Page 16 of The Wild Moon
What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Ofcoursethere were worse punishments. Like being forced to mate with his son. But that’s not what he meant, I didn’t think. So, what had he been referring to?
“You have one cycle,” Lars said, casually turning and launching me into the couch.
The furniture’s frame cracked as I slammed into it. I grimaced, hating how easily he could toss me around. It was a real powerless feeling when someone did that to you and you didn’t want them to.
“One cycle,” he repeated. “The next Wild Moon, you will take my son, or I’ll end the Soulbond the only way we can. I’ll kill you.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I got that part. Thanks. But I’d rather do it myself.”
Lars strode toward me, fury in his eyes.
Oops.
“You are just like your parents,” he spat, shaking with anger. “Let’s see if you can learn faster.”
I opened my mouth to ask what he meant by that, but before I could, he slammed a fist into my face, and I only knew darkness.
Chapter Ten
Iwas awake.
Except I wasn’t awake.
It was strange. One moment I wasn’t there, then the next I was present. I was even standing. That’s how I knew I wasn’t awake. Nobody suddenly comes to while standing up. Except Ifeltlike I was awake. There was no odd haze like in dreamland.
But where was I?
“Hello?” I called tentatively, looking around.
It was a dark place. Not black, just dark. The sky above me was black and cloudy, the slightly lighter clouds visible against the inky backdrop. They were moving fast, roiling hard into the distance, a constantly moving scene.
Yet, I felt no breeze.
In the distance, lightning flickered, then went dark. A second later, sheet lightning tore across the sky. I shivered at the display of power from the angry storm. Seconds later, the rumble of thunder arrived, bringing goosebumps to the skin along my spine and down my arms. It was cool here, but that’s not why I felt so weird.
Everywhere I looked, the landscape was desolate. The land was rocky and broken, the ground so black it nearly blended in with the sky. No signs of life. Nothing moved. There was no noise except for the rumbles of thunder. This was a lifeless place. Broken rock and little more. No plant life, no insects. Nothing.
Except me.
“Hello?” I called again, a little louder this time. “Is anyone there?”
Where the hell had Lars taken me? There was nowhere like this near Seguin, that was for sure. How long had I been out? It couldn’t have been that long. My shifter healing meant it was probably minutes at most. Unless he’d drugged me.
Was I hallucinating? Maybe that was it. I reached out and pinched my arm. I felt the pain. That was odd and definitely didn’t happen in dreamland. So, I definitely was awake. Except I wasn’t.
I took a step forward, determined to figure out what was going on. Beneath my foot—I was wearing shoes now. Interesting—rock crunched and ground into dust. Even the ground was so devoid of life it crumbled at the slightest touch.
Ahead of me was a hill covered in black, crumbling rock. I tried to scale it. From the top, I could get a good view of the world around me. Perhaps I could find where I was or learn where I should go.
The eerie silence gave me the heebie-jeebies as I climbed, crushing rock underfoot with every step. Some places, I sunk to my knee, the black material of my pants warding off minor cuts from the sharp bits poking me.
Nice pants, too,I observed, wondering where I had gotten them. Can I keep them when I wake up? They fit perfectly.
Definitely dreamland of some sort.
I finally reached the top of the hill—it was a lot taller than it looked—and took in the view of the other side.
“Whatisthis place?” I whispered, staring at the stunning sight in the distance.
