Chapter 4 The Awakening

The mirror was destroyed and bits of it fell in thousands, resembling falling stars over a rock floor. Elena put a hand to her mouth as a wave of shock pushed her back and she could hardly believe how her chest rose and fell.

Even so, her mother had passed away.

If there was a vision, it disappeared just like smoke blown away by the wind.

"Elena!" His loud voice could be heard coming from the hallway.

The door slammed and as I looked, he ran inside, his shirt badly torn and spotted with blood. Deep breaths escaped him and he held his fists together tightly. His wolf was still there inside, almost breaking free.

His glance settled upon her as she shook in front of a pile of broken glass.

He demanded, "What occurred?"

I caught a glimpse of her and I'm still shaking, Elena murmured. I looked at myself in the mirror. My mother. She reached out and said something to me.

His jaw tightened. I didn't think you would be able to use your powers this soon.

She told me I had to pick one path or the other. Her voice shook as she continued talking. Who ends up living and who dies.

Dusk arrived to his expression. That could mean anything from nothing to major changes. If Lucien appeared to him through a vision-

She snapped, "It was not in his character." Only a mother could understand some of the things she knew. I could see my eyes in hers. Her voice made me feel something, Kael. A connection."

She moved toward me slowly, as if she could break at any minute. That is exactly what the Shadowclaws hope to take advantage of. That's one way they can hold control over you, if you let them.

"I don't need this power," she said quietly.

As he stood so close, there was warmth coming from his skin that she could sense. Now, it's not important. You already understand it. If you don't learn to control your anger, it will wreck you. Even more serious, the person can be someone you care about.

Her words felt heavy in her chest the way stones would feel.

Howls began to cavitate next to the jeep. Kael looked toward the window, with his muscles tightening.

"Enemy troops have managed to get through the north barrier," he told us. I have to leave.

Before she had time to stop herself, Elena grabbed his wrist. Wait! I don't want you to go.

The two made eye contact. His face relaxed a little more.

He assured me, "I'll come back." That's something I will always do.

So it happened that he was gone.

Time passed slowly. Elena was tucked on the bed, gazing at the moon's light making a masterpiece on the floor. She was still shaking badly, yet there was something else growing inside her-a pain. Not only to solve problems.

For him.

Kael.

The room was filled with his scent: pine, smoke and something more mysterious. Where he had been lying on the bedframe and the walls. It was like his look was still lingering on her.

Her spirit of the wolf was still asleep and it struggled to come out. Not out of fear. I'm not standing up by being silent.

In need.

We heard a loud scream coming from the hallway.

She stood up and began to run, but the door opened of its own accord.

A young man from the pack arrived, with a gash on his head from which blood was running down his face.

The attackers broke through the gates, he said, panting from exhaustion. Lucien is being faced down by Kael today. He's-he's shifting."

Elena was suddenly without breath. "Where?"

The monument is a circle made out of stones. Northeast cliff."

She didn't wait to decide.

She hurried down the halls, not minding the people's surprised shouts. She walked across the old stone floor, then along a dirt path, then waded through pine needles when she entered the forest.

She was battered by the branches as she walked. As she passed through the trees, they seemed to be gossiping secrets she didn't recognize.

However, the moon-

It drew her in.

It was the first time she ever answered in reply.

She ran even more quickly. The sound of her breathing got deeper. Her enhanced vision made her eyes show a bright light of silver-molten color.

The woman moved past the treeline and paused all of a sudden.

There I saw them.

There they were in the stone circle-old and worn structures softened by the light of the moon. The air was charged and the earth shook beneath them. He had changed into his monstrous black-and-red shape of a wolf. Moving around Kael, he noticed he stayed in his human shape-naked from the waist up, burning eyes and fangs growing longer.

He growled through his monster form, telling her, "Eventually, you won't be able to protect her." Our reunion will follow when the water seal breaks. You can guess the person she is.

I have enough experience to prevent her from being like you.

Lucien lunged.

Kael changed in midair, causing his silver wolf to come at Lucien with a fierce muscle crash. Teeth snapped. Claws tore. Blood soaked the old walls.

"No!" Elena called out and moved toward him quickly.

The moon appeared in front of us.

A breaking point hit inside her.

The heat within her exploded out in all directions. The scream soon changed into a loud roar. Her body rose off the ground, light coming from her skin.

They both stopped fighting and looked at her.

Her eyes looked all white and her hair spread out over her head like a halo, leaving her suspended in the air.

The earth trembled from the destruction around us.

The runes ancient people wrote in the circle burst into life.

The sound was familiar, but seemed more ancient than it should be.

"It's time to view the secret documents."

There were bending trees everywhere. The wind roared loudly through the city.

His wolf shape shook, then shifted back into his human body. His eyes became big with wonder-as well as terror.

"It's way too soon," he said in a whisper. "Awakening too fast."

Kael was frozen, the wolf in him torn between reverence and fear.

Elena dropped slowly, only her feet touching the stones. But her eyes did not return to color. Power still rolled off her in waves.

Lucien stepped forward, urgency pouring from him. "Elena, listen to me. That power is inside you?It is not just yours. That was the First Mother's. When she sealed it in you, it was to keep it safe, but it is leaking now. If you don't come with me it is going to consume everything."

"She stays with me," Kael growled, shifting back to human form, bloodied, but still standing tall.

Elena turned to Lucien, her voice impossible and strange. "You say you are trying to protect me, but you have only brought violence and fear."

"I am trying to save everyone!" Lucien snarled. "You have no idea what's coming. You think I am the enemy? I am not the one who made you erase your past. Ask Kael what happened ten years ago at the eclipse."

Kael went pale.

Elena turned to him slowly. "What is he talking about?"

Kael did not answer.

Kael moved toward her. "It was to protect you. You were‐‐‐dangerous. There was a surge of power during the eclipse and-"

"You lied to me."

"No," he said softly. "I chose to protect you. And I'd do it again."

Tears stung her eyes. Her head spun.

"You don't even know what you are," Lucien said, his voice quaking. "You think this is about being a wolf, or a mate? No. You are something old. Something the gods feared."

Kael raised his voice. "And yet she is still human enough to feel betrayal."

The power within Elena swiped violently.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the forest,a child's scream.

All three turned.

And coming out of the trees, a small boy stumbled out his silver eyes.

"Elena!" he cried. "Help me! They're coming!"

Elena's heart stopped.

"I-I know him," she whispered. "But I don't know how..."

The boy collapsed.

In the shadows, glowing red eyes blinked to life.

The sky turned blood red.