Nicolette stared at her as the blue flames around Denali died down. She let out a small laugh and sat back down onto the table.

"Maybe I should tell go into detail of why I want to kill you while Malcom finds this 'underground' area you told him about," Denali smirks. This woman was friend with Nicolette's mother and now Denali wants to kill Nicolette. Why?

Nicolette's eyes went wide. Denali knew the she was able to reach Malcom and what they had talked about. She supposedly lost her powers. So what was she using?

"Ah, you have a very good memory," she pointed out. "It was an easy lie. You obviously never told Malcom because he would have told you otherwise." She stood up and started to pace around the small basement.

"Your mother was very talented. When she found her mate, she asked me to do a spell. She asked me to look into the future to see if your father was going to turn into a good guy but I saw something different," she said. Nicolette watched Denali's hand spark and a small blue wisp of fire danced around her fingers.

She twirled her fingers then flung her hand at Nicolette's face. The wisp followed the movement and shot towards Nicolette's face. As it got closer, it became bigger and the wisp exploded in front of her face.

Nicolette tried to face away from the scorching heat but the wall prevented her from shielding herself. Denali waved her hand and the smoke blew away.

"A pack in flames," she slammed her hand onto the table. "This. This pack in flames."

"I saw her child, a monster," she sneered. "You." Nicolette's eyes widened staring at her.

Monster

Monster

Monster

She was always destined to be a monster. There was no stopping it. Her worst fear was to be revealed to the world and to be called a monster. If Denali killed her right now, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Actually, the rest of the world could live peacefully without knowing she ever lived.

Maybe this was a good thing.

In the back of Nicolette's mind though, she could help but think of Malcom, Lucas, and Seth. After years of isolation, they were the first werewolves she interacted with in a long time.

Malcom was cold but through all those days, Nicolette wanted there to be a good side to him. It barely showed but Nicolette wanted to experience him, not his infested mind, just his normal self.

Nicolette wanted to live so that she could meet the real Malcom. Not the "controlled by insane mother" Malcom. She wanted to fall in love with her real mate.

"I saw that you were Malcom's mate. You became Queen Luna. Then, I saw the pack in flames and you were in the center of it. I can't afford this pack the fall. My son will find another mate that will rule this pack better than you," Denali assured.

Nicolette laughed and brought as much of her power as she could forward. Her silver eyes shined brightly as she pulled with all of her might against the chains.

Denali lifted her hands and a transparent seal binder the chains and the cuffs together. Nicolette let out a cry as she slumped back down onto the wall.

"Malcom will never forgive you," Nicolette muttered. Denali let out a laugh and shook her head as she continued to pace.

"You don't know anything about Malcom. You don't know his favorite color, his favorite food, or his favorite season. I raised him. You spent a month with him," Denali roared.

"Raised him? You stood by and watched him being abused by his father. You stayed there and didn't use your magic. Don't pretend to be the victim of his abuse because I looked into you too. You pretend to be helpless in front of Malcom to get him to despise his father. You abused Zaine when Malcom wasn't looking. You are an evil, conniving bitch," Nicolette spay.

Nicolette knee Denali had her powers. She used a spell to look deeper into her so that she could find out if she trusted her or not. Turns out, she didn't look hard enough.

"I would kill you right now but I want your power. You are strong but you don't know how to use your power. With your strength and my skill, I could be unstoppable," she giggled. "I'm just waiting for Malcom to so that he can see the show."

"You are evil," Nicolette gasped. She heard footsteps on the floorboards above.

"Mom?" Malcom's voice was heard. Nicolette let out a cry as Denali put a magic bond on her mouth and slipped into the shadows.

Nicolette watched Malcom's shadow walk down the stairs. She cried quietly as Malcom turned around. He gasped when he saw her bloody and chained body.

"Oh my god, Nicolette," he whispered. He ran over to Nicolette quickly and tried to pull the chains off the wall. The magic held them tightly.

The bond on her mouth wore off and she let out a cry, "get out of here."

Malcom put his hand on her head and pushed back her hair. "How do I get you out of here?"

"Your mom, she wants to kill me. Please leave," Nicolette cried. Malcom looked around frantically to see if he could see her but he couldn't. "I need to know something."

"Nicolette I need to get you out of here. I'm sure there's a way," he said tugging at the chains some more. One of the magic bonds on the chain disappeared and Nicolette's hand slumped down. The rest of the chains stayed bonded, tightly.

"Did you ever fall in love with me?" Nicolette asked. She just wanted an answer to this one question. Malcom stared at her and nodded.

"I fell in love with you while I was trapped in my head. I held on to the small moments I shared with you and never let go. I fell in love with those small moments," he smiled. Nicolette let out a cry.

Nicolette cried as she grabbed his head and kissed him as her last goodbye.

"Run," she whispered. Nicolette quickly pulled back and mumbled a spell with her open hand. Her last bit of strength was put into that spell.

The spell made Malcom obey her command: 'Run'.

———