The air was cool, damp, like the familiar scentof pine and earth at night. The moon was low in the sky. Its gentle silver light spilled across thehillside clearing. The ceremony was complete. It was time for the pack members to return to their regular pattern ofliving. Serena stood behind Lucian, her hand still clutched firmly in his, and her heartpounding in her chest. What she saw in theritual, she had never seen before. Then everything went much crazier,but somehow it was solid.

It wasthat odd feeling she knew was still there in her head. The Onyx wolfwhich had once given her the impression of devouring and denying feeling was now, out of the blue, with her.

“You alright? ” Luciantilted back but there was an edge of concern in his voice that she could not brush off. Serena nodded although shestill couldn’t quite dismiss that gnawing feeling deep in her gut.

“Yup... It's just... This is gonna take a lot of time to get use to,” Luna felt all of the weight that the title Luna put onto her, the fear that kept digging in her mind, the fight thatwas coming, all of it bothered her.

He wrapped histhumb around her flesh and gave her a steady tug of her hand. “You’re not alone,we’re going to do this together.

Serena wanted to believe him. He made these warm comments that were reassuring to her,and she totally loved how he said it. But it’s something that still bugs thehell out of her.

Wasshe so willing to hold on to him as an equal? Or was the Onyx wolf within her a powerthat would rend them instead, pull them apart rather than sent them aloft together?

Before she could voice what she dreaded, Dorian stepped out from theshadows, his face taut with tension and his eyes staring ahead with fear.

“Lucian,” Dorian said in alow, almost like aDorian’s voice. ” There is “ somestuff at the southern border.

Lucian tensed up andhis eyes registered quickly. “What kind of trouble? ”

And while Serena’s flash to Dorian wasa quick one before she answered. “A bunch of rogues. And they’re different... too organized, they’re too organizedto be random. They’re getting closer."

The word “rogues” made Serena almost pug her lips at hearing it, for she had long ago been conditionedto think of rogues as dangerous, selfish wildmen, typically vicious and cruel, who would enter pack territory this way.

“Do you think they know the Onyxwolf? she asked.

Lucian looked at herwith a cold, hard face. “Stick with the pack Serena, I’m goingto be OK.

“ But we’re meant to face thistogether. she said, her browslightly furrowed.

For an instant Lucian staredwide awake but soon again descended into a comatose blank. “I’m not going to be therea long time. As long asyou stay with the others, okay?

The Onyx wolf began to move deep with in her, anxious, agitated, and hungry for freedom, Serena couldfeel it. It was wild andsharp, the power she'd achieved.

“I’m going with you,” she said emphatically, but doubt was steadily growingin her gut.

Lucian ’s jaw tightened, the looksof frustration on his face shifting. “Serena, this is not the timefor stubbornness.

But, before she could argueanymore Dorian cut her off.

“I think she needsto come with us, Alpha. And studiedLucian, his eyes resolute.

“She trained harder than she had ever trained whenyou were unconscious. I know what shecan do out there.” She’s ready for it. ”

Serena’s eyes locked with Lucians and they just stared atone another for a moment. She could see the conflict in hiseyes — the fierce protective instinct that drove him to do everything in his power to protect her from harm, but also a quiet sense she was no longer the same person she’d been. She hadtransformed and there was a strength within her that demanded attention.

He sighed,relaxing his body a bit. “Okay. But hang close,” he eventually said.

They hastily movedinto the shadows of the forest.

The air turned swampy now, with panic like a dense mist hanging in the atmosphere; inside Serena there was the Onyx wolf circling like a toxic gas,yanking her in every conceivable direction. It felt like the ground under her hooves werequaking with electricity.

When they crossed the southern border, her sensessharpened further. The sound of rustling leaves and howls ata distance, something was really wrong. Itwas as if they were going into a trap.

Lucian raised a hand,summoning them to stop, and his eyes scanned the dark edge of the clearing ahead; a few dark shapes wandered that line slowly, their backs to him.

“ Serena, you should wait.” “No, this is going to get nasty,” Lucian finallyrasped to Serena lowly.

However, Serena could not deny the call of the Onyx wolf, and she took a step forward, her heart racing as the sheer will of her being leapt forward and made her move,to move.

Lucian frowned slightly at herbut then held her back, " Thread carefully" he muttered.

They hesitantly started to move,crunching the dry underbrush underfoot. The rebellious wolves were gossiping under the radar, their focusdiverted. They didnot glimpse the incoming trio save for some flickering of a campfire glowing in the distance

Muscles tightening, she sensed,her senses alert. And Onyx’s wolfwas humping under her skin—he wanted to bite, this instant.

Then one of the rogues turned with his eyes glittering evilly inthe semi-darkness and said growling with vile frustration “They found us It's time.

Lucian stiffened beside her. “Prepare yourself, ” he mutteredunder this breath.

And before Serena could tellher to shut the fuck up, the world erupted. An instant jolt in theair sending the rogue wolves conserve the night fall in one blip, their eyes sparkling with some decided brightness, and one had the gall to swipe his claws out in front of her, teeth on display.

The Onyx wolf surged to the surface and Serena could feel her body shifting, muscles tightening, senses sharpening - everythingaround again sharpening, more clear, faster.

“Serena!” Lucian shouted, urgency woven throughhis voice.

But she was already moving. The rogue was slowto swing, but Serena was speeding up. Twisting in quick a fashion, using the velocity to bring himoff balance, clawing outwards and slamming the rogue back onto his rear.

As she faced theothers, the breath stuck in her throat. There, infront of her, was a person she never thought she’d see again — her mother.

Isolde.

Serena wasso surprised to see her mother that she was speechless. She was swept by a surge ofemotions: disbelief, shock, a flurry of memories, some sweet and some bitter. It was likebeing paused in time. There was only her mother, there in front of her, as real asthe earth she stood on.