16

SIENNA

Later that day, the rain had finally stopped, but the air still smelled of smoke and damp earth. The camp was a wreck, half-burned crates, soaked supplies, and people whispering in corners. I could feel their stares when I passed, their eyes dragging over me like I was the fire that had nearly gutted them.

Fine. Let them talk. I had work to do.

After everything that happened earlier on, I was grateful to have something to keep my hands busy, anything to keep me from thinking about Rhys’s face when I’d walked away. The mix of anger, frustration, and something that looked too much like regret. I didn’t have room for that. Not anymore.

“Morning,” I muttered to the guard standing by the training field.

He didn’t reply. Just nodded stiffly, his gaze darting away.

“Good talk,” I said under my breath, brushing past him.

Inside the storage room, the air was heavy with the smell of ash and damp grain. I rolled up my sleeves and started sorting through the salvageable supplies. A few other rogues joined in reluctantly, pretending not to notice me.

“Pass me that sack,” I said to one of them.

The woman hesitated. “You sure you should be lifting?”

“I’m pregnant, not fragile,” I said, reaching for it myself.

Her lips twitched, like she wanted to say something but thought better of it. She passed me the sack anyway.

I bent down, tying the torn edge together, when suddenly a sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen. It wasn’t like the usual cramps or the dull ache I’d gotten used to. This one hit deep, sudden, fierce, and hot enough to make me drop the sack entirely.

“Ugh…” I gasped, clutching my stomach.

Heads turned instantly.

“Sienna?”

“I’m fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Just… give me a second.”

The pain didn’t stop. It rolled through me again, stronger this time, making my knees buckle. I dropped to the ground, biting back a scream as my vision blurred. The edges of the room swam, and for a terrifying second, I couldn’t tell if I was breathing or not.

“Sienna! Someone get the healer!”

“No…” I managed, my voice breaking. “Don’t. Just…stay back.”

Something was happening inside me, not just pain. Power. Raw, ancient, alive. It surged through my veins like fire, crawling under my skin until I could barely recognize myself. My wolf stirred.

Not weak. Not hidden. Angry.

The next breath I took wasn’t air… it was a growl.

Then everything broke.

My bones shifted, cracking, reforming. My fingers bent into claws, my skin tore into fur. Someone screamed as light burst around me, blinding and white-hot, and in the next heartbeat, I wasn’t on the ground anymore.

I was standing…four paws, not two.

The room went completely silent.

I blinked once, twice, adjusting to the sudden clarity. My senses exploded open, the smell of pine, smoke, fear. The sound of a heartbeat nearby, pounding fast. The texture of wet dirt under my paws.

Then I saw them… the rogues, frozen in place, staring at me like they’d just seen a ghost.

No one moved.

“Moon above,” someone whispered. “She’s… beautiful.”

My fur shimmered like starlight…soft silver with streaks of ivory. My eyes reflected light like pale fire. Even I was momentarily stunned when I caught sight of my reflection in the shattered metal basin nearby.

That’s… me? I knew it was me, my wolf technically but in this moment, there was something about my appearance that just seemed to be different from the way it originally was. There was a new sheen to it that just seemed to glow even under the dull light.

The power humming through me was like nothing I’d ever felt before. I felt whole. Untamed.

Then someone shouted outside, “What’s going on in there?”

Rhys. Great. What a way to ruin it.

The second I heard his voice, my wolf’s heart thudded. The others immediately backed away as he burst into the room, his expression hard, until he saw me.

He froze. Completely.

“Sienna?” he said, barely a whisper.

I turned toward him slowly, watching the way his eyes widened. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Then, almost disbelievingly, he muttered, “You… you shifted.”

I growled softly, not out of anger… more like a warning. The others were still too close, too tense. Instinct screamed that they didn’t belong near me right now.

“Everyone out,” Rhys ordered sharply. “Now!”

No one dared argue. The room emptied in seconds, leaving only the two of us.

He stepped forward, carefully, his boots sinking into the dirt. “Easy,” he murmured. “It’s all right. You’re safe.”

Safe. The word sounded foreign.

I tilted my head, studying him. His heartbeat was steady, his scent familiar. My wolf recognized him…the Alpha, the one who’d both protected and hurt me and something unfamiliar that shouldn’t even have brushed my thoughts… Mate?

She wasn’t afraid. If anything, she stood taller.

Rhys knelt down slowly, meeting my gaze. “Goldie… can you hear me?”

I huffed softly, lowering my head, not out of submission but acknowledgment.

He exhaled, almost laughing in disbelief. “You shouldn’t even be able to shift,” he said. “You’re pregnant.”

I took a step forward, and he instantly stopped talking.

His hand hovered in the air, as if asking permission. I stayed still. When his fingers brushed through my fur, a spark jumped between us… not painful, just real.

“You’re incredible,” he said under his breath. “I’ve never seen a wolf like you.”

Something in his tone softened the tension inside me. He wasn’t looking at me like a rogue. Or a threat. He was looking at me like he was seeing me for the first time.

But the moment didn’t last. Outside, voices rose again. “Alpha! There’s movement by the border!”

Rhys cursed softly and stood. “Stay here,” he told me.

I growled… a low, warning sound that made him pause.

He turned back, almost smiling. “You’re not going to listen, are you?”

I gave a short snort. He took that as a no.

“Fine,” he said. “Then stay close.”

He strode out of the room, and I followed, my paws silent against the wet earth. The moment we stepped outside, every head turned. The sight of Rhys walking beside a glowing silver wolf sent a ripple through the pack. Some bowed instinctively. Others looked terrified.

“Elira,” someone whispered. “She’s going to lose her mind.”

Good, I thought. Let her.

At the edge of camp, a small group of scouts stood waiting. One of them pointed toward the forest. “Movement, Alpha. Fast. Could be an enemy patrol.”

Rhys’s eyes flicked toward the trees, then to me. “Do you smell anything?”

I lifted my nose, inhaling. Smoke. Metal. Blood. Faint but there. I growled once, low and certain.

“Got it,” he said. “You’re with me.”

We ran.

It was instinctive, his stride matching mine, my wolf form keeping pace easily beside him. The world blurred past us, the air rushing through my fur, the ground steady and sure beneath my paws. For the first time in so long, I felt free.

Alive.

We reached the border, where a small group of rogues were cornering two intruders… wolves from a rival pack, judging by their scent. One of them lunged forward, snarling, but before he could reach Rhys, I was already there.

I slammed into him, teeth sinking into his shoulder. He yelped, twisting, but I didn’t let go until he hit the ground hard.

Rhys’s voice cut through the chaos. “Enough! Stand down!”

The enemy wolves scrambled back, bloodied and defeated. When they finally retreated, Rhys turned to me again.

“You’re out of control,” he said softly but there was admiration in his voice, not anger.

I snorted again, pacing in a slow circle, still charged with energy.

He smiled faintly. “You’re something else, you know that?”

Then, almost reluctantly, he added, “Come on. Let’s get you back before you burn down the whole forest.”

I followed him back through the pack, heads turning as we passed. Some bowed their heads now not in fear, but in awe.

When we reached my room, I finally let the shift go. My body trembled, pain and exhaustion crashing into me all at once. Rhys caught me before I hit the ground, pulling me against his chest.

“Easy Goldie,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”

I looked up at him, breathless, my voice barely a whisper. “You always say that.”

He met my eyes. “This time, I mean it.”

For the first time in weeks, I didn’t pull away. I just let him hold me, the storm around us quiet for a moment and somewhere deep inside, my wolf stirred not in warning, but in recognition.

Something had changed between us and neither of us could pretend otherwise anymore.