lost, had chosen to lose. But I was certain no one would bother me there, and I wanted to be alone.
I changed into a wolven and ran along the campus walls until I broke out into the main grounds. When I reached the cabin, it was thankfully dark. I entered in and found it empty. There was a strange smell in the air— like a shifter had been here the night before, but they were long gone now. I locked the door behind me and lit a singular log in the fireplace before I sat on the couch, my head cradled in my hands.
She was gone. I couldn’t believe she was gone. I didn’t know if I’d ever see her again. Not in a million years did I ever think this situation would come about. I thought Emma and I would be together forever.
That was a foolish notion. One made by a boy and not a man. Love sometimes didn’t last forever.
My insides stirred violently and turned cold as I thought of the repercussions. What if she broke our bond, and ruined the magic between us by performing the separation ceremony? What would I do then? I’d be ruined.
I was already ruined. Shifters were helpless without their mates. They were aimless, poor creatures lost in a storm without any direction, vacant of a northern star to guide them on. It felt like I was a wolf on a mountain that never ceased, an endless night around me devoid of moonlight and stars. Loneliness clawed at my gut like hunger, threatening starvation but never actually succumbing.
Emma had destroyed me. But it was I who had made the final choice, the one who’d delivered the blow, and by the gods I didn’t know if I could forgive myself for that.
I got up from my seat and began to pace. This was all my fault. Yet I’d been backed into a corner by the ultimatum she’d given. I severely doubted I’d made the right choice, but why did there have to be a choice at all? Why couldn’t she accept me for who I was?
Because she doesn’t understand what we have, a sinister voice hissed in my head.
I jerked backward, startled. That voice had been as clear— like there was a creature speaking telepathically to me. I knew one thing. It wasn’t my own.
“Who’s here?” I demanded. “Show yourself.”
I’ve been here for a long time, Ethan. I’d thought I’d introduce myself, the voice responded.
I turned around. I fell backward as I saw my own reflection in the mirror on the wall... but that person wasn’t me. He looked like me, save for the fact he had violent red eyes.
Though I was on the floor, my reflection remained standing, leaning against the side of the mirror with his arms crossed. He smiled at me and revealed pointed teeth.
There. It’s about time we met, my reflection purred. I’ve been waiting for a chance to talk to you for ages.
“Who the fuck are you?” I breathed, backing up. I wanted to attack it, but how could I? It was just a figure in the mirror.
I’m you, Ethan. Or at least, I am now. My reflection chuckled. I watched my own shoulders shake as he broke down into delirious laughter.
I swallowed and forced myself to my feet, though it felt like the world was caving out from under me. “I don’t understand.”
I’ve been with you for almost a year now. Ever since your father killed my body, my spirit left my earthly form and latched onto the nearest soul that invited me in.
Hated memories of that cursed day in the forest rushed by. Awful pain. The king hanging from a root torn from the forest floor. The sight of my bloody leg as it was ripped away from me.
“You’re the leshane,” I said thickly as I pieced it together. “You’re the monster that killed my father, and took my leg.”
I was once the leshane. But now, I think you call me something different. The Phantom. The leshane flashed out his forked tongue. I like it.
A chilling horror spread throughout my bloodstream. How twisted my rage and emotions had become. The blood lust I felt every time I put on that mask. The hatred I felt pounding through me for my enemies, and the needless wanting to see them dead.
I’d changed since my father died, and it hadn’t been in a good way. I’d mistaken it for grief, thought it was motivated by vengeance and a sense of