First Blood

Chapter 9: First Blood

Liora POV

The pain hit me like lightning striking every bone in my body at once.

I screamed, collapsing to my knees on the cold stone floor. My bones felt like they were trying to break apart and rebuild themselves all at the same time. Fire raced through my veins, and my skin felt like it was being stretched and torn.

SHIFT. CHANGE. BECOME WHAT YOU ARE.

My wolf's voice roared in my head, demanding transformation. But my body wasn't listening. Something was wrong. Something was fighting against the change.

"Help her!" Rowan's voice sounded far away, like he was shouting through water.

I tried to answer, but another wave of agony crashed over me. My spine felt like it was snapping, my jaw like it was dislocating. I could taste blood in my mouth, could smell my own terror in the air.

WHY WON'T YOU CHANGE? my wolf howled inside my mind. WHY ARE WE BROKEN?

"I don't know," I gasped, clutching at my chest. "I don't know what's wrong."

Strong hands lifted me from the floor. Through my blurred vision, I could see Damon's scarred face, his golden eyes wide with panic. "Get Mira," he shouted to someone. "Get the healer now!"

The world tilted as he carried me, my body still convulsing with failed transformation. Every muscle felt torn, every bone felt cracked. Whatever was supposed to happen during a first shift, this wasn't it.

I must have passed out, because the next thing I knew, I was lying on a soft bed with cool hands pressing against my forehead. Mira's kind face swam into focus above me.

"There you are, dear," she said gently, but I could see worry lines around her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been trampled by a herd of horses," I croaked. My throat felt raw, probably from all the screaming.

"What happened to her?" Rowan's voice was tight with controlled panic. He was standing at the foot of the bed, his knuckles white where he gripped the wooden frame.

Mira shook her head slowly. "I've never seen anything like this. Her wolf is there - I can sense it clearly now. But something is preventing the shift from completing."

"The herbs," Damon said quietly from the corner. "Years of suppression."

"More than that," Mira replied, her expression grim. "The wolf spirit itself has been damaged. Twenty years of poisoning... it's a miracle she has any wolf left at all."

"Can you fix it?" Riven asked. He was pacing by the window, his hands clenched into fists.

"I don't know," Mira admitted. "This kind of damage... it might be permanent."

The word 'permanent' hit me like a physical blow. I would never shift. Never run through the forest on four legs, never feel the joy of the hunt, never be whole.

"There has to be something," Rowan said desperately.

"Maybe," Mira said carefully. "But it would be dangerous. Very dangerous. And there's no guarantee it would work."

"What is it?" I asked, though I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.

"Forced transformation," she said. "Using magic to break through the barriers. But the shock could kill you, Liora. Your body might not survive it."

I closed my eyes, feeling hopeless. Broken. Exactly what everyone had always said I was.

"We'll find another way," Rowan said firmly.

"Will we?" Riven stopped pacing and turned to face us. "Maybe this is a sign. Maybe she wasn't meant to be Luna."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Through the mate bond, I felt Rowan's fury spike.

"What did you say?" Rowan's voice was deadly quiet.

"You heard me," Riven shot back. "She can't shift, she's weak, the pack already hates her. Maybe Valeria was right. Maybe we made a mistake."

"Riven," Damon warned, but his brother ignored him.

"Look at her," Riven continued, gesturing toward me. "She's dying from trying to do something every wolf does naturally. How is she supposed to lead a pack when she can't even be a proper wolf?"

His words cut deeper than any silver blade. Through the mate bond, I could feel that part of him meant what he was saying. Part of him really did think I was a mistake.

"Get out," Rowan snarled.

"This is my room too," Riven replied.

"GET OUT!"

Riven's jaw tightened, but he stalked toward the door. He paused in the doorway, not looking back. "The pack won't accept her. And deep down, you know I'm right."

The door slammed behind him with enough force to shake the walls.

I turned my face to the pillow, trying to hide my tears. But through the mate bond, I knew they could feel my pain anyway.

"He's wrong," Damon said softly. "He's scared and angry, but he's wrong."

"Is he?" I whispered. "Maybe I really am just broken."

"You're not broken," Rowan said fiercely. "You're perfect exactly as you are."

But his words felt hollow. How could I be perfect when I couldn't even shift?

Mira gave me something for the pain, and I slept for hours. When I woke up, it was dark outside, and my body still ached like I'd been beaten with clubs. I could hear voices in the hallway - the triplets arguing about something.

I tried to go back to sleep, but my throat was parched. Carefully, I slipped out of bed and made my way to the water pitcher on the dresser. My legs shook with every step, but I managed to pour a glass without dropping it.

That's when I heard footsteps in the corridor.

I turned toward the door, expecting to see one of the triplets. Instead, Valeria stepped out of the shadows, and in her hand was a silver dagger that gleamed in the moonlight.

"Hello, little Luna," she said, her voice soft and dangerous.

My heart stopped. "What are you doing here?"

"What I should have done weeks ago," she replied, raising the dagger. "Saving my pack from the curse you've brought upon us."

I backed away, but there was nowhere to go. The bed was behind me, the wall to my left, and Valeria blocked the door.

"You can't shift," she continued, taking a step forward. "You can barely stand. You're weak, pathetic, useless. And now you're driving a wedge between the Alphas themselves."

"Please," I whispered, "I never wanted any of this."

"I know," she said, and for a moment her expression softened. "That's why I'm going to make this quick. You don't deserve to suffer. You just deserve to die."

She lunged forward with inhuman speed, the silver blade aimed at my heart.

I threw up my hands to protect myself, and the dagger bit deep into my forearm instead of my chest. The silver burned like acid, and I screamed as my blood spattered across the floor.

"Valeria!"

Riven appeared in the doorway like an avenging angel, his eyes blazing gold with fury. He moved faster than lightning, grabbing Valeria and slamming her against the wall so hard the stone cracked.

"What have you done?" he roared.

"What needed to be done," she gasped, the silver dagger falling from her grip.

Riven's claws extended, pressing against her throat. One move and he could end her life. For a moment, I thought he would. Through the mate bond, I could feel his rage, his protective instincts screaming at him to kill the threat to his mate.

But then he hesitated.

"She's right, isn't she?" he said quietly, his claws still at Valeria's throat. "About what she said. About the pack. About you being weak."

I stared at him in shock. "Riven?"

"I should kill you," he told Valeria. "But maybe... maybe the pack would be better off if I didn't."

"Riven, no," I breathed, clutching my bleeding arm.

He looked at me then, and I saw the conflict in his golden eyes. Part of him wanted to protect me. Part of him agreed with Valeria.

The hesitation lasted only seconds, but it was enough. Valeria twisted free from his grip and dove for the fallen dagger.

"If you won't do what's necessary," she snarled, "I will."

She grabbed the silver blade and slashed at me again. I tried to dodge, but I was too weak, too slow. The dagger opened a deep cut across my shoulder, then another along my ribs.

Blood poured from the wounds, soaking through my nightgown. Silver poisoning burned through my veins like fire. I collapsed to my knees, the room spinning around me.

"Stop," Riven commanded, but his voice lacked conviction.

Valeria raised the dagger for a killing blow.

That's when I heard it. A voice that wasn't my wolf's, wasn't mine, wasn't anyone's I recognized. It echoed inside my skull like it was coming from somewhere very far away and very ancient.

As Liora bleeds from Valeria's silver blade, a mysterious voice echoes in her mind: "Drink their blood, child, and become what you were meant to be."