CHAPTER 7 – THE AWAKENING
The pain starts before I reach the border.
At first, it’s a sharp pull low in my stomach, enough to make me falter mid-step. I suck in a breath, my hand flying instinctively to the spot.
“Not now,” I whisper.
But it doesn’t stop.
It spreads.
Slow at first. Then all at once.
Like something inside me is tearing its way free.
I stumble forward, catching myself against a tree as the world tilts. My breath comes out uneven, my pulse racing too fast, too hard.
My wolf surges.
Not restless.
Not contained.
Rising.
“What’s happening?” I choke out.
No answer.
Only heat.
It floods through my veins, burning, consuming, forcing its way into every part of me I’ve kept locked down.
I double over, a broken sound tearing from my throat.
This isn’t normal.
I’ve shifted before.
I know what it feels like.
This—
This is different.
Violent.
Uncontrolled.
“Stop,” I gasp. “Stop.”
But it doesn’t listen.
The forest blurs around me as I drop to my knees, dirt biting into my palms. My body trembles, muscles locking, then pulling tight in ways that make my vision go white.
Bones shift.
Not smoothly.
Not cleanly.
They crack.
The sound is loud in my ears, sickening, wrong.
A scream rips free before I can stop it.
My wolf answers.
Not with calm.
With power.
It slams into me, forcing itself forward like it’s been waiting for this moment, like it’s been held back for too long and refuses to be contained any longer.
I feel it.
Every inch of it.
Stronger than it’s ever been.
Older.
There’s something ancient in it, something that doesn’t feel like it belongs to me alone.
“What are you?” I whisper through clenched teeth.
The answer isn’t words.
It’s a surge.
A force that tears through whatever control I had left.
My body arches, another cry breaking from my chest as the shift takes over completely.
Claws tear through skin.
Fur follows.
My senses explode outward all at once.
Sound sharpens.
Scents flood in.
The forest isn’t quiet anymore.
It’s alive.
And I am part of it.
No.
More than part of it.
I stand.
Or try to.
My limbs don’t feel the same.
Longer.
Stronger.
The ground beneath me feels different.
Every detail clearer.
I breathe in.
And everything hits at once.
The pack.
Close.
Too close.
Voices.
Footsteps.
They heard me.
Panic flashes.
Run.
The instinct is immediate.
But something else rises with it.
Something steadier.
Stronger.
Don’t run.
I freeze.
The two instincts clash hard enough to make my head spin.
I stagger back a step, claws digging into the earth.
My body doesn’t feel fragile anymore.
It feels powerful.
Unfamiliar.
Terrifying.
The trees ahead shift.
Movement.
Three figures break through the edge of the forest.
Betas.
Their scent reaches me before their faces do.
Alert. Aggressive. Confused.
They stop the moment they see me.
And for the first time—
I see fear.
Not caution.
Not dominance.
Fear.
“What the hell is that?” one of them mutters.
I want to answer.
I can’t.
My voice is gone.
Replaced by something deeper.
More primal.
My wolf steps forward.
Not backing down.
Not shrinking.
The Betas hesitate.
That hesitation says everything.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.
I’m supposed to submit.
Lower myself.
Show weakness.
I don’t.
A low growl builds in my chest.
It vibrates through me, steady and controlled.
The Betas take a step back.
One of them shifts his weight, uncertain.
“She’s from the pack,” another says, quieter now. “I can smell it.”
“She doesn’t feel like it.”
No.
I don’t.
More footsteps echo from behind them.
Stronger.
Familiar.
The air shifts.
Daniel.
He steps into the clearing slowly, his presence pushing against everything else, demanding space, attention, control.
His eyes lock onto me.
And for the first time since I’ve known him—
He looks surprised.
Not for long.
It fades quickly, replaced by something sharper.
Something calculating.
I feel it like a blade against my skin.
“Emma,” he says.
My name sounds different coming from him now.
Smaller.
Less certain.
My wolf doesn’t respond.
Doesn’t lower.
Doesn’t recognize the authority in the same way.
She stands her ground.
Daniel steps closer, his gaze sweeping over me, taking in every detail.
“You shifted,” he says.
The words are controlled.
Measured.
But there’s something underneath them.
Something darker.
“That’s not possible,” one of the Betas says behind him. “She’s never—”
“Quiet,” Daniel snaps.
The Beta falls silent immediately.
Daniel doesn’t look away from me.
His focus sharpens, narrowing like he’s seeing something he didn’t expect.
Something valuable.
“You’ve been holding this back,” he says slowly.
The accusation doesn’t make sense.
I didn’t even know it was there.
My wolf bristles.
Not in fear.
In warning.
Daniel steps closer again.
Too close.
My body tenses.
A growl rises before I can stop it.
The sound cuts through the clearing.
The Betas stiffen instantly.
Daniel stills.
Then something shifts in his expression.
Not anger.
Not exactly.
Recognition.
“You’re not weak,” he says, almost to himself.
The words hit harder than they should.
Because I believed I was.
For so long.
Because that’s what I was told.
Because that’s how I was treated.
My wolf pushes forward, standing taller, stronger.
She knows better.
Now I do too.
The air tightens.
The pack feels it.
I can smell it.
Fear.
Uncertainty.
This isn’t normal.
This isn’t expected.
And they don’t know what to do with it.
Daniel studies me like I’ve become something else entirely.
Something new.
Something dangerous.
Something—
Useful.
The realization hits cold.
My chest tightens.
This isn’t relief.
This isn’t pride.
This is interest.
Calculation.
Greed.
“You’ve been hiding this from me,” he says.
I shake my head slightly.
Even in this form, the motion feels different.
Stronger.
I wasn’t hiding.
I didn’t know.
But I can’t explain that.
Not like this.
Daniel steps even closer.
Close enough that I can see it clearly now.
That look in his eyes.
Not shock anymore.
Not even anger.
Possession.
Refined into something sharper.
Hungrier.
“This changes things,” he says quietly.
My wolf snarls.
The sound rips through the air, louder this time, stronger.
A warning.
A refusal.
The Betas flinch.
Daniel doesn’t.
If anything, his expression darkens with something close to satisfaction.
“Yes,” he murmurs. “You’re going to be very valuable.”