THE ALPHA’S DAUGHTER 64_When The Moon Hides Her Crown

Chapter 64 Beneath The Fog

 SERAPHINA

 To break the curse, you had to take it on yourself.

 Those were the exact words etched into the weathered leather note I’d read. A sacrifice was required.

 “Offer blood to the grave. The spirit will be lured. Once it leaves its host, it will seek another body–yours. Then you will have only five seconds to end it. The spirit that is tied to its grave cannot survive outside itsnd. Fall beyond the mountain’s boundary–beyond the cursed mist–and the evil dies with you.”

 That was the way out..

 To save Finn, I had to invite the curse into me…and then throw myself off of the cliff to die.

 The wind howled like a chorus of des, cutting around me as I fell. Cold. Sharp. Suffocating. The mist rose to meet me like ghostly hands, curling against my skin, dragging over me as though it already imed me as its own.

 Inside me, the curse screamed..

 A guttural wail echoed in my bones–thousand–tongued and ancient–desperate to flee, but bound. It wed at the walls of my soul, a furious beast trying to break free. Only it couldn’t.

 I was no longer on itsnd.

 The instant I pierced the densest curtain of fog, a sharp pain shot through my entire being before it died.

 A violent, soul–ripping silence filled me. A void. 

 And then came death’s embrace with the fall.

 But 1, Seraphina Nightbane, was not ready to die yet.

 Below the cliff was no bed of rocks, but a forest–wild and ancient. Its canopy was thick, its branches gnarled and vines tangled likes. If Inded just right, if the angle aligned…they might catch me.

 I had only one chance.

 strong.

 Branchesshed at my arms. Vines grazed my sides. 1 twisted mid–air, grasping at vines, snagging on whatever I could. The impact mmed against my ribs. Still, I kept falling–until a tight mesh of branches seized me. They groaned under my weight, cracked, but held.

 “AHHH..” a painful cry left my lips. It hurt. Hurt more than I had been ready for.

 I gasped, lungs heaving in the damp, moss–scented air. My whole body shook with pain.

 “Goddess, it hurts,” I hissed, heart hammering wildly.

 Suspended in that tangled of branches, my limbs trembled. I shut my eyes to bear this agonizing sensation, but then. Ronan’s face burst into my mind. The look in his eyes when I lied…and jumped.

 I knew I should not have lied to him, however I did not have a choice.

 My fists clenched. My heart quickened like a wild horse.

 “Don’t tell me he tried to jump after me,” I muttered. His violent eyes when I jumped. Why why did he have that look in his eyes? As if he lost something important Hunsell 

 Above, the cliff was already swallowed by the fog I couldn’t see Ronan, but I felt him. As if his gaze still burned through the mist trying to find ne

 “No,” I whispered. “Asher must’ve taken both Finn and Ronan.

 I’d exined it all to Asher. Once the curse was broken, the path would open. They would be able to exit the mountain, and

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 Chapter 64 Beneath The Fog

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 This fog–covered forest was still part of the mountain, just beneath the ce I’d fallen should reach the exit around the same time as they did.

 With a deep breath, I carefully climbed down from the tree and scanned my surroundings.

 Fog. Trees, Vines. Everywhere looked the same. But as I examined the terrain. I spotted a narrow rill–barely a trickle, but sloping downward. That had to be it. If I followed the waterline, it might lead me out.

 “We need to hurry.” Phina urged in my mind. “They’ll reach the base of the mountain in half an hour!”

 Half an hour. I had to match their pace.

 No time to waste. I took off down the rill, my steps wide and fast. My back throbbed from the fall, and my head spun slightly, but rest wasn’t an option. This forest was foreign, and something about it unsettled me.

 Every sound, every movement made my nerves twitch. I listened closely, trying to track time by instinct, counting the seconds in my head.

 Then I noticed something strange.

 No animals.

 Not a bird in the canopy. Not a snake on the ground. Not even a whisper of wings in the trees.

 No sounds,only silence. Heavy, watching silence.

 “What kind of forest is this?” I whispered, a chill crawling down my spine.

 The fog wasn’t natural either. It wasn’t just mist–it was suffocating, almost… sentient. Like it was watching me,

 “Fifteen minutes,” Phina said, as I nced up at the Moon–veiled now behind thick, ghostly clouds.

 “Shit,” i hissed. “Without the moonlight, I can barely see.”

 I’d been relying on Phina’s senses to guide me through the fog and dark, but without the Moon, even that was faltering

 “We have to shift,” Phina insisted, urgency sharpening her tone. “This forest won’t end at this pace. Then everyone failed the

 trial because of us!”

 She was right. The rules didn’t say we had to exit together, but it was a team trial. An unspokenw. If I returnedte… we all might fail. Worse, I could be expelled for dragging them down.

 My pulse quickened. I reached to unbutton my shirt, preparing to shift

 I had to.

 But then–a sound.

 A sharp, distinct crack, like something snapping in the undergrowth.

 1 froze, ulting my head toward it. “What was that?” I asked aloud.

 “I don’t know,” Phina answered, just as unsure.

 Shaking it off, I resumed my pace–only for another sound to reach me secondster. A different sound Subtle. Strange.

 My skin prickled. The hair on the back of my neck rose. A chill threaded into my bones. I halted mid–step, every instinct

 screaming.

 My eyes lucked on the fog ahead. Dense. Pale Oppressive.

 Something wasn’t right

 I took a step back, heart pounding, and turned to leave–only to stop cold.

 The path I’d been following.

 Chapter 64 Beneath The Fog

 It looked the same as the one I’d just turned from

 I spun again.

 Same path.

 Every direction,

 The same.

 A cold sweat broke out across my brow. “How is this possible?”

 Was I lost? Trapped?

 Or was I going mad?

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 I had no choice but to move forward. Each step was hesitant, my body tense with dread. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. Panic simmered in my chest.

 There was something deeply wrong here.

 I didn’t want to go any farther. The energy ahead was terrifying–heavy, like death.

 Then, as 1 rounded a tree I hadn’t seen before, the fog thinned slightly.

 And there it was.

 A river.

 With a figure standing beside it–tall, familiar.

 My breath caught. “Dante?” I gasped.

 He stood still, his back to me, hand raised to his face touching it?

 “What is he..”

 Before I could finish, he moved.

 He ripped his hand across his scalp–tearing hair and skin with it

 I pped a hand over my mouth to stifle the scream. Blood cascaded down his body as he peeled his face away like it was a

 I stumbled back, horrified.

 Then–lus head tilted. Slowly. Deliberately.

 His eyes met

 et mine.

 As if he’d known! was there all along.

 And then… he smiled.

 That slow smile as he whispered, “Seraphina Nightbane… you should have run.”

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 When The Moon Hides Her Crown

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THE ALPHA’S DAUGHTER 64