Chapter 9 Siena

LORENZO

"There is something about her that didn't add up", I muttered within my breath as I stood at the edge of the training field.

Half my body still crusted with dried rogue blood. But my eyes weren't on the carnage or the exhaustion-I was watching her, Siena.

She knelt a little ways off, bent over the child she'd just saved. The moment kept replaying in my mind like a scene etched into stone. Her hand had glowed-not with fire, not lightning-but with something deeper. Something ancient.

Power.

But it wasn't just the power itself. It was the way the air around her had shifted, like the earth itself had taken a breath and acknowledged her.

Her presence lingered there.

It pulsed-soft, steady-like the silence just before a thunderstorm breaks.

And the most unsettling part?

It didn't feel like any wolf magic I'd ever known.

It felt... different. Unknown.

How?

How could Siena-an omega, of all things-carry that kind of energy?

Omegas don't radiate that kind of presence. They don't stop time. They don't bend the air around them. Yet, in that single moment, she had done all three.

I narrowed my eyes, studying her.

And she hadn't even realized it. No control, no intention. It had just... happened.

Like something deep inside her had stirred on pure instinct.

I crossed my arms over my chest, jaw tight.

I should report this.

But something held me back.

A gut feeling, low and warning.

This wasn't something to throw out to the pack-at least, not yet. Not until I understood what I'd seen. Until I understood her.

Was she a threat?

Or a prophecy waiting to unfold?

I tore my gaze away, but my eyes betrayed me-they drifted back to her.

She was helping the child up now, murmuring soft words I couldn't quite catch. The glow had faded, but I could still feel its echo.

It left a crackling trace in the air, like lightning that had just split the sky.

What in the goddess' name are you?

I wasn't afraid-not yet. But I wasn't at ease, either. That unknown unsettled me, deep in my bones. And Siena... she'd become the biggest mystery in this pack.

None of the warriors dared to approach her-not with respect, but with confusion. Some with fear. A few with suspicion.

Omegas don't rise like this. They don't stand between rogues and warriors. They don't wield power that stops the air.

And yet, she had.

Unflinching. Instinctive. Like she'd done it before.

My fists clenched.

If she were dangerous, I should have her questioned. Detained. Investigated. It was my right. My duty as Alpha.

But I stayed frozen.

Why?

Because when her eyes met mine-right after that glow faded, right after she saved that child-there was nothing there. No malice. No awareness. No pride.

Only confusion. Fear. And something else... sorrow?

I drew in a slow breath, running a hand through my hair. My wolf shifted beneath my skin, restless and alert.

"She's dangerous," it whispered.

Or important, I corrected silently.

Maybe both.

I watched her for the rest of the day-from the shadows outside the pack house, from the sidelines of the field, even from my own office window.

Not openly. I couldn't say why. Not even to myself.

Maybe it was curiosity.

Maybe it was instinct.

I started noticing the things I'd overlooked before-how the others treated her, the way she barely took up space in any room, the way she moved like a shadow trying not to be seen.

It wasn't a submission.

It was survival.

She was hiding something.

Or... something inside her was hiding from her.

I leaned back, eyes fixed on her as she moved toward the castle.

Siena.

Her name echoed differently now.

Not just an omega.

Not just a contract-bound Luna-to-be.

She was a puzzle.

And I wasn't letting go.

Not until I knew what she really was.