Serelina Vale: The Awakening

Chapter Six

My blood felt like it was shifting. Like my DNA was being rewritten. Like something wild was clawing its way to the surface. Something else.

“The wolf.” I whispered it in my mind like a secret I hadn’t realized I knew.

“Lina?” Amaya stepped closer, slow and cautious. “Are you okay?”

I couldn’t answer. My gaze was still locked on my reflection, on those glowing eyes.

“I think,” I murmured, barely able to speak, “I’m starting to remember who I am.”

Or maybe… what I was. And somewhere deep inside, behind all the fear and confusion, a voice stirred, low, ancient, female. My own, and not my own at the same time.

“Finally.”

Lucian’s POV

Once I reached my apartment I decided to head outside on the balcony. The city air was thick with scent and noise, but it all fell away the moment Kael stirred.

“There.”

The tether flared again, an invisible thread tugging at the center of my chest, sharp and sudden. I staggered slightly on the rooftop edge where I had been perched, overlooking the park. The taste of ozone hit the back of my tongue, and Kael growled in his mind.

“She’s waking more.”

I gripped the cold railing, jaw tight. “I know,” I murmured. I had felt her before, faint pulses in the distance, subtle and easily dismissed. But this was different. This was a surge, a raw burst of emotion and power that cut through the city’s chaos like a lightning strike. Pain. Fear. Recognition. It wasn’t just a flare of magic. It was her. And something ancient in Kael howled for her, not with hunger, but with longing.

“She remembers you. Not with her mind, but with her blood.”

I exhaled, eyes narrowing toward the direction of the spike. I had seen her in the park. Watched her. And when she ran, something inside me screamed to follow, not out of curiosity, but need. Not just any wolf would have a tether like this. Not just any bond would burn this deep. This wasn't a coincidence. This was fate. And fate was waking up.

“Soon,” I muttered. “We will find her again soon.”

Kael rumbled low in his chest.

“We don’t find her. We let her remember. Let her choose.”

My grip loosened, the faintest trace of pain flickering across his features.

“I just hope we get the chance.”

Serelina’s POV

The silver in my eyes was finally fading when I heard the knock at the door.

“Lina,” Amaya called gently from the bedroom doorway. “Your mom’s here.”

My stomach twisted. Of course she was, I thought to myself. My adoptive mother, the one who had always smiled just a little too tightly. Who never yelled, but never truly listened either. The one who bought her things instead of asking how she felt. Perfect hair. Perfect house. Perfect expectations.

And now, she was at the door, probably in pearls and perfume, ready to scold me in her soft, manipulative voice.

“Lina,” Leo said quietly, “You don’t have to go if you don’t want…”

“Yes, she does,” came the voice from the hallway. “She’s my daughter. And she hasn’t been home in days.”

I froze, my body reacting before my brain caught up. I stepped into the living room, arms crossed over my chest. My mother stood by the door, lips pressed into a familiar disappointed line, her sharp eyes raking over me like she was counting flaws. “What are you wearing? And your hair, Lina—honestly.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. The tether in my chest was still humming, like a second heartbeat. The memory of my glowing eyes hadn’t even faded, and now I was supposed to pretend to be normal?

“Come home,” my mother said. “We’re having dinner. Your father is worried sick. And frankly, so am I. You need help. You’re clearly overwhelmed. Whatever this is,” she waved vaguely toward my disheveled appearance, “We’ll fix it.”

My mouth felt dry. I didn’t want to go back. I didn’t want to sit at that perfectly set table under that suffocating silence. I didn’t want to be the version of myself they expected, the broken, obedient daughter who never asked questions. But guilt worked fast. I caught Amaya’s glance, soft and understanding. I gave a small nod. “Just dinner. Then I’m coming back.”

My mother pursed her lips but didn’t argue. “Good. Be ready in ten minutes.”

As the door clicked shut behind her, I sank onto the edge of the couch and whispered to myself “I don’t think I can do this.”

Because how could I sit at a table with people who raised me, when my soul was screaming for answers they didn’t even know existed? Or do they?

Amaya’s POV

I stood in the hallway long after the door clicked shut behind Serelina’s mother. I didn’t move. Didn’t blink. My thoughts spun like a storm I’d seen coming years ago, except now, the thunder was here. Silver eyes. I’d seen them only once before. In a place I’ve never talked about. In a part of my past I kept buried under sarcasm and heavy eyeliner. But tonight, there was no denying it.

Serelina wasn’t just sick. She wasn’t confused. She was awakening.

“Leo,” I called quietly, and he appeared beside me almost instantly, his jaw tight, arms crossed. “She’s changing,” he said. It wasn’t a question. I nodded, arms wrapped around myself. “It’s starting. Faster than I thought it would.”

“You think the picture triggered it?”

“Maybe. Or the man in the suit. Or both.” My voice dropped lower. “We always knew it would happen. We just didn’t know when.”

Leo sighed, running a hand through his hair. “And now?” I looked toward the mirror in the hallway, where flecks of silver had danced in Serelina’s eyes just minutes before. “Now we do what we came here to do,” I said softly. “We protect her. Even if she doesn’t know why. Even if she never remembers what we are.” Leo met my gaze. “You think she’ll find out?” My mouth curved into a sad smile. “She was never meant to be ordinary, Leo. The best we can do is keep her safe while she finds her way back.” Leo glanced at the door. “And if she doesn’t?” I didn’t hesitate. “Then we remind her.”

Serelina’s POV — Dinner With Her Adoptive Family

The knife scraped against the plate, high and shrill like a scream biting through the silence. I sat stiffly at the end of the long, polished dining table, my spine ramrod straight in the chair that always made me feel like a guest in my own life. The room was too bright, too clean, too cold. Every inch of it screamed control. Perfection. Appearances.

My adoptive mother, Lillian, poured wine with that same serene expression she always wore, like emotions were something best avoided. My father, Everett, was already halfway through his steak, cutting with robotic precision.

“So,” Lillian said lightly, folding her hands under her chin, “you’ve been staying with Amaya again. I assume that means you’re fighting with your therapist again?”

I didn’t answer right away. The pull in my chest, the tether, was quieter now, but it hadn’t vanished. It pulsed faintly beneath my skin, like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to me.

“I just needed space,” I said.

Lillian offered a tight smile. “Well, space won’t help you heal. We’ve talked about this, darling. You’ve always been dramatic. And now? All this nonsense about strange men and glowing eyes…”

My fork clattered against my plate. “I didn’t say anything about glowing eyes.” Lillian paused. Just for a beat. Just long enough.

“I meant the dreams,” she said smoothly, sipping her wine. “The hallucinations. The paranoia. That’s what your doctors said, isn’t it?”

Everett finally looked up. “Serelina, you know we love you. But we’re concerned. You’re isolating again. You need structure.”

You need control, I thought bitterly.

I forced a breath through her nose. My skin still felt warm, my bones too tight in my body. Like I didn’t quite fit in my skin anymore. And maybe I didn’t. Maybe I never had.

“You haven’t even asked how I am,” I said quietly. That silenced the table for a brief minute.

“We know how you are,” Lillian said, her voice soft, condescending. “You’re overwhelmed. And lost. And confused.” My hands curled in my lap, nails digging into my palms. But I wasn’t lost. Not anymore. I just hadn’t found the truth yet.