Page 30 of Wild Fated

I stood there, my heart racing, my mind spinning. What the hell had just happened? I turned to Destin, who was still watching the spot where the light had been. “Did you?—”

He nodded, his jaw clenched. “Yeah. I heard it.” His shoulders were tense.

I took a step back, trying to give him space to process. To breathe. I reached out, trying to touch one of the trees. My hand passed through it like it was made of smoke. I hissed, yanking my hand back. I tried again, this time with the ground. Same result. It was like there was a veil over everything, separating us from the real world.

I stood up, my hands trembling. "This doesn't make any sense."

Destin's jaw clenched. "Yeah."

I let out a shaky breath. “What do you think it meant by a challenge?” Destin didn’t answer. He dropped my hand, and I stared at the spot where the light had been. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“About what?”

“I don’t know how to get you out of here, and?—”

The light flared in front of us, and I jumped.You will not leave until you have completed the challenge.The words echoed in my mind, and I took a step back. Perfect. A nice ultimatum in the underworld.

There is no retreat. The path is set.

“Really hammering that home,” I muttered. How long would this challenge take? What would it be? Kael and Callista were hopefully tracking the alphas by now, and we needed to be able to communicate with them.

The Muse's light flickered, and I felt a shift in its presence. It was as if it had noticed something for the first time. I didn’t know how, but I felt the Muse’s attention had turned to Destin.He should not be here. He is not a son of the Shadow Pack.

My grip tightened as fear flared through my midsection. Would he be forced to leave? Moments ago, I wanted to help him get out—to get back to his quiet home in the mountains. But now the idea of being alone in this gauzy reality made me want to throw up.

“I’m staying.” Destin’s voice was rough.

The Muse's presence seemed to hesitate, then withdrew slightly. This is not wise.

“No shit,” Destin said on an exhale, and without warning, the ground and images around us began to transform.

The sky darkened, the trees disappeared, and in a snap, I stood at the entrance of the maze, my chest tightening as I took in the towering hedges that stretched up into the darkness. They looked like they were made of shadows, shifting and writhing as if they were alive. The path ahead was narrow, barely wide enough for me to squeeze through. I turned to Destin, but found the space next to me empty.

“Lana!” he called, and my head snapped up. There he was. Above me on what looked like the rock face we’d found protecting the stone.

The Muse's words echoed in my mind.Prove you're worthy.This had to be it, then. My challenge. My heart pounded as I took a step forward, then another. The ground was uneven, rocks and roots jutting up to trip me at every turn.

“I’m watching. You can’t see me, but I can see you,” Destin shouted.

Okay. I clenched and unclenched my fists. I wasn’t alone. I moved forward, the maze walls closing in around me. The air felt colder here, the shadows deeper. As I rounded the first corner, the path split into three separate directions. My pulse quickened. Great. A choose-your-own-adventure death trap.

A little help here?I pushed to my wolf. She surged forward, sniffing the air. Then I heard it—soft at first, but unmistakable. Alow, guttural howl that crawled down my spine, followed by the slow, deliberate crack of bones realigning. My stomach knotted as recognition hit me. Bone Stalker.

My wolf growled, working to catch the thing’s scent, but there was nothing. No trace of it in the air, no sign in the soil. Just emptiness where a scent should be. A wave of unease washed over me—there was no hunting something that left no scent trail.

I spun, scanning the shadows pressing in on me. The maze twisted and morphed as if it knew what hunted me, as if it wanted to play along. A cold sweat broke across my skin.

"Destin!" I shouted, trying to keep my voice steady. "I need you! I think there’s a Bone Stalker in here."

I caught the briefest pause in his voice, like he'd been hit by the same fear I was barely keeping at bay. "Lana, stay calm. I see you. Just keep moving forward. Don’t stop."

"Not helpful!" I hissed, my nails digging into my palms as I forced myself to take another step. The path narrowed further, the shadows writhing like they wanted to wrap around me. My wolf clawed at my mind, ready to fight but uncertain without a scent to guide her.

“Destin, can you see the maze? I need to know where this thing is.”

“Yeah, I’ve got eyes on it from here. There’s a clearing up ahead—go left at the next split.”

A howl echoed again, closer this time, low and haunting. The sound turned my blood to ice. I needed to keep moving, needed to trust Destin’s directions, even though every part of me wanted to bolt the other way.