Serena’s POV
I was sitting on the end of my bed with my fingers shaking, running over the odd, shimmering mark that was now visible on my shoulder. It was not a bruise or a scar, but it was delicate. My heart pounded in my chest, an exhilarating combination of awe and dread. This wasn’t normal. Not for an Omega without a wolf like myself.
I'd had little sleep since Derrick and I had returned from the border, with that eerie message from Alpha Rhys carved in the tree. And now this mark. It seemed like a warning, a brand, a claim from something that was much larger than myself. What does this sign tell us?
I threw on a long-sleeved shirt overtop to cover it, and made my way out of my room where the packhouse was silent in the pre-dawn hours. The air was heavy and oppressive, as if even the walls were holding their breath. I wanted answers, and there was nobody I trusted to give them but one—Elder Mara, the pack’s healer, whose half-mad wisdom had steered me through the darkest days.
Th
