ND

nd my

expected, unimagin

be there had been sig

ago, to

n my first shift,

om my bloodline always s

e heart of Mystic F

ull from wit

ered for me to enter. It told me someth

rew stronger. In the end, I gave in, slipped away

eckless and undenia

old stories, cautionary

e who entered an

bility to shift

for whether they died, or wer

de any differe

ked into that fog an

I

tand then, or even now, I did

rching desperately for what had

dless w

voice disappeared as i

zarre side effect of my first shift an

arm

y and easily, I even wondered if a

e pack-questioned my disappearance through mind-link. I brus

, that I had gone to the very place we

mplacency replaced the fear I wa

hand what happened to those who ventur

ere real, hor

derstood something

that night h

mpossib

lready threatened by the bloodline curse, I

ate to protect my secret, I'd be forced to gamble with my

it

e... the fog

back, stronger than before. And

witnessed the mist thinning until it finally di

eval m

y a lush, th

was livi

of the forb

rd-even to me-b

oach. A woman of breathtaking beauty, walking barefoot across the dewy

garden's-an heady, intoxicating blend of r

and steady, gave a single,

ind rose again, this ti

a

reaction

ble. Ri

rsing through me as she dre

my fat

-I had no choice-the

e building alw

t I find them he

ip inside without alerting eithe

e impor

was

asn't

, cursed state, I w

rit? Somet

came from h

p past the poisonous miasma o

antm

a witch,

itch living in the forbidd

uing, yet susp

her eyes-despite the soft, gentle tone she

ndable, after all, not just

nt, I had more i

a tempora

eded

throw me out in my h

made

harm

ost, pitiful little creature th

t know I wa

se something deep, instinctive, warned me

with the most innoce

as distracted, I

prior experience, but that shoul

zing up, jerking back

en I f

ng in

irectly

od ran

sudden

an ordinary pup? Her ma

at wa

hought occ

a killed by his fated mate before we

d by the curse, I couldn't even

our gazes met and unexp

her gaze se

ead back and laughed, a sharp, bitter so

it, her expression smoothed

ng unbelieva

gible magic-for

s or rituals like the witc

raw

till stunned, she

t warm

ly, it he

but the searing, relen

urse'

ve afterward, but

ould th

was extr

n extrao

ntire body felt light, no longer

gic ea

mind in a short span of time, my ey

d away, I ma

rs before dawn, before I

to learn everything I could

to do that was

tment soon wa

tive hours, I'm left half-paralyzed, unabl

it this far was

settled when I felt so

ergy shot thr

bs twi

les res

albeit faint,

dened, complicated e

dn't just ea

rength, which in my current c

olve h

t took, I had to

she might know something

yb

ine might just be th