Scott didn't sleep.
Not because he couldn't.
Because every time he closed his eyes, he felt her again.
Not a memory. Not a thought.
A presence.
It lingered at the edge of his awareness like a pulse that didn't belong to him. Steady. Quiet. Alive.
He sat at the edge of the ridge before sunrise, elbows resting on his knees, staring into the forest as if it might answer the questions tearing through his mind.
Someone you're not supposed to want.
Her voice replayed, softer now, but no less dangerous.
Scott dragged a hand over his face. This wasn't normal. None of this was. The power, the control, the way the forest responded to him and now this… connection.
It wasn't attraction.
It wasn't curiosity.
It was something deeper. Something that didn't ask for permission.
And that was exactly what made it dangerous.
"You look like hell."
Scott didn't turn. He already knew who it was.
His best friend dropped beside him, stretching out his legs like this was just another morning, like nothing had changed. Like Scott wasn't on the edge of something he couldn't control.
"Didn't sleep?"
Scott huffed. "You ask a lot of questions for someone who already knows the answers."
A small smirk. "Comes with knowing you too well."
Silence settled between them, but it wasn't comfortable. Not like it used to be.
Scott noticed it now the way his friend watched him a little more closely. The way his tone stayed light, but his eyes didn't.
"You're different," he said after a moment.
Scott's jaw tightened. "Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
Scott finally looked at him. "Different how?"
A pause. Measured.
"Stronger," his friend said. "Faster. But that's not it."
Scott waited.
"It's like…" He tilted his head slightly. "Like something is waking up in you. And it doesn't care who sees it."
Scott held his gaze for a second longer than necessary.
"Maybe it's about time it did."
His friend smiled at that but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
The tension in the pack was impossible to ignore now.
Scott felt it the moment he stepped into the clearing. Conversations dipped. Eyes followed him. Not openly hostile but not welcoming either.
Cautious.
Measured.
Afraid.
Garrick stood near the center, already addressing a small group of wolves. His posture was rigid, his expression unreadable, but the moment Scott approached, the shift was immediate.
"Good," Garrick said, voice carrying just enough to draw attention. "You're here."
Scott stopped a few feet away. "You sent for me."
"I did."
A pause.
Then, louder "Explain what happened yesterday."
The clearing went still.
Scott's shoulders squared. "We were attacked. I handled it."
"That's not what I asked."
Scott's jaw clenched.
Garrick stepped closer, lowering his voice just enough to make it feel personal but not private.
"You gave a command," he said. "And that creature obeyed."
Scott didn't answer immediately.
"Do you understand what that means?" Garrick pressed.
"Yes."
"Then say it."
A beat.
Scott exhaled slowly. "It means I have control."
A few wolves shifted uncomfortably.
Garrick's expression hardened. "No. It means you have something we don't understand."
There it was.
Not respect.
Fear.
"And until we do," Garrick continued, "you will not act alone. You will not engage unknown threats without direct command."
Scott's head snapped up. "You're restricting me?"
"I'm protecting this pack."
The words hit like a challenge.
Scott stepped forward, voice lower now. "I already did that."
"And nearly lost control doing it."
Silence.
Tight. Sharp.
Scott could feel the eyes on him again. Waiting. Judging.
"Or are you going to tell me you meant to do that?" Garrick added.
Scott didn't respond.
Because he didn't know the answer.
Training that morning wasn't training.
It was observation.
Scott could feel it in every movement. Every pairing. Every order given.
They weren't testing his strength.
They were watching his control.
"Again," Garrick ordered from the edge of the field.
Scott circled his opponent slowly, muscles loose, breathing steady. Across from him stood Darius one of the older wolves. Strong. Experienced. And, more importantly… not someone who respected him.
"Don't hold back," Darius muttered.
Scott didn't reply.
They moved at the same time.
The clash was immediate. Hard.
Darius came in fast, claws aimed high. Scott deflected, pivoted, struck low. Clean. Controlled.
Again.
Faster this time.
Darius pushed harder, testing him, forcing him to react instead of think.
Scott adjusted. Matched him. Surpassed him.
And then
It happened again.
That shift.
That surge.
The world slowed.
Every movement became predictable. Every weakness visible.
Scott stepped in
"STOP!"
The word snapped out before he could stop it.
Darius froze mid-strike.
Completely.
The entire clearing went silent.
Scott's chest rose sharply.
Not again.
He hadn't meant to
"Enough."
Garrick's voice cut through the moment.
Darius stumbled back, shaking it off, confusion written all over his face.
Scott didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
He could feel it now the shift in the air. The way the pack looked at him.
Not uncertain anymore.
Certain.
And that was worse.
"You need to get control of that."
Scott didn't turn. He already knew it was Vanya.
He stood at the edge of the clearing again, staring out into the trees like he could force answers out of them.
"I didn't mean to," he said.
"That doesn't matter."
He exhaled sharply. "Then what does?"
She stepped beside him, arms crossed. "What happens when you can't stop it."
Scott's jaw tightened.
"You think they're scared now?" she continued. "Wait until that happens in a real fight. Or worse inside the pack."
He didn't like that.
Didn't like how real it sounded.
"I'm not going to hurt them."
"You don't know that."
The words landed heavier than anything Garrick had said.
Scott turned to her then. "You don't trust me?"
A pause.
Vanya held his gaze.
"I trust who you've been," she said carefully. "I don't know who you're becoming."
That one stuck.
Because neither did he.
By nightfall, Scott couldn't take it anymore.
The tension. The watching. The distance.
And underneath it all
Her.
That pull hadn't faded.
If anything, it had grown stronger.
He moved through the forest without thinking this time. Faster. More certain. Like he already knew where he was going.
Or maybe…
Something was guiding him there.
The air changed first.
Cooler. Still.
Then the silence.
No animals. No wind.
Just that same charged stillness.
Scott slowed.
"You're here," he said quietly.
A pause.
Then
"I was waiting."
She stepped out from between the trees.
Closer than before.
Clearer.
Scott's breath caught not because of how she looked.
But because of what he felt.
That same pull. Stronger now. Immediate.
Like something inside him recognized her before his mind could catch up.
"You shouldn't be here," she said.
Scott almost laughed. "You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
"Then why do you keep showing up?"
That made her hesitate.
Just for a second.
Scott noticed.
"You feel it too," he said quietly.
Her expression tightened.
"That doesn't make it safe."
"Doesn't make it wrong either."
Silence stretched between them.
Dangerous.
Honest.
"You don't know what I am," she said.
Scott stepped closer. "Then tell me."
She didn't move back this time.
But she didn't answer either.
Instead, softer "If you knew… you wouldn't be standing this close."
Scott's voice dropped. "Try me."
Their eyes locked.
And for a moment
Everything else disappeared.
The pack. The rules. The warnings.
All of it.
Then
The forest shifted.
Violently.
Scott's instincts snapped back into place.
"We're not alone," he said.
"I know," she replied.
Too calm.
Too ready.
Figures moved between the trees.
Fast. Coordinated.
Not rogues.
Not random.
"They found you," she muttered.
Scott's eyes narrowed. "Who?"
But deep down
He already knew this wasn't coincidence.
The shadows closed in.
And for the first time
Scott realized something that hit harder than any fight.
This wasn't just about him anymore.
And whatever she was hiding
It was about to come crashing into his world.