Mated To An Enemy

"Ashleigh!" Caleb shouted, rushing to her side.

Ashleigh took deep breaths as she tried to steady herself. Caleb grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look at him, his concern evident in his eyes.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he asked quickly.

Ashleigh took one last deep breath and looked up at her husband, his fear and worry making her heart ache.

"I'm ok," she said. "I'm ok."

Her eyes glanced around them; they were almost at the gate now. Fiona and the Crag wolves had joined them in the last group.

Though none of them asked, they all gave her a variety of concerned expressions.

"Really," she said. "I'm fine."

Fiona raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Instead, she cleared her throat and encouraged the others to move quickly up the path, allowing some privacy for Caleb and Ashleigh.

Caleb gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze, drawing her attention.

"What happened?" he asked. "Are you really ok?

Ashleigh nodded.

"I promise," she said. "It wasn't me. It was Lily."

Caleb furrowed his brow but said nothing as he saw her expression change. He knew that she was trying to reach Lily.

He looked around and took a deep breath.

She expected to find what she always found when she reached out, Lily's Rest, the place where she witnessed her best friend getting married, where she herself got married. It was always here every time she searched for her.

But not this time.

The air was thick, dark, and smokey. It burned in her throat with each breath she took.

'Lily!' Ashleigh cried out with a cough.

She covered her mouth, trying to look around, but all she could see was the faint orange glow in the smoke and the dirt and broken stone on the ground.

"Lily!" Ashleigh called once more. "Lily, can you hear me!"

"It's gone…" came a pained whisper from behind.

Ashleigh spun around. Behind her stood Lily, an anguished look in her eyes. Her hair and dress were covered in soot and dirt. There were even smudges on her face.

"Lily?" Ashleigh whispered, reaching out to her.

Lily looked at Ashleigh. She lowered her head and let out a sob.

"It's all gone."

"What is?" Ashleigh asked. "What happened?"

"It's been destroyed," Lily whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. "My connection… my place of power... my home."

Ashleigh looked around again, but this time she began to see things she recognized.

The broken archway, the shattered platform. She took several steps forward, seeing petals crushed or burnt scattered on the ground. She lifted her eyes to where the stream should have flowed endlessly. Instead, large rocks shaken loose from the mountain above damned the water, leaving only a drying and empty riverbed.

Ashleigh turned back to Lily.

"Lily's Rest…" she whispered with mild panic in her voice. "Is this… is this real? Is this what it looks like right now?"

Lily nodded sadly.

Ashleigh's eyes widened.

"What does that mean for Winter?" she asked. "How could anyone have gotten so far into our territory that they were able to do this!"

Lily's expression softened. She knelt down, reaching her hand toward the ground. The smoke cleared from the area, and on the floor was a body. It was severely burnt and deformed.

Ashleigh narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what she was looking at, but it was unlike the other creatures they had been fighting.

"She knew where to go…." Lily whispered, reaching her hand down and touching the creature delicately.

The ghastly appearance of the monster shifted and changed into the body of a young woman. She had light brown hair and a sad expression on her face.

"I couldn't stop myself…" she whispered.

"It's ok," Lily smiled sadly. "You weren't yourself."

The young woman looked up into Lily's eyes and gasped.

"Luna Lily," she whispered.

Lily gave a warm smile and touched the woman's cheek.

"Rest now," she whispered.

The young woman smiled and faded away.

"I don't understand," Ashleigh said softly.

Lily stood up and looked around. She wiped her tears and turned back to Ashleigh.

"We need to hurry," Lily said. "This place, it wasn't just sacred to your pack. It is a connection between this world and the ley lines... to my mother. Just like Solana's garden. By destroying it, they have weakened the power that I and the others have placed in it."

"What does that mean?"

"The power that each major pack receives goes through these places. It is channeled through them. The power the others have shared to keep Winter strong won't reach Winter anymore. Oaths, your mother's powers, even some protective warding. It's gone now.

"That also means that the connection between the worlds has been weakened. Those places served as anchors for the pocket the others live in. With one of them gone… Lian and Solana won't be able to hold out much longer… after losing Talis, and now this… we don't have months or even days… Ashleigh, we likely only have a few hours before their power fails."

Ashleigh took a deep breath.

"And then the chaotic magic of the ley lines comes pouring out of the way gate like lava…" she sighed.

Lily nodded.

"We need to get the people of Summer through that gate, and then you need to destroy it. Immediately."

Ashleigh nodded, and then a thought suddenly struck her.

"The oaths…" she whispered. She looked up at Lily with concern. "What about the oath that Axel made? That he would protect Bell?"

Lily clenched her jaw.

"Lian promised that so long as he kept that oath, Roman could not enter Winter…." Ashleigh continued.

Lily took a deep breath.

"Roman was Irina's son," she began. "Even if he never understood it until recently, he has always had a power in him. Between the Dark Queen's twisted imagination and his equally twisted desires, it seems clear who designed the monster that destroyed this place and who was controlling it."

Ashleigh looked back at the ground where the creature had been lying.

"You mean Roman did this?" she asked.

"The Dark Queen wouldn't know about the pocket between worlds, but she would know what Irina knew. And Irina would have known about the sacred locations in the packs. So it makes sense that the Dark Queen would have given Roman a solution to his problem. A way back inside of Winter and an army to take with him."