Bride Series Book 1: The Spiders Bride
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B. Shock
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Wren has spent her entire life being treated like a monster.
Shunned for the magic flowing through her blood, she has grown up alone, unwanted, and blamed for things beyond her control. After fleeing the orphanage that treated her like a freak, Wren survives for years on scraps, wandering from place to place with nowhere to call home.
Then her luck finally runs out.
While being hunted through a dark forest by a feral monster, Wren stumbles into a hidden trap and falls into the web of an Arachne.
He is intelligent. Cunning. Deadly.
And for reasons Wren cannot understand, he refuses to let her leave.
Trapped within his underground lair, Wren expects to become nothing more than another meal. But as the days pass, she begins to see a side of the creature she never expected. Beneath his frightening appearance lies someone who is strangely curious about her, protects her from the dangers lurking within his territory, and seems determined to understand the lonely witch who fell into his web.
The longer Wren remains trapped in his world, the more she begins to question everything she thought she knew about monsters—and herself.
The creature she once feared would someday eat her may become the only person capable of understanding who she truly is.
Chapter 1: Falling
WREN
The feel of warm blood dripping down my arm, the anguish coursing through me, the exhaustion of each of my limbs as I struggled to push forward, and the burning of my lungs as I desperately tried to breathe. All of these things would probably drive a person to stop.
To give up, roll over, and succumb to their fate. Even though my life had been nothing but miserable up to this point, I still clung to the frayed and worn threads of my existence.
If I stopped running, then the monster giving chase would catch up. It would tear me apart before I could even blink. The pain I would feel would be agonizing, and the remains of my body would be left to rot and decay.
I don’t want to die like that.
I blinked away tears that stung my eyes and tried to focus on the path ahead. Not that there was any path. I was completely lost, isolated deep in the dark forest with no one else around.
The only light I had was the bright full moon shining high above. Coming to a small split in the brush, I briefly stopped to look around, searching for something, anything, that might help me escape this hellish nightmare.
A weapon, a hiding place, a shelter. Anything! The heavy panting and thudding footfalls of something approaching from behind forced me back into another full sprint in a completely random direction.
There was no hiding from it while I was bleeding; there was no escaping this forest, and there was no fighting the beast that hunted me. The only way to survive was to run.
I couldn’t keep this up. My body was screaming at me to stop and rest, and as I stumbled and nearly tripped over a rock, I started to lose traction. My steps were becoming sloppy.
Shaking my head, I pushed myself to keep running. Not like this! Please, not like this!
Seeing something reflecting the moonlight ahead of me, I stopped in my tracks right on the edge of a clearing in the middle of the forest. My eyes widened at the sight before me.
Woven between two large trees was an intricate web that towered over me, larger than your average house. Fresh dewdrops glistened on its surface like twinkling stars as the moonlight danced upon it. The web was on display like some sort of art piece, free of any debris or tears from its environment.
It was hauntingly beautiful. But what kind of spider could have created such a massive web?
I didn’t have much time to think about it before the creature that was chasing me finally caught up. I tried to dodge out of the way of its claws as the giant cat beast lunged at me, but my foot caught on a root, tripping me.
I fell as the creature pounced. It was as if time slowed down as I fell backward. The beast was seconds from landing on me and tearing my throat out.
As my back hit the forest floor, the ground seemed to dip and give way underneath. My stomach sank as I attempted to look back and grab at anything I could, but the only thing I managed to latch onto was part of the giant web. Unfortunately for me, it couldn’t hold my weight.
It tore, and with a panicked scream, I fell into a large pit. The wild cat monster fell in right after me, screeching as we both tumbled down a small slope before suddenly free-falling into a dark abyss.
I groaned, blinking a few times to clear dirt and debris from my eyes. High above me, I could see the full moon in the sky, shining brightly, as well as the top of the massive hole I had fallen into.
Where had the hole even come from? There was nothing there beforehand; the ground looked solid!
Lifting my hand, I tried to touch my face, only to find my uninjured arm wouldn’t move. It didn’t feel broken. I could still clench my fist and flex my muscles as I tried to lift it.
It was just stuck, restrained by the cloak I wore. As I tried to move my bleeding arm, I was met with the same resistance, although only the upper half of my arm seemed to be pinned down.
Attempting to sit up was futile as well. Turning my head to the side, I felt a slight pull on my hair and winced. I turned my face enough to see why I was having such a hard time moving, and why I was even still alive after falling down such a deep hole.
Silver strands glistened under the moon’s light. A spider’s web. I had fallen right into a spider’s web, suspended in the air.
An angry snarl grabbed my attention, and I tilted my head back to see the cat beast that had been chasing me, also caught in the web, less than two feet above me. I paled, seeing how close it was, but luckily, it seemed to be stuck as well and unable to move.
My chest heaved and my heart raced as I looked around to the best of my ability. My cloak was completely stuck to the web, but that seemed to be it. Most of my body was free, except for one of my boots and the end of my braid.
Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to calm myself and slowly slipped my arms out of the cloak I wore, freeing them. I winced, feeling the tug on my hair, and tried to pull it free, but the webbing was relentless and wouldn’t let go.
With a muttered curse, I closed my eyes to concentrate. I felt a small tingle in my palm, and then warmth. I opened my eyes to see the small orange glow from a flame in the palm of my hand, barely bigger than that of a candle.
Bringing the flame close to the web, I burned away the few strands stuck to my braid, freeing me. Unfortunately, I seared the end of my braid a bit in the process, letting it loose, but that was a small sacrifice.
As I sat upright, extinguishing the flame in my hand, the web began shaking as the cat beast thrashed about, growling as it tried to break free. When its thrashing stopped, I heard the echo of something clicking as it approached from down a tunnel I hadn’t even noticed before.
My stomach sank as I realized I might just meet the creature these giant webs belonged to. Feeling panicked, I started looking all around for a way off this web.
It would be impossible to climb across it to reach the cave wall. I would only end up getting stuck further. The only other option I had was to burn the webs around me so I could fall through.
I looked down. The bottom of the pit wasn’t too far, but the sight of all the bones that littered its surface was not a very welcoming one.
It’s not like I have a choice right now, though.
Summoning the flame in my hand once again, I started burning the surrounding threads. But as I got closer to the cat beast, it started wildly thrashing again, shaking the entire web and making it harder for me to keep steady.
“S-stop! You keep flailing like that and the entire thing will—”
As if fate couldn’t be any crueler, the web’s entire structure crumbled.
