Thessara's voice still echoed in Selene's ears.
"It was never Darius. The elder who ordered your mother's death died last night."
Selene sat frozen. Her fingers curled so tightly into her palm that blood dotted her skin.
Why hadn't Darius told her?
Why let her believe he was the one who gave the order?
Because he wanted you to hate him, something inside whispered.
And it worked.
Outside, the estate crackled with tension.
Another elder dead.
The walls were thick with unspoken suspicion.
And Selene? The one tied to it all. The marked wolf. The outsider.
Thessara moved quietly, folding robes. "I shouldn't have said anything."
Selene stood, eyes burning. "Why did you?"
"Because I think you need to start seeing the truth, Lady Selene," she said, her voice calm. "You think you're trapped by Darius. You're not. You're trapped by a history you don't know."
Selene narrowed her eyes. "Whose side are you on?"
"I don't pick sides," Thessara replied, looking up. "I serve power. And right now… you're the one who's waking it."
Later that night, the dreams returned.
But this time, she wasn't alone in them.
She saw herself standing in a field of bones and wolf carcasses, all disfigured, all marked.
Someone moved beside her. A woman.
Tall. Long black hair. Skin glowing under the moonlight.
Her face… looked like Selene's.
But older. Wilder.
"Who are you?" Selene asked.
The woman smiled. "You'll remember me when it's time."
And then, she leaned closer and whispered:
"You're not being hunted, child. You're being called home."
Selene jolted awake, gasping.
The room was cold.
And someone was watching her.
She turned and found Darius standing in the shadows.
"You dream too loudly," he said.
"You sneak too quietly," she shot back.
Neither moved.
"What do you want?" she asked, standing.
"I came to check if you were still in your room."
"And?"
"You are." He paused. "But your wolf isn't."
Selene's breath caught. "What does that mean?"
"I had a scout trail something last night. A shadow moving like a wolf, glowing like you, but not quite you." He stepped closer. "Your power is separating."
"What—?"
"Your mark," he said quietly. "It's reacting to something. Or someone."
Selene stared at him. "Are you saying I have a second wolf?"
"No. I'm saying…" He leaned in. "You're becoming something other."
She didn't sleep again.
Instead, she walked the estate until her legs ached.
She passed guards who averted their gaze.
She passed halls she hadn't seen before.
And in one of them… she found a locked door.
Steel. Reinforced. With symbols carved into the frame.
Her hand lifted on instinct.
And as she touched it—
It clicked open.
Inside was a room filled with relics.
Old scrolls. Weapons. A glass tank holding a single, flickering flame.
In the center, a mirror.
But the reflection inside wasn't hers.
It was the woman from her dream.
Selene staggered back.
The woman in the mirror stepped forward.
She looked exactly like her… except her eyes were silver all the way through.
The woman opened her mouth
And a wolf's growl came out.
"Step away from it."
Darius's voice slammed into her like a wall.
He was at the doorway, sword drawn, pupils like pinpoints.
Selene turned. "What is this room?"
"This is where we lock the things we don't want waking up."
"Then why was I able to open it?"
He didn't answer.
"Who was that in the mirror?" she demanded.
Darius stared at her, jaw tight.
Then, quietly, like he regretted every word, he said—
"Your mother."