The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 58

IZZY

My head hurts.

It’s pounding like hell.

I slowly open my eyes to adjust to the sounds and lights around me. Once my eyes were open, I noticed I was on the floor—chains around my wrists. I move slightly and realize that there is one around my neck.

“Are you awake?” Says a voice that should be dead. I look up to see Drake leaning against the wall opposite me with a stupid smirk.

He pushes off and walks to me but doesn’t come too close. I can’t help but growl. He stops in his tracks, but the smirk stays on his face.

“What’s wrong, princess? He says, cocking his head to the side. “You haven’t missed me.”

I said nothing but glared back at him.

He stares for a moment but sighs loudly. “Well, I’m glad you are awake, as there is someone who has been dying to see you again,” he says.

I try to keep my emotions in check, but I know who he is on about, and my heart rate spiked more than just thinking about who.

Drake chuckles. “Considering he is busy at the moment, but knowing that you fear him intrigues me more,” he says.

A door opens in the background and an unfamiliar scent wafts towards me. I don’t take my eyes off Drake, but something catches my eye, making me turn to look at who has walked in.

Two men were dragging a woman in with chains around her wrists. When my eyes scanned over her face, someone beat her up.

My focus turned to the men who brought her in—they look pale, and their skin grey, but their smell took me a while until I sensed Puna in my head adjust. “VAMPIRES,” she hisses out.

I stared back and soon realized that one of them had blood on the corner of his mouth.

They both place the woman on the floor.

“Place her on the opposite side to the beauty,” Drake says as he turns back to look at me. He steps closer and kneels in front of me. “You will see him soon enough, and when you do, there will be a few others that want to meet you, sweetheart,” he says as his eyes roam over my face and down my body.

He smirks. “I know there are a few people who want to see you and they have many, I mean many, questions for you, but Michael won’t have any. He wants you. He always has,” he says as moves slowly away from me and turns to the woman behind him and glares at her. “You are lucky that your mate is here. Michael wanted to kill you after the stunt you pulled,” he says.

Drake moves away from us but stops suddenly, looking over his shoulder. “Both of you might have loads to talk about since she is the one who charmed the potion that killed your mother and helped Elder Johnson kill her,” he says with a smirk.

I turned to look at the woman in front of me, who had been staring back at me with no emotion written on her face since she was placed opposite me.

I could feel Puna stir again, but I look back at her. She looks completely out of it. It seems like my panther has been on a night in the town.

“Puna, you ok?” I ask her.

Puna stares back at me. “I don’t... Kn… think,” she says, but she shakes her head and lays down so she can see through my eyes. The woman hasn’t taken her eyes off us.

I focus on the woman, but she opens her mouth before I can say or do anything. “Drake stuck something in you; he wanted you to be knocked out for a while. It might make your panther groggy and sleepy for a little while,” she says as she leans back on the wall. “She needs her rest; when Michael comes, she will want to kill him.”

I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.

“Is what Drake said true? You were the one who helped kill my mother for that Elder,” I asked her.

She looks at me. “Yes, I was,” she says. I let a growl slip past my mouth, but she shakes her head. “I had no choice in any of this,” she says.

She sighs and pulls her legs to her chest. “I have been working with these horrible people for many years. I had to use dark magic to get what everyone here wanted, including that Elder,” she says and looks at me. “I didn’t know you were that night, but I could sense you were there.”

“Why would you help them?” I ask through gritted teeth. “That elder hurt many people over the years. Why would you help him?”

She stares at me. “I had no choice,” she says and sighs. I have a son who was born a werewolf, but I never knew I had a mate until I met him one night. Everything came to a blur when we were together, but my mate was involved in dealings with the elder that I didn’t know about at first.”

She looks at me once again. “My mate told me I should help him as he wanted to become the most powerful werewolf in all the country.”

“I wanted nothing to do with him. The Elder sent Michael to get my son from school, and ever since, they have been using him for me to work with them,” she says. “Would you do the same for your daughter if she was taken? Would you do anything for her, even give them your power?”

I know I would do the same as she would, especially if it meant I would get Allie back.

“Fair enough,” I said. “Why kill my mother?”

She looks at me. “I didn’t want to. If you look back at your memory, I had a beating as I made a big deal about not wanting to help, but that creep elder attacked me beforehand,” she says.

She moves her legs down and places her arms in front of her. She lifts her sleeves and shows me her arms. All her veins are black and sticking up hard.

I couldn’t help but stare. “How?” I asked.

She gives me a small smile. “All the dark magic I have been using has been making me ill. I have little time left to live,” she says.

I look at her. “Why did you come into the pack for?” I asked her. I remember something that was said before Drake stabbed me with the needle.

“I went to talk to your aunt,” she said, surprising me. “I wanted your help with a matter.”

I furrow my eyebrows together. “Why do you need my help for?” I ask, “You’re a witch, wouldn’t...” I say, but she shakes her head. “I showed you my arms, any more magic from me, and I will die.”

I stare back at her, but I feel Puna coming through as we become one. “You are telling the truth, but why us?” Says Puna.

I could tell she was still slightly weak from the injection, but she smiles when I look at the witch. “I never thought you would grace me with your presence.”

Puna lets a growl slip through.

There was some noise from the outside, like loads of feet running away. I couldn’t help but look around the room we were in, but there was still no one else but us. I can feel the witch’s eyes on me. “I want you to bring a sire bond.”

That got my attention. Puna and I looked back at her, confused. “What do you mean to break a sire bond?” We say together.

The witch smiles. “Michael is connected to my mate. He is the one who saved him that night, but we never knew what he did to you,” she says angrily.

“My mate wanted to save people from death who needed it. He thought he was saving someone from a wolf attack, but it turned out to be a forced lie,” she said.

She looks away from me. “Michael is connected to him. If you kill Michael, you will kill my mate,” she said and turned to look at me. “I know you can do it. If you break the sire bond between them before you kill him, my mate will be free.”

I stay quiet for a moment before I ask. “Why should I save your mate after what you did to my mum?”

She looks at me with a weary look. “I know what I did was wrong, and if I am not dead after this by those hideous men, I will let you decide my fate, but my mate is under his control, and he needs to be free from him.”

I cock my head at her. “What’s your name?” I ask her.

She smiles back at me. “My name is Helga.”

Before either of us could talk, a big door opened, and we could hear footsteps coming in.

I stare toward where the footsteps are coming from, but the smell of death and blood hits my nose.

Puna was growling and on all fours in my head. But as soon as the figure steps in front of me, my eyes go wide.

I was so terrified before of this person. He took everything from me and the one sacred thing to me. He tortured me for hours.

His pale, death-looking skin looks hideous, but the bright red eye with scars covering his features. He looks like something out of a horror film.

He stands a few yards away, staring at me with an evil smirk. “IZZY,” he says, “THE ONE I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED.”