CHAPTER 6
917 Words
For a moment the forest fell completely silent.
Then Rowan roared.
Not a human sound.
Not entirely.
The wolves around the clearing froze.
Marcus’s eyes widened.
“Lyra…”
She was already standing.
Rowan’s body surged upward.
His strength exploded outward like a breaking dam.
He swung wildly.
Lyra caught his punch again—
But this time she slid backward several feet.
Marcus swore.
“That’s not human strength.”
Rowan stood there breathing heavily.
His eyes looked different now.
Darker.
Wild.
“What did you do to me?” he demanded.
Lyra shook her head slowly.
“I didn’t do anything.”
Rowan’s fists trembled.
Another growl rumbled in his chest.
The wolves surrounding the clearing shifted uneasily.
They could feel it now too.
The power radiating from him.
Unstable.
Uncontrolled.
Ancient.
Marcus looked at Lyra again.
“You were right.”
Lyra didn’t answer.
Her gaze remained fixed on Rowan.
Because something about his energy felt…
Wrong.
Not wrong in a dangerous way.
Wrong in an impossible way.
If he truly was Selene Nightfang’s son…
Then his wolf should be powerful.
But this…
This felt different.
Older.
Rowan took a step forward.
Lyra instantly tensed.
“Easy,” she warned.
Rowan shook his head.
“I’m not doing this.”
Another step.
“I’m not some experiment for your pack.”
His voice carried a faint growl beneath the words.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Rowan looked at him sharply.
“What?”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re about two seconds away from losing control.”
Rowan laughed bitterly.
“Oh really?”
Then his body froze.
The sound had returned.
The voice in his head.
Stronger now.
Run.
Rowan blinked.
“What?”
Run.
Lyra noticed the confusion on his face.
“What is it?”
Rowan looked around the clearing.
Every wolf was staring at him.
Watching.
Waiting.
His instincts screamed suddenly.
Danger.
Rowan stepped back.
“I need to go.”
Lyra frowned.
“Not yet.”
Rowan’s heart pounded harder.
“No.”
His voice dropped lower.
“I really do.”
Marcus shifted slightly.
“You’re not leaving until we figure out what you are.”
Rowan smiled thinly.
“That sounds like a you problem.”
Then he turned.
And ran.
Not like a human.
Like something else entirely.
Marcus’s jaw dropped.
“Did he just—”
Lyra was already moving.
Her body shifted mid-stride.
Bones cracking.
Silver fur exploding across her skin.
Within seconds the massive silver wolf burst into the forest after him.
Marcus sighed.
“Well.”
He rolled his shoulders.
“This day just got interesting.”
Then he shifted too.
The forest blurred around Rowan as he ran.
Branches whipped past his shoulders.
Leaves crunched beneath his boots.
But he barely noticed any of it.
His mind was too loud.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears like a war drum.
Run.
The voice in his head had grown stronger.
Deeper.
Not human.
Not entirely.
Rowan’s lungs burned, yet his legs kept moving faster than they ever had before. The strange strength coursing through his body felt intoxicating… and terrifying at the same time.
“What the hell is happening to me?” he muttered between breaths.
Behind him.
A howl split the air.
Low.
Powerful.
Dominant.
Rowan’s blood ran cold.
He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
Lyra.
Even as a wolf, her presence carried authority that could silence an entire forest.
And she was gaining on him.
Fast.
Rowan pushed harder.
But it was pointless.
Within seconds a flash of silver burst from the trees ahead of him.
The massive wolf landed directly in his path.
Rowan skidded to a halt.
“Of course,” he muttered.
The wolf stared at him.
Her silver fur gleamed beneath the shifting light filtering through the forest canopy.
Her eyes—those same piercing silver eyes he had seen earlier—watched him with unsettling calm.
Slowly, the wolf stepped forward.
Rowan raised his hands instinctively.
“Look… whatever this is, I didn't sign up for it.”
The wolf tilted her head.
Then her body shimmered.
Bones cracked.
Fur withdrew.
Within seconds Lyra stood before him again.
She was already pulling on a loose shirt she had carried tied around her waist.
Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders, slightly tangled from the shift.
Even disheveled she looked dangerously beautiful.
Rowan tried not to notice.
Tried very hard.
You run fast,” Lyra said casually.
Rowan scoffed.
“Yeah well, being chased by giant wolves tends to motivate people.”
Lyra crossed her arms.
“You're not people.”
Rowan frowned.
“I beg your pardon?”
Lyra took a slow step closer.
“You felt it too.”
Rowan didn’t answer.
She stopped only a few feet away from him.
“That voice in your head.”
His eyes widened slightly.
“How did you—”
Lyra tapped her temple.
“Wolf instincts.”
Rowan shook his head.
“I don’t have wolf instincts.”
As if to contradict him—
Pain tore through his spine.
Rowan gasped.
His knees buckled as he grabbed onto a nearby tree for support.
“Oh come on!” he groaned.
Lyra’s expression shifted instantly.
“Rowan.”
He barely heard her.
His body felt like it was splitting apart from the inside.
Heat flooded his veins.
His muscles tightened violently.
His vision blurred.
“Not… now…” he breathed.
- Writer
