*Damon's POV*
We'd been wandering for hours when the forest began to change—thicker trees, the air heavy with a wild scent. Something primal. Something raw.
Ahead, the flicker of firelight through the dense brush. A hidden pack.
Damon led cautiously, muscles coiled. The hidden pack was known only in whispers—rough, wild werewolves who lived outside the laws of the great packs. Outlaws, some said. But they held secrets, old and powerful.
As we approached, their leader—a towering wolf with silver-streaked fur and piercing eyes—stepped forward.
"We know why you're here," he rumbled. "Answers come with a price."
Nyla's eyes widened. She clutched my hand tightly.
That night, under a sky stripped bare of stars, Nyla felt the change stir inside her. Her breath hitched as her body tingled, heat spreading from her core to fingertips and toes.
"Damon," she whispered, voice trembling, "I can feel it… the wolf."
I held her close as the first tremors of her transformation began—fur bristling, nails lengthening, senses sharpening.
The hidden pack watched in silence, some nodding with approval.
"Embrace it," their leader said. "Your blood calls to you. It's time to awaken."
Nyla's eyes glowed golden, wild and fierce.
She was no longer just human.
She was becoming one of them.
The journey had only just begun.
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