I stood at the edge of the clearing, my heart pounding so hard I was sure Liam could hear it. The full moon hung low in the sky, bathing everything in an ethereal silver light. It was beautiful, peaceful even. But I knew the calm wouldn't last.
"Are you sure about this, Skye?" Liam's voice was low, tense. I could feel his worry through our bond, a constant thrum beneath my skin.
I wish I could say yes. I wish I could be certain that what we were about to do wasn't going to blow up in our faces. But the truth was, I was terrified.
"No," I admitted, turning to face him. "But what choice do we have?"
The curse was spreading faster than ever. Half our pack couldn't shift anymore, and the other half were struggling to maintain control. And Liam... God, Liam was getting weaker by the day. The wolfsbane poison was slowly killing him, and nothing we'd tried had worked.
This was our last hope. A desperate gamble based on half-remembered lore and whispered legends.
Liam reached out, cupping my face in his hands. His touch sent sparks through me, reminding me of everything we stood to lose if this went wrong. "We don't have to do this," he said softly. "We can find another way."
I leaned into his touch, allowing myself a moment of weakness. "There is no other way. You know that as well as I do."
He nodded, resignation clear in his eyes. We'd been over this a hundred times. Argued, pleaded, raged against the unfairness of it all. But in the end, we always came back to this.
Merging our souls. Combining our powers in a way no werewolves had attempted in centuries. It could save us all - or destroy us completely.
"Alright," Liam said, dropping his hands. "Let's do this."
We moved to the center of the clearing, where Jake and a few other trusted pack members had helped us set up. A circle of mountain ash surrounded us, meant to contain the power we were about to unleash. Candles flickered at cardinal points, their flames dancing in the light breeze.
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. "Remember," I said, as much to myself as to Liam. "No matter what happens, no matter what we see or feel, we can't let go of each other. Our connection is the only thing that will keep us anchored."
Liam nodded, his jaw set in determination. "I won't let go. I promise."
We clasped hands, standing face to face in the moonlight. I could feel the power building already, the familiar surge of the shift tingling beneath my skin. But this time, instead of fighting it, I embraced it.
I closed my eyes and reached for that place deep inside where my wolf lived. Where the bird now nested too, a reminder of how much had changed. I felt Liam doing the same, his presence in my mind growing stronger.
"Now," I whispered.
We began to shift, but not into our wolf forms. Instead, we pushed past that, reaching for something deeper, more primal. I felt my body changing in ways I'd never experienced before. It should have been terrifying, but with Liam's hands in mine, I felt... safe.
The world around us faded away. There was nothing but us, our joined hands, and the pulsing energy that flowed between us. I could feel Liam's thoughts, his memories, as clearly as my own. Centuries of life flashed before my eyes - his time in the fae prison, the loneliness, the pain, but also moments of beauty and wonder I could scarcely comprehend.
And I knew he was seeing mine too. My childhood, my struggles as a young alpha, the moment I first saw him and felt our mate bond snap into place. The agony of rejecting him, thinking it was for the best.
"Skye," Liam's voice echoed in my mind. "It's working. I can feel... everything."
I knew what he meant. Power unlike anything I'd ever felt before coursed through us. Wolf, bird, human - all of it blended together until I couldn't tell where I ended and Liam began.
For a moment, it was perfect. I could see the solution to everything - how to break the curse, cure Liam's poisoning, even how to bring true peace between werewolves and humans. It was all there, just within reach.
But then something shifted.
A darkness crept in at the edges of our joined consciousness. At first, I thought it was just shadows from the candles. But it grew, pulsing with a malevolent energy that made my skin crawl.
"Liam," I called out, suddenly afraid. "Something's wrong."
I felt his confusion, then his own fear as he sensed it too. "Hold on," he said, his mental voice strained. "Don't let go."
The darkness surged forward, and suddenly we weren't alone anymore. I caught flashes of glowing red eyes, heard snarls that chilled me to the bone. It was as if every nightmare, every dark impulse we'd ever had was taking form around us.
I tried to pull back, to end the merge, but I couldn't. We were in too deep.
"What's happening?" I cried out, feeling our connection start to fray.
"I don't know," Liam's voice was faint, distant. "Skye, I can't... I can't hold on."
Panic gripped me. If we lost our connection now, in this half-merged state, I didn't know what would happen to us. To our pack. To the very fabric of reality around us.
"Liam!" I screamed, both mentally and out loud. "Don't you dare let go!"
But his presence was fading, slipping away like sand through my fingers. The darkness pressed in, suffocating, overwhelming. I could feel myself losing control, my grasp on who I was slipping away.
Just when I thought all was lost, a new voice cut through the chaos. Familiar, yet impossible.
"Hold on, little alpha. Your journey is not over yet."
My eyes snapped open. Through the swirling vortex of power and shadow, I saw a figure standing just outside the circle. Tall, powerful, with eyes that glowed with ancient wisdom.
The First Werewolf. But he was gone, wasn't he? Sacrificed himself to save us.
As if reading my thoughts, he smiled. "Death is not always the end, Skye. Now fight. Remember who you are. Who you both are."
With his words, I felt a surge of strength. I tightened my grip on Liam's hands, feeling him respond in kind.
"Together," I said, pouring every ounce of love and determination I had into the word.
"Together," Liam echoed, his presence growing stronger once more.
As one, we pushed back against the darkness. I didn't know if we would win, if we would survive this impossible merge. But with Liam by my side and the eyes of our ancestor upon us, I knew one thing for certain.
We would not go down without a fight.