Dedicating this chapter to JuliaHarryman for commenting heartwarming words which helped me tons in my ongoing journey as a writer.

(Warning: This chapter contains violent scenes)

Shadow's POV

It's been one week. One damned week and she still hasn't woken up. Her condition has been worsening and the doctors aren't doing anything at all.

They say they can't heal her. HOW THE FUCK CAN'T THEY DO THAT?! THEY ARE PACK DOCTORS AND THE BEST ONES FOR GODDESS SAKE. I roared in anger.

As my roars of anger died out I fell to the ground and brought my knees up to my chest. "Elena, what do I do? I'm going crazy. I-I already care about her so much. She has become like....like my family and.....I just cannot for the life of me, lose another. She is like the light at the end of my dark abyss.... and.....and if she leaves me too.....I don't think I will ever be the same. I will lose myself. My heart cannot take another loss." I sobbed, sitting in the same spot where the cursed incident took place.

She whimpered along with me. "I know it hurts. It does for me too. I feel the same way you do. But we have to be strong for her. We have to be strong for our Mia and Rowena. She is there fighting for her life because she chose to save ours. Nothing can change what happened in the past but what we can do is try our best to change the future."

Elena was right, but I didn't know— "Let's go back and just be there with her."

I noticed my entire body was trembling. I took shaky breaths and cried a little more at first but then as my resolve to save her hardened, my breaths got even. Finally, I took a deep breath and exhaled.

I wiped my face and looked at the darkened sky filled with millions of stars along with the moon, which shone her ethereal glow on my face.

"Goddess, I beg of you. Please save her." I shifted and howled loudly, expressing all of my pain and sorrow.

Alpha Taylor's POV

I kept walking back and forth in my office, running my hands through my hair.

"Sel how is this possible?!? I don't get it. We buried Alastair and locked him away. Unless..."
I stopped and look at her in horror.

"Someone is starting to awaken him." She whispered with the same horror as mine.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs but I refrained. My wolf though, she had been howling in pain since the incident first happened, now she had drifted away in the back of my mind.

I groaned and pressed the ends of my palm on both sides of my forehead, "That person couldn't be more stupid."

"That or the barrier is weakening."

"How—"

"It may sound impossible but it can also be true. Come on Tay, think about it. Caelum gave up his life putting Alastair to sleep and making that barrier. But it has been 5 centuries since then. No matter how powerful, the barrier has bound to have weakened to some extent by now."

I stared at the floor thinking about her theory.

"Yeah, but we are talking about the descendant of the God of Light, Apollo. And his magic should be able to last longer." I stared at her like she had grown two heads.

"That would have been true if the barrier was left undisturbed. Think about it. Do you think Alastair's followers would have given up? Just like that?"

"I don't think so," I whispered as dread settled deep within my gut.

"What of Mia? How are we going to heal her? She doesn't have a mate and she is fighting her worst demons right now. The last time when our warriors were infected by shadow poisoning, those that didn't have any close family died.
The ones that did come back, did so because of their mates. Thinking about something to come back to help them return. But Mia......she still hasn't built a bond with anyone here and what does she have to come back to? All her life has been spent in misery." I felt tears burning at the edge of my eyes.

I snapped my head up and look at Sel with a new feeling of hope.

"But she has been getting along with Shadow hasn't she?" I asked eagerly for confirmation.

"Hmm.....I think so, yes." She replied looking at me with the same hope shining in her eyes.

"But are you sure their bond is strong enough to get her back? She has been here, what a week? More than half of which was spent in the infirmary," asked Sel looking at me doubtfully.

"But it's worth a shot is it not?" I retorted.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Mia's POV

I opened my eyes hoping that I would back in the infirmary but no, I was greeted by the same black abyss.

I groaned in pain as I sat up.

I tried remembering what had happened but my memory seemed like it was right on the surface but not quite there.

I pushed harder, a headache formed but I ignored it, I had been through worse.

Finally, I remembered the glowing yellow eyes, the eyes that held nothing but sinister intent in them.

"I know you are here somewhere," I stated as I looked around, the earlier panic gone, instead replaced with anger.

If I wanted answers I was only going to get them from whoever that was.

"Miss me?" replied the same deep and dark voice with fake humor.

I stood up and glared at the dark abyss. I had promised to myself that I wouldn't be weak or powerless anymore, and this motherfucker had gone way too far ripping my soul into shreds.

"What. do. you. want?" I asked with clenched jaws.

I felt the comforting darkness within me come to the surface. Surprisingly it felt the same way as my thunder manipulation powers did, except this time it just felt like plain and utter darkness.

A darkness I always found comfort in.

"I want freedom." The voice replied with surprising sincerity.

I decided to ignore his strange reply and instead asked, "Mind explaining what is going on? And why am I here?" Exasperation was evident in my voice. I was sick and tired of being toyed with as I had been for the past 18 years.

"Oh, my apologies, let me introduce myself first. I am Alastair, God of misery & darkness, A being cursed to spend an eternity on earth blah blah blah, I have many titles." He chuckled.

My eyes widened yet he may be lying, But I ignored that thought. I knew it was the truth. No normal person was capable of ripping out someone's soul.

"And what is this place? May I ask?" I asked with sarcasm lacing my voice.

"This place was created because of shadow poisoning. And before you ask, the creature that you encountered was the one that caused this poisoning after you heroically saved Shadow's life." His voice now held no malice or sinister intent but I could tell that it was just a facade. I guess there are, after all, advantages of having trust issues.

I winced as I remembered the searing pain that flowed through my body as the creature's claws struck my face. Guess I'll probably have a new scar added to my body. And I was glad that I had one on my face now because the only reason they didn't harm my face was that they wanted to 'keep my pretty face'.

I snapped my head up to look in front of me. From within the dark abyss I could see a figure walking towards me, my vision heightened and I noticed the figure wore black boots, a black overall leather outfit, along with a black trench coat. As I looked higher I realized this person was probably around 6'5. I soon discovered that it was a man and as he grew closer I noticed he had a well-built, muscular but lean figure. My gaze landed on his face— my eyes zeroing in on the glowing yellow irises that I remembered.

I realized that the whites of his weren't....white. They were black, pitch black. Those strange eyes were followed by a highly defined and pale facial structure. Well, he certainly looked like a god.

Surprisingly as he came closer I felt a tug within my chest. I realized that the darkness had replaced the place where my magic was supposed to be. And to my surprise, I didn't feel sad that it was gone.

I guess I didn't care about it, when I needed that magic the most it wasn't there. But the darkness was, this darkness felt like it belonged to me anyway.

"I see you find comfort in the darkness, I do too, maybe because I'm the God of this darkness but I do not care because—"

He paused as I whispered sadly to myself, "All I have ever known was darkness and that's all I'll ever know."

He laughed, "I was going to say that."

Just as he stood right before me, I found out that he didn't tower over me as I had expected him to.

I looked down in shock and realized that I had gained a few inches. Not just inches but now I seemed to be around 6ft.

"The darkness also heals."

I looked up in surprise to see the yellow orbs right in front of my face, this time I felt no fear. And those eyes held no sinister intent.

They held warmth. The same warmth I had found in the dark all these years.

"Because of what those monsters did to you, you were robbed of many things. Malnutrition caused you to be way shorter than you should've been. But, as you stand in my presence, as the darkness within your heart grows, it heals you. All that you have lost is being returned to you, I'm returning them to you." He whispered the last part in my left ear.

I hadn't realized he had come this close, I stumbled back in shock and glared at him.

"Don't...don't come near me." I stuttered as the horrifying memory passed by fleetingly.

"My apologies, I tend to get carried away sometimes." He chuckled with a surprisingly sorry tone. He even looked sorry.

"So about the darkness healing you, I'm doing it as an apology. If I had known that you were similar to how I was, I wouldn't have ripped your soul into shreds like that. Being locked up for 500 years does that to you." He said remorsefully. I saw something familiar flicker in his eyes but it went away quickly.

I sighed, "Mind explaining what this place is?"

"This is your subconscious," He replied.

"Huh...what—"

"Let me explain. Shadow poisoning causes the person infected to live through their worst memories over and over. My darkness recognized you, my darkness being that that shadow beast belonged to me. And this dark abyss belongs to me. Anything remotely dark belongs to me."

"Why the fuck did you send that beast to my pack grounds then? And how did you do that when you are supposedly 'locked up'?" I asked as anger boiled beneath my veins.

"It wasn't me that sent that beast. The lovely pack of Blood Moon did." He said with heavy sarcasm evident in his voice.

"What is that supposed to mean? And please explain without beating around the bush." I folded my arms in annoyance and continued to look straight into his yellow eyes.

"I was locked away deep underground of Blood Moon and that pack got jealous of Crescent Moon's rise in strength and power. They made a deal with me and I lent them whatever strength I had gathered about 18 years ago. Since then they have used many creatures of the dark to do their dirty deeds." He finished with disgust lacing his voice.

My mouth curled up in disgust. I would expect nothing less from those bastards. "What was the deal?"

"Sorry, can't say. It was part of the deal to keep my mouth shut to anyone but the alpha line that made this deal." He replied casually making me groan.

Before I could inquire more he started, "Surprisingly enough, my darkness recognized your darkness so I came here myself. In the past 500 years, I haven't shown myself to anyone like this or had a conversation like this for that matter. I was locked away, cursed to cause pain to anyone who came in contact with my darkness."

He looked up at me with hope, "But for the first time, someone already had it within them. The darkness didn't cause them pain, instead, it was their comfort and had been the only way of survival for many years."

"That's me haha," I said with a mock-dramatic tone.

"Yes, it is," He replied with seriousness.

I straightened up, noting his seriousness. Why did I feel a strange connection to him? And why...why did I straighten up like— ugh fuck this. I'm tired of thinking.

"Why were you locked away?" I asked looking at him in confusion.

"It is time," was his reply.

"What—"

I tried to back away but he grabbed both sides of my face with a strength I couldn't counter.

I was forced to look into his strangely fascinating eyes.

"Do you remember what those monsters did to you?" He asked with the same sinister tone as the first time.

"I don't want to—"

He pulled away from me and screamed, "DON'T YOU WANT REVENGE FOR WHAT THEY DID TO YOU?"

"Yes...yes, I do." I whispered and looked down in with pain.

"From the day you were born, your parents abandoned you. And that pack did horrible things to you...."

His voice drifted away for a second as I heard my screams of drowning.

"....how he raped you...."

Again I heard my screams of help as my old Gamma held me inappropriately with hunger and lust swirling in his eyes.

"....how they mocked you...."

"Worthless"

"Wolfless slut"

"Weak"

"Pathetic"

"STOP IT!!" I screamed as tears slipped down my face.

But he continued. As he did the darkness that swirled within me increased.

"No one was there for you."

"But Rowena—"

"Is not with you."

"Shadow—"

"Is not with you."

"Alpha Taylor—"

"Isn't with you either."

"All of them—"

"Weren't with you when you needed them the most."

Tears slipped down my eyes as my entire body shook. I stared up at him with horror-filled eyes.

"But they were there for me when they found me...Shadow and Rowena were so happy—"

"Tell me, Mia, you were kind to all those who wronged you. You continued to serve them even when they called you names, even when they turned a blind eye to your bruises, even when they brought you to the brink of death every other week. You tried to be good, did you not?" He stared at me with cold eyes, the earlier warmth gone.

"Yes....yes I did."

"What good has come out of it?"

I just stared at him.

"TELL ME WHAT GOOD HAS COME OUT OF IT?!"

"Nothing...."

"Being in the good has brought you nothing but pain."

I continued to stare at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Then why not join the darkness?"

My eyes widened as hope shined within me.

But then I squashed it, I knew nothing good came out of expecting—

"See. That's what they did to you. You can't even hope for something good happening to you anymore."

I looked away in horror. He...he was right. They took away my hope. I have no hope.

"Oh but you do. The darkness that has healed you and has been there for you throughout your painful life. If it could do that much when it was beside you then think about what would happen if you become one with that very darkness."

I looked down at my hands and stared in shock as black veins pumped beneath my skin.

He was right. Being good had caused me nothing but pain.

"Do you remember the feeling of powerlessness?"

I snapped my head up, towards him.

"How could I forget," I whispered as the memories went by in a flash.

"The first time when they cruelly pushed a young five-year-old girl into the lake because it was funny to them, the times when they beat up a mere 10-year-old because it was fun for them. The time when a grown man assaulted an innocent 12-year-old."

I sobbed, "Please stop....make it stop..."

"With the darkness, you will never be powerless again."

"But how do I know if that's true," I asked with a trembling voice.

"Do you remember why you ran away from that pack?"

"Yes....my mate passed away—"

"Wrong."

I stared at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Along with robbing you of your wolf and childhood, they also robbed you of a very important memory." He paused and looked at me in pain, "Your mate didn't die. He is very much alive."

"What the fuck are you talking about? I growled as the memories stopped and strange anger swirled within me.

"The night that you turned 18, your mate found you. He was powerful, but he was also the one that gave you most of your scars."

Before I could say anything he continued, "You were working in the packhouse as midnight struck on your 18th birthday. More specifically, you were cleaning up Kaden's bedroom. He could smell his mate from miles away because he was just that powerful. He came running into the packhouse, following the intoxicating scent of his mate. That scent led to his bedroom."

"No...no please for goddess sake no—"

"He slammed the door open and the moment his eyes came upon your weak body, he growled and said the words that end any mate bond, 'I, Kaden Astor, Soon-to-be-Alpha of The Blood Moon Pack, reject Mia Winters, Omega of The Blood Moon Pack,' And then left, leaving you withering in pain."

"That can't be true, I don't remember—"

"Oh dear Mia, it gets worse. You refused to accept his rejection in hopes of him changing his mind but he was and is a sinister being far worse than I'll ever be. He tortured you for many days in the pack dungeons. Even then you refused because of some pathetic hope that it was all a dream, but then things became real when he brought your beloved Sky into the same cell as yours. You heard her blood-curdling scream as he mercilessly chopped off her thumb. Finally, you accepted his rejection and said the wor....."

I didn't hear anything anymore, time slowed down as I started falling to my knees.

I knew now that he told the truth because I had asked her what happened to her thumb and she said she lost it as a punishment and refused to say anything more.

I cried one last time and let out the loudest and most painful scream of my life, and as my knees hit the ground, I unleashed raw power made of the very darkness that had been going haphazard within me.