Shifting Destiny

Chapter Nine

The world snaps back into focus like a rubber band pulled too tight and released. I'm on my back, the cold stone floor pressing against my spine, and there's a forearm shoved against my collarbone, pinning me down with bruising force. Levi's golden eyes bore into mine, hard and unforgiving, his face inches from my own.

"Don't. Move," he commands, his voice low and sharp. My chest heaves as I try to make sense of what just happened. One second I was standing, fury boiling in my veins at the revelation that this man served the Alpha who ruined my life—and the next, I'm here. Pinned like an animal.

Something warm and wet coats my fingers.

I glance down, and my stomach drops.

My nails—no, not nails. Claws. Dark, curved, wickedly sharp claws extend from my fingertips, glistening with blood. Fresh scratches mar Levi's forearm where he's holding me down, the wounds already knitting themselves back together with unnatural speed.

I did that.

I don't even remember doing it.

"Breathe," Levi orders, his voice cutting through the panic clawing up my throat. "Slowly. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Focus on my voice."

I want to shove him off me, to snarl and fight and demand answers, but something in his tone makes me obey. I force myself to inhale—slow, shaky—and exhale through trembling lips. The rage that had consumed me moments ago begins to ebb, retreating like a tide pulling back from shore.

With it, the claws retract.

I watch in horrified fascination as they slide back into my nail beds, leaving behind ordinary human fingers stained with blood that isn't mine.

Levi releases me and rises to his feet in one fluid motion, putting distance between us. He doesn't look angry about the scratches—they've already healed, leaving only faint pink lines that are fading fast. Instead, he watches me with that same measured, evaluating gaze.

"What..." I push myself up onto my elbows, my arms shaking. "What the hell just happened to me?"

"You lost control." He says it simply, without accusation, but the words hit me like a slap. "Your emotions triggered your wolf. It happens to all changelings in the beginning, but you—" He pauses, tilting his head slightly. "You're more volatile than most."

I sit up fully, drawing my knees to my chest as if I can somehow make myself smaller, safer. My heart is still racing, the phantom echo of that blinding rage lingering at the edges of my consciousness.

"I blacked out," I say, my voice hoarse. "I don't remember attacking you."

"That's the danger." Levi crosses his arms, his expression grim. "When your wolf takes over completely, you disappear. You become instinct—nothing but teeth and claws and whatever emotion drove you over the edge. Anger, fear, pain..." He pauses, something flickering in his golden eyes. "Desire. They can all trigger a loss of control."

I wrap my arms tighter around my knees, fighting the urge to be sick. "So I'm just supposed to—what? Never feel anything again?"

"No. You're supposed to learn control." He moves closer, crouching down so we're at eye level. This close, I can see the flecks of amber in his irises, the sharp angles of his face. He's handsome in a cold, untouchable way—like a statue carved from stone. "Your emotions aren't the enemy, Feyre. But right now, they're a loaded weapon, and you don't know how to handle the safety. Until you do, you're dangerous. To yourself and everyone around you."

The words settle over me like a shroud. Dangerous. I've never been dangerous to anyone in my life. I've always been the one struggling to survive, scraping by on minimum wage, invisible to the world.

Now I have claws that can shred flesh without conscious thought.

"This is insane," I whisper, more to myself than to him.

Levi's jaw tightens. "This is your reality now. The sooner you accept that, the better your chances of surviving the next month."

Right. The month. The change that might kill me because I don't have any werewolf blood in my veins.

I force myself to meet his eyes. "You said Kael should be helping me through this. That he's the one who's supposed to guide changelings."

Something shutters in Levi's expression. "He's supposed to, yes. The Alpha who turns a human is responsible for shepherding them through the change. The bond makes it easier—the changeling instinctively trusts their sire, responds to their commands. It's how our kind has done it for centuries."

"But Kael can't help me," I finish bitterly. "Because he's out of his mind."

Levi is quiet for a moment. When he speaks again, his voice is carefully neutral. "Kael hasn't been in his right mind for over a year. What he did to you—biting you, triggering the change—his wolf acted on instinct. I doubt the man even knows what he's done."

I let out a harsh laugh. "That's supposed to make me feel better? That the monster who ruined my life didn't even mean to do it?"

"I'm not trying to make you feel better." Levi rises to his feet, looking down at me with an unreadable expression. "I'm trying to keep you alive. Feeling better is a luxury you can't afford right now."

I glare up at him, anger sparking in my chest—but this time, I catch it. I feel the way my pulse quickens, the way heat floods my veins, the way something other stirs beneath my skin, eager and hungry.

My wolf.

I take a slow breath, forcing the anger down. It resists, thrashing against my control like a wild thing in a cage, but I hold firm. After a long moment, it subsides, settling into an uneasy stillness.

When I look up, Levi is watching me with something that might be approval.

"Good," he says quietly. "That's the first step. Recognizing the shift before it takes you."

"It feels like..." I search for the right words. "Like there's something else inside me now. Something that isn't me."

"It is you," Levi corrects. "Your wolf isn't a separate entity—it's another part of yourself, one you never knew existed. The human and the wolf are meant to work together, to balance each other." He pauses, his expression darkening. "But when that balance breaks, when one side dominates the other completely... that's when you get wolves like Kael. Trapped in their animal nature, unable to find their way back to humanity."

A chill runs down my spine. "That could happen to me?"

"If you don't learn control? Yes." He doesn't soften the blow, doesn't offer false comfort. "The next month will test you in ways you can't imagine. Your body will change. Your instincts will war with your reason. There will be moments when the wolf feels so strong that you'll want to surrender to it, to let it take over because fighting is too hard."

He steps closer, and I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact.

"Don't," he says, his voice low and intense. "Don't ever stop fighting. Because once you let the wolf win, once you give up your humanity—you don't get it back."

I swallow hard, his words sinking into my bones.

"I'm not going to let some animal inside me take over," I say, and I'm surprised by the steel in my own voice. "I didn't survive this long by giving up."

Something flickers across Levi's face—surprise, maybe, or respect. He studies me for a long moment, then nods once.

"Good. Hold onto that fire." He turns and walks toward the door, pausing at the threshold to look back at me. "Rest tonight. Tomorrow, your training begins."

Then he's gone, leaving me alone with the cold stone walls and the beast curling restlessly beneath my skin.

I look down at my hands—human hands, with ordinary nails, still stained with Levi's blood.

One month.

One month to master a wolf I never asked for, bound to an Alpha who doesn't even know my name, trapped in a world I don't understand.

I close my eyes and breathe, feeling my wolf settle into an uneasy sleep.

I will not break, I promise myself. I will not let them win.



The wolf stirs, and for just a moment, I swear I feel something like agreement.