Chapter Three

“You must be crazy!” The words tumbled out between gasps. “You’ve got the wrong person. I can’t be a werewolf. Werewolves aren’t real. You’re insane. I’m insane. This is all—”

“Elara.” Thorne’s voice cut through my rambling. “Listen to me—”

White-hot pain lanced through my spine and I screamed, the sound ripping from somewhere primal. My skin felt like it was splitting, bones grinding and reforming beneath flesh that couldn’t contain them.

“Make it fucking stop!!” I clawed at his arms, at my jacket, at anything. “Please, I need—it’s too hot, I can’t breathe, I need to get this off—”

I immediately yanked at my blood-soaked jacket, fingers fumbling with the zipper.

“Easy.” Thorne knelt beside me, hands hovering like he wanted to help but didn’t dare touch. “You’re having your first shift. Your body is transforming.”

“Transforming into what?” Another wave hit and I doubled over, pressing my forehead into the cool grass. “Make it stop. Please make it stop.”

“I can’t.” There was something raw in his voice, regret or maybe sympathy but it was as useless as him, “But I can help you through it. Focus on my voice, Elara. Don’t fight what’s happening, just let the transformation come.”

“I can’t—”

“You can.” His hand found my shoulder, “Your wolf wants out. She’s been caged for nineteen years. The more you fightbit, the more painful it becomes so I need you to take a breath, accept it and let her free. You can do this.”

I screamed again, as the sound of my bones craking filled my head mixed with the excrucitaion pain.

“Breath, Elara.”

The pain was too much, but I tried to listen to him. So with every remaining strength in me, I took a deep breath, and another one, following Thorne’s calm instructions.

Suddenly the pain wasn;’t much anymore but it was still there, and when it hit me again, I couldn;t stop the scream that tore out of my lips.

My hands pressed into the dirt—no, not hands anymore. Paws. White fur sprouted along my arms, spreading like wildfire.

“That’s it,” Thorne murmured. “Don’t resist.”

I wanted to resist. Wanted to claw my way back to humanity, to normalcy, to a world where I was just Elara Voss, disappointing orphan and accidental murderer. 

But the moon pulled at me with silver hooks buried in my soul, and it felt like every nerve in me was answering.

The pain crescendoed into something beyond description, beyond endurance—

Then it stopped.

I stood on four legs, panting. The world had transformed into something sharper, clearer. I could smell everything—the grass, the earth, Thorne’s scent like pine and smoke and something wild that made my new wolf instincts perk up with interest. I could hear his heartbeat, steady and strong. Could taste the night air on my tongue.

“Beautiful.”

The word was barely a whisper, but I heard it perfectly. I turned my head to look at him.

Thorne stared at me with an intensity that should’ve made me uncomfortable. His ice-blue eyes had gone full amber, glowing in the darkness. He didn’t move, didn’t speak again, just watched me like I was something precious. Something rare.

I wanted to ask what happened, what I looked like, what any of this meant. But my mouth wouldn’t form words. Only a soft whine emerged.

“Your wolf is white,” he said quietly. “With green eyes. I’ve never seen anything like you.”

Pride swelled in my chest. Not mine—hers. The wolf who’d been trapped inside me all these years, finally free.

Then exhaustion hit like a freight train.

My legs buckled, and the world tilted. When I blinked, I was human again—naked, shivering, collapsed in the grass. Thorne’s jacket landed on my shoulders before I could process the transition.

“Here.” He turned away, giving me privacy I hadn’t asked for. “The first shift takes everything out of you.”

I pulled the jacket tight, grateful for the warmth and coverage. My hands shook as I tried to button it. 

“I’m a werewolf.” The words sounded ridiculous. “I’m actually a werewolf.”

This had to be a dream because…werewolves weren;t supposed to be real.

“You are.” Thorne still faced away, shoulders tense. “And you’re safe now. I’ll take you somewhere you can rest, somewhere you can learn—”

“Wait.” I stood on unsteady legs, clutching his jacket around me. “Look at me. Please.”

He turned slowly, reluctantly. Those amber eyes found mine and something electric passed between us. The same pull I’d felt all night—in the cell, when he’d carried me, watching me transform—suddenly magnified a thousand times.

I crossed the distance between us without thinking. My hands found his chest, feeling the rapid thunder of his heart beneath my palms.

“Elara.” My name was a warning. “You don’t understand what’s happening—”

I kissed him.

Desperate. Hungry, for something I couldn’t name.

His lips were warm and demanding, and when he kissed back I moaned against his lips, pulling him closer…needing him closer.

Suddenly there was a new fire burning inside me but this one was different, wilder and unlike the other one that felt like it was destroying me this one felt like my body was being ignited from the inside out with a nourishing flame.

His hands tangled in my hair, pulling me closer.

A growl rumbled through his chest.

“Mate.” The word vibrated against my mouth, possessive and raw. “Mine.”

I didn’t know what it meant. I didn't care. I only knew that every nerve ending sang where our bodies pressed together, that my body was pulsing with the need of him.

I want…I want…

Then everything exploded.

Power surged between us—golden and electric and overwhelming. It wrapped around my spine, my heart, branded itself into every cell. I gasped against his mouth as the sensation threatened to consume me entirely.

Thorne jerked back like I’d burned him. “Fuck.”

The word came out strangled, harsh. He stumbled away, hands fisted at his sides, entire body trembling. His eyes blazed full wolf, fangs descended past his lips.

“What—” I reached for him. “What was that?”