THE POWER I HAVE

MAYA

I sat on the edge of the velvet chair in Maria’s room, my hands folded tightly in my lap while she stood near the high glass mirror, brushing her long dark hair with slow, deliberate strokes.

"We need to chain Philomena's grave," Maria said suddenly, her voice dripping with venom. She turned around to face me, her eyes flashing with a cold, ancient hatred. "I swear, Maya, that dead bitch is still fighting you from beyond the grave for marrying Edward. She fought me back then, and I know in my heart she is the sole reason why I never carried a baby to term in this house. Philomena was evil when she was breathing, and now, so many years after her death, her spirit is still evil."

Maria went on and on, saying a lot of terrible things about me... about Philomena.

"She was a selfish, miserable curse upon this entire pack," Maria continued, pacing across the polished wooden floor. "She brought nothing but tragedy to Edward's life. Please, Maya, you must come and join me to fight that dead soul. I can still feel her nasty presence lingering in every corner of this palace."

I sat in dead silence, staring blankly into the empty air while she spat out bad stuff about me. Every bad word she spoke about Philomena hit me hard in the chest, breaking my heart into sharp, painful pieces. She didn't know that the girl she was mocking was sitting right in front of her. She didn't realize that my soul had walked these halls long before her. But the continuous insult broke down my spirit, line after line.

I kept staring straight ahead, the anger slowly replacing my pain. I looked up at the heavy ceiling fan spinning steadily above Maria's head. In my mind, I wished the fan fell right onto her head to shut her mouth forever.

While I was still thinking it, those weird, familiar feelings I always get whenever I read the ancient book and make a wish suddenly returned. My skin tingled, a sharp, electric heat vibrated behind my eyes, and my head felt dizzy with a sudden, overwhelming wave of spiritual energy.

I was not reading the book right now. The tome was hidden safely under Edward's bed. But the power had stayed inside my blood, fully awakened.

Instead of the fan above, my sharp focus snapped over to the massive, heavy wooden wardrobe standing right next to Maria. Fall, I commanded silently in my mind, wishing with all my strength that something would crush her words into silence.

Instantly, a loud, groaning crack echoed through the bedroom.

Without anyone touching it, the giant wooden wardrobe tilted forward and fell violently toward Maria. She shrieked, diving sideways onto the carpet just as the heavy piece of furniture slammed onto the floor with a deafening crash, shattering its wooden panels into splinters.

Maria lay on the floor, breathing heavily, her face pale as a sheet. Bless the Goddess of the Moon, there was no physical injury on her body at all, the corner of the wardrobe had missed her skull by mere inches. But at least the shock made her stop talking bad stuff about me, about Philomena.

Telekinesis. That was what the book had made me. I could make objects move, bend, and break without touching them, simply by projecting my mind's raw intent.

I stood up slowly, looking down at Maria as she scrambled to her feet, shaking and dusting off her silk robe.

"What... what was that?!" Maria gasped, her voice trembling as she stared at the fallen wardrobe in utter horror. "How did that just tip over?!"

"It must have been an old, unstable hinge," I said quietly, keeping my voice completely flat and expressionless.

Inside, my heart was thundering. I am Philomena, and she must stop speaking ill of my past life. She needed to learn that the spirit she hated so deeply was very much alive and standing right beside her.

As Maria tried to regain her composure, she pointed a trembling finger toward the window. "Tomorrow morning, we are going to the pack's old burial ground. I am going to put heavy iron chains around Philomena's tombstone to bind her spirit once and for all."

I nodded slowly, hiding the sudden surge of excitement rising in my chest.

I loved the idea of going to the grave side. I had a strong, undeniable feeling that finding the exact place where I was buried decades ago—where my former body lay beneath the earth—would help me fully understand the dark powers I now possess. Reconnecting with my past life's resting place might be the final key to mastering this telekinesis, curing my paralyzed Alpha, and destroying Maria's hold over our lives forever.