Chapter 278

Olivia

Dust clouded my vision and the cavernous echo of the collapsing tunnel rang in my ears.

My body reacted faster than my mind, scrambling back on instinct alone, away from the silhouette that had lied to me and pretended to be my father. But with each attempt to steady myself, the unstable ground beneath me shook, knocking me to the cold, rough floor.

“Dad?” My voice, trembling and hoarse, was barely audible even to my own ears amidst the chaos.

He stood there, eerily still, unaffected by the shaking earth or the deafening roar. The walls rumbled, amplifying the haunting atmosphere of the sealed room. Debris continued to fall like a curtain, sealing us away from the outside world.

The weight of our isolation bore down on me, making it harder to breathe.

“Help me!” I pleaded, reaching out a trembling hand, desperately hoping that somewhere inside this monstrosity, my father’s spirit still lingered. I remembered hearing tales of the miners’ spirits staying trapped here in the mines—something to do with the deep recesses in the mountain containing old magic. Maybe this was like that. Maybe my father’s spirit was trapped here, corrupted. But maybe he could be restored, somehow.

My nails clawed at the rubble, fingers bloodied and raw in my futile attempt to escape. But then, the mocking chuckle that erupted was unfamiliar and distorted. It sent a shiver down my spine, stirring a dormant fear I hadn’t felt in a long time.

I turned slowly, each heartbeat echoing in my chest like a drum of war.

“Oh, Olivia,” he said, his voice sounding garbled and unfamiliar. “You’re so naive. Just like your mother.”

I swallowed, staring up at this half-familiar, half-foreign visage before me. “What does my mother have to do with any of this?” I murmured, my voice so low it was barely more than a whisper.

My ‘father’ chuckled again. “She was kind, but a fool. Do you know she could have used magic to get the cancer out of her body? But she refused, and she died because of it. Selfish, isn’t it? To leave a little girl all alone like that.”

My brow furrowed. “Who are you?” I asked. “How do you know these things? And how dare you speak of my mother like you knew her?”

Suddenly, the thing that looked like my father laughed again, this time more hideously.

The scene before me was grotesque. My father’s form shifted, bones snapping, and muscles reshaping. His face contorted in grimaces of transformation until he no longer existed. He had never existed at all; he was a visage, a dark creature who had come here to throw a wrench in the final stage of the ritual.

In his place stood the wretched witch, her eyes alight with wicked triumph.

Her laughter pierced the heavy air, pulling me out of my trance.

“Oh, how naive you’ve been, Olivia,” she taunted, her voice dripping with condescension. “Just like your mother after all. Or rather, you might be just like her, after tonight. Dead and useless. Unless you make the right choices, of course.”

I didn’t have time to work out the witch’s fatal riddles. With a deep growl rumbling in the back of my throat, I rose to my feet, eyeing the diamond in her hand.

She was right; I was a fool. A fool for thinking that my father had somehow been alive all this time. It left an aching cavity in my chest just to think about it, but I needed to complete this ritual. I had to do something right.

“What have you done to my father?” I whispered, my voice filled with the turmoil of anger, fear, and despair.

Her gaze wandered over the cavern, the debris, the walls that entrapped us. “I didn’t do anything to your father. He died of cancer, just like it seemed. A shame, really. What’s that old saying? Not with a bang, but with a whimper?”

I growled again. At my sides, my hands clenched angrily into fists. “Give me the diamond,” I snarled. “And I won’t kill you.”

At my words, the witch cackled again. It sounded like iron being raked over hot coals, and only served to fuel the rage that burned within me. Without thinking, I lunged for her, but she dodged out of the way with more speed than an old woman her age should possess. I stumbled in the empty space where she had once stood and fell to the ground, scraping my hands and knees on the rough rock.

“This place will be your tomb.” she said. “Not mine. And to think… all you had to do was hand over just one of your children. Only one.” The smugness in her voice made my skin crawl.

“It was you all along, wasn’t it? You’ve been working with Ryan, playing with our emotions, manipulating every step of our journey!” I hissed.

Her cackle echoed around the chamber. “I suppose part of that is correct,” she said, her eyes dancing with a sickening sort of mirth. “It’s been quite fun. I must admit, I do love a good chase. And you, like your mother, are such a fascinating specimen.”

Refusing to let her see how deeply her words affected me, I shot back, “You underestimate us. We’re stronger than you think, and Ryan won’t succeed.”

The witch studied me, her face unreadable. The glow of her eyes cast eerie shadows on the walls, revealing ancient etchings and symbols that seemed to dance and move with a life of their own. The air grew dense, filled with centuries of malice and treachery.

A wicked smile slowly spread across her lips. “Ah, but if I was truly on Ryan’s side, would I have this?”

From within the folds of her tattered gown, she produced the diamond once more. Its multifaceted surface caught the dim light of the cavern cast by the discarded flashlight on the floor, refracting it in mesmerizing patterns. The diamond seemed to pulse, as if holding a heartbeat of its own.

“You could have it, Olivia. It could be yours.” As she spoke, I felt the weight of the cavern pressing down on me even more. It felt hot and stuffy in here, and I needed to get out. For my children, for my pack, for Nathan.

I felt my eyes widen, drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The weight of its significance pressed upon my chest, making it hard to breathe.

“Give it back,” I hissed, holding my hand out. “This ritual needs to be completed. Ryan has to be stopped.”

The witch paused, cocking her head. “Suppose I do decide to hand it over to you,” she said. “What will you give me?”

I swallowed, shaking my head. “However much money you want. You’ll live like a queen until the end of your days. I’ll… I’ll talk to Nathan. We’ll put you on his Council, if you want power.”

She took a step closer, her presence filling the room, oppressive and overpowering. “You think I’d care about riches to that extent?” she asked, chuckling. “And power over this silly little… what do you call it… ‘pack’? All I want is Aurora. Hand her over, and the diamond can be yours. With it, you have the power to end all of this.”

My mind raced. Every instinct screamed that this was a trap, a web of deceit. Yet, the pull of the diamond was undeniable.

It held promises of power, of a chance to turn the tide against Ryan and save those I loved.

We locked eyes, and the room seemed to shrink. The distant rumbling faded, the weight of the stones above us seemed insignificant. It was just the two of us—a standoff between good and evil.

Her voice, eerily soft and insidious, pierced the heavy silence. “What say you, Olivia? A life for a thousand lives. A life for your wolf to return, and for great power to be bestowed upon you. Aurora… for the diamond.”