Chapter 2

Trees, moonlight, and air they all seem to be alive,a bright light was reflecting from the window directly to her face. Ayla shifted slightly in her sleep then stabled herself.

A whisper ran through her mind faintly to understand and it was gone before she could get a grasp of it.

She woke up tired more than usual like she had been working overnight. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. Something felt off, not wrong just… different. She looked at her hands then turned them slightly but it was the same as always.

She let out a breath. “Yeah,” she muttered. “Just a dream.”

But she didn’t notice the black cloak by her bed side and her muddy boots.

Outside, the camp was already waking up again.

Another day, same routine, expectations and that same quiet disappointment.

Ayla stood up, stretching slightly. As she stepped outside. A group of Enforcers were already training. They looked Serious and Focused.

They all already had a promising future, they could go to war and they could run with the pack. One of them glanced at her just for a second and then looked away. That was enough. 

Ayla smirked slightly. “Yeah,” she said under her breath. “I know.” .

But as she walked toward the training grounds again there was something that she couldn't ignore anymore which was that feeling deep inside her, so faint and unclear but there. Something inside her had started to shift , but it didn’t feel like the stories she’d heard about first transformations. It was stranger than that quieter, colder, harder to name and it felt like they were was fire rising from within her,she could feel it but she couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from.

The sun had gone hotter, showing the training grounds in harsh light. Ayla wiped away the sweat from her brow and flexed her fingers around the handle of her practice blade. The morning drills had been relentless, her body pushed past what she thought it could endure but her mind had remained sharp. She scanned the field, noting the movements of the other wolves. Kael, the Beta’s son–the enforcer she had noticed earlier, was watching her now with something close to amusement or maybe curiosity. His golden eyes followed every calculated move she made, and she felt a little irritated.

The instructor clapped his hands. “Everyone, line up!” His voice carried authority, making every wolf come to total alert "Special session. One-on-one combat. Choose your partners.”

A murmur went through the field. One-on-one sparring wasn't just a test of skill; it was a test of instinct, strategy, and control.Wolves born with strength had an advantage, but a clever mind could outmaneuver raw power, a quote by  their great legendary Alpha Dane. A very well respected Alpha.

Ayla’s heart quickened when she saw Kael glance at her and nodded slightly. He was picking her. She squared her shoulders. “Bring it on,” she muttered under her breath, more to herself than to him .

The other wolves moved aside, clearing a rough circle in the dirt . The instructor nodded, approving. “Begin.”

Kael lunged immediately, extended his claws, moving quite faster than she expected. She went low and slid her feet against the earth to avoid direct contact with him, then moved her blade in a defensive position. His strikes were powerful, controlled, precise but a little predictable.Ayla did not have wolf strength like him, so she relied entirely on timing.

He attacked her again, this time more deliberately, but she countered it by using his own speed against him. Kael stumbled almost hitting the ground but somehow he regained balance. She struck forward with a measured jab aimed at attesting his reflexes but he was able to dodge it.

“Not bad,” Kael said, smirking as he regained balance. “You fight like a human,” Kael said.  

Ayla steadied her grip. “Maybe. But humans learn fast, and they don’t charge in just because instinct tells them to.”

He laughed, a brief sound that carried across the training ground.“ Well we’ll see about that.”

The fight continued, a fight with speed and strategy being an important part of it. Kael moved furiously, while Ayla tried to move with calculated precision. Sweat ran down her face and her muscles ached, but she didn’t give up.She began to read the movement of his attacks,the little patterns that wolves unconsciously used while fighting.

By the time the instructor called the session to an end, Ayla was breathing really hard, her hands were filled with sweat, and somehow she just managed something no ordinary girl without a wolf had ever done before which was she just held her ground against him  and even forced him to retreat briefly. Even though she was obviously overpowered and maybe beaten by him she still gave him a hard time.

“Enough!” the instructor barked, stepping forward. “Both of you performed well. Kael, your focus shakes too easily. Ayla, adapt,but never forget that speed is power. You somehow survived,and that’s the first step.”

She scoffed,what does he mean by she somehow survived 

Kael brushed off the dirt from his body glancing at her again, and for a moment, his smirk softened. There was respect there,grudging and unspoken. “Not bad, human,” he said. Other wolves there laughed at the fact he called her human.

Ayla rolled her eyes, hiding the little excitement she was currently feeling. Respect from a beta was very rare.

Kael is well respected among the trainees in camp not just because of his handsome and well structured face or his dark colored perfect hair but because of the fact that he was the beta’s son and also because of his incredible wolf skills, strengths, strategy and wits that surpassed many trainee and his leadership attribute. The fact that he just had that clash Ayla has given her a little ounce of respect among her peers despite her not wolfing crisis but she knew that he picked her so he could bully her,he had thought it would have been easy to win her.

Ayla dusted herself off and went to stand aside to watch other people take their turns in sparring.

When the training was over,Ayla went to find her siblings so they would go back home together as she walked she passed by the corner she had taken to leave the pack lands yesterday something was calling to her there,despite seeing the witches in the woods she had not been scared,she was just curious as she walked towards the woods but  she remembered the warning of the grey eyed man and she hurriedly walked past the place.

Ayla picked at her food and watched her brother eating enthusiastically like that was the last meal he would ever eat again in his life.

“We are going to go lunar sanctum soon”Her father said

“Yesss,I am so excited”Elena Ayla’s younger sister said 

“The Lunar Spirits Festival is in few days and all packs are to gather in Lunar Sanctum the King Alpha wants it there”her mom clarified

Ayla knew why her parents were announcing it now,her family would have to leave for Lunar sanctum earlier than the pack because of her,the pack would run to Lunar sanctum together in their wolf form and because of her inability to change to a wolf they could not go with them except if she chose to go with the kids who had not transformed to wolves.

“I would go with the Pups”Ayla said

“Ohh really?”her mom asked with shaky voice 

“Of course,I would.”Ayla said and she stood up from the table leaving her food unfinished and nobody made an attempt to call her back.

Ayla had never felt like her family accepted her fully even before she was unable to shift,she had never truly felt like they loved her especially her Dad he always acted aloof to her,although her mom showed her that she cared sometimes,she and her siblings don’t have any bonds between them,she was the outcast.

Lunar spirit festival is a festival celebrated across the kingdom meant to honor the dead, those wolves who had fallen in battle and those whose lives had been lost to the ongoing war against the witches. The festival meant more than remembrance rather it was a day of celebration,games, and rituals. A reminder that even in hard times and war,the packs had lived, fought, and thrived together.

The following day,the news spread quickly through the camp, moving from wolf to wolf. Training would end earlier than usual today. Ayla watched as the other wolves were packing their weapons,cleaning their armor, and preparing for the Lunar Spirits festival.Some started rehearsing chants and songs for the festival while others, mostly older wolves,went to check the tracks they would take. The younglings rehearsed dances for more entertainment with Elena leading that group. The energy in the camp shifted;tension changed into excitement and camaraderie.

Ayla knew she and the other people who had not transformed would have to leave now,after looking longingly at her age group she went to join the people she would be traveling with.

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Despite Ayla’s group leaving earlier than the pack,the pack members still got there before them. She looked around in awe,she couldn’t remember when last she came to Lunar sanctum,although her mom said she was born on a blue moon and according to the lunar calendar they only appeared very scarcely they might not appear for over 100years,that was why her family had come to lunar sanctum,and she went into labor there,

The whole place was buzzing with wolves all from different packs,Lunar Sanctum was home to all wolves but they liked to stay in their own separate clans,lots of Alphas in the same place meant war too.

Alpha Dane was greeting all the other Alphas,we were all waiting for the Alpha king and his council to arrive for the ceremony to start. According to the rumors the current Alpha king is the same age as Ayla’s eldest siblings–the twins and he has been the best King since the pack came together to become Lunaria.

Ayla watched as her peers went to mingle with the other people but she dared not,they would try to talk about stuff that involves wolves and she wouldn’t be able to relate.

Suddenly,everyone came to an halt the whole hall became quiet,the Alpha king stepped inside and he sat down on the throne and she gasped,staring down at the pack was the Alpha king and his eyes were piercing grey just like the stranger from the woods.