The crackling sound of fire was the first thing I heard, the scent of herbs and charred wood heavy in the air.

The room was dim, the flickering orange light casting shifting shadows along stone walls carved with symbols — ancient ones, some I recognized from the very book I’d risked my life to steal.

I bolted upright, pain lancing through my shoulder.

“You’re awake.”

The voice was deep, but not unkind. A man stepped from the shadows, his face partially obscured by a hood. His scent was unfamiliar — neither part of Thane’s pack nor any of the neighboring clans. Rogue, maybe?

“Who are you?” My voice came out hoarse, raw from breathing in too much smoke.

He crossed his arms above the other. “Your saviour?"

My eyes narrowed in confusion. “Those guys didn't seem willing to take it easy on you. A thank you would be nice at this point." He said.

The air seemed to hum between us. “I know you saved me, thank you. But that won't stop me from asking who the hell are you?" I said, my voice coming out harsher than I intended it to.

“Luca," another voice echoed in the room. “I'll take it from here."

My head snapped towards the direction of the door, and my eyes fell on a woman. She had a hood on too, and it only raised my warning instincts even more.

“Yes mother," the man, named Luca, said. He cast me a calm glance, before striding out of the room.

The door closing behind him reminded me that I was alone in a room with a stranger, two actually. And they may be after my life for all I know, or the book.

The book!

"Where's the book?” I blurted out, ignoring the pain that soared through my lower stomach. "Did you take the book? Who are you? What do you want from me?” I asked all at once.

“Relax, Mira. Your wounds are not fully healed, yet." She said calmly.

My eyes widened. “How do you know my name? Who are you?" I snarled.

The pain was beginning to be unbearable, but I wasn't about to show weakness in front of this stranger. “Who are you?" I questioned yet again. I needed an answer.

“Mira, listen to me. You haven't healed, you're going to make yourself bleed to death." She said again, her voice strained but firm.

It was then my eyes fell on my stomach. My shirt was stained. I pulled it up, a gasp escaping my lips as I saw the wound.

“Shit!" The gash was bleeding profusely, the bandage totally ruined. I recognized it as the slash I had gotten from Derek.

“You can't heal because you don't have access to your wolf at the moment," the strange woman said. “Lie back, and let me take care of it."

I hesitated, a thousand thoughts racing through my mind. If they are going to kill me, they wouldn't take care of me.

With a low groan, I laid back as she said, watching as the wooden ceiling spinned. “Who are you? And him too?" I asked yet again.

I expected her to pull out a first aid box or something, but instead, she began rubbing her palms together. I watched, my confusion heightening as she placed her palms a little above the injury. The concentration on her face was intense.

A blue glowing light shone from her hands, sending a cold sensation through me. What the… ?

“Stay still," she commanded.

I was already too stunned to move. Her glowing seized, but so did the pain. Without waiting for her, I ripped the bandage off, gasping in shock as I saw my body closed up.

The wound was gone.

“I would have done that earlier, but the spell needed you to be awake." She said.

My eyes darted from her to my stomach, my mind a jumbled mess. “Was… was that magic?”

"Wolves and Sorceresses aren't much different, don't you think?” At this point, she took off the hood over her head.

She looked young, but there was this elderly gaze resting in her eyes—one that told me she had seen a lot. “My name is Della," she began. “And the guy that was here is my son, Luca. I'm a sorceress, and he is a sorceror. They're many others like us here, and many others that aren't like us. We create a safe space for hybrids, accepting the rejected.”

My heart churned at the mention of the word,"rejected”. I swallowed, pulling my mind back to the situation on ground. "But I'm not a hybrid,” I said.

She smiled, one that didn't reach her eyes. "Come with me, Mira.” She said, calmly.

She began walking out of the room, and I immediately followed her, taking hurried steps to meet up with her pace. “Where are we going?"

She ignored that question as we walked through a dim lit corridor. “Why were you being chased by your pack warriors?" She asked instead.

I didn't expect the question, but it reminded me of something else. “Where's the book?" I asked, panic settling into my voice.

She seemed to notice it, casting me a glance just as similar to that of her sons. “The book is safe, Mira. I'll give it to you as soon as we get your wolf back." She explained.

My eyes lit up. “Really? Is that where we're going?"

Again, she ignored the question. “Did you steal the book?"

I clenched my fists subconsciously. “Yes!"

I expected her to ask why, but she didn't. She said nothing else. We finally reached door which she pushed open to reveal an open yard.

“Wow!" I mouthed, taking it all in.

“Stay close, Mira." Della said, as she took another turn.

We walked past the probing eyes of several people. I couldn't recognize what they were, but I noticed a vampire amongst. This place indeed has every species.

We finally came to a stop. “This is Cara. She's a hybrid wolf and witch, she'll break the spell holding back your wolf." Della said.

My eyes met the girl. She looked young, probably fifteen. I turned to Della who gave me a reassuring look.

“Why are you helping me?" I suddenly asked.

“You ask a lot of questions," was all she said.

She was trying to avoid the question, but I wasn't about to let it just go. “I need to know. That's the only way I'll be able to trust you."

“I don't really need you to trust me, Mirabel. All you need to do is trust yourself, that's more than enough." She began walking away.

How? How did she know my full name? No one knew that.

Her next words made my heart stand still.

“And as for why I'm helping you," she stopped walking and looked at me, “it's what your mother would have wanted."

“...”

"Alpha Thane,” the Head Chief's voice echoed in the huge meeting room which suddenly seemed too small. "Our librarian here, Ms Mira, claims that you are her mate— that you have been all along— and you two had a secret relationship going on already. By any chance, is any of this true?"

I stood in the center of the room, my palms clammy at my sides, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it. The council, ten in total, sat in a semi-circle, their faces expectant, their eyes shifting between me and the man I thought was mine.

Thane sat directly across from me, his broad shoulders hunched slightly, fingers digging into the armrest of his chair. Beside him, too close for comfort, sat her — Alexa, the witch with the serpent’s smile.

I raised my chin, just a little. My eyes found Thane’s, and for a fleeting moment, I saw it — hesitation, doubt, and underneath all of it, guilt. The silence stretched too long, and each second felt like a knife carving into my chest.

The Head Chief cleared his throat, his brows furrowing. "Alpha, we need a response."

Thane’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his gaze flicking from one elder to the next, searching for something — a way out. Finally, his golden eyes met mine, and I silently begged him. Please. Just tell the truth. Please.

"Alpha Thane?" another elder prompted, their patience stretching thin.

My heart ached so fiercely I could barely stand upright.

I was desperately waiting to hear Thane's response, but when it came, I wished I could unhear it.

"No," Thane said, his voice low, but each syllable might as well have been a blade to my gut. "I don’t know why she’s making these claims, but there was never anything between us."

The room spun. I must have misheard.

"What?" My voice was barely above a whisper.

Thane didn’t look at me this time. "She’s lying."

The ground beneath me vanished. My chest hollowed out, leaving nothing but raw, trembling emptiness.

"She’s obsessed with me," Thane added, each word like a hammer to my ribs. "I don’t know why, but I have never… she was just a librarian."

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. The man I had given my heart to, the man who whispered promises in the dark — he denied it all.

"You’re lying!" My voice cracked with disbelief, but the moment I spoke, Alexa stood, her dark curls cascading down her back like black ink.

"Enough of this madness," Alexa said smoothly, her voice laced with mock pity.

The words clung to me like tar.

The Head Chief exchanged glances with the others, some of them whispering to each other. "This is a serious accusation, Alpha Thane. If she’s making false claims—"

"She should be punished," Alexa said, her gaze sharp with triumph. "Lying about the Alpha, disrupting the peace… it’s treasonous."

Treason. My knees nearly buckled.

"We could exile her," Alexa added, and I saw it then — the glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes. This was what she wanted all along.

"No, please…" I stepped forward, but Thane didn’t stop her. He didn’t even look at me.

“Stand back!" One of the elders shot at me, his voice stern.

The Head Chief sighed. "If the Alpha denies it, and if the council agrees, then exile may be the only appropriate response."

I searched Thane’s face one last time, desperately hoping for something — even a flicker of hesitation, a sign he’d fight for me.

But there was nothing.

With a final snap of the gavel, my fate was sealed.

Banished.

Rejected!

I didn’t cry. Not when they stripped me of my rank. Not when they escorted me to the edge of the territory like some criminal. Not when they warned me that if I ever returned, I’d be hunted like a rogue.

However, the moment I was left alone in the middle of nowhere, with no one to comfort me under the freezing cold and the clawing hands of darkness, it was then I realized that I was truly alone.

I had been rejected.

My legs failed me and I collapsed beside the nearest tree, leaning into it as tears fell off my eyes.

“So this is how it ends?” I mumbled to myself, shutting my eyes.

I'd heard stories of wolves whose mates had rejected them, turned away without even bothering to explore the bond and what it brought. I never really understood their pain.

Now? Now, I understand what it feels like. Even more, because my mate had been cruel enough to explore the bond with me, made me love him in ways I couldn't explain, only to cut me off like I was just a leech on his precious skin.

So this is what it feels like?

I tried to hold back the tears, but it was useless. They streamed down my face like a waterfall, my body shaking lightly with silent sobs.

I had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Wasn't it enough that he rejected me? Did I have to be exiled too? Thane, you son of a bitch. To think I loved you with my whole heart.

I was furious, yet my heart was breaking into a million pieces. Eventually, the former won.

I can't just leave like that. Thane and Alexa has to pay.

I waited until thick nightfall, until the scent of the forest was thick with damp earth and secrets. I knew what I was after—the book.

It was an ancient tome that had been locked away in the Alpha’s private archives. I wasn’t supposed to know about it—but I’d spent years in the library, learning, watching, uncovering. And I knew it held something Thane and Alexa wanted hidden.

Something incredibly powerful. Yet no one could even open the book, or understand what was needed to do so. If I could do that, then I might become the most powerful person in the world.

And then, I can take my revenge. Make him pay for rejecting me!

Slipping past the patrols was easy. They underestimated me—the quiet little librarian with no wolf and no spine. I was nothing to them, a ghost they banished without a second thought.

But ghosts know how to haunt.

It wasn't easy getting access to the chamber that held the book—so many locks, and traps—but one of the benefits I got from being with Thane—even though it was only temporary and ended with nothing but pain—was that I knew a few things others didn't. My hands trembled as I lifted the book, its cover worn, symbols etched deep into the leather.

It thrummed beneath my fingertips—alive.

I barely made it past the border before they caught me. Thane’s warriors.

They chased me through the forest, their snarls filling the night. My heart pounded, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I wasn’t running to escape.

I was running to survive.

*BACK TO THE PRESENT*

The weight of the memory settled over me like a cold shroud.

I stared at Della, my throat tight. "How do you know my mother?" My voice was softer now, fragile in a way I hated.

Della’s eyes flickered, her expression briefly unreadable. "That’s a story for another day, child."

"No." My fists clenched. "You don’t get to just drop that and walk away. Who was she? Why does she matter to you? And how do you know her?"

Della’s lips pressed into a thin line. "Your mother was a dear friend. She was… special, like you."

"Special? What do you mean?"

Della hesitated before answering. "She carried blood that was more than wolf. More than human."

"What does that mean?" My voice trembled slightly.

"You’ll understand soon," Della said gently. "But first, let’s get your wolf back."

She led me to Cara, the young hybrid girl waiting patiently in the clearing. The girl’s hands glowed faintly, silver runes dancing along her fingertips.

"Sit," Cara said, her voice sweet but firm.

I sat cross-legged on the grass, closing my eyes as instructed. Cara’s hands hovered near my temples, the air vibrating with a soft hum.

I felt it almost immediately—the sensation of a locked door creaking open somewhere inside me. A weight lifted from my chest, and then, I felt her.

My wolf.

‘Nia!’

She surged forward, her presence fierce and protective. I gasped, doubling over as her strength flooded my limbs, our bond restoring.

"I feel her," I whispered, tears springing to my eyes.

Della nodded at Cara, and the girl left us. Della knelt in front of me, reaching out for my hand. “How does it feel?" She asked.

How did it feel?

The energy still hummed beneath my skin long after Cara’s hands fell away. My wolf wasn’t just awake — she was brimming, her presence sharper, clearer than I’d ever known. Every sound in the clearing seemed magnified, from the crackling torches to the rustling leaves above. I could hear the heartbeat of everyone around me, including Della’s — steady, but layered with something beneath it.

Anticipation? Or was it fear?

I stood slowly, flexing my fingers, watching the way my nails gleamed in the low light — darker, almost metallic. My senses stretched farther than they ever had before, I felt foreign.

This wasn’t normal.

"What did you do to me?" My voice was hoarse, though not with fear — with suspicion.

Della exchanged a glance with Cara before stepping forward. "I didn’t do anything, Mira. This—" she gestured to me, to the faint shimmer around my skin, "—this was always inside you."

"No." I shook my head. "I know my wolf. I know what I am. I’m just…"

"A wolf?" Della’s brow lifted slightly. "Are you sure?"

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words wouldn’t come.

Della took advantage. “You underestimate yourself too much, Mirabel. You have no idea the power you hold within you, the greatness residing in the legacy your mother left you. You—” she took a step closer, “you are much more stronger than you can ever imagine."

“Now take a deep breath and tell me, how does it actually feel?" Her voice was subtle, probing.

I inhaled, then let it out, alongside all the fear and doubt. It was then the feeling soared through my body. “It feels so good to have her back. I can't explain." I mumbled.

“Good!" Della squeezed my hand. “Now, it's time to unlock the other side of you."

The ground beneath me pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat matching my own. I could feel the earth, the air, the life pulsing through every root, every tree, every soul within reach.

"What am I?" I whispered.  “What is happening to me?"

Della stepped closer, her expression gentler now. "That’s a question only you can answer, Mira. But you’re not just a wolf. And you’re not just your mother’s daughter."

"What does that mean?" My voice rose, but she only gave me that same unreadable smile.

The clearing was silent, save for the soft crackling of the torches placed around the perimeter and the rustle of leaves dancing in the evening breeze. Through the corner of my eyes, I saw creatures gather, their eyes and undivided attention all on me, and it only made me want to disappear even more.

Della was hovering above me, her voice echoing in my head, probing and intense. “Tell me what you feel, Mira."

It—whatever it was—was starting to overwhelm me. It kept swirling like an over-agigated turnado, threatening to take everything in it's hurl.

"Tell me how you feel, Mirabel.” She pressed.

My nails dug into my palm. "I can't explain. Make it stop. Make it stop, please."

“If we stop now, you'll never discover what's inside you. You have to push, it's not meant to be easy, but you can't give up. Tell me. Tell me how you feel, Mira."

Is this woman listening to me?

“I said make it stop!" I growled angrily, my eyes snapping open.

She took a step back, her expression changing from shock to collected in the twinkle of an eye.

I heard another voice. “Mother, I think we should stop. We don't know what she's capable of. It's dangerous.”

He appeared before me, my vision blurry. Della said, "I'm not in control. She is.”

"Make it stop!” I yelled again, as voices began to echo in my head. I was clearly in pain.

"That's it. I'm putting her to sleep." I heard a voice say, and the next minute, I saw darkness settle.

The shadows shifted at the edge of the clearing, a low whisper curling through the trees, and for a fleeting second, it felt like the forest itself was calling my name.

Mira.

Whatever I was, it was waking up.

***

“Mira!"

The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. Not until I opened my eyes, and I saw him.

A sharp glint flashed through his eyes, as they met mine. “You're awake. Finally!"

I blinked, trying to adjust to all the light. My head was spinning, doing very little to stop the reeling room.

He walked closer to me, waving a palm over my eyes. “Can you recognize me? It's Luca."

I took him in. He was handsome, his eyes were brown and held this calm, yet tempting gaze. His jaws were fixed, and his body was properly masculine, with chest sculpted to perfection.

He reminded me so much of him.

“Say something, Mira." He tried again.

I sat up, taking in the room. “How long have I been unconscious?" I asked, my voice coming out in a tiny whisper.

“About 24 hours, you gave us quite a scare." Luca said. “How do you feel?"

My mind drifted back to the scene right before I passed out. I had never felt that way before, like I was someone else entirely—someone I couldn't recognize.

“What is happening to me?" I asked again.

Luca heaved. I watched him pull a chair, and sit beside me. “I’ll tell you the little I know.” He paused slightly, fixing his eyes on me. "Your mother, and mine built this village. A safe place where creatures like us—who people felt were too much for them—could call home. My mum trusted so much in your mother, they were best friends, yes, but my mum looked up to yours more.”

He paused again. "Like I heard, yours was more powerful, and when she died, she made mine promise that you would cross the lengths she couldn't. So it might seem like my mum was doing too much, but I promise she was just trying to fulfill her promise.”

I swallowed, trying to piece everything I just heard.

"You'll get a more reasonable explanation form Mother, or maybe you can get them for yourself, but first you need to figure out who you really are. Are you ready to do that?”

A deep breath escaped as he added, “It's what your mother would have wanted."

I hesitated, feeling the same feeling from earlier rise all over again. “Fine! Let's try again."

He took me to the same field where Della was waiting. She looked briefly at me, then turned to her son. “Is she ready?"

Luca looked at me. "Are you?”

I nodded. "Let's do this!”

They led me to the center, my feet bare against the cool dirt, eyes closed, sweat glistening on my brow. The air felt heavier here, charged with a kind of energy I couldn’t fully understand—like something ancient was watching.

“Again,” Della’s calm voice carried from the edge of the circle. “Feel, don’t force.”

I exhaled sharply, clenching my fists at my sides. My skin tingled with raw, unstable power, just beneath the surface, too wild to grasp. “I’m trying,” I muttered through gritted teeth. “It’s—there, and then it’s not.”

Beside Della, Cara stood with her hands clasped, watching me with an odd mixture of awe and unease. Even the young hybrid could sense it—the shifting energy inside me wasn’t normal. It wasn’t just my wolf.

“You’re not trying to call your wolf,” Della said softly, stepping closer. “You’re trying to call yourself. Every part of you.”

My eyes snapped open. “What does that even mean?” Frustration bled into my voice. “I know who I am.”

“No,” Della said gently. “You know who you were told you were.”

My breath caught in my throat. I wanted to argue, to reject the implication, but some part of me knew Della was right. There had always been something—an undercurrent of difference I couldn’t name, even as a pup. My connection to the land, the way I  sometimes sensed things before they happened, the strange dreams I dismissed as fantasy. It was all connected, and I'd been too blind to see.

“Try again,” Della instructed. “This time, don’t just look for your wolf. Look for the piece of yourself you’ve been told to forget.”

I swallowed hard, closing my eyes once more. I inhaled, pulling the cool night air into my lungs, letting it settle. This time, I didn’t reach for the silver thread of my wolf’s spirit, the familiar connection I'd always leaned on. Instead, I let go—opening myself to everything.

The earth hummed beneath my feet, the air shifted, and a faint pulse thrummed through my chest.

And then the visions began.

I didn't know what I was expecting, but this was way beyond it.

The first vision came in flashes—fragments of sound and color, the way memory distorts with time.

A woman stood at the edge of a darkened clearing, her silhouette backlit by a dying fire. Her hands clutched a leather-bound book—the same book I had stolen. Her fingers trembled, not with fear, but with urgency. It was my mother.

“Take it,” her voice said, though her face was blurred in the vision. “Take the book, and take this.”

A glint of silver caught the firelight—a ring, intricately carved with ancient runes I couldn’t read. My mother pressed it into the hands of a shadowed figure. “You must hide it. Both of them. They can never find it.”

“Who?” the figure whispered.

“The Council. The Darkborn. Even the Alphas. They’ll all want it. They’ll all want her.” Her mother’s voice shook. “Please—keep her safe.”

The scene shifted. Blood. So much blood. The book lay open, pages fluttering in the wind, stained crimson. My childlike scream echoed through the trees, messing with my head.

The vision shattered.

I stumbled back into reality with a sharp cry, falling to my knees in the dirt. My hands braced the ground, fingers digging into the earth as my breath came in ragged gasps.

“Mira!” Della was at my side in seconds, her hands firm on my shoulders. “What did you see?”

I couldn’t speak right away. My heart pounded so loudly I could barely hear anything else. The image of the ring—silver, ancient, powerful—burned behind my eyelids. “My mother…” my voice cracked. “She gave the book and a ring to someone. She begged them to hide it.”

Della’s face paled slightly, but she hid it well. “What kind of ring?”

I closed my eyes, trying to recall every detail. “Silver… engraved with symbols, ancient ones. I don’t know what they mean.”

Della’s hand trembled against my shoulder. “It’s the Aurora's Seal.”

My gaze snapped to her. “What?”

“The ring isn’t just jewelry,” Della explained, her voice low with reverence. “It’s part of your birthright. Your mother was a Bloodline Guardian, Mira—a wolf born with the ability to awaken and command dormant magic within her bloodline. That ring is the key to unlocking every piece of power sealed within you.”

It took a while for me to process what she had just said, but when I did, all I could ask was, “Why would she hide it?” my voice a whisper.

“Because if the wrong hands got hold of it, they could use you—or your bloodline—for terrible things,” Della said. “Power like that isn’t just rare. It’s dangerous.”

My stomach churned with a mixture of fear and fury. My mother had died for that secret. And all this time, I had been walking around blind to who I really was.

“But if I don’t have it,” I began slowly, piecing it together, “I can’t fully unlock my power.”

Della nodded. “Not safely.”

My throat tightened. “Well, where is it?”

Della’s brow furrowed. “I can try to find it.”

She stepped back, raising her hands. Pale blue light formed between her fingers, swirling like liquid starlight. The spell took only a few moments—a whisper of ancient words, a flicker of intent. Then her eyes flew open, wide with disbelief.

“No,” she whispered.

My stomach clenched. “What?”

Della looked at me, her expression livid. With her next words, the air seemed to leave the clearing all at once.

“It’s in Thane’s pack.”