They stopped talking.
Mistress Lyselle noticed. "Eyes down!"
Rayne dropped her gaze. She could feel her heartbeat climbing.
She had to stay in control.
But it was hard. So hard.
Especially when the door opened again.
And Prince Kael stepped inside.
He walked like power-smooth, deliberate, dangerous. His eyes flicked over the other girls and landed on her.
For a long second, he said nothing.
Then he walked straight toward her.
Mistress Lyselle bowed. "Your Highness."
Kael didn't look at her. "Leave us."
The room emptied fast.
Now it was just Rayne and the prince. Again.
His golden eyes burned straight into her.
"You disobeyed," he said softly.
She raised her chin. "I stood where they told me."
"I didn't mean that."
He stepped closer. The collar sparked. She didn't flinch.
Kael's voice dropped. "Your eyes changed again last night. Don't you understand what that means?"
Rayne stayed silent.
"It means the moon is waking you. It means you're not like the rest of us. Not even like me."
Her voice came out hoarse. "What do you want from me?"
Kael gave her a curious gaze instead of one of hatred.
Dangerous curiosity.
"When you quit acting like a person, I want to see what happens."
She stared at him. Her breath caught.
"I'm not..."
"You're not just anything," he interrupted. "You're Moonborn."
She didn't understand that word.
But something in her bones did.
The golden in her eyes flared again.
And Kael smiled.
Just once.
"I'll be watching, little wolf," he said, and turned to leave.
As the doors shut behind him, Rayne stood frozen.
Her blood roared in her ears.
She wasn't safe.
Not from Kael.
Not from herself.
Not from the truth that was coming for her like a rising moon.
The full moon rose that night.
Rayne felt it before she saw it-like a tide swelling inside her chest. Her skin prickled, her blood hummed with heat. Every sound in the palace sharpened. Every heartbeat in the walls called to her.
She curled in her narrow bed, trembling.
The collar around her neck felt colder. Heavier.
Like it knew.
Her breaths came fast.
She clamped her hands over her ears, trying to block the whispers in her head.
Run.
Hunt.
Change.
"No," she whispered. "Not again. Not here."
The metal around her throat pulsed. Her veins burned. Then-snap.
She gasped.
The collar hissed faintly, smoke curling where it had touched her skin.
Then silence.
The pain was gone.
She sat up slowly, heart hammering. She touched the collar. It didn't spark.
It was... dead?
Before she could move, the door slammed open.
Two guards burst inside, blades drawn. Their eyes widened when they saw her.
The silver was glowing-her mark, right over her heart, flaring beneath her skin like liquid light.
"You-get on the ground!" one shouted.
Rayne staggered back. "I didn't do anything!"
"She's transforming!"
"I'm not-I swear...!"
The taller guard lunged.
That's when it happened.
Rayne's hand lifted on its own. Not as a strike.
As a command.
Light burst from her palm, throwing the guard across the room. He hit the wall with a sickening crack and crumpled.
The second one hesitated. "Moonborn," he whispered, horrified.
Rayne stared at her hands.
No claws. No fur.
But her veins shimmered like silver rivers. Her eyes burned gold.
And the mark-her mark, glowed like a second moon.
Footsteps thundered in the corridor.
More guards. More steel.
She turned to the window.
Without thinking, she ran.
The wind howled as she threw herself into the night, crashing through the stained glass. Shards sliced her arms and shoulders, but she didn't stop.
The cold air slammed into her.
She hit the balcony ledge, dropped hard onto the lower roof, and rolled.
Behind her, chaos exploded.
Alarms blared. Bells rang.
Rayne ran faster.
She didn't know where she was going-only that she couldn't be caught again.
She leapt down to a lower garden wall, her bare feet scraping stone. The silver glow made her a beacon in the dark.
But she didn't stop.
Even when more guards closed in.
Even when Kael himself appeared at the far gate, flanked by wolves and fury.
"Don't!" he shouted. "You'll be killed!"
Rayne turned once-just once.
"I already was!" she cried.
Then she vanished into the trees.
She didn't stop until the trees swallowed the palace.
Her body ached. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Blood dripped from her arms.
But she was alive.
And something inside her had awakened.
She collapsed against a tree, hands shaking.
What was she?
Not just a wolf. Not just a girl.
Moonborn.
The word felt ancient. Heavy. Like an inheritance wrapped in thorns.
She closed her eyes.
For a moment, the wind whispered back.
Not in words-but in promise.
This wasn't over.
It had only just begun.