Raine sat in the dim light of the cavern, her mind racing. Her legs still trembled from the sprint through the woods, but her thoughts were louder than her heartbeat.
"I don't understand any of this," she said, voice low.
Xavier leaned against the stone wall across from her, arms crossed, his eyes trained on her like he was trying to solve a puzzle. "You're not just human, Raine. Your blood… it's mixed."
"With what?" she asked, half hoping he was joking.
"With us."
Her heart skipped. "That's not possible."
Xavier tilted his head. "Then explain how you felt the bond. Why I sensed you from a mile away. Why the moonstone pendant reacted to you."
She looked away. The pendant. She hadn't worn it in years, but even now she could feel where it would rest against her skin—warm, comforting, strangely alive.
"What does it mean?" she whispered.
Xavier's expression shifted. "It means someone's been hiding the truth from you. Someone who knew what you are… and what you're meant to be."
Raine stood abruptly. "I'm not some prophecy or half-creature or whatever this is. I just want to go home."
"You can't."
His voice stopped her cold.
"You think the rogues were a coincidence?" he continued. "They've been tracking your scent for days. They knew you were coming before you did."
Raine's breath caught. "Why?"
Xavier walked closer. The firelight flickered across his face, making him look both dangerous and beautiful. "Because if you're what I think you are, then you're the key to something much bigger. Something every broken wolf would kill to control."
The silence between them stretched.
Then, quietly, he added, "And if I'm wrong, if you're just a girl… then I brought a human into our territory and marked her with my bond."
Raine swallowed. "Marked?"
He didn't move. "I felt it. The second our eyes met."
She shivered.
This wasn't just attraction. It was fire under her skin. A pull deep in her bones. Something old, primal, and terrifying.
Before she could speak, a sharp pain stabbed her side. She gasped and fell to her knees.
"Raine!" Xavier rushed to her.
Her hand flew to her ribs, and beneath her skin, something glowed faintly—silver, like light seeping through flesh.
Xavier's eyes widened. "No. It can't be."
"What's happening to me?" she cried out, voice cracking.
He held her close, steadying her. "Your bloodline... it's awakening."
The glow faded as quickly as it came, leaving only silence and the thundering of her heart.
"You're not just part-wolf," Xavier said hoarsely. "You're something forgotten. Something the packs feared."
He looked at her like she was both salvation and destruction.
And Raine realized—her life had never been hers to begin with.