The scent of smoke thickened, drifting through the trees like a warning. Lilith’s muscles tensed, her claws still half-extended from training. Her heart thundered—not with fear, but with the instinct to run, fight, kill.
Nathan held up a hand, silencing her. His eyes burned crimson in the fading light as he crouched low, nostrils flaring.
“Three of them,” he whispered. “Downwind. Moving fast.”
Lilith strained her senses. At first, all she caught was the acrid smoke curling in the air. But then… faint footsteps crunching through leaves. The metallic tang of silver. And—her stomach twisted—the sharp, oily scent of wolfsbane.
She barely had time to react before they appeared.
Three figures emerged from the trees, dressed in dark tactical gear, faces masked by scarves. Their eyes were cold. Professional. And they carried weapons that screamed not your average hunting trip — silver-tipped crossbows, blades etched with symbols, and small canisters that hissed faintly with vaporized wolfsbane.
The tallest hunter, a woman with stark silver hair braided down her back, raised her crossbow but didn’t fire. Her eyes locked onto Lilith—calculating, curious.
“New face,” the woman drawled, her voice smooth, dangerous. “Fresh blood.” Her gaze flicked to Nathan. “And still hiding strays in your territory, Alpha?”
Nathan’s jaw tightened. His body shifted slightly, protective, placing himself between Lilith and the hunters. “She’s not your concern.”
The woman’s lips curled. “Everything abnormal in my jurisdiction is my concern.” She took a step forward, leveling her crossbow. “Especially when it smells like a Wendigo.”
Lilith’s breath hitched.
The other hunters tensed, weapons ready. The air pulsed with threat. But the silver-haired woman kept her gaze fixed on Lilith, tilting her head, studying her like a specimen.
“You’re barely turned,” she said softly, almost… intrigued. “Still fighting it, I bet. Must be exhausting.”
Lilith’s pulse roared in her ears. Her markings burned under her skin. The hunger gnawed at her ribs, spurred by fear, by the scent of human flesh standing so close—
“Don’t listen to her,” Nathan snapped under his breath, eyes never leaving the hunters. “They want you to lose control.”
The woman smiled faintly. “Why would I want that?” She cocked her head. “Oh, right. Because if you lose control…” Her gaze glittered. “We get to kill you legally.”
Nathan’s growl was low and feral.
The woman’s eyes darkened. “We’re not here for a fight. Not tonight.” Her gaze slid back to Lilith. “But this is your only warning, half-breed. Stay hidden. Stay quiet. Because if I catch you hunting—or slipping…” Her smile sharpened, predatory. “I’ll burn what’s left of you myself.”
With that, she signaled her team. They melted back into the shadows, disappearing into the trees as silently as they’d come.
Lilith stood frozen, the pounding of her heart finally slowing as the forest swallowed the hunters’ presence.
For a long moment, neither she nor Nathan spoke.
Finally, Nathan exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “That,” he muttered, “was Selene. Pack-sanctioned hunter. She doesn’t miss… and she doesn’t bluff.”
Lilith’s throat was dry. “She knew. About me.”
“She’ll know more soon,” Nathan replied grimly. “They’ll be watching us.”
Lilith turned toward him, her mind racing. “What do we do?”
Nathan’s crimson eyes gleamed in the fading twilight. “We make you stronger. Fast.”
He stepped closer, voice dropping low. “Because next time? There won’t be warnings.”
The next few nights were brutal.
Nathan didn’t ease her into it. There were no friendly lessons or gentle encouragements. He pushed her to the brink—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
They trained deep in the forest, away from human eyes and the sharp scent of hunters. Nathan taught her how to track, how to use her heightened senses, how to fight with claws and fangs—not just as a wolf, but something… more.
But the hardest part wasn’t the fighting. It was the hunger.
It crept in when her adrenaline spiked, when she pushed herself past exhaustion. When the full moon loomed heavy in the sky, her veins burned with unnatural strength.
Nathan watched it happen—calm, patient—but with eyes that gleamed with the understanding of someone who had fought that same war.
“You’re holding back,” he said one night, as she staggered to her knees, breath ragged, skin slick with sweat. “You can’t keep fighting it.”
Lilith clenched her fists, her claws slicing small crescent moons into her palms. “I have to fight it. If I don’t—”
“You’ll lose control?” Nathan finished, crouching beside her. His crimson eyes were steady, unreadable. “You’re already losing control, Lilith. You just don’t know it.”
Her throat tightened. The markings along her back and arms pulsed faintly beneath her skin. Her vision blurred, edges darkening. That gnawing, monstrous hunger whispered at the edges of her mind, urging her to give in.
“What happens,” she whispered, “if I can’t pull back?”
Nathan’s lips curved—not a smile, not exactly. More like… understanding. Resignation.
“Then you shift.”
The word hung heavy between them.
“Shift?” Lilith’s voice was hoarse.
“Not into a wolf.” Nathan’s eyes glowed brighter, his markings faintly shimmering in the moonlight. “Into what we are.”
He straightened, backing a few steps away. His expression hardened. “I’ve kept you human enough. Tonight, you either lose control—or you learn to own it.”
Before Lilith could argue, he moved—fast as a shadow, barreling toward her.
Instinct exploded in her chest. Her body shifted without conscious thought—bones cracking, muscles stretching. Her wolf form should’ve taken over, but—
Pain lanced through her spine. Her vision distorted.
Not just fur—but jagged, frostbitten patterns rippled along her limbs. Her claws lengthened unnaturally, gnarled like bone. Her teeth—longer, sharper. Her face stayed mostly human, but her eyes glowed—not emerald, not wolfish—unnatural, Wendigo white, like twin moons glowing in the dark.
She stumbled, hands braced against the ground, panting. Nathan slowed, watching her. His crimson gaze darkened with quiet awe.
“There it is,” he murmured. “Your new form.”
Lilith’s head swam. Her heart hammered against her ribs. The hunger was deafening now—a constant roar, pressing against her skull, urging her to tear, to devour, to feed—
She could smell Nathan’s blood beneath his skin. Hear the steady thrum of his pulse.
Her claws twitched. “Breathe,” Nathan commanded, stepping closer. “Control it.”
Lilith squeezed her eyes shut. She pictured the books, the warnings—the twisted legends of Wendigos hunting in the snow, devouring the innocent. She was becoming one of them.
No.
Not a monster. Not like them. Her pulse slowed. The hunger receded—not gone, but caged, for now.
When she opened her eyes, the glow faded slightly. Her limbs ached, her skin buzzed, but… she was still her.
Nathan’s mouth curved into something dangerously close to pride.
“Good girl,” he whispered. Lilith straightened, still trembling, but standing taller than before. “I did it.”
“For tonight,” Nathan said. His eyes flicked toward the distant woods, his voice dropping to a warning growl. “But the hunters? The others? They’ll come for you… for us… and next time, you won’t have the luxury of practice.” Lilith’s claws curled, but her fear was fading. Replaced by fire. “Then we’d better be ready.”
It had been a week since Lilith’s world shattered and rebuilt itself.
A week of brutal training, sleepless nights, and learning to control the darkness coiled inside her. Her body had changed — leaner, stronger, like the hunger in her blood had burned away every trace of weakness.
Her eyes glowed faintly now, no matter how much she tried to hide it. Her once mousy brown hair had deepened to a rich, silky near-black with silver streaks threading through it like moonlight. Her skin? Clear, radiant, kissed with an unnatural, ethereal glow.
But it wasn’t just the physical. She carried herself differently now — shoulders back, gaze steady, like she finally knew exactly what she was. And for the first time… she wasn’t afraid.
The whispers started the second she walked through the school gates.
“Is that… Lilith?”
“Holy sh*t, she looks—”
“No way… that’s not her, is it?”
The pack kids stared openly. The humans sensed something different but couldn’t explain it — just an instinctive unease mixed with fascination.
Lilith ignored them all.
Until he showed up.
Oscar.
Her ex-mate.
The one who had humiliated her, ignored her, made her feel like a burden before the Awakening. His stormy gray eyes locked onto her, confusion flashing across his face. His jaw clenched as his gaze roamed over her — the confidence, the glow, the quiet, predatory strength practically radiating off her now.
She saw the moment his wolf recognized her — too late.
“Lilith,” he called, pushing through the crowd.
She stopped at her locker, arching a brow as he approached. His friends hung back, watching the scene like vultures, some wide-eyed, others smirking.
Oscar stopped a few feet from her, frustration and something else—regret—twisting his features.“Look, I…” He cleared his throat, squaring his shoulders in that cocky Alpha-in-training posture. “I think it’s time we made things official.”Lilith blinked, unimpressed. “Official?”
“Yeah,” Oscar continued, obviously trying to regain control of the conversation. “I reject you as my mate."
The crowd held its breath.
Old Lilith would’ve crumbled. Would’ve cried. Would’ve begged.
But not this Lilith.
She tilted her head, a slow, knowing smile spreading across her lips. The faintest glow danced in her emerald eyes, flecks of amber and Wendigo-white shining through.
“Oh, Oscar ,” she said sweetly, stepping in close enough for only him to hear. “You think I care?”
His eyes widened.
Lilith straightened, her voice calm, dangerous, unchained.
“You don’t reject me,” she whispered. “You never deserved me.”
She brushed past him, the crowd parting as she walked, leaving him standing there—rejection half-spoken, ego shattered, and everyone watching him fall apart.
Behind her, a familiar presence lingered at the edge of the school grounds — crimson eyes glinting from the shadows.
Nathan.
His low, amused voice drifted through the faint mind-link they’d been practicing.
“Told you they’d regret it.” Lilith smiled to herself, her claws tingling just beneath her skin.
For once, she agreed.
