Chapter 14 — The Awakening
1194 Words
Hailey didn’t sleep.
Not that night.
She sat beside her bedroom window, staring at the moon.
She’s waiting.
Kael’s words wouldn’t leave her mind.
Her wolf wasn’t sleeping.
She was waiting.
But waiting for what?
Hailey touched her chest.
Ever since she was little, she’d felt different.
She had always assumed it was because she hadn’t awakened like everyone else.
Maybe she’d been wrong.
Maybe the reason her wolf never appeared wasn’t because something was wrong with her.
Maybe it was because something had been deliberately hidden.
A soft knock sounded.
Hailey looked toward the door.
“Come in.”
Luna entered.
She closed the door behind her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Luna sat beside her.
“Are you angry with me?”
Hailey looked at her.
“Yes.”
Luna nodded.
“I deserve that.”
“You knew.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“You knew about my wolf.”
Luna’s eyes dropped.
“Not everything.”
“But enough.”
“Yes.”
Hailey turned toward the window.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I promised.”
“To who?”
Luna didn’t answer.
Hailey turned.
“Luna.”
“To your mother.”
Hailey froze.
“My mother?”
Luna immediately realised what she’d said.
“Hailey—”
“What does my mother have to do with this?”
Luna stood.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Hailey grabbed her arm.
“Tell me.”
Luna’s eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother knew something would happen when you turned sixteen.”
Hailey’s heart pounded.
“What?”
“She told us that if your wolf hadn’t awakened by then, we were supposed to keep you away from the old forest.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where the first signs would appear.”
Hailey remembered the wolf.
The voice.
The visions.
Her breathing became faster.
“What signs?”
Luna looked frightened.
“Your eyes.”
Hailey’s hand immediately went to her face.
“My eyes?”
“Your eyes aren’t just unusual, Hailey.”
“Then what are they?”
Luna whispered, “They’re part of your bloodline.”
Hailey stared at her.
“What bloodline?”
Before Luna could answer, a tremendous howl shook the night.
Hailey stood.
The sound was coming from the forest.
Her chest tightened.
She knew that howl.
The same presence from earlier.
The same wolf.
“Don’t go,” Luna said.
Hailey looked at her.
“I have to.”
“Hailey, please.”
“I need answers.”
She rushed downstairs.
Outside, Kael was already waiting.
He looked furious.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Hailey stopped.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Kael.”
“You heard the howl.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know it’s dangerous.”
“Maybe it’s the only thing that can tell me the truth.”
Kael’s expression softened.
“Hailey, listen to me.”
“No. You listen to me.”
She stepped toward him.
“All my life, I’ve been treated like I’m broken. Like I’m less than everyone else because I couldn’t shift. I accepted it because I thought maybe someday my wolf would finally come.”
Her voice cracked.
“But now I find out she was there the entire time.”
Kael didn’t respond.
“And everyone knew something was different about me.”
“Not everyone.”
“Enough people.”
Hailey’s eyes filled with tears.
“I deserve to know who I am.”
Kael stared at her.
Then he stepped aside.
Hailey looked surprised.
“Kael?”
“If I stop you, you’ll go anyway.”
“Yes.”
“And I’ll follow.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t trust whatever is waiting for you out there.”
Something warm moved through her chest.
But she pushed it away.
“Fine.”
They entered the forest together.
Luna followed.
The deeper they went, the colder the air became.
Hailey suddenly stopped.
“What?”
Kael looked around.
“Do you feel that?”
Hailey nodded.
Something was pulling her forward.
Not physically.
Something inside her.
She followed the sensation until they reached a clearing.
The black wolf stood beneath the moon.
Hailey stared.
This time, she wasn’t afraid.
The wolf stepped toward her.
Kael moved forward.
“Stay back.”
Hailey lifted her hand.
“It’s okay.”
“Hailey—”
“It’s not going to hurt me.”
The wolf stopped inches away.
Its eyes met hers.
And then—
Mine.
Hailey gasped.
The word wasn’t spoken aloud.
It came from inside her.
Mine.
Her knees weakened.
The wolf touched its nose against her palm.
Suddenly, fire raced through her veins.
Hailey screamed.
Her body fell forward.
Kael caught her.
“Hailey!”
Her fingers dug into his arms.
“Something’s happening!”
“I know!”
Her heartbeat thundered.
The forest blurred.
Her bones felt as though they were shifting beneath her skin.
Then she heard another voice.
A female voice.
Soft.
Strong.
Familiar.
I’ve waited long enough.
Hailey’s eyes widened.
“Who are you?”
The voice laughed softly.
You know me.
A powerful surge rushed through her.
Her eyes flashed.
One blue.
One hazel.
Both suddenly glowing beneath the moon.
Kael stepped back.
Luna covered her mouth.
“Hailey…”
Hailey slowly stood.
She could hear everything.
The wind.
The trees.
Luna’s heartbeat.
Kael’s breathing.
Even the distant animals moving through the forest.
She could smell the rain that hadn’t fallen yet.
She could hear voices from far beyond the clearing.
And inside her mind, the wolf whispered again.
Finally.
Hailey looked at Kael.
“What is happening to me?”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“You’re awakening.”
Hailey’s body trembled.
“No.”
Kael frowned.
“What?”
She looked toward the black wolf.
Then back at him.
“I’m not awakening.”
The wolf’s voice echoed through her mind.
We are remembering.
Hailey suddenly saw another vision.
Her mother standing beneath the same moon.
A newborn baby in her arms.
And a man Hailey had never seen before kneeling before them.
He whispered:
The Blood Moon heir has been born.
Hailey’s eyes widened.
Then the vision vanished.
She staggered backward.
Kael caught her.
“What did you see?”
Hailey looked at him.
She wanted to answer.
But before she could, a howl erupted somewhere beyond the trees.
This time, it wasn’t the black wolf.
It was something else.
Something much closer.
Kael’s expression immediately changed.
“What’s wrong?” Luna asked.
Kael stared into the darkness.
“They know.”
Hailey’s stomach dropped.
“Who?”
Kael slowly turned toward her.
“The enemy.”
And from somewhere deep in the forest came a voice Hailey had never heard before.
The heir has awakened.
Hailey’s blood turned cold.
The wolf inside her growled.
For the first time in her life, Hailey wasn’t afraid of the creature inside her.
She was afraid of what would happen when everyone else discovered exactly who she was.
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