Chapter Five
1759 Words
Gabrielle woke up to silence.
Not the peaceful kind— the heavy, unsettling kind that pressed against her chest and made her
heart beat too fast. It felt as though the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something
terrible to happen.
Her body felt… different. Warmer, Stronger, Too aware.
She swallowed hard and became conscious of the bed beneath her, softer than the servant
mattress she was used to. The faint scent of herbs, smoke, and something darker filled her lungs.
A wolf.
Her heart slammed painfully, slowly, fearfully, Gabrielle lifted her hand. Her arm moved
smoothly, effortlessly, without the usual ache she’d lived with her whole life. Confusion washed
over her as she flexed her fingers, watching them move like they belonged to someone else.
Then she felt it.
A tightness at her neck. Her breath hitched as she raised her fingers and touched the spot just
below her collarbone.
Two small scars.
Perfectly healed. Her chest tightened violently.
“No…” she whispered.
The memories crashed into her all at once, the pain, the heat, the scream ripped from her throat.
Caden’s arms around her. His fangs.
The mark.
She was shaking by the time the door creaked open. Gabrielle jerked upright, panic flooding her
veins, but it wasn’t Caden who entered, It was the pack healer.
The old woman moved slowly, deliberately, as if afraid even the sound of her footsteps might
shatter something fragile. Her gray hair was braided tightly down her back, her sharp eyes
scanning Gabrielle with open awe.
“You’re awake,” the healer murmured.
Gabrielle’s voice trembled. “What happened to me?”
The healer didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she crossed the room and reached out, pressing
two fingers gently against Gabrielle’s wrist.
Her eyes widened.
“Oh, moon above…” she breathed.
Gabrielle’s fear heightened. “What is it? What’s wrong with me?”
The healer lifted her gaze, and for the first time since Gabrielle had known her, fear flickered
across the old woman’s face.
“You’ve healed,” she said quietly. “Completely. Faster than I have ever seen.”
She moved closer, turning Gabrielle’s head gently to the side to inspect the bite marks on her
neck. Her breath caught sharply.
“This should not be possible,” she whispered.
Gabrielle’s heart pounded painfully. “You’re scaring me.”
The healer straightened slowly. “Child,” she said, voice hushed with awe and dread, “your blood
is not human.”
The words struck like thunder. “What?” Gabrielle whispered.
“Your blood is ancient,” the healer continued. “Older than this pack. Older than our laws. It is
tied directly to the Moon Goddess herself.”
Gabrielle stared at her, mind reeling. “That doesn’t make sense. My mother was human. I was
human.”
The healer’s expression softened.
“No,” she said gently. “Your mother was hiding.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Hiding from what?” Gabrielle asked faintly. “Hiding from us.”
Before Gabrielle could process the words, the door burst open.
Caden entered.
His presence filled the room instantly, power rolling off him in heavy waves. His eyes snapped to
Gabrielle, relief flickering across his face so quickly he didn’t even try to hide it.
“You’re awake,” he said hoarsely.
Gabrielle shrank back instinctively.
“You marked me,” she said, voice shaking. “You said you rejected me.”
Pain twisted his features.
“I never stopped feeling the bond,” he said quietly. “I just pretended I could.”
The healer cleared her throat sharply.
“Alpha heir,” she said. “You need to hear this.”
Caden’s gaze snapped to her. “What?”
“She is not human.” Silence crashed down.
Caden went still.
“What?” he demanded.
The healer met his eyes unwavering . “Her bloodline is ancient. Tied to the Moon Goddess
herself.”
Caden’s breath left him in a sharp exhale.
“That’s impossible,” he said. “My father would have known.”
“No,” the healer replied sternly. “Your father helped bury it.”
The words hung in the air like poison.
Gabrielle’s chest tightened painfully. “What does that mean?”
The healer hesitated, then sighed deeply.
“Your mother was Moon touched,” she said. “A rare lineage believed to be extinct. Women born
with the goddess’s blessing. They were powerful. Too powerful.”
Caden’s jaw clenched. “So the packs hunted them.”
“Yes.”
Gabrielle’s stomach stirred violently. “You’re saying… my mother was killed because of what
she was?”
The healer didn’t answer. She didn’t need to.
A sob tore from Gabrielle’s chest as everything finally made sense, her mother’s fear, the
warnings, the way the moon always felt like it was watching her.
Caden stepped forward instinctively, but Gabrielle flinched.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
He stopped immediately, pain flashing across his face.
“My father,” he said slowly, “what role did he play?”
The healer’s gaze hardened.
“He ordered her execution.”
The room shattered.
Caden staggered back as if struck. “No,” he whispered. “He wouldn’t—”
“He would,” the healer said coldly. “And now that he knows what she is… he will finish what he
started.”
Fear wrapped icy fingers around Gabrielle’s heart.
“He’ll kill me,” she said softly.
Caden’s wolf snarled viciously inside him.
“No,” he growled. “He won’t touch you.”
The healer shook her head. “You underestimate Alpha Lucas. If he cannot kill her, he will control
her. Use her blood. Use her bond.”
Gabrielle hugged herself tightly.
“I never wanted this,” she whispered.
Caden turned to her, eyes blazing. “Neither did I,” he said fiercely. “But I will not let him destroy
you.”
The healer stepped back, bowing her head slightly.
“The moon has chosen,” she said quietly. “And when the moon chooses… the world changes.”
As she left, distant howls echoed through the pack lands — angry, curious, afraid.
Caden looked back at Gabrielle.
“You’re not safe here,” he said. “Not anymore.”
Suddenly pain exploded behind Gabrielle’s ribs.
She gasped, doubling over as something inside her twisted violently, like an invisible thread had
been yanked tight.
Caden was beside her instantly.
“What is it?” he demanded.
“I— I don’t know,” she cried, clutching her chest. “It feels like something is calling me.”
The air in the room grew heavy. Then the window burst open.
A violent wind rushed inside, whipping the curtains into an uproar as silver moonlight flooded
the room.
Gabrielle froze, the light wasn’t normal. It shimmered, Moved, Watched.
“Do you see that?” she whispered.
Caden did not answer because he could feel it too, power, ancient, immense, terrifying.
Gabrielle slid off the bed slowly, her feet touching the cold floor. She should have felt weak after
the marking.
Instead…
Energy pulsed through her veins, guiding her, calling her forward.
“Gabrielle,” Caden warned, voice low. “Don’t move.”
But she couldn’t stop, she stepped into the moonlight. The moment it touched her skin she
inhaled sharply. Silver markings flickered faintly across her arms before disappearing again, too
fast to fully see.
Caden’s heart nearly stopped.
“What… was that?”
Gabrielle stared at her hands, trembling. “I don’t know…”
Then suddenly…Images crashed into her mind. Not memories, vision. A woman standing
beneath a bleeding moon, golden eyes, hai like liquid night. Power swirling around her like a
storm.
The woman turned and smiled.
Mother.
Gabrielle stumbled backward with a scream. Caden caught her before she hit the ground.
“What did you see?!” he demanded.
“My mother,” she whispered, shaking violently. “But not like I remember… she looked like…
like a queen.”
Caden went completely still.
Moon touched wolves were not just powerful. They were royal. Feared. Nearly impossible to
kill. Which meant only one thing…
“You are not just rare,” he said slowly. “You are dangerous.”
Fear flooded her face. “I don’t want to be dangerous.”
“You don’t get to choose,” he replied sternly.
Outside, someone howled into the night. Closer this time.
Caden’s head snapped toward the door. Too late.
He could already feel it. His father was awake and Alpha Lucas was furious.
The bond. The marking. Gabrielle’s awakening.
He knew.
“Listen to me carefully,” Caden said urgently, gripping her shoulders. “From this moment on,
you do exactly as I say.”
Her lips trembled. “You’re scaring me.”
“I should be,” he said because footsteps were already echoing down the corridor.
Not servant footsteps.
Not guards.
Heavy. Commanding. Alpha footsteps.
Gabrielle’s heart nearly stopped.
“Is that—”
“Yes,” Caden said darkly. “My father.”
For the first time since she woke, true terror swallowed her whole. Caden moved quickly,
scanning the room like a soldier preparing for war.
If Lucas saw her now…
Saw the moonlight reacting to her…
Smelled the power rising in her blood…Everything would change.
“Get back into the bed,” he ordered quietly.
“What? Why?”
“Because if he realizes what you are,” Caden said, voice deadly calm, “he will never let you out
of his sight again.”
Gabrielle rushed back under the covers just as the footsteps stopped outside the door.
Silence fell.
Then a knock.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Terrifying.
Caden turned toward the door, every muscle in his body coiled tight.
“Enter,” he said coldly. The door creaked open.
Alpha Lucas stepped inside. His sharp gaze moved first to Caden…Then to Gabrielle and slowly
he smiled. It was not a kind smile, it was the smile of a man who had just realized he was
looking at power he intended to own.
“Well,” the Alpha said softly.
“This is… unexpected.”
Caden stepped slightly in front of the bed. Protective, defiant.
Lucas noticed. His smile widened.
“Oh, my son,” he murmured. “What exactly have you brought into my pack?”
Gabrielle felt the moon stir inside her and for the first time…Something ancient stirred back, not
fear, not weakness, but power.
Waiting.
Watching.
Becoming.
- Writer
