Kara's POV
Kara ducked as the knife sliced through the air where her head had been a second ago. Her heart pounded as she scrambled backward, away from Sasha's bright eyes.
"Caden, run!" she yelled, pushing him toward the trees.
But instead of running, everything around her started to fade. The forest, Caden, even Sasha with her deadly knife melted away like ice in summer. Kara blinked, confused. She was no longer in the forest. She was standing in a sunny field, and Sasha—a younger Sasha, maybe twelve years old—was sitting on a rock, watching her.
"You always were slow to understand, Kara," Sasha said, but her voice wasn't mean like before. It was sad.
"What is this? Where am I?" Kara asked, looking around. The field was full of wildflowers she remembered from her childhood.
"In your head, silly," Sasha answered. "You're dreaming."
Kara's mind raced. "But you just tried to kill me!"
Sasha shook her head. "That wasn't me. Not really."
"I don't understand."
"Look closer," Sasha said, patting the rock beside her. "Remember this place?"
Kara sat down cautiously. "The field behind our house. We used to play here."
"Before the river," Sasha nodded. "Before everything changed."
"Sasha, please," Kara begged. "Tell me what's going. Why did you say I tried to kill you? Why are you working with Lena?"
Sasha looked at her with eyes that suddenly seemed much older than her young face. "I need to show you something. But we don't have much time."
She grabbed Kara's hand. The field spun around them, colors blurring until they were standing in a dark room Kara didn't recognize. It was filled with weird symbols drawn on the walls and strange bottles on shelves.
"What is this place?" Kara whispered.
"Hidden in the mansion," Sasha said. "Third floor, behind the picture of the wolf pack. You need to find it."
"Why?"
"Because the truth is there," Sasha said quickly. "About me, about Mom, about the prophecy."
"What prophecy?" Kara asked, but Sasha was already disappearing.
"Find the room, Kara. Find the truth. Don't trust what you see. I'm not—"
Kara jolted awake, gasping for air. She was in her bed, sunshine streaming through the window. Her heart was racing, and sweat soaked her clothes.
"Just a dream," she whispered, but it had felt so real.
The events of the previous day came rushing back—Sasha's return, her charges, the plan Caden had overheard. Had they really tried to escape? Had Sasha really approached them with a dagger? Or was that part of the dream too?
A soft knock on her door made her jump.
"Kara? Are you awake?" It was Caden's voice.
"Come in," she called, relief washing over her. At least Caden was real.
He slipped inside, looking nervous. "How are you feeling?"
"Confused," Kara admitted. "I had the strangest dream about Sasha."
Caden sat on the edge of her bed. "What happened last night... it wasn't normal. The way Sasha appeared in front of us, those eyes..."
"So it did happen?" Kara asked. "She did try to attack us?"
"Yes, but then she just... stopped. Like someone pulled her strings. She got this blank look and said we could go back to the house. That she'd deal with us today."
"That's creepy," Kara shivered. "In my dream, Sasha told me to find a secret room on the third floor. Behind a picture of wolves."
Caden's eyes widened. "The Alpha's secret study. No one's allowed in there."
"She said the truth about her, my mom, and some prophecy is in there," Kara said, getting out of bed. "I need to find that room."
"Kara, it's too dangerous," Caden argued. "The council meeting is in an hour. Everyone will be looking for you."
"Which means everyone will be busy," Kara replied. "This might be my only chance."
Caden sighed. "I'll make a distraction. But be careful."
Kara crept through the house, careful to avoid the pack members hurrying to the council meeting. She reached the third floor, which was eerily quiet. Most of these rooms were empty, covered in dust sheets and cobwebs.
At the end of the hallway hung a big painting of a wolf pack standing on a cliff. Kara's heart raced as she approached it. She pushed against the frame, but nothing happened. She tried pulling it, sliding it, even whispering to it, but the painting didn't move.
"Come on," she muttered, examining the frame more carefully. There, cut into the wood, was a tiny wolf head. She pressed it, and the picture swung forward like a door.
Behind it was a small, dark room. Kara stepped inside, pulling the picture closed behind her. She found a light switch and gasped as the room lit up.
Just like in her dream, the walls were covered in strange symbols. Shelves lined with old books and bottles filled with weird liquids took up one wall. A big desk sat in the center, covered in papers and photos.
Kara moved to the desk and picked up a picture. It showed her mother, looking young and happy, with her arms around a guy who wasn't Kara's father. On the back was written "Elena and Marcus, Full Moon Ceremony."
"Who's Marcus?" Kara whispered, placing the picture down and picking up another. This one showed her mother holding a baby—Kara, she realized—but standing next to her was the same man from the first picture, not her father.
Confused, Kara rifled through more pictures. Many showed her mother with this mystery Marcus, looking very much in love. Others showed her mother performing what looked like routines, surrounded by candles and symbols like those on the walls.
A leather-bound book caught her eye. Opening it, she realized it was her mother's book. She flipped to a random page and read: "Marcus says the prophecy is about our daughter. The first daughter of the true Alpha and the witch. He thinks Kara will unite the packs and restore the old ways. But Alexander gets suspicious. If he learns the truth about Kara, he'll kill us all."
Kara's hands shook. Alexander was her father's name. But this book suggested he wasn't her real father at all.
She turned to another page: "I've done something terrible. Used the darkest magic to protect Kara. I've bound Sasha's spirit to mine. If anything happens to me, she'll return. But the spell needs a sacrifice. When the time comes, either Kara or Sasha must die for the other to fulfill her fate."
Kara dropped the book, her mind reeling. Sasha's return, the ritual Lena mentioned—it was all related to this prophecy, to her real father, to her mother's dark magic.
A noise outside the room made her freeze. Footsteps approached. Quickly, Kara grabbed the book and a few photos and looked for a place to hide. But there was nowhere. The footsteps stopped right outside the picture.
The picture swung open, and Kara found herself face to face with Zane. His cold blue eyes opened in surprise, then narrowed dangerously.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I—" Kara started, but stopped when she noticed something in Zane's hand.
It was the same old dagger Sasha had threatened her with in the forest.
"How did you find this room?" Zane asked, his voice deadly quiet. "No one knows about this place except..."
"Except who?" Kara challenged, clutching the book to her chest.
Zane's eyes fell to the book, and his face paled. "Where did you get that?"
"It was my mother's," Kara said. "And I know the truth now. About who I really am. About what you and Sasha and Lena are planning."
"You know nothing," Zane hissed, moving closer. The dagger glinted in the dim light.
"I know I'm not who everyone thinks I am," Kara said. "And I know that either Sasha or I has to die for some prophecy."
Zane stopped, surprise crossing his face. Then he smiled, and it was colder than anything Kara had ever seen.
"So you figured it out," he said. "But you're wrong about one thing."
"What's that?" Kara asked, moving toward the door.
"I'm not working with Sasha and Lena," Zane said, raising the knife. "I'm trying to stop them. And now I have to pick..."
He looked at her, his eyes searching hers. "Are you really Kara Blackwood? Or is Sasha right about you?"
"What do you mean?" Kara asked, her heart beating.
Zane stepped closer, the knife now pointed at her heart. "Sasha says you're not Kara at all. That the real Kara died ten years ago. That you're something else wearing her face."