Suddenly, the tunnel opens up into a massive circular cavern.

Rocky walls surround me, and there’s no other exit I can see.

Above, the ceiling is thick with glowing webs arranged in intricate patterns.

I don’t know what the hell this place is, but right now, it’s better than being strangled by Xavier.

I steal a glance behind me into the tunnel, but it’s too dark to see if he’s on my trail.

But if his behavior up to now is any indication...

~He won’t give up until I’m dead.~

I can ~feel~ it.

I duck into the shadows behind a large rock, putting my hand over my mouth to keep my heavy breathing as quiet as possible.

I strain my ears to listen for anything other than the sound of my heartbeat thundering in my chest.

~There.~

I hear something.

Footsteps.

And…

Whistling?

Xavier whistles a cheerful tune as if he’s taking a stroll through the park on a beautiful day. The way the notes echo around in the giant cave, it makes my skin crawl.

He seems to be toying with me.

~That sick bastard.~

~He’s enjoying this.~

To make it worse, the echoes make it so I can’t tell how close or far he is.

~But I know he’s in here.~

~Somewhere.~

And now I’m trapped with him.

“Natalia, baby, I can scent you,” he calls out. “Why would you try to play hide-and-seek with me, huh?”

I try to become as still as possible.

~There are a thousand musty scents in this room.~

~Maybe he’ll just pass by, and I can find a way back to Ariel and Alex.~

“Aw, now you’re just hurting my feelings, Natalia,” he calls out. “ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU RUINED MY FUCKING LIFE!”

I can’t help but jolt when he screams out, and a rock crumbles under my foot when I move.

My heart skips a beat.

~Shit.~

“You know what they say about Fate, Natalia?” he yells.

I listen in terror, but by the sound of his voice, it seems like he’s getting farther away.

~I think.~

“You’ve got to make your own destiny…,” he continues.

I slowly steal a peek from around the rock, peering into the dimness for any sign of Xavier.

~Where the hell is he?~

~Is he gone?~

I feel his hot breath on my neck before I hear his whisper:

“Or someone will have to make it for you.”

ARIEL

My eyes widen when Natalia’s scream echoes out from somewhere deeper in the cave.

~Natalia…~

Gritting my teeth, I pull one last time against the webs with all my strength.

But it’s no use.

Fate has trapped me completely.

She steps out of the shadows and shifts into her human form, staring at me with her bottomless black eyes.

“Just stay still and let fate run its course, Ariel. Accept it.”

As if on cue, another scream sounds out from somewhere. This time though, it’s louder.

“What do you want, Fate?”

“Soon, your sister and your mate will be dead. You will finally be able to rejoin Xavier, and everything will return to its proper place in my tapestry.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I hiss at her.

“No one is going to help you down here, Ariel,” she smiles, flashing her white teeth.

I stop struggling against the webs and close my eyes.

~We’ll see about that.~

~“Selene, I need your help. I know you’ve left me to settle this on my own, but I just need something from you. Please,”~ I call out in my mind. ~“Just give me the power to help myself out of this.”~

Fate laughs. “She’ll never reach you down here, child. My sister has no power in my lair.”

But suddenly, I notice a tiny light above me.

It’s so small it’s barely noticeable, but in the darkness of the cave, the light makes a little beam through the thick webs above.

Moonlight.

The beam lands right on my chest, and I feel a strange pulsating power emanating from somewhere.

I look down. The mooncatcher necklace glimmers with power as it catches the light.

The glowing stone in the center radiates more light, burning away any web the moonlight touches like fire.

The webs around my body disintegrate, freeing me.

~That’s it!~

~“Thank you, Goddess!”~

Fate hisses, recoiling. She shifts back into her spider form and scuttles away from the light, disappearing into the darkest tunnel she can find.

I move my hands into the beam and burn away the remaining sticky silver strands.

But I don’t waste any time celebrating my freedom. A third scream rings out, and I sprint as fast as I can in that direction.

I run down the tunnel to my left and enter a giant circular cavern.

My heart rate quickens, and my body tenses up when I see the massive ceiling of glowing webs above me.

I remember this place from the first time I was here.

This giant arena is Fate’s home.

The center of her web.

In the middle of the cavern, Xavier is standing over Natalia, a fury in his eyes. She’s on the floor, gasping for air.

“Don’t you see, Natalia? This isn’t about you,” he says, walking over to a giant rock nearby. “Once I kill you and Alex, Ariel will have no one left, and she’ll finally be able to see that we were always fated to be together.”

~That bastard.~

I cry out and start sprinting toward him as he picks up the rock, walks back to Natalia, and lifts it over his head to bring it down on her.

~NO!~

Suddenly a giant blond wolf leaps out of the shadows and tackles Xavier to the ground, the rock shattering beside them.

~Alex!~

Natalia crawls away as Alex’s giant claws pin Xavier to the cave’s stone floor.

He brings his fangs down inches away from Xavier’s throat, snarling with fury.

My heart races.

Alex has him trapped.

I’ve never seen him stare at anyone the way he’s staring at Xavier right now.

His eyes are filled with bloodlust, but he’s hesitating.

He’s caught between backing off and bringing him to justice, and using his powerful jaws to end this madness for good.

Xavier sees that indecision and begins to laugh.

“You’ve always been too weak to do it. You don’t deserve a mate like Ariel. She needs a ~real~ alpha. And an alpha is something you’ll never—”

Alex’s jaws clamp down with a sickening crunch and stops him from saying another word.

He shakes his head back and forth, ripping out Xavier’s throat, an arc of blood splattering all over his fur.

Xavier’s body falls back onto the cave floor, completely silent and limp.

What was fated will never come to be.

Xavier is dead.