I traced circles on Rylands chest as we laid in our bed. It was almost dawn by the looks of it. I was listening to the rise and fall of Rylands chest. We struggled with keeping our hands to ourselves when we were near each other, last night was no exception, after we got back from the situation with the half shifters.

I decided to get up for the day and try to train a little. I quietly went into the closet and pulled on a pair of leggings and a dark top. I also grabbed my cloak and flung it over my shoulders. It was lightly snowing by the looks of it. I hurried out and headed down the creaky wood staircase. It was still dark in the house as I made my way to the front door.

I quietly opened it and made my way through the snow towards the training grounds. The snow crunched under my boots as I hurried through the dark.

The darkness felt almost refreshing.

I pushed open the large doors to the training building to see racks upon racks of various weapons. There were sparring mats through center of the compound. I went to pick up a dagger from one of the racks when I heard a cough. I immediately jumped and raised the dagger.

"Are you going to throw that at me?" Jeremiah chuckled. He was in shorts and his toned body was drenched in sweat. His brown hair flowing in front of his face covering his light blue eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him lowering the dagger.

"I could ask you the same thing." He spoke walking to the sparring mat. "Ry isn't going to be happy when he finds out about you leaving while it's dark out, you know?" He sighed.

"He'll live." I rolled my eyes.

"Want to spar?" He asked throwing the dagger to the side of the mat.

I just nodded and walked up to the mat.

He bowed his head slightly with a wicked smile before he charged. I quickly dodged his attack and went for a defensive approach. I don't know his fighting style yet.

I dodged another round of punches and managed to get a knee to his abdomen however that quickly backfired when I was slammed to the ground.

You are embarrassing us. The relentless voice snapped in my head.

Don't you have anything else to do with your time I snapped back.

I quickly rolled out of the way before he could land a punch. I swiped with my leg knocking him unbalanced but he quickly regained his form. He was good.

I quickly stood up but before i could even tell what was going on I got slammed to the ground again.

"You are a dick." I breathed trying to catch my breath.

"Your form is shit. Stand up." He spoke. I slowly got up. "Is it alright if I touch you?" He asked.

I just nodded. He placed his hands on my hips and angled them to the side, before nudging my feet with his foot until he was satisfied.

"Your fast, you should use that to your advantage with your attacks, all of yours exposed you." He continued when we heard a cough. We both jumped this time at the sight of Kolton.

"I'm offended you guys decided to train without me." He joked before walking towards us. He threw down his bag and pulled off his shirt before coming to stand next to me.

"Perfect Kolton and I will spar and you watch how my attacks match my advantages." Jeremiah said pointing to the side of the mat. I walked over and watched as Jeremiah went on the offensive again just this time on Kolton. Kolton however managed to block all of his punches before swiping at his ankle with his foot. Jeremiah stumbled and Kolton took his opportunity to go on the offensive with quick punches. I was in shock watching how clean and precise their movements were that I almost missed the small twitch of my hand. I internally panicked as it happened again.

"Guys." I breathed. My hand continued to shake until I couldn't control it anymore. Kolton and Jeremiah both stopped before walking over confused until they saw the look on my face. Koltons eyes went hazy while Jeremiah was trying to calm me down.

Fight it. The voice snapped

"I can't." I breathed out loud.

I could already feel darkness swarm my vision before I was somewhere entirely new. It was a small village in the woods from home, except this wasn't there anymore. I walked through cautiously. Something was pulling me towards a small house. There was a sparring stick on the ground next to a smaller one. I continued walking until I was at the front door. I slowly opened it and almost fell to my knees at the sight.

Cade was standing in front of me in the house with a dagger in his hand. The dagger I pushed into his chest. I almost fell to my knees at the sight of him back.

"Octavia, Octavia, Octavia." He sung walking closer to me.

"You've made a grave mistake." He laughed manically. "The gods are unhappy with a certain Shadow Queen." Shadow Queen? I didn't even have words.

"You should be dead. This isn't real." I breathed taking a step back.

"I'm offended, truly. That you thought you could kill me so easily." He twirled the dagger in his hands coming towards me. I backed out of the house getting ready to fight him.

Let me shift. Now. She snapped. I quickly floated back into my subconscious. I could feel shadows floating around myself in a form of protection.

"The gods want you dead for what you've done."

"The gods can try and the gods will never succeed." She snapped. "Your just a sacrifice on their part."

Cade didn't so much as flinch, but deep in his eyes he looked unsettled.

"I killed you once, injured at that, who says I can't do it as many times as I need to." She laughed.

We began stalking for Cade like a predator hunting prey. This time however instead of fighting he muttered something under his breath and the vision began fading away.

I woke up out of breath. It was dark, so dark.

Where are we? Who are you?

We are the Queen of Shadows, Octavia. I have surrounded us so you can process without witnesses. We are a child of death.

What does that even mean?! I snapped raising my hands to my head.

My ancestor partly abided in your mother. I have been with you since birth. We are the last shadow ruler left. The Gods cannot control us and they will not destroy us but they will try.

It's cause we brought him back? I sighed.

Yes and no. The Gods and Shadow rulers have never seen eye to eye. There are few exceptions. But yes, messing with the balance is a direct insult to them. Now get yourself together I am going to lower the veil mate is unhappy, don't make a fool of us.

Slowly the black shadows surrounding us faded until I could see Ryland, Kolton, Jeremiah and Mom staring at me. I took a deep breath and took a wobbly step towards them. Ryland rushed towards me his eyes dark red. He grabbed ahold of my face examining me for any injuries. I looked into his eyes before resting my head on his chest.  His arms tightly wrapped around me and I breathed in his scent.

I glanced at the others around Ryland and noticed Jeremiah had a split lip.

"Cade really is back" I told them."He pulled me into a vision, but something was different he was afraid of me." I spoke quietly.

"I mean you did kill him, hell I would be afraid too." Kolton spoke earning a dirty look and growl from Ryland who was still staring at me.

"I also happen to be a Shadow Queen apparently."

Fucking idiot. She snapped. Literally anyone else, I couldn't have been given to anyone else.

"A Shadow Queen?" They all asked simultaneously except mom.

"I knew, the day I saw you shift in the woods to save Ryland. I was just too blinded by fear to understand." She spoke walking towards me. "We saw the crown of shadows on your head until you shifted back."

"What does all this mean?" Asked Ryland with a growl

"The Gods want me dead." I said quietly. "They are afraid of us."

——————————————————————

Mom rubbed her temples before opening a portal to go get the others.

"What happened?" I asked carefully eyeing Jeremiah's bloody lip.

"The asshole blamed me for that." He snapped earning a warning growl. Rylands grip on me also got significantly tighter.

"You know it wasn't his fault." I told him giving him a look. His eyes flashed red before fading back to their beautiful dark green color.

"I don't give a fuck, he should've gotten me the second you got here." He snapped pulling me towards the door. I gave Jeremiah and Kolton an apologetic look as I got pulled through the snow.

"I need to shift before I explode." He growled lowly. I just nodded and stepped back as he shifted into his large black wolf. I reached up and ran my hand through his fur in an attempt to calm him down. His red eyes filled with anger.

"I'm here." I breathed as his head nudged into my palm. "I'm not going anywhere."

He lowered himself to the ground motioning for me to get on. I carefully got onto his back and held on tight as he suddenly charged into the woods. I couldn't help but laugh as he charged through the trees. I should be terrified in this moment of what the Gods are planning. But for some reason I couldn't bare to ruin the moments I have with Ryland in fear of what could happen.

He started slowing down once we reached a frozen lake. He laid down so I could get off of him easily. He went behind a tree shifting back to his human form. His naked form walked over and picked me up. He burried his face in my neck inhaling deeply before pulling away.

"I....I can't lose you." He breathed leaning his forehead against mine. "I need you, I refuse to be here without you."

"We will survive this." I whispered pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

"I'm going to need to talk to her you know." He spoke staring into my eyes.

"She's not friendly." I warned. His lips perked up into a slight smile at that.

You are an ass.

I just ignored her as I felt myself shift to my subconscious.