Chapter 3 THE GIRL IN THE CIRCLE

I didn't know what to wear to a pack meeting.

Apparently, neither did anyone else.

By the time I stepped into the clearing, all eyes turned to me-and none of them looked kind. They weren't dressed in silk or robes or crowns. They were half-shifted. Fur creeping up their arms. Golden eyes glowing. Power leaking through their skin like steam.

I was the only one without claws.

The girl in the circle.

Kael stood ahead of them all, silent, unmoving. His beta-a tall, scarred wolf named Dren-was already pacing like he smelled blood in the wind.

"This is her?" Dren scoffed. "This is the one who defied the Alpha?"

I stood taller. "Still standing, aren't I?"

A low growl rumbled from someone's throat.

Kael raised one hand. Silence.

"She carries a mark none of us have ever seen," he said. "One older than any of us."

Dren stepped closer. "Then we should kill her. Before it spreads."

"I agree," someone else snapped. "She doesn't belong."

Kael's voice was cold. "And yet, she's still breathing. You want her dead? Take her down yourself."

Dren turned to me, eyes flashing amber. "You heard the Alpha."

He lunged.

I didn't move.

Not out of fear.

Because I couldn't.

The second his body came within reach, something in my chest snapped wide open-like lightning breaking through bone. My mark ignited. My heart stuttered. And then-

Boom.

He flew back ten feet before he ever touched me.

Gasps.

A few wolves dropped to their knees from the energy pulse.

Kael stepped forward, jaw clenched. "What did you just do?"

I blinked. "I didn't do anything."

He turned to the others. "No one touches her. No one lays a claw on her. Not until we understand what she is."

"She's a weapon," Dren growled from the ground. "You saw it."

"No," Kael said slowly, eyes still on me. "She's a key."

The burn in my wrist flared again.

Vision blurred. My knees buckled-but I didn't fall. Instead, I was somewhere else.

The woods.

Lit in silver.

And a wolf-massive, bleeding-was lying at my feet. Its fur black as night. Its eyes... mine.

"Aria..." it whispered. "Find the gate... before he does."

Then I was back. In the clearing. Breathing hard. The pack staring at me like I'd grown a second head.

"Who is 'he'?" Kael asked.

I didn't answer.

Because I didn't know.

Kael stepped toward me again, more slowly this time.

"You're connected to something bigger. A bloodline I've only heard about in legend."

I narrowed my eyes. "Then maybe it's time someone told me the story."

He didn't smile. Didn't blink. Just said:

"Come with me."

He led me deep into the forest, past twisted roots and hollowed trees that howled when the wind hit just right. We stopped in front of an ancient stone altar, cracked down the middle.

"This is where the curse started," he said. "The first rogue Alpha tried to open a gate between worlds."

"What gate?"

"The one between us... and them."

"Humans?"

He shook his head.

"Something worse."

Before I could ask more, a howl split the night.

But this one wasn't close.

It was inside my head.

And it was calling my name.

"Aria..."

Kael saw the way I froze. "What is it?"

I turned toward the darkness, my voice barely a whisper.

"They found me".