The morning after the full moon felt like waking from a storm. My body ached, not from pain exactly, but from exhaustion buried so deep I could feel it in my bones. I lay on a thin mattress in Kael's cabin, wrapped in a wool blanket that smelled faintly of pine, smoke… and him.
For a moment, I wasn't sure it had really happened. The shift. The fight. Ronan.
But then I moved — and my entire body reminded me it had.
Kael sat in the corner, shirtless, his arms crossed over his chest. He watched me like I might vanish. Or explode.
"You're awake," he said.
"I think so," I rasped.
He stood and brought me water. I drank like I hadn't in days.
"You shifted," he said softly, almost reverently. "All the way."
"Yeah," I whispered. "I noticed."
Kael studied me, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Most don't survive their first shift without a bond. You had no training. No trigger. You should've gone feral."
"But I didn't."
"No," he said, voice low. "You didn't."
I met his gaze. "Because of you?"
He hesitated. Then shook his head. "Because of you."
The silence stretched. I could feel the question bubbling beneath his skin — the same one clawing at my own thoughts.
What am I?
Before I could ask, he said, "There's something you need to see."
Kael led me outside. The air was crisp, the ground still damp with dew. Everything was brighter now — the colors too vivid, the world too alive. My senses hadn't fully faded. I could still hear birdsong half a mile away. Still feel the heartbeat of the forest.
He took me to a flat stone slab beside a moss-covered tree. A carving ran along the surface — ancient, looping symbols that shimmered faintly under the sunlight.
"This is one of the Stones of the First Blood," he said. "Our ancestors left them behind — clues, warnings… sometimes prophecy."
My fingers hovered over the markings. "I can't read it."
"Your blood can."
I blinked. "What?"
"Wolves with old blood can activate it. Purebloods. Hybrids. And the marked." He looked at me. "You're all three."
My pulse quickened. "You think I'm—?"
"I know what I felt when I bit you. I know what I saw when you shifted. You're not just some girl who wandered into the woods." His voice dropped. "You're something older. Something meant."
Before I could reply, the symbols on the stone pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then they glowed — silver and blue light blooming across the surface like frost on glass. Images flickered within the light — wolves, moons, a tree split by lightning.
And then I saw her.
A girl with silver eyes. My eyes.
She stood before a burning forest, blood dripping from her hands. Around her were wolves — bowing. Behind her, a shadow. Tall. Crowned in thorns. Eyes of fire.
Then the light went out.
I staggered back.
Kael caught me. "What did you see?"
"I…" My voice shook. "A prophecy?"
"A warning," Kael said. "The Elders believe in a legend — the return of the First Alpha's heir. A being born of both moon and blood, who can destroy or unite the packs."
"You think that's me?"
"I think Ronan does."
The truth hit me like a punch to the chest.
Ronan didn't just want to mark me. He wanted to control me. Or end me.
"I need answers," I said. "Real ones. No more secrets."
Kael nodded, jaw tight. "Then we go to the Wyrdwood. The witches there serve no Alpha — but they remember the old bloodlines. If anyone knows the truth… they will."
I took a deep breath. I had no idea what I was anymore. No idea what Ronan wanted — or why Kael looked at me like I was something sacred and dangerous all at once.
But I knew one thing for sure.
The world I'd known was gone.
And whatever was coming… it had already begun to wake.