ISLA POV
I screamed and scrambled backward so fast I scraped my hands on the grass.
The panther—the TALKING panther—tilted its massive head. "Please don't run. Females who run trigger our hunting instincts."
"You're TALKING!" My voice came out high and squeaky. "Panthers don't talk! I'm dead. This is death. Or I'm hallucinating from smoke inhalation and I'm actually still burning—"
"You're not dead." The panther took one step closer. Just one. But it was the size of a small car, and that single step ate up way too much distance. "You're in the Beastworld. You fell from the sky during the Celestial Alignment."
My scientist brain tried to process that. Failed completely. "Beastworld? Sky? I don't—I can't—"
"Breathe," the panther said, and somehow its voice was gentle despite coming from a mouth full of fangs. "I know you're confused. I won't hurt you. I'm Kael Nightshade, Chief of the Shadow Forest. You're safe."
Safe? I was naked in an alien place with three moons talking to a predator the size of a horse. Nothing about this was SAFE.
But my hands were healed. I looked down at my palms—the ones I'd scraped bloody on the grass two seconds ago. Smooth skin. Not even a scratch.
I checked my ribs where I'd felt bones break in the explosion. Nothing. No pain. No bruises.
"How am I healed?" I whispered. "How am I ALIVE?"
"The Celestial Alignment brings gifts from the gods," Kael said. His amber eyes glowed in the strange light from the three moons. "Sometimes supplies. Sometimes knowledge. Very rarely... females."
"Females?"
"You don't understand yet. Let me—"
His body started SHIFTING.
I watched in absolute horror as the panther's form rippled like water. Bones cracked and reformed. Black fur retreated into skin. The massive cat body compressed and stretched and became... human.
A very tall, very muscular, very NAKED man now stood where the panther had been.
I slapped my hands over my eyes. "OH MY GOD!"
"What's wrong?" He sounded genuinely confused.
"You're—you're not wearing—people wear CLOTHES!"
"We only wear clothes for warmth or ceremony. It's wasteful otherwise." Footsteps moved closer. "You can look now. I shifted back to make you more comfortable, but if you prefer my beast form—"
"NO! Stay human! Just... stay over there!" I peeked through my fingers. He'd stepped back, giving me space. I could only see him from the shoulders up at this angle, which helped my racing heart slightly.
He was gorgeous in a dangerous way. Sharp cheekbones. Strong jaw. Dark hair that fell past his shoulders. But his eyes—those amber predator eyes—stayed the same in both forms. They saw EVERYTHING.
"You're truly from another world," Kael said, and something in his voice made me look at him properly. Wonder. Awe. And underneath... desperate hope? "The legends said Heartweavers would return when we needed them most. But I thought they were just stories."
"Heartweaver? That's the second time I've heard that word. What does it mean?"
"May I come closer? I need to... there's something I need to understand."
Every survival instinct screamed RUN. But I was naked, lost, and had nowhere TO run. Plus, my scientist brain was screaming even louder with questions: How did he shapeshift? What was the biological mechanism? Why did I heal so fast?
"Fine. But slowly."
Kael moved like liquid shadow—graceful and silent. He crouched a few feet away, still giving me space, but close enough that I could see a strange darkness pulsing under his skin. Right over his heart.
"You can see it." His voice went rough. "Can't you?"
"See what?"
"My beast core." He pressed his hand to his chest. "Most people can't see cores even when we shift. But you're staring right at it."
I WAS staring. Because inside his chest, I could see something that looked like a glowing crystal... except half of it was covered in spreading black rot. Like cancer. Like corruption eating away at something vital.
My doctor instincts kicked in immediately. "You're sick. That darkness—it's spreading through your system. How long has it been there?"
Kael's eyes widened. "Twenty years. Since I was twelve. A rival tribe's shaman cursed me during a peace ceremony." His jaw tightened. "It's killing me slowly. Making my shifts unstable. Painful. In another month, maybe two, I'll lose control completely. Go feral. My tribe will have to kill me before I hurt someone."
"That's horrible." The words came out before I could stop them. This stranger was dying, and I could SEE it happening inside him.
"Can you..." He hesitated, looking almost afraid to hope. "Can you touch it? The core? I need to know if you're truly what I think you are."
"Touch the thing inside your chest? How would I even—"
"Try. Please."
I reached out slowly, expecting my hand to just press against his skin. Instead, my fingers passed THROUGH his chest like he was made of mist. I felt warmth. Energy. And then my fingertips brushed the glowing crystal.
Kael gasped.
Power exploded through me—wild and fierce and ancient. I could feel everything: his heartbeat, his pain, the corruption eating him alive. And underneath the darkness, something else. Something that recognized ME.
The black rot on his core recoiled from my touch like it was burned.
"Impossible," Kael breathed. "You're actually purifying it. Just by touching—"
A roar split the sky.
I yanked my hand back as a shadow blocked out the three moons. Something HUGE was diving toward us—something with wings as wide as airplane wingspan.
"DOWN!" Kael shoved me behind him just as a massive golden eagle slammed into the ground.
The eagle shifted mid-landing, becoming another tall, powerful man with golden-bronze skin and furious hazel eyes.
"She's MINE, Nightshade!" The eagle-man snarled. "The sky sent her! She fell from MY domain!"
"She landed in MY territory!" Kael's voice went deep and dangerous. His eyes started glowing brighter.
"Um, excuse me—" I tried.
"I saw her falling!" Eagle-man pointed at me. "I've been searching for three days! The prophecy said the sacred female would heal the sky tribe's heir!" He pressed his hand to his own chest, and I saw it—another corrupted core, black rot spreading through gold light.
Oh no.
"Both of you are sick," I whispered.
They froze. Stared at me. Then at each other.
"You can see HIS core too?" Kael demanded.
Before I could answer, a howl echoed from the forest. Then another. And another.
A massive white wolf burst from the trees, eyes glowing silver. Behind him, a whole PACK of wolves, all the size of horses.
The white wolf shifted into a third man—this one with ice-pale hair and those eerie silver eyes.
"I dreamed of her face for six months," he said quietly, but his voice carried like thunder. "She's meant for the northern packs. Stand aside."
"NOBODY is standing aside!" Eagle-man shouted. "She's—"
The ground started shaking.
"No," Kael whispered. "Not him. Please not him."
"Who?" I asked.
The temperature skyrocketed. Grass caught fire in a perfect circle around us. The three men stepped back, and for the first time, they looked genuinely afraid.
Something was rising from the mountain in the distance. Something that made the whole world feel small.
Wings that blocked out stars. A roar that shook my bones. Fire that turned night into day.
A DRAGON.
It circled once, twice, then landed with an impact that knocked me off my feet. The dragon was the size of a building—covered in obsidian scales with cracks of glowing lava between them.
Its massive head lowered until one enormous eye—red as blood, ancient as time—focused on me.
Then it spoke in a voice like an earthquake:
"MINE."
And deep in my chest, something answered. Something I didn't understand. Something that felt like recognition.
Like coming home.
The four males started growling at each other, power building in the air, and I realized with crystal clarity:
They were about to fight.
Over ME.