yn's

wolves disappeared, even after Leo's shadow fell over me, the tre

gh it could anchor me to reality. My heartbeat was a drum in my ears, louder than the birds or the win

on the pine needles. "Evelyn," he said again, softer

the calm I tried to project. "I-I didn't me

Alpha instinct in him was sharp and alert, yet he made no move to command

, horrifi

wl. "You can do this. You are doing th

comprehend it. "No. I-I've always been... ordinary. I've alw

n, you matter more than you know. You've always mattered. But t

e pack, from responsibility, from destiny. But the forest wasn't letting me. Its pulse und

I do?" I

. Then we figure out what this is. You're not the onl

chest. Blackridge had watched. They had seen the forest bend to me. The consequ

eeming to bend around my steps as if acknowledging my presence. Every snapping twig, eve

omed large and gray, its walls echoing with decades of politics, whispered warnings, and expectations. I remembered standing here

ant, with his long silver hair pulled back into a severe braid, studied me from his chair like I was

oice carried the weight of the pack, authorita

ry. "It-It wasn't intent

er reveals itself, and the world responds. Do you unde

"No. I don't even und

not dangerous. Not unless someone provokes her. The

ger, Alpha. If she cannot control it, if she cannot lea

shoulder. Steady. Grounding. "She will

glass figure on display, fragile and vulnerable under dozens of scrutinizing eyes. I h

place of learning, of trials. The Greenwood Sanctum. It was once home to the

e. "Sa

rder. Dangerous lands. You

ine. "I will go with you.

s. Training? Danger? A forest that recognized me

weakene

too much. But you can't run anymore. Not fro

ot when the forest had chosen me. Not when Blackridge had seen me. And not when Leo-the boy I

of them. But even as I opened my mou

idge.

oaned. Something in me stirred

nstant, that nothing

e that first summons... ha

nding at the

or wolf-should. The forest pulsed beneath my feet, hungry, awa

u should have

od ran

y fear with a whisper