ANMELDENRose’s POV“It was waiting for you to make that exact choice.”The words didn’t hit all at once.They settled.Slow.Heavy.Like something sinking into water until it finally reached the bottom and stayed there.Planned.This was planned.My stomach twisted hard.“No…” I shook my head slightly. “No, that doesn’t make sense. I broke the connection. I stopped it.”Didn’t I?I felt it snap.I felt the silence after.I felt myself come back.That should mean something.Right?The Lycan King didn’t answer immediately.He was still watching the ground—like he expected it to open again at any second.Like this wasn’t over.Not even close.“It stopped because it didn’t need the connection anymore,” he said finally.My breath caught.“What?”His gaze shifted to me slowly.Carefully.Like he was choosing how much truth to give me…And how much I could handle.“You said it yourself,” he continued. “You felt something deeper. Something below the fragment.”I swallowed.My throat suddenly dry.“…y
Rose’s POV“…I think I’m not the only one it’s trying to reach.”The words barely left my mouth before I felt itThat answer.Deep.Too deep.Not from the light wrapped around my hand.Not from the fragment speaking to me.Something else.Below.Beneath the forest.Beneath everything.Something… old.My knees almost gave out.A sharp pulse shot up from the ground, straight through my body like I wasn’t even solid anymore.Like I was just a channel.A wire.Something made to carry signals I didn’t understand.“Rose!”The Lycan King caught me before I hit the ground, one arm steady around me but I barely felt it.Not because he wasn’t there.Because something else was louder.Stronger.Pulling harder.The light around my hand burned brighterThen suddenlyIt split.Not physically.But in feeling.Two directions.One pulling me inward—toward that angry voice.The otherDragging something up from below.My breath hitched violently.“Stop…”I didn’t know who I was talking to anymore.The f
Rose’s POV“You’re late.”The words didn’t echo.They cut.Clean.Direct.Like whoever said them wasn’t speaking through distance or memory or whatever strange space I kept slipping into latelyThey were speaking through me.My hand jerked slightly inside the light, instinctively trying to pull away—but it didn’t let go.Not forcefully.Worse than that.It just… held.Like it had already decided I wasn’t leaving.“Rose!”The Lycan King’s voice snapped through the fog in my mind. Close. Real. Anchoring.I could still feel him—back in the clearing, behind me, trying to reach me—but the world around him was thinning.Or I was.I couldn’t tell anymore.“I’m here,” I tried to say.But my voice didn’t feel like it belonged fully in either place.The clearing.Or this… other space.The light around my hand pulsed again.Harder this time.And the anger behind it sharpened.“You always hesitate at the edge.”My breath hitched.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said quickly.But even
Rose’s POVWe didn’t rest.Not even for a second.The decision—mine, apparently didn’t feel like something I had time to sit with. The moment I said fine, everything shifted.Not dramatically.Not loudly.Just… direction.Like the world had been waiting for me to pick a path so it could finally start moving again.And now it had.Fast.Too fast.“Which way?” I asked, my voice quieter than I expected.Because I already knew the answer.I just didn’t want to be the one to say it out loud.The Lycan King didn’t respond immediately.He was watching me again.That same look.Careful.Measuring.Like he wasn’t sure if the one making this decision was fully me.I exhaled sharply.“Stop doing that.”His brow tightened slightly. “Doing what?”“Looking at me like I might suddenly stop being myself.”A pause.Then honest, direct“I don’t know that you won’t.”That stung.Not because it was cruel.But because it wasn’t.It was just… true.And that made it worse.“Great,” I muttered under my breat
Rose’s POVThe first has awakened.That sentence didn’t just sit in the air.It settled inside me.Like it found a place and decided—yeah, I belong here now.I couldn’t breathe properly.My hand was still pressed against my chest, fingers digging in like I could hold something together that had already started slipping apart.“What… what does that mean?”My voice sounded thin.Not weak exactly.Just stretched.Like I was speaking from somewhere slightly far away from myself.The creature didn’t answer immediately.It just watched me.Those glowing eyes… they weren’t scary in the usual way.Not like something about to attack.Worse.They looked certain.Like this was all expected.Like I was just late to my own story.“It means we’re leaving,” the Lycan King said suddenly.Firm.Final.His hand grabbed my wrist again, tighter this time. Not rough but not gentle either.Urgent.“We don’t have time for this.”“But I need to know—”“You don’t,” he cut in sharply. “Not here.”That stung.B
Rose’s POVIt is no longer about what you meant.The words didn’t fade.They stayed.Hung in the air like something solid.Like a sentence that had already decided my future and was just waiting for me to catch up.My fingers tightened unconsciously around his hand.Or maybe it wasn’t unconscious anymore.Maybe I was just… noticing everything now.The Lycan King stepped slightly in front of me again.Not fully blocking me.Not like before.More like…He didn’t know if he should.That alone said too much.“Stand down,” he said, voice low, commanding.Not to me.To it.The creature didn’t move.Didn’t react.Didn’t even blink.Its glowing eyes stayed locked on mine like I was the only thing in the forest that existed.“You’re not supposed to be here,” he continued. “Return to your post.”A pause.Then the voice again.Deeper this time.Colder.“My post has shifted.”Something inside me twisted at that.Shifted.Because of me.Of course.Everything now seemed to lead back to me.I hated
Rose’s POVThe forest was silent now, but the silence was heavy—like a weight pressing down on my chest, making each breath feel labored, each heartbeat louder than it should be. My wolf growled low inside me, vibrating through every fiber of my being, restless and impatient. She could feel it—the
Rose’s POVThe air had changed.Thicker. Heavier. As if the forest itself were holding its breath, waiting. My wolf growled low inside me, vibrating with tension. Every instinct screamed that the shadow—the thing that had worn Alpha Sunny’s face—was near. And this time… it wasn’t hiding.“Rose,” th
Rose’s POVThe clearing felt colder than before. Every breath I drew made my lungs ache, as though the air itself had been poisoned with tension. My wolf paced restlessly inside me, muscles taut, senses straining. It was impossible to ignore the lingering presence—the one that had mimicked Alpha Su
Rose’s POVThe forest was dead silent, except for the distant sounds of Alpha Sunny’s pack freezing in shock. My heart pounded wildly in my chest, and every instinct inside me screamed at me to run. But something—his presence, the sheer weight of him—held me rooted in place.“Rose,” the Lycan King’







