The neon sign of the roadside motel flickers against the evening stars, casting an eerie glow on the dusty parking lot. It’s one of those places that time let slip, clinging to the edges of a forgotten highway like a relic from a bygone era.
It wouldn’t be my first choice—but out here, choices are hard to come by.
We’ve been on the road for what feels like an eternity, and the fatigue is starting to wear on all of us.
“Time to rest. My ass can’t take another minute in this car,” Jinx mutters, eyeing the motel with apprehension. Then, she flips the blinker on.
She’s right. We’re all exhausted, and with our destination still a good stretch away, pushing on through the night seems more reckless than brave.
In fact, we’re still twelve hours away. Even with all of us taking turns driving, we’ll be lucky if we arrive by tomorrow evening.
Jinx pulls the car into the lot, and we all step out, stretching our legs and taking in the quiet of the night. The air is warm—a stark contrast to the air-conditioning of the car.
I catch Stone’s gaze, and there’s a question there, one that’s been hovering between us since we left. While he’s been insanely quiet—which is totally unlike him, it hasn’t been a mutual sort of silence. I wish I could talk to him. Hell, hold his hand.
The curse has made everything between us so complicated, blurring lines and raising walls where there used to be open space.
“Do we get one room or two?” I ask, the words feeling heavy.
It’s a practical question, but loaded with all the complexity of our current situation.
Stone looks at me, and I can see the weariness in his eyes.
“One room should be enough,” he says after a moment, his voice steady. “It’s just for a few hours. I’m pretty sure I can suffer through it.”
I itch at my eyebrow, bristling at his words. I know it’s the curse speaking for him, but it makes my heart plummet into my stomach all the same.
“Two beds, though,” I say, needing to maintain some boundaries.
He agrees without hesitation, and there’s an unspoken understanding that passes between us. The curse has taken so much from us and twisted so many aspects of our lives, but right now, at this moment, it’s about finding a way to coexist with it.
And apparently, that means making it through the night without wanting to stab him with a grapefruit spoon.
Trudie and Stone head into the motel office to get us rooms, while Jinx and I remain by the car. My gaze flits to the stars as I take a deep breath, hoping for some perspective.
She leans against her hood, fiddling with her phone. The night is quiet, the only sounds are the distant hum of the highway and the soft whisper of the desert wind.
“How you doing, girlie?” Jinx asks, not even looking up from her phone.
My gaze darts over to her and I swallow hard. “I don’t know, Jinx.”
She shoves her phone into her pocket and turns to face me. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“I’m not—” I begin, but clamp my lips shut at the expression on her face. “Okay, maybe a little. I just…” I sigh heavily. “Jinx, we were so close—I could feel the bond. The joy of our connection. And the sex was—”
A feline grin spreads across her face. “Good, huh?”
“It was.” I fan myself, then cringe slightly, remembering those last few moments. “Until it wasn’t.”
Jinx pushes off the hood, her grin softening into something more understanding. “The curse was nasty from the start?” she whispers.
“Yeah,” I admit, feeling the weight of it all. “I can tell he’s fighting it, but it’s a struggle. He hasn’t been as bad as those first few moments, but it’s like walking a tightrope, and I never know when the wire’s going to snap.”
She steps closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Look, Ella, you guys are dealing with some heavy-duty, supernatural relationship crap. But don’t forget, that connection you felt? That’s real. And it’s strong.”
I chuckle dryly. “Feels like the curse is stronger.”
“Maybe,” Jinx concedes, leaning back against the car. “But I’ve seen you two. Together, you’re like this unstoppable force. You’ll find a way to beat it. Believe you me.”
Her confidence is infectious, and despite everything, a tiny speck of hope flickers to life. “You really believe that?”
“Absolutely,” she says, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “And hey, if you need a break from the brooding werewolf, you can always join me and little miss harmony. We can make it a girls’ night—talk about all the ways we’re going to kick this curse’s ass.”
The offer brings a genuine smile to my face, even if a part of me hopes I don’t have to take her up on that offer. “Thanks, Jinx. That means a lot.”
Just then, Trudie and Stone return with the keys and the moment is gone.
Trudie hands a key to Jinx with a nod, then turns to us. “They only had a couple of rooms left. Luckily, you guys are right next door to us.”
“Hard to believe they’re booked at all, considering this dump,” Stone mutters.
He passes me our key and his hand brushes mine as he does. The contact sends a jolt through me, a reminder of how much has changed—and how much hasn’t.
“We’ll see you two in the morning, then,” Jinx says, her tone implying an understanding of the delicate balance we’re all trying to maintain. However, the look she gives me is to press home her alternative offer.
I nod and smile faintly.
Then, she and Trudie head to their room, leaving Stone and me standing awkwardly with our bags.
“Come on. May as well get some sleep,” I say, leading the way.
As we head toward our room, I’m hyperaware of Stone’s presence beside me. Everything feels so… off.
Stepping forward, I unlock our door and step inside our room. It’s then that the reality of our situation settles in.
The space is cramped, with just enough room for two queen-size beds and a small table between them. Stone sets our bags down and sits on the edge of the furthest bed, dropping his head to his hands.
The room fills with a tension that begs to be broken.
I hesitate by the door, watching him. “Stone? Are you okay?”
He looks up, and I’m struck by the turmoil in his eyes. “I’m trying, Ella. To fight this... thing. But every time I think I’m making progress, it just...” His voice trails off and his frustration is evident.
I sit beside him, close but not touching even though a part of me longs to bridge that last gap. “I know you are, Stone. I see it, and it means everything to me.”
But then, as if on cue, his expression hardens, and he stands abruptly, moving away.
“Well, maybe if you weren’t so damn sensitive about everything, we’d actually get somewhere,” he snaps, the harsh words slicing through the tentative peace we’d just started to build. “It’s no wonder there are so few female Alphas.”
His words, sharp and cold, slice through the tentative warmth that had begun to thaw some of the chill between us.
I feel like I’m on a see-saw.
My logical brain knows now this isn’t Stone, but the hurt his words inflict still feels deeply personal.
Tears prickle in my eyes and I wrap my arms around myself, feeling a chill that has nothing to do with the desert night settling outside.
“Well, we should get some sleep,” I murmur, getting up to go to the other bed.
Stone doesn’t stop me, and the silence that follows is heavy with words best left unsaid.
In bed, I face away from him, the distance between us filled with the echo of his words. Those hurtful words spoken moments ago—and the first ones he spoke after we…
I brush away the tears, hoping like hell we can fix this before his words do irreparable damage.
Sleep is a long time coming, but when it finally does, it brings no peace.
Under the cloak of an unnaturally vivid night, my consciousness tumbles into a realm shaped by whispers of moonlight.
I find myself wandering through a dense, mist-laden forest, where each breath I take is overloaded with a palpable, otherworldly energy.
The night sky, a canvas stretched wide and painted with the luminescence of an impossibly large moon, casts the world below in hues of silver and gold and it blurs the line between dream and reality.
Though, right now, I’m pretty sure I’m dreaming.
Despite the serene beauty that envelops me, a sense of anticipation clings to the air, as tangible as the mist that swirls around my feet. It’s as if the very essence of the night is holding its breath, awaiting a moment of significant change.
In many ways, it feels similar to when Stone and I attempted to claim our bond.
The forest around me is alive with a muted symphony of nocturnal sounds, but it’s the silence between them that draws me forward.
It’s a silence filled with meaning—with purpose.
I’m compelled to move deeper into the heart of this dreamscape, guided by an innate understanding that something vital lies ahead.
It’s calling to me and I must answer its beckoning.
As I navigate through the ancient trees, a clearing emerges, bathed in the direct glow of the moon. Here, the light converges, spotlighting a single point in the clearing that pulses with indescribable power.
Suspended within this column of light, a clear crystal orb hovers in mid-air. Its surface reflects the moon’s brilliance and casts patterns of light that dance across the clearing.
Radiant and alive, the crystal seems to beat with the rhythm of the earth itself. An irresistible force pulls me toward it, a longing to connect, to understand—to possess.
My hand stretches out, fingers inching closer to the crystal, but as they near, the light intensifies, wrapping me in a brilliance that obliterates all sense of direction, time, and self.
A voiceless whisper fills my head—a message conveyed not in words but in feelings, in knowledge imparted directly to my soul.
“The balance teeters... the Breath stirs... only the chosen can wield... beware the shadows that lurk...”
A shiver of foreboding runs through me as shadows begin to creep at the periphery of the clearing. It’s a darkness that seeks to envelop—and to obscure.
It feels like the darkness that claimed our bond and stole it away.
The crystal’s light, now a beacon in the encroaching gloom, stands as a solitary guard against the night’s malevolent forces.
And I have no idea how to protect it.
Jolted awake, I find myself back in the dimly lit motel room, the remnants of the dream clinging to me like cobwebs.
Stone had mentioned a dream like this—one that felt more vivid and real than any other.
It was almost like a past life being remembered.
As I lie there in the darkness, the dream’s message reverberating through my thoughts, a new realization dawns and it’s chilling in its clarity.
The Breath of Selene isn’t just a myth or a distant hope—it’s real, and it’s calling out to us. Stone and me.
But more than that, the dream has unveiled a truth I can’t ignore. The path to claiming it—to saving us all—is fraught with dangers far greater than we anticipated.
The shadows that lurked at the edge of the clearing, their presence menacing and familiar, weren’t just part of the dream.
They were a warning.