RISE OF THE SILVER LYCAN GODDESS

Episode 8: After the Blood

Rhaenyra's POV

The first thing I smelled was blood. The second was smoke, and beneath both scents lingered the foul, unmistakable stench of something rotten. I slowly opened my eyes, but for several seconds, I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing.

The sky above me was pale, washed in the soft light of morning. I blinked repeatedly, trying to remember where I was and how I had ended up there. As my vision cleared, I slowly looked around and realized that the forest seemed different beneath the morning light.

Branches were broken everywhere. Trees had been ripped from the ground. Large claw marks covered the trunks, some reaching higher than I could possibly reach.

I tried to sit up, but a sharp wave of pain shot through my body, forcing a cry from my lips. I immediately grabbed my ribs and struggled to catch my breath as the pain slowly settled.

“What happened?” I whispered, but my voice sounded weak and unfamiliar in the silence.

No one answered.

I slowly looked around, and my entire body went still. Bodies were scattered across the forest floor, some lying several feet away from me while others were barely recognizable beneath the blood and torn clothing.

The witches.

My stomach twisted as I stared at them, unable to understand what I had done.

My stomach turned as I crawled backward, shaking my head in disbelief. “No.” I stared down at my hands and felt my breath catch. They were covered in blood.

My breathing became frantic as panic spread through me. “No, no, no.” I desperately tried wiping my hands against the grass, but instead of disappearing, the blood only smeared across my skin.

Then the memories came rushing back.

The chanting. The pain. The sound of my bones breaking. The silver moon above me. Then nothing.

I couldn't remember killing them. At least, I didn't think I could remember it. A sudden growl came from my stomach, and I froze. This wasn't normal hunger. It felt as though something had awakened deep inside my body, something ancient and demanding that I feed it.

My eyes slowly drifted toward one of the bodies. The scent of blood suddenly seemed stronger, filling my senses until my mouth watered. I swallowed hard and shook my head. “No.” My stomach growled again. I quickly covered my mouth. “I'm not doing that.”

Then another scent reached me. Fresh blood.

My head turned toward it before I could stop myself. One of the witches was still alive, barely. She was slumped against a tree with one hand pressed tightly against the wound in her stomach.

Her eyes slowly opened, and the moment she saw me, fear filled them. “You.” I crawled toward her without realizing I was moving. She immediately tried to drag herself away, her face twisting with pain. “Stay back.”

I stopped.

Her heart was beating rapidly, and I could hear every single beat with terrifying clarity. Thump. Thump. Thump.

My mouth filled with saliva as my gaze fell toward the wound in her stomach. The scent was intoxicating. I wanted it. No. I needed it. “What happened to me?” I whispered. The witch's lips trembled as she stared at me.

“You transformed.”

I stared at her, struggling to understand.

“But I didn't…”

“You did.” Her eyes slowly moved over my body, and the fear in her expression deepened. “You are not a normal wolf.”

I looked down at myself, suddenly afraid of what I might see.

My clothes were torn to pieces, hanging from my body in shredded pieces. My skin was covered in scratches and dried blood. My arms looked stronger, leaner, almost unfamiliar.

I slowly touched my face, and something about my skin felt different beneath my fingertips. My eyes drifted toward a small pool of water beside me, and when I looked at its surface, my reflection stared back.

My eyes were silver. Not blue. Silver.

I stumbled backward, shaking my head. “No.”

The reflection moved when I moved. I reached up and touched my face again, and the girl in the water did the same. Yet there was something behind her eyes that frightened me, something that didn't belong there.

Behind me, the witch suddenly coughed. I turned toward her as she struggled to breathe.

“You finally woke up.”

I stared at her, confusion tightening in my chest. “Who am I?” She studied me for several seconds before a faint smile appeared on her lips. “You know.” My chest tightened. “Tell me.”

“Rayna.”

The name struck me with such force that my entire body jolted. I stumbled backward, shaking my head as a strange pain tore through me.

“Don't call me that.” “You are Rayna.”

“I am Rhaenyra.”

The witch slowly shook her head.

“You are both.”

My heart pounded harder. “What does that mean?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but before a single word could escape, blood suddenly spilled from her lips. Her eyes widened, and her body went limp. I stared at her in disbelief.

“No!”

I rushed toward her and pressed my fingers against her neck, desperately searching for a pulse. Nothing. She was dead.

I remained frozen beside her, unable to understand how she had died so suddenly. Then the voice returned, slipping into my mind like a whisper from somewhere deep inside me.

Rayna.

I closed my eyes tightly. “Stop.”

Rayna.

“Stop calling me that.”

The voice gave a soft, almost sorrowful laugh.

You cannot run from yourself.

I covered my ears as though that could somehow silence it. “I don't know you.” Another quiet laugh echoed inside my head.

You knew him.

My eyes opened. “Him?”

Suddenly, a face appeared in my mind. Dark eyes, a powerful body.

A man.