Aria's POV
I woke up gasping for air.
The pain was gone. The glowing had stopped. My basement room was dark and silent.
Had I imagined it?
I touched the pendant. It was warm but no longer burning. My hands shook as I checked the small window. Still night. Maybe an hour had passed since I'd blacked out.
The ceremony music had stopped. The pack was probably asleep now, dreaming peacefully while I
No. I couldn't stay here. I couldn't wait for sunrise to be thrown out like garbage.
I grabbed my mother's letter and the food bundle Mary had given me. My old boots were by the door. I pulled them on with trembling fingers.
Time to go.
I crept through the silent hallways, my heart pounding with every step. If anyone caught me leaving early, they'd make it worse somehow. They always did.
The kitchen was dark and empty. I was almost to the back door when a figure stepped out of the shadows.
I bit back a scream.
Aria. Mary's voice. She pressed something into my hands. I packed extra bread and cheese. It's not much, but
Thank you. My voice cracked. For everything. For being kind when no one else was.
Mary pulled me into a fierce hug. She was crying. I'm so sorry, child. I should have protected you better. I should have told you
Told me what?
She pulled back, her eyes wide with fear. Just... be careful. Trust your instincts. And if you feel something inside you, something strange don't fight it.
Before I could ask what she meant, she pushed me toward the door. Go. Now. Before someone sees.
I ran.
The forest swallowed me whole. Trees loomed like dark giants on all sides. Without wolf senses, I was basically blind. Every snap of a twig made me jump. Every rustle of leaves sounded like someone following me.
But no one was. No one cared enough to follow.
I walked for hours, no destination in mind. Just away. Away from the pack, from Drake, from the humiliation, from everything.
My feet started to hurt. My legs ached. But I kept going.
Finally, exhausted, I collapsed by a small stream. The water gurgled peacefully, completely uncaring about my disaster of a life.
I ate half the bread Mary had given me and stared at my reflection in the water. My eyes were red and swollen from crying. My dress was torn and dirty. I looked as broken as I felt.
Pathetic crush, Drake had said.
Had I really been that stupid? Reading meaning into every smile, every kind word? Building a whole fantasy in my head while he laughed about me behind my back?
I pulled out my mother's letter again, reading it by moonlight.
You are not what they told you. The fire was no accident. Marcus
What were you trying to tell me? I whispered.
The forest didn't answer.
I tried to sleep, using my bundle as a pillow. But the ground was hard and the night was cold, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw Drake kissing Sienna.
So I got up and kept walking.
The sky was starting to lighten when I tripped over a tree root. I went down hard, my knee smashing into a sharp rock. Pain exploded up my leg.
Blood ran down my shin, dark in the pre-dawn light.
I tried to stand but my legs wouldn't work. My whole body felt like it was giving up. I was so tired. So cold. So alone.
I lay there on the forest floor and finally let myself break.
The sobs came from somewhere deep inside me. Not quiet crying. Loud, ugly, heartbroken wailing. I didn't care who heard. There was no one out here anyway.
Why? I screamed at the lightening sky. Why make me long for something I can never have? Why put me in a world where I don't belong?
The sun peeked over the horizon.
And something inside me shattered.
Not my heart this time. Something else. Something that had been holding me together or holding me back for my entire life.
It felt like chains breaking.
Pain slammed into me. Not like before in my room. This was a thousand times worse. My chest felt like it was being ripped open from the inside.
I screamed.
My bones started to crack. Actually crack, breaking and reshaping. The sound was horrible.
The pendant around my neck blazed with light so bright I couldn't look at it. Silver light poured from my skin, from my eyes, from everywhere.
What was happening to me?
My body convulsed. My spine arched. Every nerve was on fire.
Through the pain, I felt something massive trying to break free. Something wild. Something powerful. Something that had been locked away inside me my whole life.
The pendant's chain snapped from the force of my transformation. It fell to the ground, still glowing.
My hands stretched and changed. My fingers became claws. Silver fur erupted across my skin.
I tried to scream but the sound that came out was a roar.
And then
Everything stopped.
The pain vanished.
I opened my eyes.
The world looked different. Sharper. Every color more vivid. Every sound crystal clear. I could hear a rabbit breathing in a burrow fifty feet away. I could smell deer tracks from hours ago.
I looked down at myself and my heart stopped.
Massive paws tipped with silver claws stood where my hands should be. I was covered in fur that gleamed like moonlight. When I moved, power rippled through muscles I'd never had before.
I stumbled to the stream and looked at my reflection.
A huge wolf stared back at me. No not a wolf. Something bigger. Something other. Its eyes glowed pure silver. Its fur sparkled like it was made of starlight.
What am I?
I tried to take a step and nearly fell. This body was so big, so different. My legs moved wrong. Everything felt strange and new and overwhelming.
A branch snapped behind me.
I spun around, my new body surprisingly fast.
A massive black wolf stood at the edge of the clearing. It was the biggest wolf I'd ever seen, with amber eyes that watched me with intense focus.
We stared at each other for a long moment.
Then the black wolf's body rippled and changed. Within seconds, a man stood where the wolf had been.
He was tall and muscular, with black hair and those same intense amber eyes. Power radiated from him like heat. This was an Alpha. I could feel it even without knowing how.
He took a step toward me, his eyes wide with shock.
Impossible, he breathed. You're a Lycan.
A what?
The world tilted. My new body swayed.
Wait, the man said, reaching toward me. You're not stable yet. Don't
But darkness was already pulling at me. The transformation had taken everything I had left.
The last thing I saw before I collapsed was the man running toward me, his face full of awe and something else.
Something that looked almost like recognition.
Then everything went black.