The growl inside my chest faded.
The silence afterward was worse.
For a few seconds, nobody in the room moved. Not Mom. Not Dr. Vale. Not Damon.
The only sound came from the monitor beside my bed, beeping too quickly because apparently even my heart had questions now.
I pressed one hand over the mark beneath my collarbone.
It was still there.
A pale crescent under my skin, glowing faintly gold.
Real.
Everything was real.
The wolves outside.
The way Damon’s eyes changed.
The thing inside me that had answered the howl with a growl of its own.
Dr. Vale stepped closer, his expression careful. “Arielle, I need to check your throat again. Only if you are comfortable with that.”
I looked at Damon first.
He had not moved from the window. His shoulders were tense, his hands clenched a
