The Night Before Everything Changes
1217 Words
Emma POV
Power thrummed beneath my skin—wild, unstable, hungry. It crackled like electricity under my fur as I tore through the forest, the world blurring into streaks of emerald and gold. Inara, my Lycan, paced inside me with a restless energy she hadn’t shown before, her growl vibrating through my bones.
We can’t keep pretending, she murmured. Change is coming—whether we’re ready or not.
I didn’t respond. I only ran faster.
The scent of pine needles and damp earth filled my lungs, the cool wind threading through my white fur striped with gold. The kingdom’s forest had always been my sanctuary—but tonight, it felt like both a refuge and a reminder that I was about to leave everything I had ever known.
Beside me, Noah—my twin, my shadow—kept pace effortlessly, his black-and-gold coat gleaming as sunset filtered through the trees. We ran like we always had: two halves of one story, one heartbeat split between two bodies.
But this time, something in the rhythm felt…off.
Final.
Heavy.
When the trees finally parted into our favorite clearing—bathed in molten sunlight as if the world itself was holding its breath—I slowed. The last rays cast long shadows, pooling like ink around our paws.
Inara nudged at my mind again.
Tell him, Emma. No more stalling.
With a steadying breath, I shifted. Human skin met cool evening air, goosebumps rising instantly. Noah shifted beside me, shaking out his dark hair, eyes already narrowing.
He always knew when something was wrong.
“So?” he said, crossing his arms. “Ready to tell me what’s been eating at you for a week now?”
The truth lodged itself in my throat. I swallowed it down, then forced it out anyway.
“I’m leaving.”
His expression didn’t change at first—then confusion cracked through the calm. “Leaving what?”
“Not what,” I whispered. “Where. I enrolled in a human community college. I leave tomorrow morning.”
A breeze swept through the clearing, catching the words and flinging them between us.
Noah blinked. Slowly. “Emma…we have schools here. Training here. Your entire future is here. Why would you—”
“Because I need more than a future.” My voice wavered, but I didn’t look away. “I need a self. All my life I’ve been a princess, a warrior, a symbol—never just…Emma.”
He stared at me as if seeing me differently. “Dad is allowing this?”
“He’s the one who suggested it.”
That rattled him more than my announcement.
“Emma, things are getting worse. Hunters are growing smarter. Stronger. They have new weapons—some designed to kill even Lycans. The council says we’re close to war.” His voice dropped into something raw. “And you’re planning to go into their world?”
“I’ll be hidden. Potions will keep my scent and my powers masked.”
“That’s not foolproof.”
I stepped closer, resting a hand on his arm. “I can protect myself.”
He shook his head. “You shouldn’t have to.”
Then, softer: “I could go with you.”
Gods, my heart almost broke.
“Noah…you’re needed here. You’re already leading half the warriors. The realm depends on you—more than you realize.” I breathed past the tightness in my chest. “And you’ve found your mate. She may not sense you yet, but you’ll be here when she does.”
His face softened with longing and frustration. He hid it well, but I knew him too deeply to miss it.
“You know what happens if you don’t find your mate,” he whispered. “Your powers are…different. If you don’t complete the bond, Emma, it could—”
“I know.”
Moon above, did I know.
My powers had been spiraling for months, shifting from mere energy to something volatile. Dangerous. As if the world itself waited for a missing piece to snap into place before I tore it apart.
But staying wouldn’t help me find him.
Leaving might.
“I’ll be gone for one semester,” I said firmly. “Then I come home. I promise.”
Noah pulled me into a fierce embrace, his heartbeat pounding against my cheek. “I’ll miss you,” he murmured. “And you better talk to me every day, Emma. I’m serious.”
A soft laugh slipped from me. “I can’t go a day without you.”
But even as we held each other, unease prickled beneath my skin. The air felt charged, like the realm itself knew I was leaving—and didn’t approve.
When Noah finally stepped back, he smirked faintly. “Race you home? Human form. Last chance to beat me before you pretend to be normal.”
I raised a brow. “Pretend? I am perfectly capable of being normal.”
“You’re a princess who can throw trees.”
“…Fair.”
He bolted without warning.
“CHEATER!” I shouted, sprinting after him.
We tackled each other, rolled in mud, laughed until our ribs hurt. For a moment, we weren’t royals. We weren’t symbols. We weren’t warriors standing on the brink of war.
We were just Emma and Noah.
Twins in the woods.
Kids in the dirt.
By the time we walked into the palace dripping mud, our mother took one look at us and attempted a straight face. She failed miserably.
“You two look like you fought a swamp dragon,” she said. “Dinner in ten.”
Upstairs, hot water washed away the grime, but not the weight on my chest.
Packing was strangely emotional. I folded clothes with shaking hands, tucked vials of concealing potion into a small box, and finally picked up the stuffed cat Noah had given me at age ten. A joke gift then. A comfort now.
Noah appeared in my doorway, hair damp, eyes soft.
“You’re taking that ridiculous cat?”
“I need something to remember your stupid face.”
He snorted, though his eyes shimmered with unspoken worry.
Dinner that night felt like the last page of a chapter. My father teased me about being a picky eater in the human world. My mother lectured me about safety for the twentieth time. Noah kept glancing at me like he was memorizing my face.
The clink of wine glasses, the warmth of laughter, the comfort of home—all of it pressed around me, bittersweet and fragile.
When dinner ended, my father touched my shoulder gently.
“4am,” he said. “I’m driving you myself.”
“Dad, you’re the King. You don’t need to—”
“You’re my daughter,” he corrected. “Kings can be replaced. Fathers can’t.”
My throat threatened to close.
Later, lying in bed, excitement fluttered in my chest—twined with fear, hope, and something that felt eerily like destiny.
Inara exhaled softly in my mind.
Tomorrow, everything changes.
And I knew she was right.
Tomorrow, I would step into the human realm.
Tomorrow, I would search for myself.
And maybe—just maybe—I would find the mate who could save my life.
- Writer
