{ Author }
He'd been watching the house for nearly an hour.
Nothing unusual—just lights on, then off. A shadow crossing the hallway. The faint flicker of a screen through the curtains. Normal. Too normal for someone like her.
Then it happened.
Mia appeared at the window, eyes wide, breathing fast. Even from across the street, Enzo could see the panic etched into her face. She looked over her shoulder once—twice—then rushed forward and yanked the blinds shut.
Enzo straightened.
Something was wrong.
A second later, white light exploded through the cracks in the curtains.
Not yellow. Not gold.
White.
It poured out like a silent scream, flooding the room from inside, swallowing every sound. No crash. No alarm. Just light—too bright, too clean—then—
Nothing.
The house went dark.
Enzo's heart slammed against his ribs. "Shit," he whispered.
He didn't wait.
The climb up the side of the house was familiar—muscle memory taking over as he pulled himself onto the ledge outside her room. The window was unlocked. That alone made his stomach twist.
He slipped inside.
Chaos.
The room looked like a storm had torn through it and then… frozen. The bed was scorched at the edges. Papers littered the floor, half-burned, half-intact. The air still buzzed, like static crawling across his skin.
And Mia—
Gone.
Enzo swallowed hard. "Mia?"
No answer.
He moved to the desk, hands shaking as he turned on the computer. The screen lit up instantly—but the files were locked. Password protected. Encrypted. Way beyond anything he could break quickly.
"Come on," he muttered, raking a hand through his hair. His pulse was loud in his ears. Too loud.
Whatever had just happened—whatever she'd done—it wasn't supposed to be this big.
And if she'd vanished on her own…
—or if someone had taken her—
Enzo didn't know which option scared him more.
{ Enzo }
The room was a mess.
Drawers half-open. The chair knocked over. Curtains still trembling slightly, like they hadn't fully decided to settle yet. Whatever panic had ripped through here had been fast—and violent.
I stood in the middle of it, jaw tight, eyes drifting back to the window.
White light.
Then nothing.
No sound. No trace.
I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled sharply. "You're in trouble," I muttered, though I wasn't sure if I meant Mia… or myself.
The computer sat dark and locked on the desk.
Of course.
I tried again. Password. Wrong. Again. Wrong. My pulse started climbing, irritation bleeding into something sharper. Time was slipping, and I hated not knowing.
I stepped back, forcing myself to breathe.
This wasn't something tech could fix.
I closed my eyes.
Let go.
The shift came the way it always did—smooth, deliberate, like stepping into a second skin I'd worn a thousand times. Heat rolled through me, deep and steady. My spine lengthened as my balance dropped, muscles expanding, bones reshaping with familiar pressure.
Claws slid from my fingers with a soft scrape against the floor.
White fur spilled over my arms, my chest, my back—thick, powerful, immaculate. My clothes fell away as my body grew, broader, heavier, built for speed and force. My jaw pushed forward, teeth settling into place, senses sharpening until the room snapped into focus in ways human sight never allowed.
I landed fully on four paws, the floor creaking under my weight.
Bigger than before. Stronger.
I shook once, fur rippling, then lifted my head.
The scent hit me immediately—fear, electricity, something burned and bright lingering in the air. Not blood. Not death.
Movement.
I padded toward the window, golden eyes catching the faintest trace leading away into the night. Whoever she'd been running from—or toward—wasn't here anymore.
But the trail was.
A low rumble rolled from my chest. Controlled. Focused.
"Alright," I thought, claws flexing against the floor.
"Let's see where you went."
I leapt silently out into the dark.
// The scent was faint—but it was there.
Not human. Not animal either.
Something bright, electric, threaded through the cold night air like a scar that hadn't healed yet.
I lowered my head and followed it.
The city thinned quickly behind me. Concrete gave way to dirt, streetlights to moonlight. Trees closed in, their roots twisting like veins beneath the soil. With every step, the forest deepened—and so did the pull in my chest.
She'd been here.
Running.
Fast. Panicked. The scent spiked in places, scorched almost, like the air itself had been torn open. Whatever had happened to Mia before she vanished—it hadn't been quiet.
I pushed harder, muscles burning in that familiar, satisfying way. My paws barely touched the ground as I leapt fallen logs, tore through undergrowth, landed without sound. The night bent around me, shadows slipping aside as if they knew better than to get in my way.
The forest began to change.
The trees grew taller. Older. Their bark etched with symbols I didn't recognize. The air thickened, humming faintly—not sound, but pressure. Territory.
I slowed.
My ears flattened slightly as a warning growl rolled low in my throat. This wasn't neutral land. Every instinct I had screamed that I was being watched.
Golden eyes flickered between branches.
Wolves.
Not lurking. Not hunting.
Guarding.
I stayed in the shadows, circling wide. I'd dealt with packs before—rogue ones, feral ones—but this was different. There was order here. Discipline. The scent of hierarchy layered cleanly into the air.
Alpha territory.
Interesting.
Mia's trail didn't stop.
It led straight through.
I hesitated for half a second—then continued.
The forest opened suddenly, and I froze.
Below me, carved into the valley like it had grown there instead of being built, was a village.
Stone and wood woven seamlessly into the land. Homes nestled against massive trees, bridges arcing over glowing streams. Lanterns lit the paths, their light warm, alive. Wolves moved openly through the streets—some shifted, some human, all unmistakably together.
A civilization.
My breath caught.
I'd spent my life believing wolves like us survived in fragments. In hiding. In exile.
This was… a kingdom.
And Mia's scent was everywhere.
Fresh. Strong. Wrapped in something deeper now—safety, maybe. Shelter. The sharp edge of panic had dulled, replaced by something steadier.
My claws dug into the rock beneath me.
What the hell had you stumbled into?
A ripple moved through the village below. Heads turned. Bodies stilled.
They felt me.
A deep, resonant growl rolled across the clearing—one voice, commanding, absolute. The air itself seemed to bow under it.
Alpha.
I straightened instinctively, muscles coiling, fur bristling along my spine. My reflection caught faintly in the glassy surface of the stream below—massive, white as snowfall, eyes burning gold in the dark.
I was not small.
I was not weak.
But I was outnumbered.
And very much uninvited.
Still, I didn't retreat.
Because right at the heart of the village, layered beneath the dominant scent of the Alpha, beneath the stone and smoke and pine—
Was her.
Mia.
Alive.
Wherever this place was… she'd made it here.
And for the first time since the white light swallowed her whole, my chest loosened just a fraction.
I stayed on the ridge, watching.
Waiting.
Learning.
Because whatever this village was—whatever rules it lived by—I had a feeling my presence was about to change them.
And something told me…
they weren't the only ones who'd been shocked tonight.