EMILY'S POV
The sunlight feels different today.
It slips through the curtains in warm, golden streams, but instead of comforting me, it leaves a faint hum on my skin—like it's touching something beneath the surface, something that shouldn't be awake.
I push myself upright, my eyes landing on the silver pendant beside my pillow. The wolf charm glints sharply, catching the light even though the room is dim.
I'm almost certain it wasn't glowing like this last night.
I should throw it away.
I tried—twice. But each time I reached for the door, something inside me locked up, as if invisible hands were holding me still.
"Emmy?" Grandma calls. "Breakfast's ready, sweetheart!"
"Coming!" I force cheerfulness into my voice, though my heart has been racing since dawn.
At the table, I barely touch my food. The scent of herbs from Grandma's window garden is overpowering, sharper than usual—like every aroma, every sound, every heartbeat in this house is amplified inside my skull.
"You look pale," Grandma murmurs. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine," I lie, stirring my tea. "Probably just tired."
But tired people don't feel the air shift before it moves.
Tired people don't hear a window creak before it opens.
---
After breakfast, I wander toward the forest edge, hoping fresh air will steady me. The sky is clear, but a strange chill clings to the village—as though the breeze is carrying secrets.
The forest rises ahead, dark and ancient. I've played here since I was a child, but today it feels like something alive… and waiting.
A slow, magnetic pull tugs at my chest.
I step toward an old oak tree and place my hand on its bark.
The world exhales.
The leaves still. Birds fall silent.
The entire forest seems to hold its breath.
Then I hear it—a whisper.
Not from the trees… but inside me.
Soft, smoky, and familiar in a way that terrifies me.
I snatch my hand back. "Get it together, Emily. You're just stressed."
But deep down, I know stress has nothing to do with it.
Something is changing.
Inside me.
---
TYLER'S POV
She's changing.
The bond pulses with unfamiliar energy—wild, ancient, and far too strong for a human. I can feel it from miles away, like her heartbeat is thrumming inside my veins.
Mason stands near the motel dresser, watching me pace. "You look like you're about to chew through the floor."
"The pendant accelerated it," I mutter. "It triggered something in her."
"Triggered what exactly?" he presses.
I hesitate, staring out the window toward the hill where her grandmother lives. The wind carries her scent—warm, soft, and now woven with something unmistakably powerful.
"She's not just my mate," I say quietly. "She's… something else."
Mason's expression darkens. "And when she finds out?"
"She'll have to handle it," I say. "Because if she can't…"
I clench my jaw.
"It could break her."
---
EMILY'S POV
Night falls, but sleep refuses to come.
The pendant glows faintly on my bedside table—slow, steady, like a second heartbeat. I can't look away.
Then the lights flicker.
A cold sweep of air drops the room's temperature in an instant.
A low hum fills the space, vibrating through the floor, making the glass of water tremble.
My hands tingle. Not with fear.
With power.
Heat spreads through my veins, sharp and electric, like my blood is waking up.
I grab the pendant. The glow steadies.
The hum vanishes.
Silence snaps back into place.
For a long moment, I stand there frozen, watching the faint shimmer in the metal.
"Who are you?" I whisper.
But even as I say it, a deeper question curls itself around my thoughts:
What am I becoming?
---
TYLER'S POV
My wolf's howl jolts me awake.
"She's awakening," he growls.
I rush to the window.
There—far across the dark hills—a faint golden glow rises from her grandmother's house, swirling upward like mist caught in moonlight.
My chest tightens. "No. Not yet. She's not ready."
But the forest whispers back, cold and knowing.
Ready or not, something ancient in her blood has already opened its eyes.