POV: Elara
The dark oblivion of sleep didn’t last.
It started as a dull ache at the base of my spine, a slow-building pressure that crept up my vertebrae like a creeping vine of thorns. Within minutes, the fragile peace shattered. The freezing cold that had paralyzed my muscles evaporated, violently replaced by a suffocating, blistering inferno.
The Awakening Heat.
I didn't know much about pureblood Lycan biology—the archives in the Crescent Moon packhouse were mostly redacted propaganda—but my instincts were screaming the truth. My body had just unlocked a millennium of suppressed, god-tier power. It was too much. The raw energy was completely overwhelming my fragile human nervous system, threatening to short-circuit my heart.
I needed an anchor. I needed a mate.
I groaned, a raw, w
