Page 124 of Never Submit

My chest heaves, and I spin around again to see Noble staring at me in confusion.

“Dax?”

Then I hear it.

Some song. A soft, lilting hum carried on the wind, twisting through the trees like it’s trying to reach me. I…I know the melody. Somewhere inside me, the familiarity winds up from the black pit of nothingness. A thread of recognition.

My blood runs cold, every muscle stiffening. Even my wolf goes rigid insideme.

“Do you hear that?” I ask.

Noble frowns, his head tilted to the side. “Hear what?”

“The humming.” I scan the woods, but there’s no one there. Just trees and rocks and shadows. Nothing out of place except the sound that’s threading itself into my head, burrowing deep.

Noble’s face creases with worry. “Dax, get a grip on yourself.”

He’s not worried about me going feral. If anything, Noble can take care of himself. I press a hand to the side of my throbbing head.

But Idohear it. Soft and haunting, like a lullaby meant to soothe and unsettle at the same time.

I take a shaky step forward, stumble. My pulse races fast enough for me to go lightheaded and spots dance in front of my eyes.

There’s a baby’s cry. Then a woman’s wail, terrified and desperate. The gleam of a knife catching the light. And blood—too much blood.

I glance down to see my hands dripping red. It paints the snow at my feet, too.

“Dax…” Noble says. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

It’s overwhelming. The screams. The song. They both ring in my ears and invade my senses. I stagger, clutching my temples as the symphony grows louder, more insistent. It’s got to stop. Something…someone needs to help me.

My chest is too tight to breathe.

Make the song stop. Who’s screaming? Why is there a baby?

“Dax!”

I can’t answer. It won’t stop. And the blood—oh fuck, there’s so much blood.

My wolf takes over and tears out of me in a desperate attempt to escape the chaos in my head. To protect me fromwhat I’ve forgotten. The shift is brutal, raw, and when it’s done, I barely know where I am.

All I know is I need to destroy something.

I lash out at the nearest tree, claws slicing through bark like it’s paper. Splinters fly as I rip and howl in rage and agony. Noble’s shouting something, but his words are distant, muffled by the roar in my ears.

The humming twists through my mind. It’s relentless and mocking. I thrash against it in desperation. Make it stop. Silence the torment.

I tear back down the mountain, uprooting bushes, snapping branches, leaving a trail of destruction in my wake. Noble’s voice follows me, but I don’t care.

I can’t stop.

The song won’t let me.

Somewhere in the haze, I catch the faint scent of camp—of my pack, back the way we came. I surge toward it, instinct driving me back to safety, even as my mind shatters under the weight of things I can’t piece together.

The song hums on, relentless. And I realize that it’s not just a phantom lullaby.

It’sme. It’s coming fromme. From the pit of my memories.

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