The air leaves my lungs in a rush.
It’s happening again. Just like it did with Darius. Just like when he said he saw it, and I felt that impossible presence inside me.
My dormant wolf. Waking up.
Pure, molten gold pulses once, twice, before fadingback to hazel.
I crawl forward on my hands and knees, my body shaking. Cinnamon follows, intrigued, but I barely notice. I need to see. Need to confirm what I already know is true.
The hardwood floor is cold beneath my palms. My breath stutters in my throat.
When I reach the mirror, I pull myself up to my knees, gripping the frame. My face stares back at me, pale and wide-eyed and terrified.
And then, it happens again.
Gold bleeds through the hazel, transforming my eyes into something I’ve never seen before. Something that has been locked away inside me for as long as I can remember. It only lasts a second before fading, but I see it clearly this time. Undeniably.
My hands fly up, trembling as they touch my face beneath my eyes.
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
My wolf is waking up.
After a lifetime of dormancy, of silence, of that empty space inside me where normal shifters have their other half, she’s finally surfacing.
Because of Darius.
The realization makes my chest ache. I felt my wolf when he and I were having sex last night. Felt something inside me wake up in a way it never has before, not even close. And Darius saw her. Saw my eyes flash gold and told me what it meant.
I thought maybe it was just a fluke. A momentary thing brought on by the intensity of what we were doing. I didn’t think it would last. Didn’t think she’d still be there when I got home.
But she is. She’s actually here.
I watch my reflection, waiting. When my eyes change to that impossible color again, just for a heartbeat, I feel it. Her presence. An awareness of something inside me that has been dormant for so long.
Tears blur my vision. All these years, I’ve been the weak one. The broken one. The stepdaughter who couldn’t shift, who embarrassed the pack just by existing. My mother always said that my wolf was dormant because I was sickly, that maybe one day she’d surface but probably not.
I accepted it. Accepted being less than everyone else.
But now, she’s here.
Why? Why now? Why did sleeping with Darius trigger a wolf that has been dormant for as long as I can remember?
The question terrifies me because I don’t have an answer. Because there has to be a reason, something that explains this, but I can’t figure out what it is.
My watch vibrates against my wrist. The medication timer.
For a moment, I don’t move. It goes off again, and I swallow, pulling myself to my feet on shaking legs. I find my bag, take out the bottle, and swallow the two pills dry, the bitter taste familiar on my tongue. Within seconds, nausea rolls through my stomach.
I grip the edge of the couch, riding it out.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I fumble for it, grateful for any distraction from the queasiness still churning.
It’s a text from my mother: Zion has returned. Family dinner tonight at 7. Don’t be late.
Irritation floods me.
Zion. My older stepbrother. The illegitimate son everyone knows about but no one mentions. Not that he cares; he has never wanted the alpha position. Too busy enjoying his parties and women. Last I heard, he was off on some mission for Alaric. Apparently, he’s back.
