6.
898 Words
The forest felt different at night now.
Not darker.
Sharper.
Like every tree, every breath of wind, every living thing around me had become painfully clear in ways my mind still couldn’t fully process.
I could hear insects beneath the bark of trees.
Water moving miles away.
Heartbeats.
Too many heartbeats.
I pressed my fingers against my temple as another wave of awareness hit me unexpectedly.
“This is getting worse,” I muttered.
Theron stood near the edge of the clearing, watching me with unreadable eyes.
“No,” he corrected calmly. “It’s growing.”
I glared at him immediately.
“That’s not comforting.”
For the first time since meeting him, something close to amusement crossed his face.
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
The silver beneath my veins flickered faintly again.
I hated when it did that.
Every time the glow appeared, I felt less like myself.
Less like Lira Vale.
And more like… something else trying to wake up inside me.
I looked away quickly.
“I still don’t understand why this is happening.”
Theron’s expression darkened slightly.
“The rejection accelerated it.”
My stomach tightened.
Of course it did.
Everything always came back to that night.
To Kael.
I forced myself not to think about him, but the second his name crossed my mind—
The bond pulsed.
Sharp.
Instant.
I inhaled sharply as warmth spread briefly through my chest.
Theron noticed immediately.
“He’s searching for you now.”
Anger rose faster than I expected.
“He rejected me.”
“Yes,” Theron replied quietly. “And his instincts regret it.”
I looked at him in disbelief.
“You’re saying this like it matters.”
“It does matter.”
“No,” I snapped. “It mattered before he humiliated me in front of the entire pack.”
The forest suddenly stirred around us.
Branches trembled slightly.
Not from wind.
From me.
I froze instantly.
The silver glow flashed harder beneath my skin.
Theron stepped forward immediately.
“Control it.”
“I’m trying!”
“No,” he said sharply this time. “You’re reacting emotionally. That’s dangerous.”
My breathing became uneven.
The pressure building inside me felt unstable—too large for my body, too heavy for my thoughts.
Like something ancient was pressing against my ribs from the inside.
I stumbled backward slightly.
Theron grabbed my arm before I could fall.
And the second he touched me—
The forest exploded with sound.
Voices.
Images.
Pain.
I gasped as flashes tore through my mind violently.
Moonlight reflecting off silver eyes.
Wolves bowing.
Blood staining white stone.
Screams.
Fire.
A woman running while holding a child wrapped in dark cloth—
Then—
Yellow eyes.
Claws.
Death.
I ripped away from Theron instantly with a choking breath.
“What was that?”
Theron’s expression had changed completely now.
Serious.
Almost alarmed.
“You saw memories.”
I stared at him.
“Those weren’t mine.”
“No,” he said quietly. “They were your bloodline’s.”
Cold spread through my chest.
“That’s impossible.”
“Moon-Blood wolves carry instinctive memory.”
My heartbeat became uneven again.
“No…”
Theron’s gaze remained fixed on me.
“You’re awakening too quickly.”
I stepped backward again.
“I don’t want this.”
His voice softened slightly.
“That doesn’t stop it.”
A low growl suddenly echoed through the forest.
Both of us turned instantly.
Not rogue.
Pack wolves.
Close.
Far too close.
Theron’s expression darkened immediately.
“They found the outer trails faster than expected.”
Panic shot through me.
“How?”
“The bond.” He looked directly at me. “You and Kael are still connected.”
The growls became louder.
Branches snapped somewhere beyond the trees.
Warriors.
My pulse spiked painfully.
“No,” I whispered.
I couldn’t let them see me like this.
Couldn’t let Kael see whatever I was becoming.
Another pulse hit the bond.
Stronger this time.
Closer.
And suddenly—
I felt him.
Not vaguely.
Not distantly.
Clearly.
Alpha energy.
Cold.
Dominant.
Familiar enough to make my chest ache instantly.
Kael.
He was near.
Far too near.
Theron grabbed my wrist immediately.
“Listen carefully,” he said lowly. “If he sees your eyes before you gain control, everything changes.”
Fear twisted through me.
“What does that mean?”
But before Theron could answer—
A powerful Alpha command ripped through the forest.
“COME OUT.”
The pressure slammed into the trees violently.
Birds exploded into the air.
The ground itself seemed to tense beneath the force of it.
A normal wolf would have dropped instantly under that command.
I didn’t.
My body reacted differently now.
Instead of submission—
Something inside me pushed back.
The silver beneath my skin flared hard.
The pressure around me cracked sharply like invisible glass.
Theron’s eyes widened slightly.
And for the first time since meeting him—
He looked genuinely worried.
Because somewhere beyond the trees…
Kael had just felt it too.
A moment of complete silence followed.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
Another voice echoed through the forest.
Lower.
Closer.
Him.
“Lira.”
My breath stopped instantly.
The bond reacted so violently my knees nearly gave out.
Theron cursed quietly under his breath.
Too late.
He found me.
- Writer
