{The Morning After}
Marina woke to the sound of rushing water.
It wasn't close, but it filled her head, steady and unrelenting, as if the river itself ran through her veins. Her eyes opened slowly, the dim morning light spilling in through wooden shutters. Every muscle in her body ached, heavy and sore, like she'd been running for hours—or fighting for her life.
Maybe she had.
Her throat was raw, each breath scraping like glass. She pushed herself up on shaky arms and froze.
The world… smelled wrong.
Not bad, not exactly—just too much. The sharp tang of smoke from the hearth. The wet earth beneath the cabin. The faint metallic bite of blood carried on the morning wind, far off but somehow still clear. Each scent stacked itself in her head, painting a map of things she couldn't see.
Her hands trembled as she pulled the rough blanket tighter around her shoulders. She wasn't in her clothes. Someone had changed her into a loose shirt and drawstring pants, the fabric scratching against her too-sensitive skin.
She wasn't at the Draven Estate.
The room was smaller, simpler. A single bed, a battered table, a stone hearth where embers still glowed faintly. A cabin, deep enough in the forest that no sound of the outside world could reach her—except for the water, steady and constant.
Her pulse jumped. "Kael?"
Her voice rasped, hoarse like she'd screamed herself raw.
A shadow shifted near the door. Kael stepped into view, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, a dark smear of dried blood along his jaw, but his expression was unreadable. Calm. Cold.
"You're awake," he said, his voice even.
Marina swallowed, her throat tight. "What… what happened to me?"
He didn't answer right away. His eyes flicked over her, pausing at her hands. Her nails had returned to normal, but faint cracks lined the edges, like something sharp had been there before.
Finally, he said, "You shifted. Not fully. But enough to get their attention."
The words landed like a stone in her chest. "Shifted? Into what? I didn't—I'm not—"
Kael cut her off, his voice low and sharp. "You howled, Aria. The entire forest heard you. If I hadn't dragged you out of there, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be in pieces. Or worse."
Marina's breath hitched. Memories from the night surged—her veins glowing gold, the shadow that whispered her name, the thing Kael fought in the trees. And then the sound she made. That inhuman, bone-deep howl that didn't feel like hers at all.
She looked up at him, her voice trembling. "That thing—the one you fought—was that what I'm turning into?"
Kael's face didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. A flash of hesitation.
"No," he said finally. "That was a feral. You're… different."
He didn't explain.
Marina's hands curled into fists on the blanket. "Different how?"
Kael didn't get the chance to answer.
A sound rolled across the trees outside—a low, distant horn, deep enough to vibrate through the cabin walls. Kael's head snapped toward the sound, his posture sharpening like a blade drawn.
Marina's chest tightened. "What is that?"
Kael moved quickly, grabbing his coat from the chair and slipping it on in one motion. His movements were precise, controlled, like he'd done this before. Too many times.
"The hunt's not over," he said. His voice had changed—lower, clipped, each word deliberate. "They're coming. For you this time."
Marina pushed to her feet, the blanket falling away. "Kael—"
He cut her off, pulling a curved blade from the table, the steel gleaming even in the dim light.
"Stay inside. Don't make a sound. And whatever you hear… don't answer if something calls your name."
Before she could demand more, the horn sounded again. Louder. Closer.
And beneath it, faint but rising, came the sound of howls.
Not one. Not two.
Dozens.
Kael's knuckles whitened around the blade hilt. He moved to the door, his shoulders tense, every line of him coiled for a fight.
Marina stepped closer, her pulse hammering. "Kael, what's out there? Tell me what's happening—"
The horn blew a third time.
And this time, it wasn't distant. It came from inside the cabin.
From the darkened corner behind her.