Alec’s

Kaden. That name keeps playing in my head over and over again like a broken record. I don't know what it is about it, but it sends shivers down my spine.

I frown as I try to think about why it would affect me in that way. It wasn't a name I knew. It was just a random name, yet it has an effect on me that I can't understand no matter how much I try.

I try shaking myself from the thoughts, but nothing. It's like my mind is stuck on that one name. I don't know anyone by that name, so it doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Trying to focus, I clench my fingers in an effort to keep myself grounded. To keep tethered to reality, but it doesn't work. My heart starts racing really fast the more I think about that name. The more my brain focuses on it.

My vision blurs as my eyes become unfocused. It's like I am in a damn trance. A trance I can't pull myself from no matter how much I try.

There is something about it that I just don't get. An array of emotions assaults me all at once, and my breathing becomes deep as I struggle to fully grasp what the hell is happening to me. Fear, pain, sadness, bitterness, anger and betrayal. At the top of that list were betrayal, fear, pain and complete heartbreak.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

What the hell was happening to me? Why did I feel this way towards someone I didn't even know?

It's all so fucking confusing. I can't make any sense out of it.

"Sadie, are you alright?"

I jump in my chair, startled when a hand on my shoulders gently shakes me. I look towards the person to find Alec watching me with concern. Not really knowing what to say, I avoid his questioning gaze and look around the room, only to find everyone staring at me. My thoughts are jumbled and a mess. I also can't help the thought that that name feels really familiar. Which, when you think about it, is weird because I am sure I wouldn't have forgotten that kind of name.

I swallow, "Yes, yes, I am okay."

As much as I wanted to tell them what's bothering me, I couldn't. I didn't understand it myself, so how the hell was I supposed to explain it to them? How am I supposed to when I didn't even know what it meant? "Raven, you were saying..." Micah picks up the conversation.

Her eyes were narrowed at me, but when Micah calls her name, she forces her focus back on what matters.

"Like I was saying, I think I found out

who is

nameprisoned here.Wis again. o?

Kaden," she repeats

Just like earlier, my heart misses a beat at the mention of that name. Yeah, something is seriously wrong with me.

"How did you find out?" Jason asks, his complete focus on Raven.

Raven doesn't miss a beat as she sits down and starts explaining. "Well, it kept bothering me, especially since I didn't find anything of use in the pack library. I got the idea of checking it out somewhere else. My mom always told me that, just like wolves, witches also have libraries, and so do vampires."

She takes a pause before she continues. "I decided to reach out to the nearest witch coven. Like we had established, loads of power was used to cast that spell, and if so, then a witch or warlock was

probably involved. The good elinet'

is

that they granted me authorization once they learned that I was a witch. I combed their text going back hundreds of years. That's when I came across that name."

"Go on," Alec urges when Raven stops talking. She sends him a glaring look but continues.

"According to the texts, Kaden is the son of the god Erebus."

"Wait," Piper interrupts. "Erebus as in the Greek primordial god of darkness?"

We all turn to look at her questioningly.

"What?" she asks, her eyebrows raised.

"How do you even know that?" Alec is the one that questions her while Micah and Jason stare at her with confusion.