The sound that ripped from Mira's throat wasn't human.
It wasn't even hers, not entirely.
Her wolf had been silent for years, buried under layers of control and self-denial. But now, under the blood-stained trees and her father's agonized scream, it surged up like a storm breaking through her bones.
A second howl; low, ancient, furious, echoed from her chest, vibrating through the stone circle.
Valda's smile faltered.
"Oh," she whispered. "There you are."
Mira didn't remember moving.
One second, she stood frozen in horror.
The next, her body was shifting.
Not fully. Not yet. But her fingers cracked, claws pushing through. Her irises blazed silver, and her canines extended. Her voice, when it came, was layered: hers and her wolf's fused.
"You don't own me."
Valda's eyes sparkled. "No. But I made you possible."
Grey moved in beside her, still partially shifted, blood still streaking his arm from the rooftop fight.
"We can't take all of them," he growled low. "Not here. Not now."
Liam stepped forward, trembling. "We can't leave Dad."
"We won't," Mira said, though her voice shook.
Her father sagged in the chains, the red glow from his binds dimming for just a second. He lifted his head weakly, his eyes flickering between human and black.
"Mira," he rasped. "She'll bind you if you stay."
Valda raised a dagger, thin and glinting with rune-etched silver.
"You were born of pact and power, girl. But you were always meant to serve."
Mira stepped toward her, slow, deliberate. "You think you know what I am. But even I don't know yet."
"Then let's find out together," Valda hissed.
She lunged.
Mira met her mid-stride. The clash of steel and claw rang out as they collided in a blur of movement. Valda was faster than she should've been; enhanced, twisted by magic and something darker.
Mira blocked a slash, ducked, and drove her elbow into Valda's ribs. But Valda grinned and swept Mira's legs out with a flick of her heel.
She hit the ground hard.
Grey tackled Valda before she could strike again, slamming her into the dirt.
The Ghost Howlers surged.
Liam stood protectively over their father, blades flashing, fighting like a wolf possessed. Mira rolled to her feet and caught Grey's eyes.
"Get him out of here!"
He nodded once, then shouted to Liam. "We move on your mark!"
Mira turned toward the rune chains binding her father. Her fingers hovered over them.
"How do I break them?"
He choked, "You can't. They're blood-linked to Valda."
Her breath hitched.
Unless…..
Mira's eyes darted toward the pendant the seer had given her.
Her mother's.
She yanked it from around her neck and pressed it to the chains.
It hissed.
Burned.
The runes pulsed… then fractured.
The chains fell.
Her father collapsed.
"Liam, help him!" she shouted.
But before she could retreat, a sharp pain tore through her side.
Valda.
The dagger sliced her ribs.
Mira gasped and spun, slamming her palm into Valda's face. The older woman snarled, staggering back.
"You are mine," Valda spat.
Mira's vision blurred but not from blood.
From fury.
She reached deep inside the bond she'd always feared.
Her wolf rose fully now.
And her shift came.
Bones cracked. Her body bent, shifted, stretched. Fur burst from her skin like flame, white streaked with crimson.
The air around her pulsed with raw power.
Valda backed up.
"No. That's not possible. You weren't ready"
But Mira didn't give her time.
She lunged.
Their bodies collided, and Mira's jaws clamped down, not to kill, but to scar. Her teeth tore into Valda's shoulder and tossed her like a ragdoll.
Then she turned to Grey and Liam.
"Go!" she growled.
They didn't hesitate.
Mira shifted back mid-run, her body aching, blood pouring from her side, adrenaline barely holding her upright.
They sprinted through the forest, Mira carrying the weight of her reborn power and the warning her father had given.
Behind them, the grove burned.
Valda's screams vanished into smoke.
They didn't stop until the sun broke over the hills.
And even then…
Mira didn't look back.
End of Chapter Ten
.....
Mira's wolf is no longer silent and neither is her past. But now that she's shifted again, she's on every radar that matters. And Valda isn't done. She's only begun to claim what she believes is hers.