Chapter 5 Lira suspects Jade is hiding something

Jade's POV

My skin didn't feel like my own anymore.

The second I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong or right. I wasn't sure yet. The morning light sliced through the curtains, too bright, too sharp. I could hear everything the wind brushing against the trees outside, the footsteps three rooms down, the whisper of fabric as Kara rolled over in her bed across the hall.

Everything.

And the mirror?

Still shattered.

Shards glinted on the floor, reflecting fragments of my face like I'd become something fractured. Something other. I backed away slowly, every nerve on fire. The empty vial lay on the table like a secret I couldn't take back.

What had I done? My wolf was quiet but awake. Not angry. Not restless. Pleased.

That scared me more than anything. I washed my face, trying to still my racing thoughts, but the water clung to my skin like silk. Thicker. Slower. As if it didn't want to let go.

I was hallucinating.

Had to be. Until I grabbed a towel and it caught fire in my hand not literal flames, not burning but it glowed bright and gold and hot against my palm for the briefest second then faded.

I dropped it like it bit me.

"Oh gods," I whispered.

I hadn't even meant to do anything.

Something inside me was waking up.

Something ancient.

And it wanted out.

I didn't report the mirror. Or the towel. Or the bone-deep ache beneath my skin that pulsed in time with the full moon overhead.

Instead, I went to my duties. Quiet. Focused. Avoiding everyone including Ewans but that didn't last long.

By midday, the pack was buzzing. Restless. Uneasy and I could feel it, too.

Like the wind was holding its breath. Like something was coming.

"You feel that?" Kara asked me quietly as we served lunch to the council. "The air's wrong."

I nodded.

Elder Corin looked pale. Marcus was jumpier than usual. Even the wolves sparring outside were distracted, movements stiff, like their instincts were bracing for a hit.

And Ewans?

He hadn't stopped watching me. From across the room, his gaze pinned me like a blade. I didn't look away this time. Didn't hide.

Couldn't.

He knew something had changed.

The question was, how much?

I slipped away after the midday rush and went to the northern cliffs. My spot. The one place no one bothered to follow. A ledge carved into the stone, overlooking the valley below.

I sat with my knees pulled up, fingers digging into the grass as I tried to breathe.

Nothing felt real.

Not the way my senses had tripled. Not the fire dancing under my skin. Not the way my blood sang with a rhythm I didn't recognize.

Was I turning into something else?

Someone else?

"You disappeared."

I didn't flinch. I knew that voice. Even when it was soft.

Ewans stood behind me, arms crossed, hair tousled like he'd been running his fingers through it for hours.

"I needed space," I said.

"You broke your mirror."

"I dropped something."

"Jade."

I looked over my shoulder. "Why do you care?"

He didn't answer.

"Is it because you think I'm dangerous now?" I asked. "Because if that's the case, you should've locked me up instead of kissing me last night." His jaw clenched. "That's not what this is."

"Then what is it, Ewans? Because you keep showing up. Keep touching me. Keep looking at me like you want me then you pull way like I burn you."

He stepped forward. "You do burn me."

I stood, chest tight. "Then stay away."

"I can't." I hated how much that hurt. How much hope tried to rise again.

"Something's happening to me," I whispered. "And I don't know what it is."

He was silent for a long time.

Then, softly "I think I do."

My breath caught. "What?"

"I've seen this before. A long time ago. Before I was Alpha. There was a girl another wolf, she started changing. Powers she couldn't control. Visions. Energy that bent the world around her."

"What happened to her?"

He looked away. "The pack exiled her. She vanished."

My stomach dropped.

"You think I'm like her?"

"I think you're more." Before I could process that, a howl split the air.

Warning.

Attack.

Ewans's eyes snapped toward the sound. "Come on." We ran.

By the time we reached the south gate, chaos had erupted.

Three rogues had broken through the boundary fast, vicious, frothing at the mouth like they'd been drugged. I shifted mid-run, fur exploding from my skin, bones cracking with the rush of adrenaline. My wolf was ready.

The first rogue came at me like a bullet.

I met him head on.

Teeth sank into flesh. Claws tore through fur. My vision narrowed into blood and instinct.

Then I felt it.

Power.

Not from training. Not from rage.

From within. It coiled through me like smoke and flame, wrapped around my limbs like invisible armor.

When the second rogue lunged, I didn't dodge.

I lifted my paw and he flew backward.

Not by force.

By energy.

Something in me pushed and the air snapped.

Everyone froze.

The rogue hit the tree line and didn't get back up.

Silence.

Ewans shifted back first, stepping toward me. "Jade?"

I was shaking.

I couldn't shift back. Couldn't speak.

Something had changed.

They saw it.

And I couldn't hide it anymore.

I turned and ran.

I didn't stop until I reached the woods near the ridge. My legs gave out and I collapsed, panting, naked and shaking in the dirt.

"What's happening to me?" I whispered.

A branch snapped behind me.

Ewans.

He dropped his shift form and stepped forward, not caring that I was bare. Not caring about anything except the panic in my eyes.

"Easy," he said, crouching beside me. "Breathe."

"I-I didn't mean to-"

"You saved us."

"No. I launched him. I used something. I didn't shift fast or hit hard. I pushed him without touching him. That's not wolf magic."

"It's not."

My breath caught.

"It's bloodline magic."

I stared. "Whose bloodline?"

He hesitated.

"I don't know," he said. "But I swear I'll find out."

I hated the look on his face. Pity. Worry.

Desire.

He reached for me again.

But this time I pulled back.

"No more touching unless you mean it."

His hand hovered in the air. "I do mean it."

"Then stop pretending I'm not yours."

Silence.

Then "I'm not ready."

Tears stung my eyes.

"Then you don't get to have me."

And I ran again.

But this time, I didn't run because I was afraid of what was inside me.

I ran because I knew deep down that power was mine.

And I was going to figure out what I was...

Even if it destroyed me.

To be continued...