Book Two takes us on quite a different ride. Two years on from Gifted, Pearl and Sylar are asked to help The Kings Moon Pack. The oldest of all the Packs. Hidden In the heart of Kingshead, Montana, they live by the old traditions. But what happ...
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Bent over, sweat ran down my back as my chest heaved breathing in the cold damp air surrounding me. Stumbling further into the darkness, raising my head, I blinked repeatedly as my eyes adjusted.
I was in a cavern deep in the mountains of Logan's pass, high enough up that I hoped would not be tracked. No more than two hours had passed since I'd caught the scent Noah and Seth close by and Nile was not far behind to the North with others from the NightsBane Pack.
'Light,' the Jinn mumbled as flames erupted but a few feet away. It spread along the foot of caverns' damp walls, illuminating the vast uneven surface of the stone structure. Strangely, I felt no heat. This was no normal fire.
Winded, sweating, having scaled over forty feet of rock face, my body cut and beaten, but not from the climb. Blood, both mine and from a bear I'd killed not more than an hour ago, soaked my hands.
I'd been hunting, looking for small deer or wild boar to tempt my wolf to the fore as he hadn't communicated with me since our last shift, four days ago. And it was clear to me the Jinn was purposely repressing our bond and without my wolf; it was difficult to feed as I was unable to tolerate or digest a fresh kill in my human form.
The Jinn's rumbles of laughter cackled in my head.
"Something amuses you, demon?" my voice echoed through the empty space. I turned, staggering a few steps to be followed by my shadow climbing the mossy walls.
'You have all my power at your disposal and yet you killlll to feed, rather than desire it. Such a waste.'
I hadn't in all honesty wanted to kill the bear, let alone eat it. I'd been moving at speed to avoid detection when it had attacked me, its huge claws slicing through my chest and it left little choice but to defend myself, taking modest effort to bring it down, in fact we wrestled whilst I mastered my new limitless strength. The snapping of its neck had not been my intent.
Anger travelled up my spine, coursing through my veins. My flesh was fevered, and raw, almost foreign as if my own skin was too tight, simmering with unease.
'Something troubles you, Alpha?' It mocked.
I'd tried to ignore the Jinn but with my wolf subdued, it was the only company I had, despite that, if I could reach inside and rip it from my body. I wouldn't hesitate.
"I desire nothing more from you, demon." I would starve myself first. And only now born from my own idiocy and arrogance had I truly come to accept how dangerous this evil was inside me. "What are you, Jinn?"
'I questioned when you would ask.' It hissed as its raw power shifted under my skin. 'I'm from a race like no other, not born from organic material, but I once was living and breathing like yourself.'
"How could that be?"
'Why should I tell you my secrets, Alpha?'
Gritting my teeth, hands clenching by my side. It would tell me if I desired it. And if I stood any chance of ridding myself of the demon, I would need to know its origin, its weaknesses—if any. "I desire it, demon."
