C17 Cinderella among the wolves

I looked down at my chest, following Mum's gaze, and saw the mark that had appeared there—a symbol I didn’t recognize, but now that I saw it, I knew it was Fenrir's mark. It burned against my skin, a dark reminder of the bargain I’d made.

“What does it mean?” My voice trembled, uncertainty flooding my chest.

Mum’s voice was thick with anger. “He can call your soul back whenever he wants. You’re tied to him now, whether you like it or not.”

I swallowed, trying to control the panic rising in my throat. “Like... insurance?”

She looked at me sharply. “More like a hostage.”

I felt like the air had been sucked out of the room, my chest tightening as the truth settled in. “So if I try to run, if I try to get out of this... He’ll just take me back?”

“Yes.” Her voice was quiet now, but the weight of her words hit me like a punch to the gut. “If you even think about forgetting your part of the deal, he’ll come for you.”

A bitter laugh escaped me, but it felt more like a sob trapped in my throat. “That’s not all he’s holding hostage, is it?”

Mum frowned, confusion flashing across her face.

I couldn’t stop myself from saying it, the words pouring out in a rush of anger and grief. “The shaman... He severed my wolf. They sacrificed her to Fenrir. Left me—just the human part—for the reapers, and Fenrir took the rest.”

Her face crumpled with horror, her hands shaking as she reached for me. “Oh, my God. Your wolf... your mate... In one night...”

My heart ached, a gnawing emptiness taking over, but I pulled Mum into my arms anyway, holding her tight. She felt so fragile, as if the weight of everything—the years, the loss, the pain—had settled into her bones, making her lighter than I ever remembered.

Her body trembled against mine, and it broke something inside me. It wasn’t just the past we were grieving. It was all the things we’d lost and the things we hadn’t yet learned to face. The same pain we both carried, in different forms.

“It’s not the same,” I whispered into her hair, smoothing it down, trying to calm her, but in truth, I needed the comfort just as much. “Beowulf... he rejected me two years ago. I’ve spent this time convincing myself we weren’t meant to be. And my wolf... she’s out there somewhere. I’ll find her.”

Mum pulled back just enough to look me in the eye, her face filled with sorrow and confusion. “But Fenrir... he’s forced you into this. You don’t have a choice, do you?”

I exhaled slowly, the weight of it all pressing on my chest. “At least now I have a chance to get her back.”

Mum sighed deeply, but there was something in her eyes—something I hadn’t seen in a long time. A spark. A flicker of hope, maybe. “Tell me everything. Leave nothing out. Everything.”

So I did. I told her about the moment I shifted, the way my body had reacted in the chaos of that night. I told her about waking up in that shallow grave, about the pocket dimension, the fire, the bargain I’d made, and how Fenrir had sent me back—but I left out the kiss. That was something Mum didn’t need to know about.

When I finished, Mum sat back, her eyes narrowing as she processed everything. She rubbed her hands together, the motion almost deliberate, her mind working quickly as it always did when there was a problem to fix.

Finally, she clapped her hands together, a sharp noise in the still room, and I looked at her in surprise. “What you need,” she said with a firm nod, her voice resolute, “is a demon summoning.”

I blinked, not sure I’d heard her correctly. “But he’s a god, Mum. Fenrir. A god.”

“Who’s trapped in Hell?” Mum’s voice was shaky, almost pleading.

I nodded, my chest tightening. “Fenrir. He’s trapped there, and I’ve made a deal to free him.”

Mum’s eyes flickered with something unreadable before she glanced away, as if gathering her thoughts. “How do you know anything about summoning demons?” Her voice was softer now, like she wasn’t sure if she was talking to her daughter or a stranger.

I met her gaze, feeling the weight of my own secret. “You’d be surprised what you learn when you make a deal with a god.”

Her eyes darted away, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of guilt or shame in her expression, but she quickly masked it. “Now that I’m not getting many regular clients anymore,” she said slowly, her voice tinged with bitterness, “I’ve had to offer services that... other healers won’t touch.”

I felt a surge of anger, though I tried to hold it back. “You mean Asena’s business practices?” I couldn’t help the sharpness in my voice. That woman had been running my mother out of business for years with her flashy, underhanded tricks.

Mum’s face hardened for a moment, but she didn’t respond directly. “Never mind that,” she said abruptly, turning her attention back to the task at hand. “We need something that represents Fenrir—something to connect us to him for the summoning.” Her fingers drummed lightly against the table, and her eyes flicked down to my chest. “That talisman I gave you, it’ll do. The statue’s too large. We can’t use it.”

I glanced down at my neck, but the talisman was gone. My throat tightened. “It was there when I shifted. I—I must’ve lost it.”

Mum’s face darkened, her brows knitting together. “Someone must’ve taken it off,” she muttered, rising from her seat. “Stay right there.”

She moved quickly across the room, rummaging through the drawers with a sense of purpose. I watched her, my mind racing. In the chaos of everything, I hadn’t even noticed the talisman was gone. I hoped it wasn’t in the wrong hands.

Mum returned to me, holding a map of Logris and a quartz crystal. She dropped the map onto the table and then pressed the crystal into my chest with a firm, steady hand.

“What are you doing?” I asked, staring down at the cold stone, which felt oddly heavy against my skin.

“Shh…” Mum whispered, her eyes narrowing as she focused. “I’m getting a magical impression. I need to feel the connection.”

I bit my lip, unsure of whether I should be more concerned about her performing a dangerous ritual or the growing sense of dread building up in me. But it was already too late to back out now, so I kept still, letting her do what she needed to do.

When she finally pulled the crystal away from my chest, I was startled to see that it had darkened, now a deep black instead of its usual translucent white. Her eyes flicked between the map and the crystal, calculating something I couldn’t understand.

“Spread the map out on the table,” she instructed, her voice serious, yet quiet.

I did as she asked, laying the map flat. The silence between us felt thick, heavy, and I could feel the tension in the air, like something was about to snap.

Mum placed the blackened quartz onto the map. She whispered something under her breath, her voice low, in a language I didn’t recognize. I could see the crystal vibrate slightly before it began to move, gliding across the map with a mind of its own.

I watched, barely daring to breathe, as it sped toward Lunaris Road. My heart pounded. I nodded slowly, realizing what it meant. The talisman had to be close. It had to be.

The crystal circled Lunaris Road, then stopped over a large section of land, its movement slowing to a halt. Mum’s face tightened. Her eyes, though calm, betrayed a hint of disbelief.

“It’s in the alpha’s house,” she murmured.