CHAPTER 3

It's over as quickly as it came on.

The silver glow goes away so quickly that it seems like it was never there. I feel dizzy and my hands shake. "What was that?" I say in a low voice.

Kael keeps putting his arms around my shoulders. It doesn't hurt, but his grip gets stronger because it grounds him. His words are very careful: "That's exactly what we were afraid of."

Thorne takes a deep breath. "The moon has already touched it.""That was... quick.

He says, "Too fast."

I look at every face one by one. All of them look scared. All of them look tense.

I say, "You're talking about me like I'm not here."

Draven finally looks me in the eye. "Because once you know what you are, you won't feel safe anymore."

It hurt like rocks when I heard those words: "Try me."

Kael gives it some thought and then gives one nod. "You are on land that is watched over by Alpha dogs. "And I just moved in," I say. We own the house, the forest, and the mountain. "How lucky I am."

What Thorne says is, "This area reacts to blood." "Wolf blood." Blood from the past.

It hurts to eat. "You said I wasn't a person."

Kael takes a deep breath in and out. "Not completely."

The room is getting cooler.

"My father was obsessed with bloodlines," Draven says in a soft voice. Besides records and stories, he also got visions. "Prophecies?" I say it again.

The wall is pushed away by Thorne. "One is about a girl who was born when the moon was quiet. A girl who makes the land wake up.

I take a sip. "That's... that's just a story."

"The house spoke back," Kael says. "The ground lit up beneath your feet."

Soft creaks in the walls make it sound like the house can hear him.

I put my arms around myself. "So what now?"

There is quiet.

Then there was a big crack.

From the inside, the window blows up.

There is a crash of glass all over the room as something dark and fast hits us. Thorne charges forward, and Kael moves quickly to push me behind him.

Things get straight.

A wolf.

Not like the last ones I saw. It has darker hair that looks almost black, and its eyes are bright red from hunger. It sticks out its tongue and shows its teeth.

"Scout," Draven growls.

After its bones break and its fur falls off, the wolf changes shape and a man stands in its place. Big. With wounds. He looks like he already won because of the smile on his face.

It's just a casual "You're late," from him. "The Alpha wants to talk."

Kael's voice gets very scary. "You went over our border."

The man looks past him.

I agree.

A guy says in a low voice, "And you look just like he said." "The Moonbound is really awake."

My heart beats fast.

"Tell Darius that he can't talk to her," Kael says.

He smiles even more. Alpha, oh no. He didn't ask.

We can feel the ground moving.

And outside, a lot of red eyes shine through the darkness.---