Chapter 2 When the Forest Answered My Fear

Evelyn's POV

The forest had not stopped whispering. Even after the Blackridge wolves disappeared, even after Leo's shadow fell over me, the trees still hummed under my skin, alive with a pulse I could not name.

I stumbled backward, gripping the trunk of an old pine, my fingers digging into the rough bark as though it could anchor me to reality. My heartbeat was a drum in my ears, louder than the birds or the wind. I had never felt anything like this before-power that wasn't mine, yet not entirely separate from me.

Leo stepped closer, slow, careful, his boots crunching on the pine needles. "Evelyn," he said again, softer this time, but there was steel beneath it. "Look at me."

I swallowed. The tremor in my hands betrayed the calm I tried to project. "I-I didn't mean... any of that. The forest just-reacted."

He studied me, gray eyes narrowing, not in anger, but in analysis. Every Alpha instinct in him was sharp and alert, yet he made no move to command me, to control the forest or me. "It's not the forest reacting. It's you."

I blinked, horrified. "Me?"

"Yes." His voice was low, almost a growl. "You can do this. You are doing this. Do you understand what that means?"

I shook my head, feeling the weight of it before I even could comprehend it. "No. I-I've always been... ordinary. I've always been careful. I've always tried not to... not to matter."

He crouched slightly, bringing his eyes level with mine. "Evelyn, you matter more than you know. You've always mattered. But this... this is bigger than either of us. You can't hide from it."

I wanted to deny it. I wanted to retreat into the girl I had been, the one who ran from the pack, from responsibility, from destiny. But the forest wasn't letting me. Its pulse under my skin demanded acknowledgment. Its voice-silent, insistent-pushed me toward acceptance.

"What do I do?" I whispered.

Leo's jaw tightened. "First, we make sure you're safe. Then we figure out what this is. You're not the only one who doesn't understand it. But I will help you."

I wanted to believe him. I tried to. Yet even as he spoke, doubt twisted in my chest. Blackridge had watched. They had seen the forest bend to me. The consequences of that were not small. And I knew, deep in my gut, that they would return.

We moved together through the clearing toward the pack territory, the forest underfoot seeming to bend around my steps as if acknowledging my presence. Every snapping twig, every rustle of leaves felt like a heartbeat, like the land itself was alive and aware of me.

When we reached the pack's main grounds, the sight of familiar buildings should have comforted me. It didn't. The central hall loomed large and gray, its walls echoing with decades of politics, whispered warnings, and expectations. I remembered standing here as a child, hiding behind columns while the elders debated the pack's direction. And now... I was back, and more than a witness.

Leo didn't let me linger on the memories. He guided me inside, where the council awaited. Elder Morcant, with his long silver hair pulled back into a severe braid, studied me from his chair like I was a puzzle he hadn't yet solved. Two other elders flanked him, their expressions taut with suspicion.

"You've returned," Morcant said finally. His voice carried the weight of the pack, authoritative but wary. "And already the forest reacts."

I swallowed, my throat dry. "It-It wasn't intentional. I didn't mean to-"

"Intent doesn't matter," Morcant interrupted. "The power reveals itself, and the world responds. Do you understand the implications of what you just did, Evelyn?"

I shook my head again. "No. I don't even understand how I did it."

Leo stepped forward. "She doesn't know yet. But she's not dangerous. Not unless someone provokes her. The forest is responding to her presence, not her intent."

Morcant's eyes narrowed. "Control is the measure of danger, Alpha. If she cannot control it, if she cannot learn... then she is a threat to every life in Silverpine."

I flinched, but Leo placed a hand on my shoulder. Steady. Grounding. "She will learn," he said. "I'll make sure of it."

The council murmured among themselves, a low hum of fear and speculation. I felt like a glass figure on display, fragile and vulnerable under dozens of scrutinizing eyes. I had always avoided attention. Always run from expectations. And now... it was everywhere.

Elder Morcant's gaze returned to me. "There is an ancient place," he said. "A place of learning, of trials. The Greenwood Sanctum. It was once home to the Grovekeepers. If Evelyn is to control what she commands, she must go there."

I froze. "Sanctum?"

"Yes. Beyond the eastern border. Dangerous lands. You will not go unaccompanied."

Leo's hand tightened on mine. "I will go with you. We leave at first light."

The gravity of it settled in my chest like stones. Training? Danger? A forest that recognized me as its Luna? Blackridge watching my every move?

My knees weakened. "I..."

Leo lowered his voice. "I know. I know it's too much. But you can't run anymore. Not from the forest, not from yourself, not from me."

I swallowed back the panic that rose like a storm. The truth was undeniable: I couldn't run. Not when the forest had chosen me. Not when Blackridge had seen me. And not when Leo-the boy I had loved, the man who had become Alpha-stood beside me, refusing to leave me to face it alone.

I wanted to ask questions. Hundreds of them. But even as I opened my mouth, a shadow fell across the doorway.

Blackridge. Again.

The air rippled. The forest groaned. Something in me stirred before I even knew what it was.

And I knew, in that instant, that nothing would ever be the same.

Because whoever had sent me that first summons... had set everything in motion.

And I was standing at the center of it.

I took a step forward. The shadow moved faster than any human-or wolf-should. The forest pulsed beneath my feet, hungry, aware. And then a cold voice, sharp as steel, cut through the hall:

"Evelyn... you should have stayed away."

My blood ran cold.

The forest answered my fear with a whisper: You belong to me now.