VEYRA POV
I woke up and everything was wrong.
No, not wrong—different. The world looked sharper, like someone had wiped away a film I didn't know was covering my eyes, and every color was so vibrant it almost hurt. The greens of the leaves were impossibly green, the browns of the tree bark had a thousand shades I'd never noticed before, and the silver moonlight filtering through the canopy looked alive somehow, moving and breathing and pulsing with energy I could almost taste.
I tried to sit up and my body didn't respond the way I expected. Too heavy. Too large. Too_
I looked down and froze.
White fur. Massive paws. A body that stretched out in front of me like I was seeing someone else's wolf, except I could feel it, could feel the power thrumming beneath my skin, could feel the strength in muscles that hadn't existed two days ago.
Finally, my wolf said, and her voice was satisfied, pleased. You're awake.
"How long?" My voice came out as a growl, rough and unused.
Two days. You slept through most of the transformation.
"Two days?!" I tried to stand and my legs wobbled, unused to the new weight, the new size. "I could've died out here!"
But you didn't. I kept watch.
I finally managed to get all four paws under me and stand, and the world tilted for a second before stabilizing. I was tall. Taller than any wolf should be. If I had to guess, I was twice the size of a normal wolf, maybe more.
"What did you do to me?"
I didn't do anything. This is what you always were. I just stopped hiding it.
"Why would you hide this?!"
Because you would've died if I hadn't. Your human body at birth was too weak to handle this power. So I suppressed it, made myself small, made you seem weak, and waited.
"Waited for what?!"
For you to be strong enough. For the bond to break. For the seal to shatter.
I wanted to argue but my legs gave out again and I collapsed into the dirt, panting. "This is too much."
You'll adjust. Try moving.
"I am moving—"
No, you're falling. There's a difference. Focus. Feel your body. Stop thinking like a human.
I closed my eyes and tried to do what she said, tried to feel the four legs instead of two, the tail instead of nothing, the fur instead of skin. It was like learning to walk all over again except worse because nothing made sense.
"This is impossible."
You're doing it wrong. Stop forcing it. Let me guide you.
"How"
Suddenly my body moved without my permission, my paws finding purchase on the ground, my balance shifting naturally, my tail sweeping to the side for counterbalance. I took one step, then another, then another, and before I knew it I was walking smoothly like I'd been doing this my whole life.
See? Easy. My wolf said.
"You're controlling me!"
I'm showing you. Pay attention.
She walked me in a circle, then a figure eight, then had me jump over a fallen log and land perfectly on the other side. My body responded to every command instantly, powerfully, like it had been waiting eighteen years to finally move this way.
Now you try. She said.
She released control and I stumbled immediately, my front paws crossing over each other and sending me face-first into the dirt.
"I hate this!" I snarled, pushing myself back up.
Try again.
"What's the point?!"
The point is you need to move before someone finds you. You've been unconscious for two days in rogue territory. We're lucky we haven't been discovered yet.
That got my attention. "Rogue territory?"
You ran pretty far before you collapsed. We're nowhere near Obsidian Fang anymore. This forest belongs to no pack, which means it belongs to anyone strong enough to claim it.
"And rogues are here?"
Everywhere. I can smell at least three different groups within a mile radius.
Fear spiked through me. "We need to leave"
We need to move first. Try again.
I forced myself up and this time I focused, really focused on what my body was telling me instead of what my brain thought it should be doing. One paw forward, then another, weight distribution shifting naturally, tail adjusting for balance.
I took five steps before falling again.
Better. My wolf told me.
"That was terrible!"
That was progress. Again.
We practiced until the moon had moved a quarter of the way across the sky and I could walk without falling every ten seconds. It wasn't graceful but it worked.
"Can we rest now?" I asked tired.
No. Now you run.
"I can barely walk!"
Running is easier. Trust me.
"I don't trust anything about this situation"
She didn't wait for me to finish, just took control again and suddenly I was running, my massive paws eating up ground, wind rushing past my face, trees blurring into streaks of brown and green. It was terrifying and exhilarating and I could feel the power in every stride, could feel the earth trembling slightly beneath my weight.
This is what you were made for, my wolf said. This is freedom.
She released control and I kept running, couldn't help it, the momentum carrying me forward and my body finally understanding what it was supposed to do. I leaped over rocks and dodged between trees and for the first time in two days I felt something other than pain.
I felt alive.
See? Told you. My wolf said relieved.
"Okay, fine, running is easier—"
I didn't see the cliff until I was flying over it.
I yelped, paws scrambling in empty air, and then I was falling, falling, falling before splashing into ice-cold water that shocked every nerve in my body.
Swim! my wolf shouted.
"I don't know how!"
Figure it out fast because this river has a current and you're heading toward rapids!
I thrashed in the water, trying to find something solid, trying to breathe, trying not to panic as the current dragged me downstream faster and faster.
Stop fighting it! Move with the current and angle toward the shore!
"How?!"
Use your legs! Paddle!
I tried, kicking desperately, and my massive paws actually worked surprisingly well in the water, propelling me forward even as the current tried to drag me under. I angled toward the shore like she said and slowly, painfully, I got closer.
My paws hit mud and I dragged myself out of the river, coughing and sputtering and completely exhausted.
Well, that was educational, my wolf said.
"I almost died!"
But you didn't. You adapted. That's good.
"That's good?! I just fell off a cliff!"
And survived. Stop focusing on the fall and focus on the fact that you're alive and learning.
I wanted to argue but I was too tired, too cold, too overwhelmed. I just lay there in the mud, shivering and trying to catch my breath.
"I want to go back to being human."
Not yet. You need to master this form first.
"Why?!"
Because when the rogues find you—and they will find you—you need to be able to move. Fast.
As if summoning them with her words, I heard a low growl from the trees above the riverbank.
My head snapped up and I saw them, five wolves emerging from the forest, all of them scarred and lean and dangerous-looking. Rogues. Had to be.
Don't run, my wolf warned. You'll trigger their chase instinct.
"What do I do?!"
Stand. Show no fear. Let me handle this.
I forced myself to my feet, water dripping from my white fur, and tried to look confident even though I was terrified.
The rogues circled me slowly, growling, assessing. The largest one, a male with a nasty scar across his face, stepped forward.
"Big wolf," he said, and I realized with a shock that I could understand him, his growls and body language translating into words in my head. "Trespassing in our territory."
Say nothing, my wolf instructed. Let them talk.
"You lost?" another rogue asked, a smaller female with torn ears. "Or stupid?"
The others laughed.
"Maybe both," a third one said. "Either way, we can't let her leave. She's seen our camp."
"What camp?" I asked before I could stop myself.
I said say nothing!
"She speaks," the scarred male said, grinning. "Good. I like it when they can beg."
"I'm not begging," I said, my voice coming out stronger than I felt. "I'm just passing through."
"Too late for that," he said, and his pack moved closer, tightening the circle. "You're in rogue territory. That means you're ours to do with as we please."
"I don't belong to anyone."
"Bold words for a wolf who can barely stand," the female observed. "You're shaking."
She was right. I was shaking, exhausted and cold and terrified.
Now, my wolf said. Let me show you what you can do.
"What—"
Power erupted from my chest, not heat this time but something else, something that felt like authority and command and absolute certainty. My voice came out layered, ancient, not entirely my own.
"KNEEL."
The word wasn't loud but it crashed through the clearing like thunder, and every single rogue dropped to the ground instantly, their legs giving out beneath them, their heads bowing whether they wanted to or not.
The scarred male fought it, his muscles trembling with effort, his teeth bared in a snarl, but his body wouldn't obey him. He went down like the others, forced to his knees by a power he couldn't understand.
I stared at them, at the five rogues who'd been about to kill me now prostrate on the ground, and I couldn't process what just happened.
That, my wolf said with satisfaction, is True Alpha command. And you just used it for the first time.
"What did I—how did I"
The scarred male lifted his head just enough to look at me, an
d his eyes were wide with shock and something else. Fear. Maybe awe.
"What are you?" he asked, his voice rough.