Chapter 37: Sena - Fated to the Night King

He carried me to the empty library. It was silent, and a lick of fear ran down my spine. There was no one nearby that I could sense.

And that was new.

This instinct that was working within me now. I hadn’t felt it since I was a child.

I looked down at my hands, awe settling over me as I remembered how it had felt when my claws seamlessly slid free. No pain. It had been natural. Easy.

This was healing.

A golden key dropped into my hand.

I looked up to find Alkan watching me with intense focus.

That knot in my chest pulled tight and then released.

“What’s this?”

He grinned. “It’s a key.” Before I could protest, he gestured toward the bookshelves. “A key to something very important. Which you deserve to see.”

Alkan tapped on the shelf, a hollow sound the only response, and then, the bookcase moved.

A door appeared. Thick, heavy, and old.

“Use the key, Sena.” He encouraged me, waving me forward. “No more secrets.”

The weight was heavy in my palm, and I threw a cautious look over my shoulder. The entrance to the library was closed, and once more, that inner sense I was coming to trust reassured me that there was no one around.

It was just me. With Alkan.

And whatever waited behind that door.

I fitted the key into the lock, expecting it to move stiffly. It turned smoothly, well oiled, and the latch gave way easily. The door swung wide, opening into a small working area, the tabletop dotted with piles of handwritten notes, and seated on a stool, his attention on the writing in front of him, sat Danvers.

“My friend,” said Alkan from behind me, the rough timber of his voice scraping over my skin and making me shiver. “Our guest has arrived.”

The healer blinked up at us, his lips slowly curving up in a smile. “Well, it’s about time.”

“She deserves to see what she’s accomplished.” I looked back and forth between them. I’d only been here for a few weeks. I hadn’t accomplished much. At least, the Alpha wouldn’t think so. His disappointment, though, seemed far away, and I truly felt safe.

But accomplished? Not exactly.

“I haven’t done anything.”

Danvers shook his head, sliding off the stool and coming to take my hand. “You’re wrong, Sena. You’ve done quite a bit for us. Come.”

He laid my hand on his arm and then formally led me from the workroom into a dimly lit open space. Beds crowded the room, with bodies resting peacefully on them.

A scent so familiar filled my senses and I knew it for what it was. This was a room of shifters. Illness mixed with the fragrance of the woods at night, and I understood.

Every single shifter here was Stricken.

Hidden away in a secret room in the Night King’s castle.

Alkan’s hands settled onto my shoulders, as if he could sense my urge to turn and fight him. He’d imprisoned my people here.

I reached up, my hand wrapping around his forearm, the strength of his corded muscles twitching beneath my touch. I willed my claws to spring free again, to slice into that skin, but his words stopped me.

“These are our allies, Sena. And you’ve helped us save them.”