Shadows Of The Pack (Aria and Knox) novel Chapter 13

"I don't understand. What is the Shadowbane Crystal?"
Shana stood up as her bones cracked.
"How can you be a bearer of the mark and not know what the Shadowbane Crystal is?"
"I never wanted to be marked. I have asked the moon goddess to take it away several times. So I never cared to learn anything about it other than the whispers that the marked possessed extraordinary powers."
Shana's bones finally rearranged.
"We need to get you to Knox right now."
Aria took a step backwards, "No. I don't need Knox getting involved."
Shana sighed, "This isn't the time for this Aria. It is serious. How could you not have heard of the marked wolf and the Shadowbane Crystal?"
Aria pulled at the necklace again. She extracted her claws, trying to claw it out but it remained in place.
"Come on Aria. We need to talk to Knox now."
Reluctantly, Aria followed Shana as they headed towards Knox's study.
Aria's scent surrounded Knox's wolf as they entered his study.
Shana bowed her head. Aria stared at him blankly.
He smiled, "Shana." He acknowledged her presence.
"Knox, we have a problem."
Knox tilted his head, calmly studying them, "Who is we?"
Shana blinked confused, "Aria and I?"
"Aria?"
Aria's eyes narrowed at him. He was displaying another level of pettiness, not acknowledging her presence because she didn't bow to him. She gritted her teeth and was about to speak but Shana beat her to it, "Knox. It's serious. She is wearing the Shadowbane Crystal."
Knox stiffened, his eyes immediately going to her neck.
He felt the dark energy emanate from the necklace.
"How?"
"Someone left the necklace on her dresser. It is obviously cloaked. Whoever left it there must not have wanted her to know until it's too late."
Knox stood up, taking a step towards Aria. He stopped in front of her. With one hand, he pulled at the necklace. It's energy coursed through him, pushing him backwards.
He was an Alpha wolf so his stance was stronger than Shanas'.
He yanked but it remained in place.
"This is not good at all. How could you not feel the energy before putting it on?"
"I didn't focus on any energy because I didn't think that someone would leave a deadly necklace on my table."
At that moment, it occurred to him. Someone in the pack had left the necklace. They had a traitor among them.
He tried pulling at the necklace again but it stayed put. His wolf snarled in annoyance. His mate was being threatened.
Aria glanced between the two of them, "I don't understand. How is a necklace going to kill me?"
Shana sighed, "It's not a necklace Aria. There is a cloaking spell around it. You are seeing what the person wants you to see."
"How do you know so much about it?"
Shana looked at Knox first. He nodded at her.
"Because I was there when it was made. I was the reason it was made. Well part of it. Hundreds of years ago-"
*********
"Hurry up Shan. They are going to be here soon."
 
Shana laughed, "If you keep moving Mira then you are going to ruin it and I am going to have to start your hair all over again."
 
Mira glared at her best friend through the mirror, "You are the worst Shana."
 
Mira and Shana made their way to the field where their visitors would be in a few seconds.
 
"Relax Mira. You look beautiful. There is no way he won't notice you."
 
Mira blushed, "Are you sure? He completely ignored my presence when your father took me with him to meet with his father."
 
Shana smiled, elbowing her best friend playfully, "I'm sure he was just having a bad day. You are the most beautiful girl I know and if he is too blind to see it then you will just cast a spell and make him drown."
 
Mira rolled her eyes but a smile played on her lips, "You always know how to make a witch feel better. Unfortunately I don't think it will be that easy to make him drown. He is marked."
 
Her eyes went round as she turned to Mira, "The mark of the moon goddess actually exists? I thought it was just a myth."
 
"Me too. But I saw it."
 
"Well it is good then. I heard she only marks the purest of souls and you are the most beautiful of souls. A perfect match. And he had better be gorgeous."
 
Mira sighed dreamily, "He is and he has the most beautiful blue eyes."
 
"You need to stop reading those books Mira."
 
They finally made it to the field and made their way towards the Alpha of the Pack, Derek, Shana's father. They bowed in respect.
 
Just then their visitors appeared.
 
There were three, the Alpha, his Luna and the marked wolf that Mira was hopelessly in love with.
 
Shana froze in her spot as his eyes landed on her immediately. Shana felt her breath catch in her throat as she met his gaze, her heart fluttering with an inexplicable connection and the wolf paced in her head repeating the word mate.
 
"Don't tell me you are thinking of forming the bond. I met him first." Mira glared down at Shana.
 
"Mira, he is my mate."
 
"I don't care Shana."
 
"Mira, that's not fair. Some wolves spend their lives searching for their mates and I have just found mine. I have to form the bond even if I try to resist, my wolf will just keep pushing me to him and so will his wolf."
 
Shana stood up trying to touch her best friend, "Come on Mira. It's just a crush. You've had plenty of crushes before."
 
Mira's eyes narrowed, "It is not just a crush. He is the one for me. You told me we were more than best friends. You made me feel like a part of the pack when my entire village was slaughtered and your father brought me here. Don't form the bond with him, Shana. Promise me."
 
Shana sighed, I promise."
**************
Shana walked to the corner of the study staring out the window, pain crept into her voice as she continued the story.
"I tried. I really tried but our wolves kept pushing and eventually we gave in. Mathias and I formed the bond three months later. We had a mating ceremony and I saw Mira's eyes filled with hate from where I stood across the room.
I never saw her again after that day until years later."
"Mathias came home one day with a Crystal around his neck. He said it was a gift. He had saved an old wolf and she had given it to him to thank him. I didn't think too much of it.
Over the next few months things changed. Mathias would go to bed in our bed and wake up in the middle of the woods. His wolf became restless. He lost control of it and lashed out at everyone around."
"He was still him, but he was so different. He started hearing voices in his head, whispering to him to kill. Urging him to give them a taste of blood. One morning he came back, his clothes all bloodied. He looked at me with fear in his eyes, "Shana, I don't know why I did it. But once I started I couldn't stop." The news spread like wildfire that an entire pack was murdered the night before."
"It only got worse. His mark blackened. I went round begging for help. No one knew what was wrong with him. During that time, the killings only increased. His powers were amplified and no one could escape."
Shana's voice quivered, "He was going mad losing touch of reality. I finally met a witch who told me he had been corrupted by dark magic and the source was the Crystal on his neck. We tried to take it off but it wouldn't come off. She told me she could use her magic to locate the witch that made the Crystal and after years, I saw Mira again."
"She told me that she made the Crystal to prove that no wolf could be pure and Mathias was the perfect test subject as the Crystal amplified the darkness in him combined with the powers of the mark and since he was able to cause enmity between two best friends, he couldn't be pure hearted. I begged her to make it stop. She only laughed saying, "His fate was sealed as soon as the entire mark turned black. He was one second away from going completely savage. Then she told me it was called the Shadowbane Crystal because just like wolfsbane, it could poison a wolf making them shadows of their former selves."
"She used her magic to show me." Shana cleaned the tears from her eyes, "Show me as other wolves gathered around Mathias in his wolf form bound by chains. His eyes were completely black and I knew he was gone. I watched as they beheaded my mate."
She sucked in a deep breath, then whispered, "I never even got a chance to say goodbye.
 Mira turned to me smiling with menace and she told me, "Mathias has served his punishment. This is yours." She chanted and then my entire world went black."
Knox went to Shana wrapping his hands around her while she cried bitterly.
Aria had so many questions but the most important of all.
Knox, as if reading her mind, answered it, "She put her in a sleeping spell for over five centuries."
Aria gasped.
Knox continued, "Melody and I went for a run when we were still part of the Bloodmoon pack and we found her covered with plant roots."
Shana was over five hundred years old.
Aria blinked trying to process as Shana turned to her with a small smile, "Don't worry. I am still a young wolf at heart. You don't need to think about me being over five hundred years old and how you could be friends with someone so old.”
Aria blushed, "I wasn't thinking that."
Shana rolled her eyes, returning to her normal self then she turned serious, "We need to find a way to get that necklace off you. I won't allow what happened to Mathias to happen to you."
"How did you know it was cloaked?"
"When I was trying to find help for Mathias, I read a lot of books and learnt alot about magic. Immediately I saw it, I knew it was familiar. I felt the same energy as I did whenever Mathias walked into a room. I just wished I had realized what it was sooner."
Aria gulped. She didn't want to end up like Mathias.
The door to Knox study opened. Sophia came in looking pissed. She folded her arms.
"I haven't done anything wrong. Why was I summoned?"
Knox left Shana's side, he went to his chair, sitting before addressing her.
"Sophia, have you heard about the Shadowbane Crystal?"
Her stance faltered for a moment before shaking her head.
"No."
Knox studied her, "Are you sure?"
Sophia nodded.
He pointed at Aria's neck, "The necklace around her neck, have you ever seen it before?"
She glared at Aria before turning to him, "No. I have never seen it. What's with all the questions? Like I said before, I haven't done anything wrong."
Aria spoke this time, "What were you doing around my room last night?"
"First of all, I was in this pack before you showed up with your trouble ass so I can be wherever I want to be. Second of all, I don't answer to you so you better shut your trap-"
"Sophia." Knox's voice boomed.
She bowed her head.
"I will ask you only one more time. Did you go into Aria's room and place this necklace on her table? Don't lie to me Sophia or I will slash your throat right here."
Sophia's eyes widened as she took a step backwards.
"I swear. I swear I didn't..I have never never seen that necklace in my life and I wasn't in her room. I went to see Nicole. That's what I was doing around there."
Knox stood up. His wolf paced thirsty for blood. He stopped when a gasp flew out of Aria's mouth.
All wolves in the room turned to look at her as she stared down at her wrist.
"The top of my mark just turned black."