Forsaken by the one person who was supposed to love her unconditionally, Red must brave the magic and monsters of the Wylds to find her true place in the world.
*****
Plague...
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Sebastian raised his hand.
With a crunch that reverberated through his very bones, scores of Weavers imploded, sending up a fine mist of blood that painted the forest blue. Wood cracked and groaned as the shockwave levelled even more trees again, rippling through the forest and driving birds from their nests in a flurry of feathers. Their shrill, distant cries rang in his ears, and for a split second he thought he could hear Red screaming.
Then all he could hear was the sizzling of embers, driven up by the wind whistling through the crater in the canopy. Such devastation. It had been his intention, but the power he'd been reaching for still lay dormant, idling behind the many locks and chains he'd put in place throughout the years, to stop himself from accidentally accessing Nya's Grace in his sleep or when his guard was down.
Sebastian curled his fingers into a fist and lowered it, brows drawing together as he scanned the terrain for a sign of the person who'd wrought this destruction. A flash of movement in the trees snatched his attention, confirming his suspicions: a muscular man with sun-kissed skin stood with his feet planted wide, hand outstretched like Sebastian's had been moments prior. His shoulder-length hair was the colour of a raven's wing, his eyes the hazy grey of a storming sky. A black wolf paced behind him, hackles already raised as it surveyed Sebastian from afar.
Their last battle had proven Sebastian the sound victor, but that had been one on one; he knew he'd be sorely tested if Hunter entered the fray. When his eyes flicked back to the heir of the Blood Moon Pack, however, he realised that test might come sooner than anticipated. The man's eyes were wide with recognition.
"You," Hunter said, face tightening with rage. "You were the silver wolf this whole time?"
Sebastian froze, like a field mouse in the wake of a swooping hawk. He'd forgotten the significance of remaining in his human form. Gone was the guise of the Wraith he'd relied upon for so long.
"Are you truly intent on taking away everything I love?" Hunter asked, his great strides swallowing the distance between them. "Was my mother not enough to sate your bloodlust?"
Sebastian shook his head, as much to banish the bitter memories as to deny the accusation. "I didn't mean for her to get hurt," he said, raising his hands in supplication. "She came for me in the middle of the night. Tried to —"
"She took you in!" Hunter roared, close enough now for the spittle to land on Sebastian's face. Sebastian was half a head taller in this form, but knew that Hunter's weight would matter more in a fight. He'd grown up with a steady supply of everything he needed to gather that strength, while Sebastian had fought tooth and nail to earn his. "A bastard stray come crawling to our door for scraps. It killed her to see you every day; to know that our father forsook his mate-bond to share your mother's bed. And yet she arranged sleeping quarters in our family home; fed and clothed you and rid you of lice; treated you like her own —"
