Chapter 4: The Pack House.

The roar went quiet. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

Every Feral wolf stood still, red eyes fixed on the dark woods. Then, like a switch was flipped, they bolted. Gone, swallowed by the trees like they were nothing.

Kai shifted back, blood running from cuts all over his chest. “We gotta move. Now!”

“What was that?” Tamara's voice shook.

“No time for questions,” Marcus said, hobbling to catch up. “Just run!”

Lilith didn't move, eyes locked on the forest where the roar came from. “He's early. Way early. He wasn't due until…”

“Until when?” Tamara pressed.

Lilith shook her head. “The pack house. It's the only safe place now.”

“You're not going to our pack house,” Kai said flatly.

“Yes, I am.” Lilith's eyes were like ice. “Unless you feel like explaining to everyone why their Alpha let the Moon Blessed die on her Awakening night?”

Kai's jaw tightened so much, Tamara wondered if his teeth would crack.

“Fine. But you play by our rules.”

“Of course,” Lilith said, way too sweetly.

They ran through the woods. Kai led, still in human form but moving like a wolf. Tamara stayed close, trying not to get distracted by how his skin seemed to glow in the dark. Or how her heart did a stupid little jump every time he glanced back at her.

Marcus and the others formed a circle around them, ready for a fight. Lilith walked next to Tamara, silent as a shadow.

“How much farther?” Tamara asked.

“Soon,” Kai said.

“That's not an answer.”

“Ten minutes if we're lucky,” Marcus said. “Twenty if…”

Howls cut through the air. Not wild this time. These were together. They had a reason.

“Your border patrol,” Lilith said. “Sounds like they're not thrilled.”

Three wolves stepped out of the shadows. Compared to the wild ones, they were something else—silver fur, gold eyes, moving so smooth. But when they spotted Tamara, they stopped dead.

One of them, smaller than the others, shifted into a girl, maybe sixteen, tan skin and bright gold eyes.

“Alpha,” she said to Kai, but her eyes stayed glued on Tamara. “What is that?”

“That is a person,” Kai said, his voice cold. “And she's a guest.”

“She smells wrong,” the girl said. “Like moon and fire and... death.”

“Maya,” Marcus warned.

“No, she's right,” another wolf shifted—an older woman, black hair with streaks of gray. “This girl smells like the old stories. The ones we don't even talk about anymore.”

“Because they're just stories,” Kai said.

“Are they?” The woman took a step closer to Tamara. “Show me your light, child.”

“I don't know how…”

The woman moved fast, reaching for Tamara's face. The second her fingers touched her, silver fire burst out between them. The woman flew back, hitting the ground hard.

“Sarah!” Maya ran to her side.

“I'm so sorry!” Tamara said. “I didn't mean to…”

“No,” Sarah said, getting up. Her eyes were wide, like she was scared. Or maybe amazed. “It's true. A Moon Blessed. After all these years.”

“We need to get her inside,” Kai said. “The Feral were after her.”

“The Ferala were here?” Maya's voice went up. “This close to pack territory?”

“They smelled her power,” Lilith said, stepping forward.

Every wolf went still. Sarah's body started to change, bones cracking.

“Stand down,” Kai ordered. “She's a guest too.”

“She's supposed to be dead,” Sarah growled.

“Surprise,” Lilith said, showing too much teeth when she smiled.

“This is a mistake,” Maya said. “Both of them. The pack won't accept this.”

“The pack will accept what I tell them to accept,” Kai said, and for the first time, Tamara heard the Alpha in his voice. Power rolled off him in waves.

Maya and Sarah both looked down, but Tamara caught the look they shared.

They kept walking. Soon, they saw lights through the trees. The pack house was huge—made of wood and stone, three stories tall, like it had grown right out of the forest. Light glowed warm yellow from the windows.

“It's beautiful,” Tamara said without thinking.

“Your mom designed it,” Kai said quietly. “Twenty years ago. Said wolves needed a real home, not just caves and cabins.”

“My mom built your pack house?”

“Your mom built half this place,” Marcus said. “Protected it with her magic. Made it safe.”

“Then why did she leave?”

No one said anything.

The front door opened before they got to it. An older man stood there, old but not weak, with silver hair and eyes like ice.

“Elder Roman,” Kai said, sounding respectful.

Roman didn't look at him. His eyes were locked on Tamara. “So. Elena's daughter finally makes her way home.”

“This isn't my home,” Tamara said.

“No?” Roman stepped aside to let them in. “Then how come your light knows it?”

Tamara looked down. She was glowing again, a soft silver light that beat with her heart. But this time it felt... warm. Like a welcome.

Inside, the pack house was even more amazing. High ceilings with exposed wooden beams. A fireplace you could stand in. And wolves. Way too many wolves. Some were human, some were wolves, all staring at her.

“Everyone,” Kai said, his voice carrying through the room. “This is Tamara Gray. She's under my protection.”

“The Moon Blessed,” someone whispered.

“The curse,” someone else said.

“She's just a girl,” a woman said, stepping forward. She looked like someone's grandma, soft and round with kind eyes. “A scared girl who needs our help.”

“Thanks,” Tamara said.

The woman smiled. “I'm Rosa. I'll show you to a room where you can get some rest.”

“She needs to be tested first,” Roman said.

“Tested?” Kai stepped between Roman and Tamara. “She's not a threat.”

“That's not up to you,” Roman said. “The old rules are clear. Any Moon Blessed who comes on pack land has to prove who they are. Light or dark.”

“Those rules are ancient,” Marcus said.

“And yet they still stand.” Roman looked at Tamara. “Will you take the test, child?”

“What kind of test?”

Roman pulled something out of his pocket. A stone, black as night but glowing somehow. “Touch this. Your light will show us what you are.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then you leave. Right now. And never to return.”

Tamara looked at Kai. His face was tight with worry.

“It's okay,” she lied. “I'll do it.”

She reached for the stone. The second her fingers touched it, pain shot through her. Not normal pain—like she was being ripped apart. Her light exploded, filling the whole room.

But it wasn't just silver anymore. There were lines of gold in it. And black. And something else, something that made everyone gasp.

“Impossible,” Roman whispered.

Shapes started to show in her light. Wolves. Hundreds of them. But other things too. Dragons. Phoenixes. Things she didn't know the names of.

And in the middle of it, a woman who looked just like Tamara, but older. Sadder.

“Mom?” Tamara whispered.

The vision spoke, but not to her. To Roman.

“I told you this day would come, old friend. Protect her. The Awakening depends on it.

Then everything went black.

The last thing Tamara heard was Kai screaming her name.

The last thing she felt was falling.

And the last thing she saw was her father's face in the dark, made of stars and shadows, reaching for her.