The world around Nova was nothing but light and shadow. Her senses flickered—one moment sharp, the next blurred. She could feel her heartbeat, slow and uneven, like a drum echoing underwater. Voices whispered from every direction, but one rose above the rest—low, commanding, and achingly familiar.

“Obey, my daughter.”

Her father’s voice wrapped around her like chains of silk. Cold, unyielding, impossible to ignore. She wanted to fight it, to scream, but when she opened her mouth, the words that came weren’t her own.

“Yes… Father.”

The words tasted like ash.

Somewhere far away, a part of her still burned—a spark refusing to die. She clung to that flicker of defiance, but the more she tried to hold it, the deeper the darkness pulled her in. Images flashed behind her eyes: Kaidan’s bloodied face, his voice breaking as he begged her to fight. The pain in his eyes had been real.

Remember who you are, his voice whispered in her mind. You’re not his weapon.

Nova gasped. The light around her wavered.

Her father stood before her now, no longer wolf but man—regal and terrible. His eyes glowed with ancient power, the same power coursing through her veins. “You were born for this, Nova,” he said softly. “For greatness. For unity. The packs have been divided for too long. Together, we can bring order.”

“Order?” she repeated, her voice hollow. “Or domination?”

He smiled faintly. “There’s no difference.”

The mark on her wrist burned. She fell to one knee, the energy pulsing like molten fire through her veins. She felt her father’s power threading into her mind, turning her thoughts into glass. He was inside her now—every breath, every heartbeat, every flicker of emotion.

“Rise,” he commanded.

She obeyed.

Her eyes glowed white again as she moved to his side, an unwilling marionette caught in her creator’s strings. She could feel everything—every heartbeat of the wolves outside, the shift of the wind, the hum of life in the forest—and yet, she felt nothing.

Until—

A tremor rippled through the bond.

Kaidan.

His presence cut through the fog like a blade, faint but fierce. She could sense him, alive, his energy flickering like a heartbeat in the distance. Her father noticed the hesitation immediately. His hand clamped around her chin, forcing her gaze up to his.

“You feel him, don’t you?” he hissed. “The weakness that blinds you.”

Nova’s lips trembled, her voice barely a whisper. “He’s not weakness.”

Her father’s grip tightened, drawing blood. “He betrayed me. He betrayed you.”

“No,” she breathed, her body shaking as two forces warred within her—duty and love, command and freedom. “He saved me.”

Her father’s expression hardened. “Then you’ll watch him die.”

He raised his hand, and the mark on her wrist flared once more. Through their bond, Nova saw a flash of Kaidan—still chained, fighting to breathe as the fortress began to shake around him. Her scream tore from her throat, raw and inhuman, the power inside her shattering its restraint.

Light burst outward, fracturing the walls and ripping through the magic that bound her. Her father staggered back, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“You can’t control me,” Nova snarled, her voice layered with something more—something ancient. The white in her eyes bled into gold, fierce and alive. “Not anymore.”

The bond snapped like glass under pressure.

Her father reeled, clutching his chest as the magic recoiled. “Impossible,” he whispered.

Nova’s power surged, untamed and wild, cracking the ground beneath them. “You made me this,” she said, her voice trembling with fury. “Now you’ll face what you created.”

And before he could respond, the world around them exploded in a blinding storm of light and sound.