The walk back home should’ve been fifteen minutes.

It took me over an hour.

Every step felt heavier. Every turn, every streetlight buzzed louder than usual, like the world had shifted and I was just now catching up. Or maybe I wasn’t catching up at all. Maybe I was unraveling.

I hadn’t even looked at the mark again. I didn’t need to.

I could feel it.

Alive beneath my skin like something breathing—silent, waiting, connected to… him.

Whoever he was.

By the time I pushed open the front door of the run-down rental house I shared with my latest foster family, my body was ice-cold and damp with sweat. The hall light flickered overhead like it always did, but tonight it startled me enough to flinch.

“Back late,” came a voice from the kitchen.

Brenda. My foster mother. Not kind, not cruel. Just there. Detached, like everyone else before her.

“Yeah,” I said, shrugging out of my jacket.

She didn’t ask anything else. She never did.

I climbed the stairs slowly, gripping the rail tighter than necessary as another wave of heat bloomed in my chest. It was wrong. All of this was wrong.

By the time I made it to my room, I was shaking again.

I locked the door, peeled off my clothes, and went straight to the mirror.

There it was.

The mark.

Silver, almost glowing, curling across my shoulder blade like it had always belonged there. I reached out, fingers hovering over it—but I couldn’t touch it. It felt like if I did, something inside me would snap open.

And I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

I sat down on the floor and pulled my knees to my chest.

Something was happening to me. Something no doctor or therapist or social worker could explain. I didn’t know who I was anymore.

But I knew, deep in my gut, that someone out there had the answers.

And he was already watching me.

⸻

KALE

The storm hit just after midnight.

The windows of the Alpha estate rattled, and the trees outside bent like they were bowing to something ancient and angry. Kale stood by the glass, shirtless, arms folded across his chest as he stared into the wind—and felt her.

Her fear. Her confusion.

Her pull.

It was happening faster than he expected. The bond was drawing tight between them, even without contact. Even with his rejection still burning like a brand in his soul.

He should’ve killed the connection years ago. Should’ve finished the ritual when he had the chance.

Instead, he’d left it undone. Marked her as a child, protected her in secret—and walked away.

Now the bond was biting back.

Kale closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.

“Alpha.”

He didn’t turn. Didn’t need to. The voice belonged to Lucien, his Beta.

“She’s awakened,” Lucien said quietly. “The mark is active. The others will feel it soon.”

Kale’s fingers twitched. “She’s not ready.”

“She doesn’t even know who she is.”

“That’s the point,” Kale growled. “She was supposed to live a normal life. Stay out of this world. Out of my world.”

Lucien stepped closer. “She’s your mate, Kale. There’s nothing normal about any of this. And if you don’t go to her soon…”

“I already rejected her.”

“Not properly. Not by law. Not by ritual.”

Silence.

Lucien’s eyes narrowed. “If the Council finds her—if the rogues scent her power—”

“I’ll handle it.”

Lucien paused. “You can’t outrun the bond forever.”

Kale turned then. Slowly. Eyes dark. Voice low.

“Watch me.”

⸻

AURA

I didn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw fire behind my lids. Heard whispers I couldn’t understand. Smelled pine smoke and earth, like a memory that didn’t belong to me.

At 3:07 a.m., I gave up.

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the moonlight pouring in through the window. It lit up the mark on my skin again.

And this time—I didn’t look away.

There was something in me now. Something wild. Something waiting to be claimed… or unleashed.

And I had a feeling I’d have to choose which came first.