Chapter 7-The Power I didn't Ask for

          The crowd was roaring. Their voices hit my ear like fire. My chest was heavy. My legs weak. The two girls in front of me were smiling with wicked faces. They were born wolves. They had claws. They had fangs. They had what I never had.  

I tried to lift my hands but my body shook. My vision was dark. The whispers came again.  

“She will faint soon.”  

“She cannot last.”  

“Human trash.”  

The words cut me deeper than claws. My chest burned. I stumbled back. The girls laughed. One pushed me and I fell to the ground. Dust touched my lips. My body weak.  

“Get up human,” Clara shouted from the crowd. Her voice sharp. “Show them your shame.”  

I wanted to rise but my legs refused me. My eyes closed for one second. Then darkness swallowed me whole.  

---

I don’t know how long I stayed inside that darkness. I felt myself sinking. My chest heavy. I could hear them laughing far away. The crowd. The pack. Clara. The elders. Even Damien’s silence was heavy in my ears.  

Then in the middle of that darkness I saw her. A woman in silver light. Tall. Beautiful. Her eyes bright like the moon itself. She walked close and her voice was soft but strong.  

“Elara,” she said. My name sounded like fire in her mouth. “You cry too much. You doubt too much. But you are mine. My choice. My hand picked you. You cannot run.”  

Tears filled my eyes even inside the dream. “Why me,” I asked. My voice weak. “I am only human.”  

She touched my chest and the pain burned away. Her fingers were cold and hot at the same time. “You are not only human. You are chosen. When the world laughs, I will rise in you. Now rise, child. Rise for me.”  

The silver light exploded. It filled my body. My heart thumped so loud it felt like it would break. I screamed but it was not fear. It was fire.  

My eyes opened. Gasps filled the air. The crowd moved back. I was on my feet again. My body no longer weak. My chest strong. My skin hot. The mark on my neck was burning and glowing. I felt it. The bond. The power.  

The girls looked shocked. “She was down,” one whispered.  

“She fainted.”  

But I was not down anymore. I could feel strength in my blood. My hands felt heavy with fire. My eyes burned. I raised my head and met Clara’s eyes in the crowd. She stepped back, fear in her face for the first time.  

The elder shouted, “Continue the trial.”  

One girl rushed at me, claws out. I didn’t even think. My body moved on its own. My hand caught her wrist. The crowd gasped. I twisted and pushed. She fell like stone to the ground, coughing. Her eyes wide.  

The second girl tried to strike from behind but I turned. My fist hit her chest before I even thought. She fell too, groaning, holding her ribs.  

The pack roared. Shock. Fear. Confusion.  

“She is human how can she fight like that.”  

“The goddess maybe.”  

“No she cheated.”  

The voices were loud but I didn’t care. My blood was fire. My heart strong. I looked at the girls. They tried to stand again. Their pride heavy. But I felt nothing. No pity. No weakness.  

They rushed again. I moved faster. My legs like wind. I hit the first one in the face and she dropped. Blood on her lips. The second one I pushed so hard she rolled on the dirt, groaning.  

The crowd went silent.  

I was standing tall. My chest rising. My hands shaking with power. For once they were not laughing. They were afraid.  

---

Clara’s face turned dark. She screamed, “She is cheating. She is not fighting like a human. Something is wrong.”  

The elder raised his hand for silence. “Enough. She is fighting. She has not broken any rule. The trial goes on.”  

I looked at Damien. His eyes were fixed on me. Not cold anymore. Not soft either. But sharp. Like he was trying to see inside me.  

My chest burned more. The mark glowed again. Stronger. My legs shook. The girls crawled on the ground, weak. I wanted to strike again but my body froze.  

The silver voice whispered in my ear again. *Do not go too far. You are mine but not yet ready.*  

I gasped. My body trembled. The fire inside me turned heavy. My legs weak again. My chest heavy.  

I dropped to my knees. My vision dark. The crowd roared again.  

“She fainted again.”  

“It was only luck.”  

“No human can rise twice.”  

But I felt the power still burning inside, quiet now, hiding.  

Damien took one step forward but stopped. His eyes were on me. Searching. Doubting.  

The elder spoke loud. “The trial is not finished. But this girl… she carries something strange.”  

I wanted to scream that it was not me. That I didn’t ask for this. That I never wanted this power. But my lips could not move.  

My body fell on the ground. Dust touched my face again. The world spun. My chest heavy.  

And in the last second before darkness pulled me under, I saw Clara’s face twisted in rage. Not only rage. Fear.  

---

Darkness again. But not empty. The woman’s voice came again, soft but strong.  

“They will doubt you. They will fear you. But this is only the beginning. More trials are coming. More blood is coming. You cannot run Elara. You cannot hide. You are mine.”  

Her words echoed until silence swallowed me whole.  

And I knew when I woke again, the whole pack would never see me the same.  

To them I was no longer just weak human.  

To them I was something else.  

Something dangerous.  

Something chosen.  

And that was only the beginning.