Owain's scream bounced off the stone walls of the pit.
"KANA—!!"
The echo hadn't even faded when the world snapped.
Not gently.
Not slowly.
Like claws tearing through fabric.
The vision meadow ripped away. The Hunger creature vanished. The shaking stone reality of the Pit slammed back into his body as if he'd crashed into his own bones.
He gasped, tasting blood.
But Kanah's voice—
That sound—
That impossible, ancient, wrong sound—
It pulsed through the bond again, jagged and trembling:
Ahr'ven ka—
Owain's spine arched.
The bond flickered like it was burning from the inside.
"Kana—stop—stop—" he rasped, clutching his chest. It felt like claws were hooked under his ribs.
Her voice wasn't calling him.
It was seeking.
Searching.
Hunting.
He felt it—what the Hunger creature had warned:
If Kanah woke as Devourer, she wouldn't know him.
He refused to let that become real.
He forced himself upright, legs shaking, claws cracked and bleeding.
The Hunger creature stood before him now—not massive like the beasts he'd fought, but the humanoid shape with hollow white eyes. Its expression was unreadable.
"You feel her hunger."
Owain snarled, voice raw. "She's in pain."
"She is becoming."
"She is fighting," Owain snapped.
The creature tilted its head.
"Fighting does not stop hunger. It delays the moment she loses herself."
Owain bared his teeth. "Then I'll reach her before that."
"You cannot leave the Pit without completing the final trial."
Owain's heart hammered. "Then give it to me!"
The creature's expression didn't change.
But the ground beneath Owain split.
A circle of white light—cold, pulsing—rose around him.
The creature stepped back.
"The final trial," it said softly, "is not strength. Not endurance. Not killing."
Owain swallowed hard, chest tight.
"What is it?"
"Identity."
Owain froze.
"You must emerge knowing who you are… so you can remind her who she is."
The ground gave way under his feet.
He fell—
A plunge of cold air—
A roar that wasn't a roar—
And then—
KANAH — THE EDGE OF THE HUNGER
Her throat burned.
Her body felt too small for itself, like something vast pressed outward from her ribs.
Her father's presence wrapped around her like an iron cage. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
Ilai held her, arms tight around Kanah's shivering body, whispering brokenly into her hair:
"Stay with me. Stay with me, little star, please—"
Kanah didn't feel like a star.
She felt like a crack.
A fissure in her own skin.
Her father's voice was calm, infuriatingly patient:
"Do not fear the tongue. It merely reveals what you are."
Kanah sobbed through clenched teeth.
"I'm—not—Devourer—!!"
"You cannot deny biology."
Her father crouched before her, eyes black-gold and endless.
"You are my blood. You speak my language. You will awaken."
Kanah pressed her palms to the stone floor, nails gouging the surface.
Ilai tightened her grip.
"No—no—don't listen—Kanah, sweetheart, you're HUMAN. Remember that. Remember—"
Her father's head snapped toward Ilai.
"You cling to a lesser form as if it defines her."
Ilai met his gaze without shaking.
"It does."
Kanah's breath caught.
Her father's expression sharpened.
"Humanity is weakness—"
"Humanity is choice," Ilai hissed.
Kanah choked on a gasp as another pulse of black-gold heat tore through her veins.
Her Devourer eye burned.
Her heart thrashed.
Her hunger clawed at the edges of her mind—
And then she heard it.
Faint. Raw.
Owain's voice.
Through the chaos in her blood. Through the storm in her head.
"Kana… hold on…"
Her breath hitched. She lifted her shaking hand to her chest.
"Owain…"
He sounded far away.
Like he was yelling across a burning forest.
Ilai's grip tightened. "Yes—yes, hold onto him—Kanah, focus—"
Her father rose slowly.
"He cannot reach you. He is buried in the Pit."
Kanah shook her head violently.
"He'll come."
"He will fail."
"He always comes."
A shadow crossed her father's eyes.
"Then I will ensure you are awakened before he arrives."
Kanah's blood ran cold.
"No—"
He lifted his hand.
The air tightened.
Black-gold force wrapped around her ribs.
Kanah screamed.
Ilai lunged forward. "STOP!"
Her father flicked his fingers.
Ilai slammed into the wall.
"NO—!! ILAI—!!"
Kanah tried to crawl to her, but her limbs locked.
Her father advanced, voice soft like a blade sliding in.
"Say the next word."
Kanah gasped.
"No—no—"
"SAY IT."
Her body arched. Her back hit the stone.
Her vision blurred.
Her hunger surged—
Take. Devour. Claim.
Kanah screamed.
Her father leaned close.
"Speak."
Her lips parted against her will—
But before sound escaped—
A shock tore through her chest.
Not pain.
Not hunger.
Owain.
A powerful surge through the bond.
Not a whisper.
Not a call.
A command.
"KANAH—LOOK AT ME."
Her eyes flew open.
For a moment—
A single moment—
Her Devourer hunger recoiled.
Ilai, dazed on the floor, breathed:
"Owain…?"
Kanah's father turned sharply toward the Pit.
"He… passed the final threshold?"
For the first time—
He sounded surprised.
OWAIN — THE FINAL TRIAL
Owain landed on solid ground.
Breath knocked out of him.
He pushed himself up—
And froze.
He stood in a wide cavern, lit by a soft, pulsing glow.
At the center was a mirror.
Not glass.
Water.
Still, silver-white water, upright like a doorway.
His reflection stared back—
But it wasn't right.
His wolf form flickered behind his humanoid shape. His eyes glowed too bright. His claws too sharp.
And the reflection spoke first.
"You think you protect her."
Owain stiffened. "I do."
"You think you can save her."
"I WILL."
"You think love is enough."
Owain's jaw clenched. "It is."
The reflection tilted its head cruelly.
"Then why… in every vision… does she lose herself first?"
Owain's stomach twisted.
The reflection stepped closer inside the mirror-water.
"Because you hesitate. You fear the beast in you. You fear the violence in your own heart."
Owain's breath hitched.
"That's not—"
"You know it's true."
His reflection's eyes went wolf-pale.
"You want to tear her father apart."
Owain swallowed hard.
"Of course I do."
"You want to break every bone of every beast who touched her."
"Yes."
"You want to kill for her. Without thinking. Without mercy."
Owain's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Yes."
The reflection smiled.
"Then why do you pretend to be gentle?"
Owain froze.
"You think she needs your restraint. She doesn't."
Owain's heart thudded.
"What are you saying?"
"She needs your truth.
Your instinct.
Your beast."
Owain's breath stopped.
"She is awakening," the reflection growled, "and if you meet her with fear—
She.
Will.
Consume.
You."
The water rippled.
The reflection stepped out.
Solid. Real.
Owain tensed, claws ready.
His double circled him slowly.
"You cannot save her as half a beast."
Owain's pulse pounded in his ears.
"You must choose what you are."
His double lunged—
And Owain met him head-on.
Their claws locked. Teeth bared. Power flared between them in golden-white arcs.
His reflection snarled:
"WHO ARE YOU?"
Owain roared back, voice breaking:
"I AM HERS."
And he shoved his double backward—
Into the mirror.
The water shattered like glass.
Light exploded around him.
The cavern roared open.
And a path—bright, pulsing—unfurled before him, leading upward.
"Kanah—" he rasped, breath shaking. "I'm coming."
He ran.
KANAH — THE BREAKING POINT
Her father turned fully toward the Pit entrance.
His voice dropped.
"So he ascended."
Kanah gasped for air, still pinned by his power.
Ilai pushed herself to her knees, blood trickling from her temple.
"My lord—stop—please—let her breathe—"
Her father didn't even look at her.
"His completion of the trial accelerates her awakening."
Kanah's stomach twisted.
"What—what do you mean—"
"The Devourer seed responds to intense resonance. His arrival will ignite you."
Kanah's breath stuttered.
"NO—"
"If he comes near you now, you will feed."
Ilai's eyes widened in horror.
Kanah felt cold. Hollow. Terrified.
"No… I don't—I don't want to hurt him—"
"You will," her father murmured.
Kanah shook her head violently.
"I won't—I WON'T—!!"
Her father stepped closer.
"You have no choice. Hunger chooses for you."
Kanah's pulse pounded painfully.
Her father reached for her face.
Ilai screamed, "KANAH—DON'T LET HIM—!!!"
Kanah slapped his hand away with a snarl.
Her father froze.
Ilai's eyes widened.
So did Kanah's.
Because the sound that tore from her throat—
Wasn't human.
Wasn't beast.
But Owain's voice came through the bond again, stronger, closer—
"KANA. HOLD ON TO ME."
Kanah gasped—
And her father's eyes narrowed.
"It is too late. He is already near."
The chamber trembled.
Steps thundered up the corridor.
Kanah's heart nearly burst.
"Owain—"
Her father turned toward the door.
"Then the final stage begins."
Kanah screamed, "NO—!!"
But the door exploded inward—
Stone shattering.
Dust rushing across the chamber.
Light pouring through.
And there he was.
Owain.
Bleeding. Bruised. Wild-eyed. Breathless.
But alive.
Alive.
His eyes locked on hers instantly.
"KANA."
Her vision blurred.
"OWAIN—!!"
Her father stepped between them.
Owain's lips peeled back into a feral snarl.
Kanah's pulse spiked dangerously, the hunger ripping upward—
Ilai whispered, trembling:
"Don't break… don't break… Kanah, stay with him…"
And Kanah, through the pain, through the hunger, through her father's shadow—
Locked her gaze on Owain.
Her voice cracked.
"Don't come closer—
Please—
I can't control it—
I'll hurt you—"
Owain took one step forward anyway.
"Then let me be the one you hurt."
Kanah's breath shattered.
Her father's eyes glowed black-gold.
"It begins."
The hunger surged.
Kanah screamed.
Owain growled, "KANA—LOOK AT ME!"
And she did.
The world fell away.
Only them.
Only the bond.
Only the heartbeat they shared.
The hunger gnashing inside her—
Collided with the love crashing from him.
And everything—
Everything—
Exploded.