Nyra was restless again.
She paced inside my chest before dawn, claws dragging across my ribs like she was trying to warn me of something I couldn't see yet. She didn't speak in full sentences often; she preferred instincts over words. But when she did speak…
It always meant trouble.
Wake up, she growled.
"No," I muttered into my pillow.
Up.
"I hate you."
Love you too.
Great. Even my wolf was sarcastic.
The packhouse bell rang outside — three slow rings. A summons for elite warriors.
Perfect. No sleep for me.
I dragged myself out of bed, washed my face, and tied my red hair back into a high, unforgiving ponytail. One loose strand fell across my forehead. I glared at it.
"Try me," I warned the hair.
It stayed anyway.
I sighed and headed out.
---
The pack grounds were unusually quiet for dawn. Warriors clustered in small groups, tense and alert. The moon was still visible above the treeline, faintly red — a bad omen if you believed in signs.
And apparently, I did. Because Nyra wouldn't shut up.
Something moved in the woods last night.
Not wolf.
Not prey.
"What then?" I whispered.
Nyra didn't answer. She just growled.
Beta Kale was waiting near the training rings, arms crossed.
"Good, you're awake," he said.
"No thanks to the bell."
"Alpha wants you on northern patrol."
"Alone?" I asked.
Kale hesitated. "He wants your eyes on this first."
Translation: everyone else was too nervous to face whatever was out there.
"Fine," I said. "Where's Rowan?"
"In the war room. Council meeting."
"Again?"
Kale grimaced. "The elders are panicking."
"Over what?"
"Everything."
"That sounds about right."
Kale smirked. "Good luck."
---
Northern patrol was quiet at first.
Too quiet.
The trees felt tense, branches stiff even without wind. The forest sensed things long before wolves did — and the forest was scared.
I inhaled deeply.
Pine.
Cold earth.
Faint animal scent.
And…
Something else.
Something sharp. Metallic. Wrong.
Nyra bristled instantly.
Hunter.
But not human.
Not beast.
I froze.
"What does that even mean?" I whispered.
I don't know yet.
Her uncertainty scared me more than anything else possibly could.
I moved slowly through the trees, senses sharpened to painful clarity. My wolf lay beneath my skin like a drawn bowstring. Every crack of a branch, every shift of leaves made my heart pulse harder.
Then I smelled it.
Blood.
Fresh.
Not wolf.
Not deer.
Something in-between.
My fingers curled around my dagger, and I followed the scent to a small clearing where the earth was torn up violently. Something had died here recently — something fast, strong, and hunted.
I crouched down, touching the blood with two fingers. Still warm.
Nyra inhaled sharply.
We're not alone.
I heard it then.
A whisper of movement behind me.
I spun, dagger lifted—
—and caught only a blur of black vanishing into the trees.
Fast.
Silent.
Wrong.
Nyra snarled. Chase it.
I was already running.
Branches snapped against my arms. Leaves whipped past my face. The forest blurred around me in streaks of green and brown. Whatever I was chasing was faster than a wolf should be — faster than I was, even with Nyra lending me strength.
It darted left; I followed.
It leapt over a fallen tree; I vaulted after it.
It slid through a narrow gap; I forced my body through without slowing.
I was gaining on it.
Then—
It stopped.
Not stumbled.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
Dead still.
I barely had time to skid to a halt before it turned its head toward me.
Not a wolf.
Not human.
Its eyes glowed a dangerous silver.
"Who the hell—"
It lunged.
I blocked with my forearm, pain exploding up my elbow as its claws scraped bone. I slashed, scoring a line across its shoulder. It shrieked — a sharp, metallic sound like tearing steel — and leapt backward.
I lunged after it, swinging again, but it ducked into the shadows.
"No!" I shouted, chasing its retreating form.
But it disappeared — swallowed by the darkness like it was never there.
Nyra wasn't breathing.
Neither was I.
Danger.
Not wolf. Not mate. Not prey.
Something new.
My heart thudded painfully.
I scanned the area again. Only silence answered.
Whatever it was, it wasn't normal.
And it wasn't harmless.
I looked at the claw marks on my arm. They burned with a strange heat, the skin reddening around the edges.
Poison?
Magic?
Something else?
Either way, Rowan needed to know.
---
By the time I returned to the Alpha House, the council meeting was already heating up — I could hear it from ten steps away. Voices shouting. Wolves growling. Chairs scraping against the wooden floor.
And of course Lyra was sitting on the porch steps, nibbling fruit slices while enjoying the chaos like it was a drama series.
"You're late," she said, popping a grape into her mouth.
"Didn't know I was invited."
"You're always invited to the council disasters," she said sweetly. "They need entertainment."
"Stop enjoying their suffering."
"Why? It's fun."
I couldn't argue with that.
I walked past her into the war room.
Instant silence.
All eyes turned to me — some anxious, some curious, a few wary. The elders always looked at me like I was about to set the building on fire with my thoughts.
Rowan stood at the head of the table, expression tight.
"You're injured," he said immediately.
I glanced at my bleeding arm. "It's nothing."
Mira rose from her seat, her eyes sharp. "Come here."
"No, I—"
"That wasn't a suggestion."
Fair enough.
She examined the wound, frowning deeper. "This is not a normal cut. What did this?"
"That's why I'm here."
The room grew tense.
I explained everything — the scent, the blood, the creature, the speed, the eyes. The attack.
When I finished, the elders erupted.
"Impossible!"
"No creature moves like that!"
"Are we under attack?"
"This is her fault—"
"Her presence draws danger—"
Rowan slammed his hand on the table.
The room went silent again.
"Enough."
His gaze cut through everyone. "Ravena didn't cause this. She faced it."
Some elders looked ashamed. Others looked frustrated. A few glared at me, but they didn't dare speak.
Rowan stepped closer. "Can you track it again?"
"Yes," I said.
Nyra growled approval.
"Good," Rowan replied. "Because you're leading the next patrol."
One of the elders protested. "She's a girl—"
Rowan didn't even look at him. "She's a warrior."
I hid the warmth that bloomed in my chest.
But then Rowan added, "And she's the strongest sensor we have. Whatever is out there — she can feel it before anyone else."
The room murmured uneasily.
I took a slow breath. "There's something else."
Rowan raised a brow. "What?"
"The creature wasn't the only thing in the forest."
The room froze.
I wasn't sure how to explain it — the shifting scent on the wind, the faint heartbeat that wasn't a heartbeat, the whisper of fate brushing against my skin. A feeling that something — someone — was approaching.
Nyra whispered softly:
Three.
I stiffened.
Not now.
Not yet.
I pushed the thought away.
"It felt like a presence," I said instead. "Watching. Not attacking. Not hunting."
"A spy?" Beta Kale asked.
"Maybe."
"Which pack?" Rowan pressed.
"I don't know. The scent was… wrong. Different."
"And?" Rowan asked.
"And strong."
The elders shifted nervously.
"Different how?" Mira asked gently.
"Like it wasn't from here. Or anywhere near here."
Rowan exchanged a glance with Mira.
Kale added, "We received a sealed message before the meeting. From a foreign territory."
My head snapped up. "Foreign?"
Rowan nodded. "Three foreign territories, to be exact."
Nyra shivered inside me.
Three.
Three.
Three.
I clenched my jaw. "What do they want?"
Rowan hesitated.
"They are requesting meetings," he finally said.
"Meetings?" I repeated. "With who?"
His gaze met mine squarely.
"With you."
My heart stopped.
The room exploded.
"Ridiculous!"
"Why her?!"
"She's dangerous!"
"Foreign alphas will destabilize everything!"
"This is exactly why she shouldn't exist—"
"ENOUGH," Rowan roared.
My breath shook.
Foreign Alphas.
Three of them.
Asking for me.
But I didn't know them.
I hadn't met them.
I shouldn't have been on their radar at all.
Nyra whispered again.
Fate.
They are coming.
"Rowan," I said softly. "Why me?"
Rowan stared at me for a long, heavy moment. "I don't know."
He wasn't lying.
He really didn't know.
But fate did.
Nyra did.
And deep down…
a part of me did too.
---
Lyra found me outside after the meeting. I was sitting alone beneath the old cedar tree, staring at my bandaged arm.
She sat beside me quietly — a rare event.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey."
"You okay?"
"No," I said honestly.
She nudged my shoulder. "Want me to kick someone for you?"
I snorted. "Maybe later."
"I heard what happened."
"Of course you did."
"That creature… will you be okay facing it again?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
I swallowed. "Yes. I'll be fine."
Nyra growled softly in agreement.
Lyra leaned her head on my shoulder.
"I know everyone acts weird around you," she murmured. "But I don't want you to think you're alone."
A lump formed in my throat.
"I'm not," I whispered.
We stayed like that for a moment — quiet, warm, steady.
Then Lyra ruined the mood by saying, "Also, if a foreign Alpha wants to marry you, I'm totally third wheeling."
"Lyra."
"What? Maybe they're rich."
"Get out."
She burst into laughter.
I shoved her lightly, and she fell into the grass dramatically, clutching her chest.
"I'm dying," she gasped. "Tell my father I want my funeral to be fabulous."
"You're impossible."
"And you love it."
I actually did.
---
Night fell.
The air felt thick with tension, like the world was holding its breath. The forest whispered in strange rhythms. The moon glowed faintly crimson again.
I lay in bed, eyes open, heart heavy.
Nyra stirred inside me.
They're coming.
"For me?"
Yes.
"Enemy?"
No.
"What then?"
Nyra's voice softened — impossibly ancient and sure.
Yours.
I closed my eyes. "I don't want this."
You can't outrun fate.
"I'll try."
You'll fail.
I exhaled shakily.
Nyra licked the inside of my mind gently. Comforting. Sad.
Sleep, Ravena.
Storms travel faster in the dark.
And through the window, far beyond the northern border, three howls echoed across the night.
Not close.
Not near.
But coming.
One step at a time.
Slow.
Silent.
Like fate