CHAPTER 90: _ THE IMPENDING DOOM

As they walk, Amias begins to speak in a low voice that somehow manages to cut through the noise of Heidi’s inner turmoil.

"First thing you need to know is that the labyrinth is not a dark forest filled with demons like you must have thought."

Heidi’s head snaps up. She had, in fact, thought that. She had thought of it as a monstrous, horrifying place filled with every kind of beast from her nightmares. The very name—the Labyrinth; conjured images of grotesque creatures and unimaginable horrors. She had been terrified of it.

"What... what is it then?"

Amias glances at her with a wry, and almost sad smile on his face. "It’s a place of immense power and immense sorrow. It’s not just a prison for demons. It was once the fairies’ realm. Their home."

F-fairies? So far, Heidi has only researched werewolves. And that even took her over four days to grasp. She didn’t have enough time to research the entire supernatural faction or decipher what’s real and what’s not from the folktales she’s grown up to understand.

Now, this new knowledge is interesting. However, judging from its association to an impending doom, Heidi doesn’t find it as terrific.

"Wait—fairies? You mean, like the ones in stories?"

Amias shakes his head. "Not stories. They are real. And their realm became a prison."

Heidi’s jaw drops like a trapdoor.

He pauses, and his grip on her hand tightens as he continues. "The fairies are an ancient race, older and more powerful than our own. They were the original protectors of this land, but even they had to give it up to contribute to the curbing of demons that had infested the human world. They gave up their home which is their sanctuary, to help the human race in the war against the demons because we all knew it was a matter of time before the demons grew bolder and graduate from attacking just humans to the supernaturals."

Heidi is nodding whilst listening attentively, trying to catch every word.

"The labyrinth was a place of pure magic, a beautiful, enchanted forest. A place where you could get lost in its beauty and never find your way back. Now it’s a place where you can get lost and never find your way out."

Amias stops, pulling her to a stop with him. They’ve reached a small, rocky outcropping, and Amias turns to face her, his silver eyes serious again.

"So for the demons that are on this side of the country, the labyrinth was used as their prison. The fairies, in their infinite wisdom, created a veil around their territory. A veil that only a fairy can lift. So the demons were trapped in their home, and the fairies, in a final act of sacrifice, left them to their fate. But there’s a problem with their prison."

Heidi’s eyes are wide, her heart pounding in her chest. This isn’t anything like what she had expected. It’s far more sinister and far more tragic.

"What’s the problem?" she whispers.

"In there," Amias puffs out air, "nothing is as it seems. There are good demons trapped in there with the bad. The supernatural council, in their ignorance, decided that because there was no way to identify the good demons from the bad, they would trap them all in there. They thought they were doing a service to all of us by trapping the entire race of demons in there, but they were wrong. They imprisoned the innocent with the guilty."

He lets go of her hand and places his hands on her shoulders, his gaze burning into hers. The warmth of his touch is a stark contrast to the icy truth of his words.

"So if you want to survive, Heidi, you need to understand one thing. There are creatures in there who are not just monstrous. Some of them are victims. You will need to rely on the help of the good demons. They are the only ones who can guide you through the maze of the labyrinth. They are the only ones who can see past the veils and illusions that the fairies left behind."

"Well, lucky us. First we attract dickhead Alphas, now demons." Her wolf scoffs.

Heidi’s head spins. The sheer weight of this new information is overwhelming. A forest of fairies turned into a prison for demons, both good and bad? And she’s supposed to trust them? To survive a labyrinth that even a demon can’t escape without help?

Amias seems to read the terror in her eyes. He sighs, and his hands slide down her shoulders, down her arms, and then back into her hands. He squeezes them gently as a silent reassurance.

"It’s a lot to take in, I know. But there’s more. You need to know that not all of them will want to help you. Some will try to manipulate you. Some will try to kill you."

"Why?" she asks, eyes dimming.

"Because they see other supernaturals as a key and a way out. Not to mention your kind of werewolves are a Moon-blessed. You were not born of this pack or with werewolf blood. Magic made you so, so you’ve got a lot of that in there." He nods at her chest where her breasts still lie pale and pointy under the moonlight.

"You’re a strange, new, powerful thing. You are the embodiment of a new magic, and the good demons will want to harness that to escape. The bad demons will want to destroy it. Both of them will be attracted to you, but only one of them will want to help you."

He lets go of her hands and turns away. His pained face looks so tired, and so burdened. She watches him, and her heart aches for him and for the pain he’s carrying. The pain of a man who is the Alpha’s first son, the protector, one of the ones who has to know all of these dark secrets and bear the weight of them. He’s one of those who has to be the anchor for all of them, for a pack he clearly cares so much about.

It’s crazy how all the articles she’s read about Amias say he’s indifferent about the pack. This man right here cares... If not too much. However, she wouldn’t blame the writers behind those articles when it’s clear he hides this side of himself like a dark little secret.

However, the air around them is cold, but the connection between them is a roaring fire. It’s a brilliant, terrifying thing that she can’t possibly understand. And now, she has to trust this man to teach her how to survive a place that even he fears. A place that has secrets that are far older and far more sinister than she could have ever imagined. She is a low-ranked Omega, a charity case, and a girl who just found her wolf, and now she’s being asked along with other novices like herself to provide their services to the pack.

More like they’d have them pay in kind for the accommodation and welfare even if it means paying with their lives.