Chapter 19 – After the Light
The forest didn't go quiet.
It just… changed.
The air smelled strange now, like burnt rain and old wood. Every sound came too soft, too far away — like the world was holding its breath.
Anna sat there for a long time. The dirt under her fingers felt damp, real, but everything else didn't. Alex was quiet beside her, staring at her hands like she was afraid to move them. And Ray — poor Ray — looked like he was still trying to convince himself that this wasn't all a dream.
It wasn't.
"Is it over?" Anna's voice cracked.
No one answered. Maybe no one knew.
They got up together, shaky, silent. The forest wasn't attacking them, but it wasn't welcoming either. It felt like they were being watched — not by something cruel, but something curious. That made it worse somehow.
When they finally reached the open field, people were already there.
Scattered students. Whispers. Fear.
No one said what everyone was thinking — something happened.
Then Gabriel appeared with Claire beside him. His face was calm, too calm, the way people look when they're scared but trying not to show it.
"The exam is over," he said. No yelling, no panic — just a flat statement.
"You'll all be graded based on your current progress. Return to the academy."
That was it. No explanations, no comfort. Just an order.
But later, when most of the students had gone, Gabriel called the trio aside.
"Stay," he said quietly.
And something in his tone made them listen.
They followed him through the back gate, through the hall that always smelled like chalk and dust, into a room that looked too clean for how tense the air was.
Gabriel turned to them. "What did you see?"
Ray opened his mouth, then shut it again.
Alex just crossed her arms, even though her hands were shaking. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean." His voice was low now. "The forest reacted to you three. Not to anyone else."
Anna looked down, fingers brushing the side of her neck where the faint trace of the wolf still slept. She could feel it sometimes, like a heartbeat that wasn't hers.
Gabriel's eyes softened, but only a little. "You won't talk about this to anyone. Not your classmates. Not even each other if you can help it."
"That's insane," Alex snapped, because of course she did. "You can't just—"
"I can," he said, sharp now. "And I will. Because you don't understand what you're carrying."
For a heartbeat, no one breathed.
Then he sighed and stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You'll start special training tomorrow. It's meant for containment… control. Whatever this is, it's tied to you now."
Anna swallowed hard. "And if we can't control it?"
Gabriel looked at her for a long time. "Then it'll control you."
The words hit harder than he probably meant them to. Alex's fists clenched. Ray looked away.
The room went still again, that heavy kind of quiet that sticks in your throat.
Finally, Gabriel nodded toward the door. "Go get some rest. You'll need it."
---
Outside, the hallway lights flickered once before holding steady.
Ray exhaled. "Well… that was fun."
Anna managed a small smile. "You call that fun?"
He shrugged. "Better than another near-death test."
Alex didn't laugh. She just walked ahead of them, hands jammed in her pockets, the faint silver of her mark hidden by her collar. Her steps were fast — angry — but if you looked closely, you could see it.
The tremor in her shoulders.
The way her jaw tightened.
The way she was fighting not to fall apart again.
Anna watched her go, the words caught somewhere in her throat.
She didn't say them. Not yet.
Because something told her — this wasn't over.
Not the forest.
Not the marks.
Not them.