Crown and Shackles: The Princes Mate (Story Updated)

The Watcher's Shadow

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ALLY’S POV

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Darkness. Cold. Chains.

Silver-bound cords bit into my skin, holding me still. My wolf stirred faintly, too weak to rise. My strength was gone. My hope was flickering.

Then the door creaked open.

A figure entered—young, maybe a little older than me. His features were familiar. Too familiar.

“Sam...?” I whispered.

He looked at me, surprised—then shook his head. “No. I’m not Sam. But I’m here to help you.”

He moved quickly, kneeling at my side. His fingers brushed the bindings. A faint golden light shimmered at his touch, and the cords unraveled like mist, falling uselessly to the floor.

My body slumped. He caught me before I could fall.

“I’ve got you,” he said gently, lifting me into his arms with ease.

“Who are you?” I murmured.

“You’ll understand soon,” he said. “But right now, we have to move.”

And then I saw him.

A tall figure stood silently in the shadows near the corridor wall. Cloaked in dark, layered robes threaded with glinting silver gears, he wore a cracked porcelain mask that covered his face. In one gloved hand, he held a long, narrow staff, shaped like the hand of a clock.

The figure didn’t speak.

Didn’t need to.

The world seemed to pause in his presence.

The torches on the wall slowed their flickering. Dust hung still in the air. Even my heartbeat seemed to lag, like something had taken hold of time itself.

I froze in Daniel’s arms. “Who—?”

Daniel didn’t answer. He glanced at the figure with something between respect and wariness.

“He’s not here to hurt you,” he said quietly. “He’s helped us... more than you know.”

“Who is he?” I asked, almost afraid to speak too loud.

Daniel’s grip tightened slightly. “A Shadow Mage. We call him the Watcher. He only steps in when time itself teeters. He’s been protecting the edges of this fight long before anyone knew it started.”

As if on cue, the mage raised one hand and turned his fingers slowly, like winding a pocket watch.

Tick.

Time snapped back.

And just as suddenly as he’d appeared—he was gone.

Then—

CRASH!

The sound echoed up from above us. A roar followed, guttural and furious.

“I thought you took care of them!” I gasped.

“I did!” Daniel said, already moving faster.

“Then what was that?”

“I don’t know. But I have a feeling.”

“Who?”

“You’ll see…”

Then—his voice thundered from the end of the corridor.

“ALLY!”

Logan.

He came into view in a blur of movement, eyes wild and glowing gold. His wolf was raging inside him—growling, clawing at his mind—furious at the thought of what had been done to me.