Callista's heart pounded in her chest.
Mate.
The word rang in her ears, a whisper of something ancient and terrifying. She had never heard it spoken like that before, never with such raw intensity.
"You're mine."
Lucien's words unsettled her, made her skin prickle. She wanted to deny it, to laugh in his face and tell him this was some ridiculous mistake.
But she couldn't.
Because deep in her bones, something recognized him.
Callista staggered to her feet, backing away as she shook her head. "No. No, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not—"
Lucien's gaze darkened. He took a slow step forward. "You are."
His voice sent a strange tremor through her, a mix of warning and certainty.
"Stay back," she snapped, hating the way her voice wavered.
Lucien paused, but only slightly. "You don't understand, Callista," he said, his voice softer now, like he was trying to be careful with her. "You're not human."
Callista felt like the ground beneath her had been ripped away.
She wasn't human?
Her throat tightened. "That's not true," she whispered.
Lucien's gaze flickered to something behind her. "Then why does your scent say otherwise?"
Before she could ask what the hell that meant, a sharp gust of wind blew through the trees, sending a shiver down her spine.
And with it, something changed.
The air around them grew thick, charged, like static before a storm. A deep, foreign sensation crept beneath her skin—one that made her blood feel like it was shifting.
Callista gasped, clutching her arms as a strange heat built inside her.
It was unlike anything she had ever felt before—an energy coiling in her veins, crackling just beneath her skin.
Lucien's eyes narrowed. "It's happening."
"What's happening?" she demanded, but her voice was laced with panic.
Lucien didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed her wrist—more gently than before—and pulled her closer.
Her body reacted instantly. The moment their skin touched, the heat inside her flared, like fire meeting air.
Lucien inhaled sharply. His grip tightened.
"Your blood," he murmured, his eyes locked onto hers, blue with a hint of gold and looks very fierce. "It's waking up."
Callista couldn't breathe.
What does that mean?
Then, suddenly—
Pain.
A sharp, searing pain shot through her chest, making her gasp. She doubled over, clutching her ribs as the fire inside her spread, igniting every nerve.
It felt like something inside her was breaking open.
Lucien was saying something, but his voice was distant, drowned out by the roaring in her ears.
Her knees buckled. Her vision blurred. And then—
A voice.
Not Lucien's.
Not her own.
But a deep, whispering echo that came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
"The time has come."
Then—darkness.