The whisper didn’t fade.
It grew.
Charlotte shot upright in bed, breath shallow, heart pounding against her ribs like it was trying to escape.
The room was dark.
Jenna slept quietly across from her.
But Charlotte wasn’t alone.
The silver glow beneath her skin pulsed brighter, crawling faintly along her veins like moonlight trapped under glass.
And then she felt it.
Not outside.
Not in the courtyard.
Not even in the forest.
Inside her.
Something ancient.
Something awake.
A voice — not heard with ears, but felt deep in her chest.
You are not prey.
Her hands gripped the sheets.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
Images flashed behind her eyes — a wolf made of starlight, towering and radiant… eyes like molten silver… standing over kneeling alphas.
A crown of moonfire.
A m
