Kayra
"The heart beating inside his chest... is yours."
He was talking nonsense.
That couldn't be true. But when I remembered how he had said his heart was imitating mine, it suddenly seemed possible.
Arkan's growl shattered my thoughts. By the time he vaulted over the table, his hand had already transformed into a claw, gripping Targen by the throat. Then he leaned in close to Targen's ear.
"Kayra is mine," he said in an icy voice.
Targen struggled desperately, trying to pry Arkan's claw away from his neck.
"Mine alone," Arkan snarled as he hurled Targen toward the wall.
Targen flipped through the air before landing lightly on his feet. He touched down as gracefully as a bird.
"You've misunderstood me," he said, rubbing his neck. "I'm only explaining how my creation works."
Arkan answered Targen's words with a furious roar. His growls still sent tremors through my body.
Get yourself together, Kayra.
"You're going to separate that freak," he said, taking a step toward Targen, "from Kayra."
As Arkan advanced, Targen retreated. He slowly raised his hands in surrender.
"I can't," he said.
Arkan's growl filled the room once again. I could see even Soren beside me tense up.
When Arkan lunged to attack again, I grabbed the back of his T-shirt. Wrapping my hand around his clawed one, I stopped him. I had no idea where I'd found the courage to do it.
When Arkan shifted his gaze from Targen to me, I met his eyes for only a brief moment before turning back to Targen.
"Why?"
At my question, Targen slowly lowered the hands he'd been holding up and let out a deep breath.
"Why can't you separate Kongar from me?" I continued. "What kind of creation is he?"
As Targen loosened his collar, he carefully avoided meeting Arkan's eyes.
"Because... once you've formed the bond, there's no turning ba—"
He cut himself off before finishing. He stared at me in silence for a moment. Beside me, Arkan was struggling to suppress his growls. I gently squeezed his clawed hand.
"But maybe you could order him to stay away from you," Targen said. Hope flickered in his eyes. "Something like... 'I don't want to see you anymore.'"
I don't want to see you anymore...
I'd said those exact words to him back in the tent.
My heart suddenly ached. I pressed a hand against my chest.
"Are you alright, Kayra?" Arkan asked, watching me with worried eyes.
"I'm fine," I said, turning back to Targen. "I already told him I didn't want to see him anymore."
Targen frowned.
"And he didn't listen to you... is that right?"
I nodded.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.
"Explain," Arkan ordered. His entire body trembled as he bared his teeth.
Targen swallowed.
"What I feared has happened," he said. "I never should've used a human soul."
What was Kongar, really?
"Is he still just a creation?" I asked.
Targen scratched the back of his head.
"I can't say," he admitted. "But the fact that he disobeyed your commands means he has a will of his own."
"Should we be afraid?" Soren cut in. "After all, he's an immortal being."
"It's worse than that," Targen said.
We all looked at him expectantly.
"He was a powerful witch... a practitioner of dark magic."
Was Kongar a witch?
"Can he use a witch's powers?" Arkan asked. He looked deep in thought.
"I don't know... maybe."
"Why did you use a witch's soul?" Arkan shouted.
Targen shifted uneasily.
"I never intended to sell him," he said. "I only wanted to see if it was possible to create a servant using a human soul."
"You really fucked up," Soren growled before beginning to pace around the room.
"I lost him while transporting my cargo," Targen continued.
"How could you use the soul of the man your own sister loved?" I asked. How could anyone do something like that to their own sister?
At that very moment, the door was ripped from its hinges by a violent gust of wind and hurled out through the window.
Arkan and Soren instantly stepped in front of me, growling toward the doorway.
"You used the soul of the man I loved?" a woman shouted.
It was the woman I'd seen in the hall... the one who had called Kongar "Kutay."
"I didn't want to see you suffer anymore," Targen said.
"Does it look like I'm not suffering now?" the woman shouted back. As she marched toward Targen, the wind whipped through the room, sending the furniture flying in every direction.
She wielded the wind as if it were nothing more than a toy. I should have been afraid of someone with that kind of power. But the more I saw the pain hidden beneath her anger, the less I could bring myself to fear her.
"I did it for you," Targen said. "The man who never returned your feelings would finally be bound to you."
"Do you really think that's what I wanted?"
"If you didn't, then why did you imprison his soul inside an orb?" Targen shouted.
"You vile bastard!"
The woman flung out her hand in fury. Instantly, a small tornado formed in the middle of the room. Targen hurried behind me, using me as a shield from his sister.
"Don't use me as an excuse to weasel your way out of this."
At her words, Arkan grabbed Targen by the collar and threw him straight in front of the woman.
"You're going to fix this," he said in a hard voice. Then he turned to Soren.
"Get Kayra out of here."
Before I had a chance to protest, Soren scooped me into his arms and rushed out of the room.
"Take me back," I said.
"I'm sorry, Luna," Soren said. "I can't disobey the Alpha's orders."
"I don't care!" I shouted.
Soren came to an abrupt stop. His arms tightened around me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
When I looked up at his face, I realized his eyes were fixed on something ahead.
I followed his gaze.
At the far end of the corridor, something resembling black smoke was rising. The smoke slowly began to take shape. First, a black shoe appeared. Then tailored trousers, a jacket, and a bow tie... like a butler.
"Kongar."
---
Alfa Arkan
The moment Soren carried Kayra out of the room, I took a deep breath and turned my attention to the witch siblings.
"Who's the witch inside that freak?" I asked. My patience was hanging by a thread.
Let's tear them apart, Bozok growled.
First we have to separate Kayra from Kongar, I replied.
"He's not a freak," the woman said. Then she looked down at her brother lying on the floor.
"What did you do to him?"
Targen slowly got to his feet and straightened his collar.
"Nothing," he said. "He was a criminal. You know how dangerous dark magic is."
Kayra is in danger.
I know.
"Yes, I do," the woman replied. "That's exactly why he was executed."
As she finished speaking, a single tear slipped down her cheek.
"He already paid for his crimes!" she shouted.
I told you we should've gotten rid of him, Bozok said.
"Isn't what you did considered dark magic too?" I asked.
Exactly, Bozok said. Then we'll carry out his sentence ourselves.
At my words, Targen's eyes widened.
"Where did you learn a spell like that?" his sister demanded.
When Targen didn't answer, I lunged at him with a growl. But before I could reach him, a rising gust of wind lifted him into the air and pulled him in front of his sister.
"I'm sorry, Sis," he pleaded. "Please don't tell anyone."
"If she won't, I will," I growled.
I could feel Targen's fear.
"I-I could've left when I saw Kongar," Targen said. "But I chose to stay and help you."
Good for you, Bozok said mockingly.
"Where did you learn it?" the woman asked, pulling her brother a little closer. Her face was now only inches from his.
Targen slowly raised his hands in surrender.
"From Kutay," he said quietly. "I found his notes after he died."
The woman waved her hand, sending Targen hurtling across the room. But the bastard conjured a thin barrier around himself, allowing him to land without a scratch.
"Can we separate Kayra from him?" I asked.
The woman clenched her fist. The muscles in her face were taut.
She didn't seem pleased by this either.
Whatever she sees in that freak.
"Sarya," the woman said.
"I'm sorry?"
"My name is Sarya." She placed a hand over her chest and gave a slight bow. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."
I'm not forgiving her brother, Bozok said. She shouldn't waste her breath trying.
"It doesn't seem like you've done anything wrong," I said.
A faint smile flickered across her face.
"Can you save Kayra from that thing?"
Sarya glanced at her brother before falling into thought.
"Maybe..." she said. "Maybe we can seal his soul back inside the orb. But I don't think it will completely sever her bond with Kongar."
"We have no choice but to try."
Targen slowly walked over to his sister.
"If he really has a will of his own..." Targen said. "Luna Kayra told me about something that suggested as much."
He turned to his sister.
"Could Kongar... actually be Kutay? After all, Kutay's soul is inside him. And somehow, he even looks exactly like him."
The rage boiling inside me took over, and I slashed my claws at Targen. But Sarya stepped in front of him, forcing me to stop at the very last second.
"I'm going to kill you!" I roared.
Let's kill him. Let's kill him...
As Bozok's voice echoed through my mind, I could feel myself slowly beginning to transform into my Lycan form.
"Alpha Arkan, please," Sarya pleaded. "Spare my foolish brother."
No, Bozok said. He's going to die.
"You're going to seal him back inside that orb," I ordered. My voice sounded more like a growl than actual words now.
Even though fear filled Sarya's eyes, she didn't move away from in front of Targen.
Brave woman.
No, Bozok said. She's a witch. They always have tricks up their sleeves.
You might be right.
"Alpha!"
We all froze at the sound of Soren's voice.
Kayra.
Hurry!
At Bozok's shout, I burst out of the room with a growl. The moment I reached the corridor, I shifted completely into my Lycan form. I could hear the other two following behind me, but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered was following Kayra's scent.
When I reached the end of the corridor, I found Soren writhing against the wall. It looked as though something invisible was wrapped around his throat, strangling him as he struggled to break free.
"Dark magic," Sarya said.
"Where's Kayra?" I roared, grabbing Soren by the shoulders and shaking him.
Gasping for air, he raised a trembling finger and pointed behind me.
When I turned around, I saw that freak watching us with his pitch-black eyes.
I hadn't even caught his scent.
Then that familiar, sweet scent filled my nose.
Kayra.
Kayra lay unconscious in that freak's arms.
With a growl, I lunged at them. But black smoke began to coil around Kongar. First, his legs vanished. Then the smoke reached Kayra.
No!
No!
I dropped to all fours and sprinted toward them, but I wasn't fast enough.
The black smoke swallowed Kayra, and she disappeared.
"I'm going to tear you apart!"
Just as my claws were about to rip into Kongar's grinning face, the black smoke swallowed the last of him.