Contract Marriage With Alpha Snow - Chapter 429

Chapter 429: Escaping the Forbidden Fog
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CHAPTER 429

~Zara’s POV~

A shadow moved through the mist. I shut my eyes, chanting, ‘Don’t look, don’t listen’.

“Kaid,” another voice murmured. Softer. Feminine.

My breath hitched. Mother. I gritted my teeth. “No. No, you’re not real.”

“Open your eyes, my son. Come home.”

Their voices wrapped around me, coaxing and pulling me. My fingers curled into fists. The fog was playing tricks. They were not real.

But gods, they sounded so real.

“You have suffered enough. You do not need to fight anymore. Just open your eyes.”

I clenched my jaw. “No,” I whispered. “I won’t.”

I believed my answer must have worked, but as soon as relief washed over me, I felt the air grow extremely cold around me, followed by the deep-seated hatred in their voices.

“Then you will die in the fog.”

I felt the cold hands reach for me. And I knew—if I didn’t find Zara soon, this place would be my grave.

Knitting my brows, I growled deeply, hoping the noise would chase them off, but my action seemed to bring them closer.

Still, I did it again. “If this will draw the ghost, then perhaps it can reach Zara too.”

“Zara!!”

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~Zara’s POV~

Zara!

The voice was faint, but I heard it. “Kaid!”

I heard his voice again. It was urgent, raw and desperate—but this time, it wasn’t just in one place. It was everywhere.

I sprinted through the fog, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I fought to reach him. My arms stretched forward blindly, trying to push through the dense mist. Every step I took sent a sharp pang of anxiety crawling up my spine.

Then, my foot caught on something.

I gasped as I tumbled forward, landing hard against the cold, damp ground. Pain flared up my ankle, and a sharp sting burned at my knee where the skin tore open. I hissed through clenched teeth, forcing myself to sit up.

And that was when I saw it.

The skull.

The hollow, grinning face of the dead stared back at me from the dirt, half-buried in the shadows of the fog.

A shudder crawled through me as I realized it wasn’t alone—bones littered the ground around me, remnants of those who had failed to escape.

Shit! This could be us if I don’t find a way to locate Kaid and escape from here.

A sharp chill rushed through the air.

I froze.

The mist shifted, curling around me like living smoke. I panicked as I recalled that form. It was just like my dream.

“No, no, no!”

Before I could react, a face lunged at me.

I barely managed to snap my eyes shut as the ghostly figure stopped inches from my face, whispering my name in a hollow, haunting, cold voice.

“Zara… look at me.”

No.

I clenched my fists, squeezing my eyes tighter as their voices grew louder.

“Look at me, Zara.”

Their presence was suffocating. Their whispers turned into a chorus of hissing, pleading, demanding that I open my eyes.

Then I heard it. I heard Kaid’s voice again.

“Zara!!”

But this time, it wasn’t just one voice—it was many. The fog twisted his words, distorting them, making them echo in all directions. I couldn’t tell which was real and which was a trick.

Panic clawed at my chest. I couldn’t open my eyes.

I couldn’t trust the voices.

The cold grew unbearable. I felt hands—too many hands—scraping at my skin, tugging at my clothes, yanking at my hair.

“Zara…”

Then, a different voice rang through the air—strong, ancient, and familiar—my great-grandmother’s.

“Look within you, child, and you shall find the answer.”

My breath hitched as the words resonated deep within me, pushing through the haze of fear clouding my mind.

“Look within.”

I swallowed thickly, forcing myself to focus. I unclenched my fists, feeling the warmth of my power stir inside me.

A tiny white flame flickered in the darkness of my mind. I reached for it, but it wasn’t as easy as what you’d watch in the movies.

It was freaking not easy.

The moment my fingers brushed against it, the flame vanished—only to reappear inside me, surging through my veins like fire, like life itself.

The sensation overwhelmed me.

I felt everything.

The cool breeze brushed against my skin. The distant scent of water carried from the east. The dust-filled ground at my west. Then the rotting stench of death surrounded me, and the smell of the marsh from the north.

And the clean, crisp scent of fresh trees coming from the…

South.

That was the way out.

The ghosts shrieked as I stood, their voices piercing my ears, their clawed hands tearing at me, desperate to keep me in the fog.

I ignored them. The power inside me pulsed, filling me in ways words could not explain, and with one final burst, I let it explode outward.

A blinding white light erupted from my chest, spreading in all directions like a shockwave. The fog recoiled. The whispers screamed. The icy grip of the spirits shattered around me.

And then—silence. I opened my eyes slowly to see the mist had parted and standing there at a distance away was a figure, tall like one person I know. Kaid.

He called out again, the sound sounding so sweet in my ears as that proved he was alive and not just the ghosts from the fog deceiving me.

“Kaid!!” I sprinted toward him. His head snapped up at my voice, his expression tense.

“Zara?!”

“Kaid!”

“Zara!”

I think his Lycan senses became of good use as the next second, he sprinted in my direction, but I noticed he had his eyes shut.

“Good thinking,” I muttered as I ran faster. The second I reached him, I grabbed his hand, not bothering with the hugs and pleasantries. The fog was gone for now; who knew when it would return and how fast?

We needed to sprint and do so quickly. “Come on,” I said, breathless. “I’m getting us to safety.”

Kaid didn’t hesitate. He trusted me, trusted the warmth of my hands and my presence. “Let’s do it, princess.”

Hand in hand, we ran—straight toward the south, toward the path of fresh air and away from the damned, cursed fog.