Chapter 57: The Grove’s Secret
Elder Iris POV
The branch cracked under my weight, and I nearly fell twenty feet to the ground below. My old bones weren’t meant for tree climbing, but sometimes desperate times called for desperate means.
"Hold on, Elder Iris!" whispered little Tommy from the branch above me. At seven years old, he was much better at this than I was.
Below us, shadow-controlled wolves prowled through the forest, looking for the children I’d been hiding. Their black eyes gleamed in the darkness, and their moves were wrong – too stiff, too coordinated. These weren’t the gentle pack members I’d known for seventy years. They were Morrigan’s puppets now.
"Where are those brats hiding?" snarled Beta Marcus, though his voice sounded hollow and strange. "The sorceress wants them found."
I pressed my finger to my lips, signaling the twelve children scattered in trees around me to stay quiet. We’d been playing this dangerous game of hide-and-seek for hours, ever since I’d gathered the youngest pack members and fled into the woods when Morrigan’s shadow magic first struck.
My heart ached watching Marcus hunt for children he’d once bounced on his knee. The shadow magic wasn’t just controlling our pack – it was turning their love into something cruel and possessive.
"They can’t have gone far," said another tamed wolf. "Spread out. Check every tree, every cave."
As their footsteps faded, I carefully climbed down to where the other hiding elders waited. Old Henrik supported shaking Mrs. Patterson while George held baby Emma, who’d been crying when her parents suddenly turned strange and scary.