The silence after Rory's scream was loud and deafening.
The silver glow in her eyes shined once, and twice then suddenly faded entirely. Her body slumped, moving into unconsciousness, her breathing was very slow and uneven.
Maverick rushed forward, but this time, there was no invisible force stopping him. He knelt beside her, pressing two fingers against her pulse. It was weak. Too weak. "Rory!" he called out with a mixture of fear and anxiety.
Lachlan shoved through the stunned crowd, his face was pale. "We need a doctor. Now." He turned looking at the scattered crowed, "someone! Call a doctor!" He shouted, fearful that something might have happened.
The elders were still shaken, they gave orders for Rory to be taken inside. Warriors lifted her gently, carrying her back into the pack house as whispers of fear spread through the gathering wolves.
Was this normal?
No, This wasn't normal and had never been recorded in history. This wasn't a simple failed shift.
This was something else entirely.
The pack's private physician stood over Rory's unconscious body, his brows deeply furrowed. Machines beeped softly around her, though none of them made sense to him.
"This... this is beyond medical explanation," he finally said, turning toward Alpha Dorian, Rory's father. "Her body isn't responding to any normal treatments. She should have woken up by now, but..." He hesitated.
Alpha Dorian narrowed his eyes. "But what?"
The doctor exhaled, with so much unhappiness "Her vitals are unstable. One moment, they're normal, the next….her heart rate spikes unnaturally, like something inside her is... changing."
A heavy silence was over the room.
Alpha Dorian clenched his fists, Rory was his first child, even though from another woman who was long dead, he loved her. His sharp features hardening. "No one collapses under the full moon unless….." He cut himself off, shaking his head. He wasn't so sure of anything.
His other daughter Mila who had followed them down to the hospital stepped closer. "Unless what?" she pressed, her voice barely above a whisper. She didn't like Rory but then, she was worried about the incident.
Dorian's jaw tightened. He turned away slightly, he was lost in thoughts.
Last time something like this happened... it was because of bloodline interference, but that was so many years ago, even before Dorians father was born, no one had recorded this incident.
He had been just a young warrior when he heard the story of a pack member collapsing centuries ago in a similar manner. The cause? A forbidden lineage. A secret hidden for years until the full moon revealed it.
Could it be…?
No. He refused to believe it. Rory was his daughter. His true daughter. There were no secrets about her birth... right?
Still, he had so many questions to ask, he needed answers. And fast.
........
Hours later, the doctor returned with test results. The room was tensed, Maverick, Lachlan and two other Lunas stood around Rory's bed, waiting.
Tge doctors face was unreadable as he placed the documents down. "There's something unusual in Rory's DNA," he began cautiously.
The entire room went still.
"What do you mean 'unusual'?" Gregor's voice was dangerously low.
Everett took a deep breath. "Her genetic makeup has an anomaly, something I've never seen before. It's... mixed. As if her blood carries the traits of more than just one werewolf lineage."
Lachlan stiffened. Maverick's gaze sharpened.
The other luna gasped. "That's not possible. Dorian and I are both from pure Alpha bloodlines."
The doctor shook his head. "That's what's strange. Her DNA suggests something else, something older. There are markers in her system that don't match any known pack bloodlines."
Maverick exchanged a glance with Lachlan. A silent understanding passed between them, this was no ordinary shift gone wrong.
There was something deeper.
Across the Pack's vast territory, something stirred.
Maverick had been standing by Rory's bedside, trying to make sense of everything, when a sudden scent hit him like a forceful wave.
His entire body stiffened.
It was intoxicating.
It was powerful. Familiar.
His wolf growled lowly, instincts kicking in. His muscles tensed, his breath hitched. Every fiber of his being needed to find the source of that scent.
And he wasn't the only one.
Far from the pack house, in a distant part of the territory, Alexander, another powerful Alpha, halted mid-step, his sharp senses overtaken by the same irresistible pull.
His wolf stirred, restless, hungry, wanting.
The scent was warm, electrifying, like fire and moonlight intertwined. It called to something primal inside him, something ancient.
He turned his head toward the mountains, his heart pounding.
Something had awakened.
Something powerful.
Lachlan had barely left the pack house when he froze.
The scent crashed into him like a wave, sending a shiver through his body. His wolf snarled, fighting for control.
His hands clenched into fists.
"What the hell..." it was really good.
His instincts screamed at him to move. To find the source.
His breathing turned ragged, his pulse hammering as he realized, Maverick smelled it too.
And if Maverick had sensed it, that meant only one thing.
They were being called by her. By Rory.
Back in Rory's room, her body suddenly jerked violently.
The monitors beeped erratically as her heartbeat spiked. Her fingers twitched. Her breathing hitched.
Immidiately, Her eyes snapped open. But she wasn't conscious.
They weren't her normal hazel eyes.
They were silver.
One if the elders gasped. "Oh my god..."
Rory's mouth opened, but her voice was not her own. It was layered, deep, echoing.
"They are coming."
The room shook. The air crackled.
Who was coming?