Chapter 12: The Hunger Beneath the Howl
Olivia's 'Liv' Winters’ POV
Power doesn’t announce itself.
It creeps in quietly, like a second heartbeat you don’t notice until it’s all you can hear.
After the council, I couldn’t breathe.
Not because of fear—no, fear had long since burned out of me—but because the air itself felt too thin, like the mountain was pressing down, testing whether my spine would bend or break.
I chose not to find out.
The forest welcomed me like an old sin.
I crossed the tree line just as dusk bled into night, the sky bruised purple and black, the moon still hidden behind drifting clouds. My boots hit familiar paths, my body moving on instinct alone. This land knew me. It had tasted my blood, my tears, my rage.
And now—it listened.
Cora stirred uneasily.
You s
