Chapter 3 THE SILVER SHADOW

I woke with my face pressed into damp leaves, my chest heaving, and every nerve screaming. My hands were clawed into the soil, two of my fingernails broken, palms scraped raw.

My mind was fogged, but a single thought burned brighter than anything else: the silver-eyed creature was gone.

Or... had it ever been real?

Kelan groaned nearby, half-buried in the underbrush. His hand found mine, gripping tightly.

"Ayla... are you okay?"

I shook my head, unable to speak. Every sound around me; the rustling leaves, the distant howl, the echo of my own ragged breathing, all felt amplified. My wolf roared silently beneath my ribs, restless, unsatisfied, demanding release I didn't understand.

What on earth is happening to me?

"Look," Kelan said, tugging me to my feet. "We need to report this. Now. The Alpha will..."

The ground shivered under my feet. Not just tremors from shifting wolves, this was deeper. My stomach dropped. I had felt it before, the night the torches exploded, and now it returned, steady and pulsing.

Kelan noticed it too. His grip tightened. "Do you feel that?"

I nodded mutely. My wolf was whispering again, so impatient and hungry. I didn't know what it wanted but I knew it wanted something from that silver-eyed creature. Something... or someone.

We pushed through the undergrowth toward the clearing where the pack had gathered. The bonfire was smoldering, embers flickering weakly as the remaining warriors circled, tension rippling through their postures.

They hadn't seen what had happened, but they could sense that something unnatural had happened.

The Alpha stepped forward as we approached. His expression was grim, but he didn't look at me. He looked beyond me, scanning the shadows.

"Aron is dead," he said, voice low and steady. "His body shows no signs of human or rogue attack. Whoever or whatever did this is stronger than any wolf we know."

I forced myself to swallow through my tight throat. My pulse screamed at me: it wasn't a rogue.

And I knew why.

Kelan's eyes darted to mine. He must have noticed how tense I was, because his voice dropped. "You... you felt it, didn't you?"

I froze. "Felt what?"

"You know it's here." He swallowed hard. "You always know."

I flinched.

"Your mother always knew too, right?"

"Don't bring my mother into this Kelan", I whispered, loud enough for him to hear. I couldn't afford yelling now, it'd only complicate things.

They had never understood my mother. I don't even understand. Not yet at least. I only know that my wolf is suddenly alive, and it reacts to things that shouldn't exist. Things that kill. Things that hunt.

The Alpha's gaze finally fell on me, and the temperature of the night seemed to drop. He didn't speak, just stared, studying me as if trying to measure the storm within.

"Go," he finally said. "Stay with Mira. Do not leave the healers. Do not... shift."

I nodded silently, but inside, my wolf laughed. The words echoed like claws on stone: Do not shift?

I followed Mira reluctantly, staying close to the warmth of her presence, yet every nerve in my body strained toward the forest. Every sense screamed that the silver-eyed creature hadn't finished with me. That it would return. That it had a purpose for me I didn't yet understand.

Hours passed, or maybe minutes. Time had lost meaning. I couldn't eat, couldn't sit, couldn't calm the pulse in my veins. Every whisper of movement, every snap of a twig made my chest squeeze, made my teeth itch, made my claws twitch.

Then I heard it again.

Soft, deliberate, almost playful: the footsteps of something massive moving just beyond the treeline.

I froze. My wolf surged inside me, hungry, restless, alive. It wanted to run. Wanted to tear. Wanted to know.

Kelan's hand found mine again, grounding me. "It's just a wolf," he whispered. "Or a rogue-nothing more."

I shook my head slowly. "No... it's not."

My wolf screamed through me, and the silver-eyed creature stepped into the clearing.

It didn't move like a wolf. Not entirely. Its movements were liquid, predatory, elegant, deliberate. Its eyes glowed silver, and they pierced me.

It tilted its head slightly. And then-smile or no smile-I felt it in my mind again. Alya... it's time.

Something inside me twisted, and I realized I didn't just feel fear. I felt recognition. Connection. Hunger. Power. And something else...

It wasn't human. It wasn't wolf. But somehow... it was me.

Kelan noticed the change instantly. "Ayla... get back!"

I tried to obey. I couldn't. My legs moved on their own. My heart hammered, my teeth itched, my hands wanted to dig, tear, rip. The silver-eyed creature crouched, low, ready to spring.

And then it spoke again.

"You're ready now."

The words slithered into my mind, and suddenly the world slowed. Every heartbeat, every whisper of wind, every rustle of leaves screamed in sharp relief. The wolf inside me roared its approval.

Something in my chest broke. I felt my claws elongate, my teeth sharpen, my senses fracture. I was no longer human, not fully. And yet, I still was.

Before I could process what was happening, the silver-eyed creature leapt.

Straight at me.