Claimed By The Cursed Alpha

Chapter Six – Unseen Marks

Lyra’s POV

The first few days in Kael’s territory were weird as hell. The Shadowclaw wolves mostly ignored me, which I guess was better than them trying to rip my face off. They gave me wary looks, like I was a strange bug they couldn’t quite figure out if they should squish or just leave alone. Kael himself was… Kael. Broody, quiet, and always watching me with those intense red eyes. He’d given me a room – not a fancy one, but it had a real bed and a door that locked, which was a major upgrade from the forest floor.

Then the dreams started.

They weren’t normal dreams. Not the kind where you’re suddenly naked in school or flying over your old pack’s territory. These were… different. I’d be in a dark forest, but the trees would glow with a faint silver light. And then I’d see a wolf. But not a regular wolf. This one seemed to be made of pure moonlight, its fur shimmering like liquid silver. It never came close, just watched me with intelligent, knowing eyes. Sometimes, strange symbols would flash around it, like glowing tattoos in the air. I never recognized them, but they felt important, ancient.

I’d wake up feeling… off. Restless. Like my skin was buzzing with energy I couldn’t explain.

Then the other weird stuff started happening. Little things at first. My senses felt sharper. I could hear whispers from further away, smell things more intensely. One morning, I swore I saw my reflection in a puddle flicker, like there was something else underneath my human form for a split second. But when I blinked, it was just me.

The scariest part was what my body started doing. It felt like it was trying to shift. My bones would ache and throb, my muscles would tense and spasm. It felt like that pulling, stretching feeling I’d heard other wolves describe during their first shift, but it never went all the way. It was like my body knew how to shift, was trying to shift, but there was nothing there to actually… become a wolf. It was frustrating and terrifying all at once, like my own body was betraying me.

After a few days of this increasing weirdness, I decided I needed answers. Kael wasn’t exactly chatty, so I figured I’d try one of his wolves. The sandy-haired one, Riven, seemed to be Kael’s right-hand guy, so I figured he might know something.

I found him in what looked like a training yard, watching a couple of wolves spar. He looked about as thrilled to see me as a cat does when you try to give it a bath.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked, trying to sound polite.

He grunted, his eyes never leaving the sparring wolves. “What do you want, human?” The way he said ‘human’ always felt like an insult.

“I’ve been having… weird things happen,” I said, fidgeting with the hem of the borrowed tunic Kael had given me. “Dreams, my body… it feels like it’s trying to shift, but I don’t have a wolf.”

Riven finally turned to look at me, his brow furrowed with suspicion. “Shifting? You? Don’t be ridiculous. You’re wolfless.”

“I know I’m wolfless!” I snapped, my patience wearing thin. “But something’s going on. It feels… wrong.”

He studied me for a long moment, his gaze intense. “Kael’s curse reacts to you. Maybe whatever’s wrong with you is reacting to his curse.”

“So you admit there’s something wrong with me?”

He sighed, running a hand through his sandy hair. “Look, I don’t know what’s happening to you. But there’s a healer in our pack. An old wolf named Elara. She knows things. Ancient things. Maybe she can tell you what’s going on.”

Elara. I remembered seeing her that first night, a quiet, observant presence in the background. “Where can I find her?”

Riven jerked his chin towards the edge of the stronghold. “Her den is near the old ruins. Just… don’t cause any trouble.”

Elara’s den was small and smelled of herbs and something earthy. She was an old female wolf-shifter, her fur streaked with grey, her eyes wise and kind. I told her about my dreams and the strange sensations in my body. She listened patiently, her gaze never leaving mine.

When I was finished, she was silent for a long moment, her brow furrowed in thought. Finally, she spoke, her voice soft but firm. “What you describe… it is not natural for a wolfless one. The dreams… the silver wolf… the pull to shift… it speaks of something ancient in your blood, child. Something… dormant. Something the Awakening should have… stirred.”

“But it didn’t,” I said, my voice filled with frustration. “I’m still just human.”

Elara shook her head slowly. “Perhaps… perhaps it is not about awakening a wolf, child. Perhaps it is about awakening something else entirely.” She looked at me, her eyes filled with a strange mixture of concern and something that looked like… awe? “Whatever it is… be careful, Lyra. Ancient blood can be a powerful thing. And powerful things… draw attention.”

Her words left me feeling more confused than ever. Ancient blood? Something else entirely? What the hell did that even mean?