Jamie
The air was thick with silence, the kind that buzzed in your ears and made every movement feel louder than it should. I was seated on the windowsill of the healer's wing, staring out into the forest beyond Furstone's walls. Dawn had barely broken. The horizon glowed in faint streaks of lilac and gold, like the earth itself was unsure about waking up.
I felt the same.
The chaos of the attack still echoed in my bones. Every time I blinked, I saw fangs, claws, and blood. Screams. Andrew's voice calling my name through the smoke. Alpha Jackson is bleeding in the dirt. Caroline moves like a storm, blade gleaming. And Oona… gods.
Oona had turned the tide of battle with raw, elemental power. It wasn't just magic. It was something ancient. Something cold. Lunar.
I hadn't told anyone what I saw—how her body glowed silver beneath the moonlight, how her hands danced with a light that could burn or bless. No one else seemed to have noticed. Or maybe they didn't want to admit it.
Was she a Lunaris, too?
The thought lodged in my chest like a thorn. If she was… what did that make me?
Footsteps approached. I knew them before I saw him. Andrew.
He came to stand beside me, his shirt half-buttoned, his hair still damp from the stream near the barracks. His eyes—tired but intense—met mine.
"I was looking for you," he said softly.
"I know."
He sat beside me, close enough that our knees touched. Silence stretched between us, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Not anymore.
"Is your father…?"
"He's healing. Slowly." Andrew rubbed the back of his neck. "He wanted to speak with you when he's stronger."
I blinked. "Me? Why?"
"I don't know. But I think it has something to do with… what you are. What he thinks you could be."
A chill passed down my spine. "He knows?"
"He suspects."
My heart beat faster. "And you? Do you… Believe it?"
Andrew looked at me, truly looked. "I saw the way Oona fought. I saw your eyes when she did. Something in you recognised it, didn't it?"
I nodded.
"I don't know what you are, Jamie," he continued. "But I don't think it's something to fear."
I wanted to believe him. I wanted it more than anything. But just as I opened my mouth to respond, a strange scent drifted through the open window. Faint. Almost sour. I stiffened.
Andrew noticed. "What is it?"
"I don't know," I said slowly. "But it smells like…"
Before I could finish, the door creaked open.
Ann stepped inside, eyes wide, her tunic stained with ash and herbs. "Jamie. You need to come with me. Now."
Andrew stood immediately. "What's wrong?"
"There's been a summons," she said. "The Council. They want Jamie present."
"Why?" Andrew demanded.
Ann hesitated, then looked at me. "Because someone's come forward claiming to know who he is."