Moonfire Academy (NaNoWriMo 2023)

Chapter Five

Cressida struggled to breathe, to ease the turmoil tearing her apart within. Malakai still held a hand around her. She would have pushed him away if she had the energy to do so. Her body quivered as the strings that bound her to the warriors snapped as well, making her feel as if someone had stabbed her in the chest and dragged the blade across.

"What's going on?" Seraphina sounded frantic. "Cressida?"

"There's been an--an attack. I need to protect Zephyrine."

Cressida

Mom?

Please don't come home. Stay in the Academy.

Mom, what's going on? When her mother didn't respond, the pressure in her chest intensified, threatening to burst her heart. Mom, please answer me.

For the first time since she could remember, silence shrouded her mind. She couldn't even sense her wolf spirit. If an alpha ever died, the pain caused could leave an entire pack vulnerable to an attack. Their enemy somehow managed to blindside their alpha, which meant someone he had trusted betrayed them.

A hand on her chest sent a warmth that eased the storm causing havoc within. She opened her eyes, realizing she had closed them. Seraphina's eyes glowed like the ocean under the moonlight, her hand clasped over Cressida's chest, a soft glow emanating from her fingertips.

Kill the vampires.

As Cressida jerked out of Malakai's hold, the command hit her like a tidal wave, propelling her forward, the now bright moon casting a soft blue hue over the campus. Zephyrine's agony enveloped her, dragging her beneath the sea of despair. 

Growls escaped her lips as she fought to remain standing, to swim back to the surface before grief took hold of her and drove her over the brink of madness. Balancing it all proved arduous, the pain of every pack member blending as one.

Zephyrine, the vampires aren't responsible for the attack.

Accusations bombarded her mind, many having witnessed Malakai exit her bedroom. 

A screech escaped her lips as she dropped to her knees, the pain consuming her as memories of the alpha flashed in her mind. Each accusation of her packmates felt like a blade plunging deeper into her shattered heart. 

The vampire king was the last person to be with my father. Zephyrine's voice echoed in her mind, rising above all others. How dare you defend them. Her voice sounded far more hurt than infuriated. 

Zepharine, please. I understand your pain but reconsider this. It's obvious our enemy wants us to believe it was them. For fucks sake. Their children are vulnerable here.

Silence engulfed her mind before Zephyrine repeated the order. Cressida fought against the strings of magic wrapping around her, tugging her to submit to her new alpha. She raised her gaze to the shining moon, and reached for her necklace, her eyes widening as she caught nothing but air. 

When someone stood before her, she raised her gaze to Malakai's eyes as he extended his hand out to her, which held her broken necklace. As he ignored the growls and snarls of the wolves around them, he knelt before her, something that would have placed him in a vulnerable position if it weren't for Ezekiel, Renin, and Serpahina protecting his back. 

"I will never understand how someone given the free will to do whatever they desire would willingly give it away." He took her hand and turned it to place the necklace in it. "Perhaps, you relish being one of many puppets to someone else."

He stepped back before her gaze fell upon the ice-cold pendant in her hand. The moonlight brushing against her skin energized her body, filling it with the power to fight the strings that wove around her body. I am not bound to you. Her voice and Sila's became one. To anyone!