Chapter 4
1148 Words
The moonlight had long faded, but Selena could still feel it coursing through her veins, like static under her skin. Her body ached in ways she didn’t have words for—not pain, exactly, but the aftermath of something profound. Something primal. The wolf inside her had surfaced, had taken control, and now… it lingered.
She sat on the edge of the bed in Rafe’s cabin, wrapped in a fleece blanket that did nothing to shield her from the storm brewing inside. Her skin was warm, flushed with the remnants of the shift, but it was her mind that trembled—fractured flashes of a forest not her own, of glowing eyes in ancient darkness, of whispers not in any language she recognized.
Rafe sat across the room, his gaze steady. He hadn’t said a word since carrying her back from the clearing. Hadn’t touched her again, not since laying her down like she was glass, something breakable.
She broke the silence. “It wasn’t just a shift. Something else happened.”
He nodded. “I know.”
Selena clenched the blanket tighter. “I saw memories. But they weren’t mine.”
Rafe hesitated. “They were your wolf’s.”
“I thought… I thought I was the wolf now.”
He shook his head, rising slowly to sit beside her, though he kept his distance. “The wolf has always been part of you. But she remembers things you haven’t lived. Not in this life. Wolves carry the echoes of the bloodline.”
Selena looked down at her trembling fingers. “So, what I saw…”
“Might’ve been her past. Or something buried in your lineage.”
“There was a circle. Stones. Chanting. And a woman with black eyes. I felt like I knew her.”
Rafe stiffened. “Describe her.”
“She wore a cloak made of feathers. Her voice… it was like it lived inside me.”
He didn’t respond immediately. The air shifted. Selena felt it, that same weight she’d felt when she looked into his eyes the first time. A knowing. A fear. A secret.
“You know who she is,” she said softly.
“I think I do,” Rafe murmured. “And if I’m right, your wolf is connected to something older than our pack. Older than the bond.”
Selena swallowed hard. “Then tell me.”
He met her gaze, but there was caution in his eyes. “There was a bloodline—long thought extinct. A hybrid line. Witch and wolf. Born of forbidden magic. They were hunted. Exiled. Their descendants vanished.”
Selena blinked. “You think I’m one of them?”
“I think your wolf is trying to remember something that someone wanted forgotten.”
A silence settled between them. Heavy. Charged.
She turned away, biting her lip. “You’re still not telling me everything.”
“No,” he admitted. “Because if I do, I’m not sure you’ll stay.”
Her heart twisted. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“From what?” she snapped. “From who I am? From you?”
Rafe stood, running a hand through his hair. “From her.”
Selena frowned. “Her who?”
“Eris.”
The name hit like a slap. Selena’s breath caught in her throat.
“She was exiled years ago,” he said. “She tried to use blood magic to force a mate bond. With me.”
Selena’s pulse spiked. “You were—”
“No,” he said quickly. “I never claimed her. But she tried to bind me anyway. Micah broke the spell before it was permanent. That’s how she ended up exiled.”
“And now she’s back?”
Rafe nodded grimly. “She’s not the kind of witch-wolf who disappears quietly.”
Selena’s thoughts reeled. “You didn’t think that was worth mentioning earlier?”
“I didn’t want to scare you.”
“I’ve shifted into a wild creature and seen memories that don’t belong to me. I’ve met a pack of strangers and found out I’m ‘fated’ to someone I barely know. Scared doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
Rafe’s expression darkened. “You’re right. But fear clouds judgment. I needed you to trust me first.”
Selena stepped back, suddenly suffocating. “That’s the problem. You want my trust, but you don’t trust me with the truth.”
He moved closer, but she held up her hand.
“Don’t,” she said. “Not until you’re ready to be honest.”
“Selena…”
“I need air.”
She turned and walked out before he could stop her, the night air like a slap to her skin. Her wolf stirred uneasily beneath the surface. For once, they agreed—they couldn’t breathe in there.
She wandered past the edge of the woods, feet moving on instinct. The trees were quiet, but the silence wasn’t peaceful—it felt like something was listening.
She sat on a fallen log, fingers threading through her hair.
The bond with Rafe pulled at her even now, a tether she couldn’t cut. Every time he looked at her, her heart twisted in directions it shouldn’t. And now, knowing there had been another woman—Eris—one who had forced a bond…
It made her feel like she was just another mistake waiting to happen.
The wolf stirred again, and Selena’s breath caught. Images flashed—quicker now.
A circle of witches.
Blood drawn from the palm.
A wolf howling in agony.
And then… darkness.
She gasped and fell forward, hands gripping the earth.
“Selena!”
Micah’s voice called from behind her. She didn’t answer—couldn’t. He knelt beside her, eyes wide.
“What did you see?”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t just a memory. It was… a warning.”
Micah glanced around, tension coiling in his shoulders. “We need to get back.”
“No,” Selena whispered. “Not yet.”
Micah looked at her. “You’re changing. Faster than you should.”
“What does that mean?”
He hesitated. “It means either your bloodline is waking up… or someone’s forcing it.”
Selena shivered. “Eris.”
Micah nodded grimly. “If she’s found a way to manipulate your wolf, she won’t stop.”
A chill crawled up her spine.
She wasn’t just remembering the past.
Someone was sending it.
When she and Micah returned, Rafe was waiting on the porch. He looked at her like he was ready to apologize, to beg, to explain everything—and for the first time, Selena didn’t know if she wanted to hear it.
Because the truth was already starting to speak on its own.
And it was howling in her blood.
- Writer
