CONFUSED

The forest was burning.

I stood there, barefoot on the cold earth, the scent of blood and smoke choking the air around me. Shadows danced across the trees, twisting into faces I almost recognized—until they vanished. I tried to move, to run, but my legs felt heavy, rooted like I was part of the forest.

That’s when I saw her.

Andrea.

Her golden hair was tangled, wild, her eyes once warm now glowing red like an ember refusing to die. She stood with her arms outstretched, mouth open in a scream I couldn’t hear. And behind her—

“No,” I whispered.

Rowan.

He stepped from the shadows slowly, his sword glinting with silver in the firelight. Pain flashed across his face. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Andrea didn’t flinch. She smiled.

Then Rowan struck.

A scream tore through my throat before I could stop it, and the dream shattered—

I woke up.

Gasping. Sweating. My heart pounding so hard it felt like it would break through my ribs.

The mark on my neck was burning—glowing. I clawed at it, trying to make the fire stop. A pair of strong hands caught mine.

“Breathe, Maya,” Rowan’s voice. Soft. Familiar.

Then another voice, colder. Steadier. “You’re safe.”

Kael.

They were both beside my bed, looking at me like I was something broken. Like I was a ticking bomb.

I yanked my hands away and pushed myself up, even though the pain made me wince. “Don’t touch me,” I snapped.

“You were dreaming,” Rowan said quietly.

“Dreaming?” I glared at them. “I saw her. Andrea. I saw you kill her.” My eyes met Rowan’s. “And you… you let it happen.”

Silence.

The mark still pulsed with heat. I turned to Kael. “You marked me again.” My voice cracked. “Why?”

Kael folded his arms, jaw tight. “They were going to kill you.”

“And that gives you the right to do it again?” I rose to my feet, trembling with fury and pain. “You didn’t ask. You never ask. You just—take.”

“If I hadn’t,” Kael said, his voice rising, “they would’ve killed all of us. I had no choice.”

“Bullshit,” I hissed.

Rowan stepped back as the tension between us thickened. “Maybe I should give you two a moment—”

“No,” I cut him off, facing Kael again. “You always have a choice. You just didn’t want me to die, right? Because I might be her?”

Kael’s eyes darkened. “Don’t.”

“Why not? Scared of the truth?” I stepped closer. “You marked me again, but you can’t even tell me what I am to you.”

He grabbed my wrist and pinned me against the wall, too fast for me to react. His face inches from mine, breath heavy. “I don’t want you here,” he growled. “I hate how you make me feel. I hate that every time I look at you, I see her.”

I stared into his eyes, shocked. My chest rose and fell. “Then why do it? Why save me?”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “Because I can’t lose you. Not again.”

For a second, I thought he’d kiss me.

His lips hovered so close, I could feel the heat between us.

Then I pushed him away.

“Don’t,” I said.

Kael turned his back, fists clenched. “You can’t leave,” he muttered. “You’re in Silver Claw now. It’s bound by magic. Dark magic can’t cross the border, unless it's invited. You’re safest here.”

I scoffed. “You think I care? I’m not your prisoner.”

“You are,” he snapped, “until we figure out what’s happening to you. Until we know if the curse is back.”

Rowan returned quietly, arms folded. “Let her breathe, Kael.”

I stared at both of them. “What’s the cure for this curse? Do you even know?”

Kael looked at me— then looked at rowan. They both exchange a very weird look on their face.

“ you know don't you?” I asked. “Then don't you think I deserve to know as well?”

“ It's not something you can do” Rowan replies.

“Fine then, you both suit yourself”.

I walked to the corner of the room, curling up on a small couch near the window. The sun was setting. The sky painted in oranges and purples. I rested my chin on my knees, trying not to cry.

I thought about Marta. My only friend. The herbs. The peace I had before this entire nightmare started.

One week. That’s all it had taken to ruin my life.

And now… I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

I stared out the window, eyes tracing the trees in the distance. There were guards down below, walking the perimeter in pairs. Silver Claw. A place bound by magic, Kael said. A fortress to keep monsters out—or maybe to keep me in.

I heard the door close behind me softly. They’d left me alone.

Good.

I needed it.

I wandered through the room—if you could even call it that. It was a luxurious suite, probably one of the private quarters meant for high-ranking wolves. It had a bed so soft I sank into it like cloud, a plush sitting area, shelves stacked with books, and even a small kitchen that still smelled faintly of cinnamon and something warm and honeyed.

Too much comfort for someone marked like me.

I walked to the mirror and stared at myself. Pale skin. Dark circles under my eyes. And the mark, the awful glowing thing on the side of my neck. Still faintly pulsing like it had a heartbeat of its own. Like it was alive.

I reached up and brushed my fingers over it.

It burned.

“You’ll bring destruction wherever you go.”

That voice again. I heard it in the dream, too.

I backed away from the mirror.

I wasn’t going crazy.

No. This… this curse, this power, this thing inside me—it was waking up.

I could feel it.

“They think you’re her. They don’t know you’re worse.”

I squeezed my hands into fists. “Shut up,” I whispered.

I thought about Andrea. The way Rowan looked at her in the dream. The way he still looked at me, like he was searching for her ghost in my eyes. And Kael… he didn’t even bother hiding it.

They weren’t protecting me. They were protecting her memory. Trying to stop history from repeating itself.

But what if they were wrong?

What if I wasn’t Andrea reborn? What if I was something else entirely? Or what if I'm just a mere slave and I'm just hallucinating things now that they've told me all about this? What if this is all just a misunderstanding?

My head throbbed. My stomach churned. I sat down at the small table and pressed my forehead to the cold wood.

Marta.

I hadn’t thought about her in hours.

I whispered her name like a prayer.

She was probably still out there, gathering herbs, maybe wondering why I never came back. Or maybe she’d been caught. Maybe she was—

No. I wouldn’t let myself think like that.

Rowan said we’d look for her when this was over. If I was still alive.

If he didn’t end up killing me, too.

I curled into the couch again, eyes heavy, limbs aching. The mark had stopped glowing, but it still throbbed faintly. Like it was warning me.

I closed my eyes.

And then—I heard it.

A tap.

Very soft.

I froze.

It came again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The window.

Slowly, I turned.

The light outside had almost vanished. Shadows gathered at the edge of the trees.

Tap.

I stood and walked toward the glass, my breath catching in my throat.

At first, I didn’t see anyone.

Then—

A figure.

Right outside the window.

Dressed in a dark hood, their face hidden. They leaned forward, gloved fingers brushing the glass.

And then I heard it.

A voice.

Raspy. Whispered.

“Maya...”

I stumbled back.

My heart pounded. “Who are you?” I said.

They tilted their head. Slowly. Inhumanly slow.

“They’ll never save you,” the voice said. “Not from me. I may not be able to get in to where you are. But I'm always watching over you”

And then like ash blown by the wind, they fade away.

The mark on my neck blazed to life again.

I screamed.

The door burst open.

Kael was there first, followed by Rowan.

“What happened?” Kael barked.

I pointed to the window, shaking. “There was—someone—he—he said—”

Kael rushed to the window, throwing it open. Rowan was already halfway down the hall, shouting orders.

But the figure was gone.

Gone like smoke in the wind.

Kael turned to me, his face pale, his eyes filled with something I hadn’t seen in him before.

Fear.

“Did he say anything?” he asked, voice low.

I nodded. “He knew me. He said… he said you wouldn’t save me.”

Kael looked at the trees, then back at me. “We’re out of time.”

I gripped the edge of the table. “What does that mean?”

He looked at me. Truly looked at me.

Then said the one thing that made my blood run cold.

“It means the curse has found you.”

—