o one another in a haze of sterile solitude. The buzz of fluorescent lights overhead was the only constant, an eerie lullaby that never seemed to stop. She had lost track

nsion, a sense of change that she couldn't quite place. Her instincts, those strange, wild instincts that had always been her guiding light, were suddenly

at Liora's pulse quickened. The heavy boots paused outside her cell, their rhythm calculated

rk, honeyed tone that made her shiver. "I trust y

The man who had spoken was tall, his broad shoulders cloaked in the black uniform of the Regime. His face was partially hidden behind the shadow of his helmet, but

of sensing others like them. The way the man stood, the deliberate air of authority, it hinted at somethin

his voice lowered, laced with a mi

You've been marked, as they say. But that doesn't hav

o break her, or something else entirely? Her mind raced with possibilities, but she kn

he silence, her voic

you want

faint smile, though the

ink, Liora. And I can help you harness that power." He paused, letting the words linger in the

e word sent a chill down her spine, and sh

low, but the defiance in it burned bright. "

nstead, his gaze seemed to sharp

ontrol you. I want to free you. There's something in you, something powerful. And

me was relentless. She had been marked, branded as a shifter, something dangerous, something to be controlled. And if the rumors were true, she was more than

, though the uncertainty gnawed at her. There was always a

lightly, as though con

o be a part of something greater. A chance to take control of your own future. The Regime sees us as nothing more than experiments, but they're w

It was the reason they hunted shifters like animals, the reason her kind was hunted down and wiped out wherev

her. The smile returned to his li

will be yours to make. The rebellion will come for you soon, whether you're r

he man turned on his heel and s

alled over his shoulder

n, warriors, and freedom echoed in her mind. For the first time since her capture, a glimmer o

ora realized she had just been given a choice. She wasn't sure if it was a g