Mira's POV
The wolf's bones cracked like gunshots.
I jerked my hands back, scrambling backward on my butt as the massive creature convulsed. Its silver fur rippled like water. The body twisted, shrunk, reshaped itself in ways that made my stomach flip.
"Oh God. Oh God. What's happening?"
The light from my arm poured into the wolf like liquid gold, and I couldn't stop it. The vines on my skin burned so hot I thought they'd melt off, but I couldn't look away from the horror show in front of me.
Fur receded. Bones snapped into new positions. The muzzle shortened into a human face.
Thirty seconds later, a man lay where the wolf had been.
A completely naked man.
I slapped my hands over my eyes. "WHAT THE HELL?"
"You..." The voice was deep, rough, and definitely human. "You healed me."
My heart hammered against my ribs. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. People didn't turn into wolves. Wolves didn't turn into people. And I definitely didn't have glowing magic arms that healed shape-shifting monsters.
"I'm losing my mind," I whispered through my fingers. "I died in that fire and now I'm in Hell or Heaven or some weird in-between place and—"
"Look at me."
"You're naked!"
"I don't have clothes when I shift. Look at me. Please."
Something in his voice made me peek through my fingers.
The man sat up slowly, one hand pressed to his side where the claw wounds had been. Except there were no wounds now. Just smooth, tanned skin marked with old scars. He was huge—maybe six-foot-five—with muscles that looked carved from stone. His hair was white-silver, messy and wild. But his eyes...
His eyes were the same stormy gray as the wolf's.
"You're real," I breathed. "You're actually real."
"As real as you." He stared at me like I was the miracle, not him. "How did you do that? Humans can't heal. Humans are extinct."
"Extinct?" I dropped my hands. "What are you talking about? I'm human. Obviously. And I'm definitely not extinct because I'm sitting right here talking to you!"
He moved toward me and I flinched back. He stopped immediately, raising both hands.
"I won't hurt you. I swear on my pack. You saved my life." His eyes dropped to my glowing arm. "And you bear the Healer's Sigil. You're sacred."
"I'm not sacred. I'm a nurse from Chicago who apparently died and woke up in Narnia with a bad tattoo!"
"Narnia?"
"Never mind." I pressed my hands to my face, trying to think. "Okay. Let's start simple. Where am I?"
"The Wildlands. The Beastworld."
"Beastworld." I laughed, high and panicky. "Of course. Beastworld. Why not? What's your name, wolf-man?"
"Kael. Alpha of the Northern Wolf Clan." He watched me carefully, like I might bolt any second. "And you are?"
"Mira. Just... Mira. No fancy titles." I looked at my glowing arm again. The golden vines pulsed with my heartbeat. "What is this thing? Why won't it stop glowing?"
"The Healer's Sigil. It marks those chosen by the ancient magic to heal our world." Kael's voice went soft, almost reverent. "It hasn't appeared in five generations. We thought the bloodline died out."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not magical. I'm just a nurse who works too many double shifts and survives on coffee and spite."
"You healed me with a touch. You brought me back from death's door." He gestured to his side. "I was dying. The rogue's claws were poisoned. I had minutes left. Then you touched me and..." He shook his head, wonder in his eyes. "You're a miracle."
"I'm a mistake," I shot back. "I shouldn't even be here. I should be dead. I was crushed under a ceiling. I felt myself die. And now I'm..." My voice cracked. "Where's the hospital? Where are the kids I saved? Where's Sarah?"
Kael's expression gentled. "I don't know those words. But you're not in your world anymore. You're in mine."
The words hit like a punch to the gut. Another world. A different world. I'd died and somehow ended up in a place where wolves turned into men and magic was real.
Baby Sophia's face flashed in my mind. Had she survived? Had any of them survived?
"I need to go back." I stood up too fast, swaying. "I need to know if they're okay. If they made it out. I have to—"
Kael rose in one fluid motion, steadying me with a hand on my elbow. His touch was warm, gentle despite his size.
"Easy. You're in shock. You need to sit—"
A howl cut through the forest. Then another. And another.
Kael's head snapped toward the sound, his whole body going tense. "No. Not now."
"What? What is that?"
"My pack. They scented you." He looked at me, conflict clear on his face. "Female scent drives males wild here. Females are rare. So rare that most males never see one in their lifetime. And you..." He gestured at me. "You smell like hope and spring and everything we've been dying without."
"That's really poetic but also terrifying."
More howls. Closer this time.
"They won't hurt you," Kael said quickly. "But they'll fight each other for the right to claim you. It's instinct. I can hold them off, but—"
"Claim me?" I backed up. "Nobody's claiming anybody! I'm not a prize!"
"I know. I know. But you need to understand—females are sacred here. Protected. Cherished. Males spend their whole lives hoping to earn a female's favor. When they find one..." He ran a hand through his wild hair. "It's chaos."
The howls were so close now I could hear paws thundering through the underbrush.
Kael stepped between me and the sound, his body shifting into a protective stance. "Stay behind me. Let me do the talking. Don't look any of them directly in the eye—it's seen as a challenge or an invitation."
"An invitation to what?"
"Courtship. Bonding. Mating."
"MATING?"
A dozen wolves burst into the clearing.
Not truck-sized like Kael had been, but still massive. Gray, black, brown, and russet fur. All of them with intelligent eyes that locked onto me with frightening intensity.
Then they shifted.
One by one, the wolves became men. Tall, muscular, dangerous-looking men who stared at me like I was water and they'd been dying of thirst.
"Alpha," one of them breathed. "Is she...?"
"She bears the Healer's Sigil," Kael said, his voice hard with authority. "She is Luna. My Luna. And anyone who challenges that will answer to me."
Wait. His Luna? Since when?
But before I could argue, one of the wolves—a huge male with black fur—shifted and stepped forward.
"The Sigil makes her everyone's Luna, Kael. You can't claim her alone." His gold eyes fixed on me. "We have equal right to court her."
"She's mine." Kael's voice dropped to a growl that made my spine tingle. "I found her. I bled for her. She healed me. The bond is already forming."
"Bond?" I squeaked. "What bond? Nobody asked me about a bond!"
The black wolf smiled, showing too many teeth. "The female speaks. Good. Tell us, little Luna—do you choose him? Or are you willing to see what the rest of us offer?"
All eyes turned to me.
A dozen powerful, predatory males waiting for my answer.
And I had absolutely no idea what to say.
Then the forest exploded.
A massive serpent—easily forty feet long with midnight-black scales—crashed through the trees, moving faster than anything that size should be able to move.
It reared up, hood flaring, revealing a pattern of gold markings that matched my glowing arm.
Then it spoke.
"The Heartkeeper belongs to the Sacred Temple." The voice was cold, sibilant, and absolutely terrifying. "Step aside, wolves. Or die."