It was still at the clearing,the eerie quietness creeping in like a thick fog after battle. Serena panted, her breath coming in quick gasps, her chest rising and falling as the adrenaline of the fight beganto evaporate from her system. The rogue wolves were spread out over the ground: some were huddled in defeat, while others started toturn back into their human forms, moaning in pain. But now there was nothing left but deafening silence—broken only by the wind ruffling the trees and the distant hoot ofan owl.

Lucian stood next to her, breathing indeep, steady breaths. His stare didn't waver from Serena, breathing heavily as she surveyed the mayhem around her, heart racing, not from the exertion, but thechaos bubbling beneath the surface. A whirlpool of thoughts swirled her mind, her mother’s words ringingthrough her head.

“You’re morelike your father…You’ve changed." Isolde’s words still echoed in her ears, faint and colored withsomething Serena couldn’t put her finger on—regret? Fear? Or maybe both.

She swallowed, eyes darting to whereher mother had stood seconds before, but nothing was there. Isolde was goneagain, swallowed into the night with not a shred of evidence, the same as she’d done before.

Lucian’s hand brushed hers gently andpulled her back to reality. His touch anchored her, but it didn’t calmthe storm inside her. There was one other thingshe needed to know. Whyhad her mother left her behind? Why hadn’t shereturned until now?

“Serena,” Lucian’s voice was low, lacedwith quiet concern, “Are you alright?” He stepped nearer, the softness in hisfeatures as he reached for her. But Serena stepped back,a frown crossing her eyes, stitched with confusion and resistance.

“I don’tknow,” she replied, her voice faraway. “I don’t knowwhat’s real anymore, Lucian.”

“You’re not going tobe alone in this,” he said softly, squeezing her arm tighter. "You never have been."

She could sense the insincerity in his voice that partof her didn't want to believe.

Serena stepped back, taking in the shadows surrounding them, her Onyx wolf still faintly thrumming insideher. “My mother …” Her voice trailedoff as she grappled to comprehend. “She didn’t just abandon me,did she? She was afraid. Afraid of what I’d become. Of what I might do."

Dorian and Lucian said nothing, but Lucian’s expression darkened, his jaw tightening as henodded. "Yes. And notonly because of what you might do with them. But because of whatyou might do to everyone. Serena, you were always destinedto shift the balance. “This highly multiple awakening wasn’t just about your power— it was about what that power represented.”

Serena glared, eyesnarrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Lucian appeared to look into a distance, as if he was remembering something hehadn’t talked about in years. “Theprophecy,” he said softly. “Your mother, the packleaders, the rogues, they all knew it. Loosely knew that one day, someone would come into their lives who could rewrite the fate of all theclans. Amore powerful Alpha than any to come before. And you … youare that Alpha.”

Serena gasped, her breath catching in her throat as the weight of the words hit her. She took a step back, her mind racing, struggling to grasp the reality of what was happening. “That’s not possible,” she whispered, her voice shaky with disbelief.

“I’m not meant to be this… I’m a curse, a destruction to everything around me. I’ve always been told I’m dangerous, that I bring chaos wherever I go. People should be afraid of me, not... not trying to claim me. I don’t understand. It doesn’t make sense." Her words faltered, the confusion and fear clouding her thoughts as she struggled to reconcile this new reality with the one she’d known her entire life.

Lucian’s gaze hardened. "Serena, they are scared of the difference you will make. You are standing on the edge of something huge, and your mother … shewasn’t trying to protect you out of love. She shielded you because shewas afraid of what would happen if you ever realized your potential.”

His wordshung heavy like a leaden weight in her heart. Fear. It had not been love that had kept Isolde away — it had been fear of her own daughter, fear ofthe power Serena might yield.

The realization hither as a wave crashing on her back with a shiver running down her spine. Isoldenever wanted to watch her daughter become the woman she was meant to be. That she had tried to protecther from the truth, and in so doing had kept Serena like a wean, like a bomb waiting for her fuse to be lit.

But Serena wasn’t just a tool to be used or a weapon to be wielded. She was much more than that—she was her own person, with her own strength, her own purpose, and the power to shape her own destiny.

She glanced at Lucian who was watching her with an intensity thatfelt like he could read the doubts and determination painted all over her face.

Lucian’s hand reached toward her, fitting against her faceso gently, his skin hot and still. “Serena, we need to prepare for the war ahead, Elias and his army are marching this way."

Her heart raced inher chest as she understood the meaning of what he was saying. Serena understood it was time.

Serena closed her eyes fora moment, imagining all the potential futures that stretched before her. No more running, nomore hiding.

“You can choose,Serena,” the voice of Lucian was calm, with an undercurrent of something unnameable, something not afraid.

" You will own your power, own your fate, andforge the future of this world. You can give it all up — your attachment to the Alphas, your affection for everyone else in your life — and turn your back on itall.”

Serena stared into his eyes, the firewithin her raging bright. “I can’t turn away,” she said, her voice more forceful than before. "

Lucian’s gaze softened, and for aheartbeat, it was like the world stood still, like there was only them standing in the clearing, facing an uncertain future together.

But Serena also knew this was onlythe beginning.

She had the choice — and whichever path she chose, everything wouldchange.

" We should get back to the pack." Lucian said with his eyes darting around the woods.

A sharp piercing scream escaped from Serena's lips before her body dropped to the ground.