Page 153 of Moonlit Fate

Shaking my head, I moved into a fighting stance. “Getting strong in your old age,” I grunted as I dodged a second blow.

“Watch your tone,” he hissed. Before he could swing his fist again, I landed a solid punch that hardly seemed to faze him.

“Never,” I roared. Shadows gathered around me, ready to strike, to defend... then I gasped. The oxygen had been sucked out of my lungs, out of the very atmosphere around me. I triedto fight back, to command the shadows to attack, but I was paralyzed. Unable to breathe, to move.

My father moved into my line of sight, a cruel smile twisting his features. He didn’t move, but his presence smothered me like a shroud. My power surged in desperation, a last stand against the suffocating force. But nothing happened. What the fuck was this? He’d never had magic before. How was he doing this? Was there someone hidden in the trees, helping him? Someone from his pack?

“Can’t... breathe...” I wheezed. Panic clawed at me as my lungs screamed for air, and my limbs refused to obey. The world spun, a carousel of shadows and fractured light. I couldn’t fight the iron grip that trapped me. With death lurking close behind me, the firm hold that held me suspended suddenly released, and I dropped to the forest floor, collapsing like a puppet with its strings severed.

I lay on the dirt at his feet, coughing and gulping down precious oxygen. My head spun, and I forced myself to focus on the here and now, the crunch of leaves beneath me, the sharp bite of the cold air.

“Just so we are clear of the new power dynamic.” Caius loomed over me, his eyes filled with malice.

“Just so we are clear about the new power dynamic,” I gasped out, sending a pulse of shadow energy toward him.

“That’s a lovely girlfriend you have,” Caius said, his voice laced with an ominous tone. “Such a shame what’s going to happen to her.”

I pushed up on unsteady arms, meeting his gaze with defiance burning through the haze of pain as I got to my feet.

“Touch her, and it’ll be the last fucking thing you do.” I steadied myself, straining to keep upright. “What did you do to me?”

Caius smirked, a predator baring teeth. “I just gave you a little taste of what’s to come.”

“Your power is not natural.” I tried to piece it together. “You’ve done something, tapped into something you shouldn’t have.”

“Perhaps,” he said. “Or perhaps I’ve simply evolved while you’ve been playing lone wolf.”

“Evolved? You call this evolution? It’s corruption,Caius.” My fists clenched at my sides. The shadows stirred around me, responding to my anger, my fear.

“Call it what you will.” He shrugged. “Power is power. Now, I have more of it than ever.”

“Where did you get it? Who gave it to you?” The questions poured out, each one laced with suspicion and dread.

“That, my son, is for me to know.”

“No pack will follow a leader who’s lost his soul,” I shot back, but doubt gnawed at me. The Crimson Fang was ambitious, ruthless. Maybe they would embrace this dark power if it meant ascension.

He laughed, the sound echoing through the trees. “What makes you think they have a choice?”

“Everyone has a choice.” My resolve wavered. The pack dynamics I understood were shifting before my eyes, twisting into something unrecognizable.

“Naïve to the last,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You’ll see. In time, you’ll see.”

I watched him, every instinct on high alert. The encounter had shaken me, forced me to question everything I knew about strength and dominion. And Caius, his newfound potency, was a threat unlike any I’d faced.

“Stay away from Aria,” I growled through gritted teeth.

He smirked, and in that instant, evil emanated from him. “Or what?”

“Or you’ll regret it.”

“Empty threats, boy.” He stepped closer.

“Try me.” If he thought he’d get to Aria, it would be over my dead body. I’d die to save her, and I’d take him with me.

“Atticus, you don’t understand the game yet.” He leaned against a tree, his arms folded across his chest, displaying his complete lack of concern towards me.

I had to keep him talking. If I could glean something out of this encounter, a way to figure out what the fuck was happening, where he’d gained his strength, his magic, then at least I’d have some knowledge to take away.

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