Scarlett (Second Edition) by Karima Saad Usman novel Chapter 178

Chapter 178

I stared at him, my mind racing, anda lowly, the pieces felt into place. I looked into the rider’s eyes and felt a deep, bone chilling home creep over the. This wasn’t some distant enemy, some Laceless monster.

The rider was me. Or rather, a twisted, corrupted version of me.

I took a step back, unable to tear my gaze away from the reflection before me. Her eyes were eald, hollow, a void filled with nothing but malice and hatred. It was as if every grudge, every resentment, every wound I had ever held on to had taken on a life of its own and moulded itself into this creature of darkness. She was a manifestation of every ounce of anger and bitterness I’d clung to, every part of me that had wanted revenge instead of peace.

“No…” I whispered, my heart hammering. I wanted to deny it, but the truth stared back at me, merciless and unyielding. This was the price of letting my rage and hurt fester. If I didn’t find a way to let go, to choose a different path, I would become this. I would lose everyone and everything.

My dark reflection smirked, as if sensing my realization. Keith’s blue flames burned around us, but they felt faint, distant, as though even his power couldn’t save me from this inner battle.

This wasn’t a fight I could win with magic or strength. It was a fight for my soul, a battle to reclaim the parts of myself I had buried in resentment and sorrow. If I didn’t let go, if I didn’t make peace with my past, this twisted shadow would consume me-and I would lose everyone I loved.

“Release Scarlett. Free her from your grip,” Keith demanded, his voice steady and fierce as he faced down the twisted, dark version of me.

The dark rider laughed, a cold, hollow sound that echoed across the frozen battlefield. “You will fail where her mates have already failed,” it sneered, a thunderous voice rolling through the air like an ominous storm. “I will rule this world, and I choose the vessel I want. This is my home now.”

Horror washed over me as I realised the truth: Lucian, Maxwell, and Clay hadn’t been trying to fight me. They were trying to reach me, to pull me back, and

it had cost them their lives. My heart ached, breaking all over again, but I couldn’t move, frozen in place, unable to accept the truth of the monster standing

before me.

“What do you want from me?” I cried out, my voice shaking, desperate. I wasn’t sure who I was pleading with-Keith, my mates, the universe. How could I fight this darkness that had already taken root? This was what Keith had warned me about. Was I truly the evil he’d seen? Was this terrible version of myself

the fate I was destined for?

I needed to wake up. I needed to pull myself out of this nightmare, to stop this from becoming my future. “Please, let me wake up,” I begged, my voice barely a whisper. I willed someone, anyone, to shake me free of this vision, to save me before I was lost forever.

But nothing happened. I remained trapped in place, watching helplessly as the rider, the twisted shadow of myself, spread devastation in its path. Flames erupted wherever it passed, and the ground seemed to freeze and splinter under the weight of its destruction.

Where was Midnight, my wolf? She had always been my strength, my ally, but now, in this terrifying vision, she was nowhere to be found. The silence of her absence echoed within me, leaving me feeling hollow and alone, stripped of the bond that had once given me hope.

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