The first sign change
1345 Words
The first warning did not come like thunder.
It came like silence.
Like something missing that Hannah Vale could not immediately name.
She noticed it in the smallest ways.
The way her body felt heavier in the mornings.
The slight wave of dizziness when she stood too quickly.
The strange heat that came and went without warning, leaving her breath uneven and her thoughts scattered.
At first, she blamed exhaustion.
The pack had been demanding lately.
Training schedules had increased.
Resources were being reorganized.
Everyone was working harder.
So she told herself it was nothing.
Just fatigue.
Just stress.
Just life.
But her body… did not agree.
That morning, she woke before sunrise again.
Not because she wanted to.
Because sleep no longer stayed with her for long.
Hannah sat on the edge of her bed, pressing her fingers to her temples as a faint ache pulsed behind her eyes.
Her stomach twisted slightly.
She frowned.
“That’s new,” she whispered to herself.
She stood slowly.
Too slowly.
The room tilted for half a second.
She grabbed the table instinctively to steady herself.
Her heartbeat quickened.
“…Okay,” she muttered. “That’s definitely new.”
A pause.
Then she shook her head.
“No. It’s nothing.”
But her voice didn’t sound convinced anymore.
By midday, the feeling had not gone away.
If anything, it had deepened.
A strange sensitivity in her body she couldn’t explain.
Even the air felt different.
Sharper.
Heavier.
More aware of her than usual.
Nyra noticed it first.
Of course she did.
Nothing escaped Nyra Thorn for long.
“You look pale,” Nyra said bluntly as she entered the storage hall.
Hannah barely looked up.
“I’m fine.”
Nyra raised a brow.
“That’s your second lie this week.”
Hannah exhaled softly.
“It’s not a lie if I believe it.”
Nyra walked closer, arms folded.
“That doesn’t make it true.”
A pause.
Then Nyra’s gaze narrowed slightly.
“When was your last cycle?”
Hannah blinked.
The question caught her off guard.
“My… what?”
Nyra didn’t smile.
“I’m not repeating it.”
Hannah opened her mouth—
Then stopped.
Because she realized she didn’t remember.
At all.
A faint unease crept into her chest.
“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly.
Nyra’s expression shifted.
Just slightly.
But Hannah caught it.
“What?” Hannah asked immediately. “What is it?”
Nyra studied her for a long moment.
Too long.
Then she exhaled slowly.
“Nothing,” she said finally.
But her voice said otherwise.
That night, Hannah couldn’t sleep again.
She sat near the river once more, pulling her knees to her chest.
The water moved quietly.
Unbothered.
Unaware.
Unlike her.
Her hand drifted again toward her stomach.
She hesitated.
Then pressed lightly.
Still flat.
Still unchanged.
And yet—
Something felt wrong.
Not painful.
Not obvious.
Just… unfamiliar.
Hannah frowned.
“No,” she whispered again. “It’s impossible.”
But even as she said it—
Her mind drifted back.
To that night.
To closeness.
To heat.
To touches she had tried so hard to forget.
Her breath caught slightly.
Her fingers tightened against her dress.
“No,” she repeated more firmly. “It was just— it was nothing. Just instinct. That’s what they said.”
Instinct.
The word no longer comforted her.
It felt… incomplete.
Footsteps approached again.
This time she didn’t need to turn to know who it was.
Kael Draven.
She stood immediately, wiping her hands quickly.
“I thought I made myself clear,” she said before he could speak.
Kael stopped a few steps away.
“I am not here for that,” he said.
Hannah frowned slightly.
“Then why are you here?”
A pause.
His eyes studied her differently tonight.
More focused.
Less distant.
“You missed training.”
She scoffed lightly.
“I’m allowed to miss training.”
“That is not your pattern.”
That made her pause.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Are you monitoring my patterns now?”
Kael didn’t respond immediately.
Then—
“Yes.”
That single word made her chest tighten.
“Why?” she asked quietly.
He didn’t answer right away.
And in that silence—
Something uncomfortable stretched between them.
Finally, he spoke.
“Your condition has been… inconsistent.”
Hannah stiffened.
“My condition?”
Kael’s gaze didn’t waver.
“Yes.”
She crossed her arms.
“I’m not sick.”
“I did not say you were.”
“Then what are you saying?”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Kael’s jaw tightened slightly.
“Something has changed in you.”
Her heartbeat quickened.
That again.
Changed.
Everyone was noticing now.
Nyra.
Kael.
Even Lucien and Ronan had begun to look at her differently in passing moments she pretended not to see.
Hannah forced her voice to stay steady.
“Nothing has changed,” she said.
Kael stepped slightly closer.
And for the first time, she felt something different in his presence.
Not dominance.
Not control.
But attention.
Sharp.
Unsettling.
Focused.
“You are lying again,” he said quietly.
Her breath caught.
“I am not.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You are more fatigued. Your scent has shifted. Your reactions are delayed. Something is happening.”
Her throat went dry.
Her scent?
That made her stomach tighten.
“That’s impossible,” she said quickly. “Nothing is—”
But her voice faltered.
Because she wasn’t sure anymore.
Not fully.
Kael watched her carefully.
Then said something that made the air feel suddenly too thin.
“Lucien noticed it too.”
Her stomach dropped.
Of course he did.
Lucien noticed everything.
“And Ronan?” she asked quietly before she could stop herself.
A flicker passed through Kael’s expression.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Unstable.
Hannah stepped back slightly.
“No,” she whispered.
Kael’s gaze sharpened.
“What do you think this is?”
She shook her head slowly.
“I don’t know.”
But her mind was already filling in the gaps she didn’t want to see.
Her missed cycle.
Her dizziness.
Her body changes.
The night she tried so hard to forget.
The night they all insisted meant nothing.
Her breath turned uneven.
“No,” she repeated again, firmer this time. “It’s not possible.”
Kael studied her for a long moment.
Then said quietly—
“We will have the healer examine you.”
That made her snap her head up.
“No.”
Instant.
Sharp.
Final.
Kael didn’t move.
“It is necessary.”
“I said no.”
Silence stretched between them again.
The river behind her continued flowing, completely indifferent to the storm forming in her chest.
Kael’s voice lowered slightly.
“This is not optional, Hannah.”
Her name on his lips felt heavier than usual.
She swallowed hard.
“I don’t belong to you,” she said quietly.
Something flickered in his eyes at that.
But he didn’t deny it.
He didn’t agree either.
He simply said—
“This is about what is happening to you.”
A pause.
Then softer—
“And what may have been left unresolved.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
Left unresolved.
No one said the word.
No one dared.
But it hung there anyway.
Unspoken.
Unavoidable.
Hannah’s hands trembled slightly.
“I need time,” she whispered.
Kael held her gaze.
“For what?”
She didn’t answer.
Because she didn’t know.
Or maybe she did.
And that terrified her more.
Kael finally stepped back.
But before leaving, he said one last thing.
Calm.
Controlled.
But heavier than anything else that night.
“If this is what I believe it may be… everything changes again.”
Then he turned.
And left her alone by the river.
Hannah stood there long after he was gone.
Her hand slowly moved back to her stomach.
This time—
She didn’t pull away immediately.
Her breath shook slightly.
And for the first time…
She didn’t say no.
- Writer
