Lucy’s POV
“We are werelions,” I began carefully, watching the stranger’s expression for any trace of disbelief, “but you can’t sense our lions because they were made dormant—masked with magic or something like that. Aunt here at least managed to shift when she turned eighteen, like every normal lion shifter. But as for me…” I paused, swallowing the lump that rose in my throat. “I never did. Mine was sealed away when I was only a year old.”
The young man—Lance, as I’d later come to know—stared at me as though my words were something from a forgotten legend. His brows furrowed in confusion. “Who did that—and why?” he asked, his voice low, tinged with disbelief and curiosity.
“Aunt did,” I replied softly, glancing at her. “For a good cause. To protect us. To prevent our enemies from ever
