Chapter 6: When The Forest Started Listening

Elara

I did not shout.

Though part of me should have—some human instinct set for fear—that part seemed far away, muffled, like it had been buried under something heavier and older.

The forest had gotten suspiciously silent.

No wind, no insects, no rain.

Only them.

Like shadows formed, they stood at the border of the trees, dark hair and wide shoulders faintly steaming off. Their eyes shone gold, silver, amber grabbing the moonlight filtered between the clouds. Wolves, I started to see faintly. Not quite human, not completely moved either. something in between.

My knees shook.

Adrian's body was in front of mine, firm and unyielding like a shield. I could sense the coiled, tense danger in him. His fingers flexed at his side as if holding back claws, his hand lifted somewhat. I lacked visibility.

He ordered, "Lower your eyes."

His voice had range even if it wasn't strong. Several of the men bent their heads and promptly followed.

Not the lady who had previously spoken.

She moved forward into sharper view, her boots brushing lightly against pebbles. She was tall and had dark hair braided tightly down her back. Her face was sharp and beautiful in a severe, untouchable way. Power clung to her like an extra skin.

Her eyes: silver, cool, old, never left me.

She repeated again, this time more slowly, "So this is her." "Adrian, you were sloppy."

His jaw tightened. "You weren't supposed to come here. "

She said quietly, "And yet," but your link burst across three regions. Whether you intended to or not, you let everyone know she existed.

Bond? My ribs thrashed sharply against my heart.

"She is talking about what?" I murmured.

Adrian didn't turn back to face me, yet I felt his response run through me nevertheless: anxiety, remorse, wish so knotted I couldn't distinguish them.

She is the alpha of the Oakhaven pack, he asserted. "Selene".

Alpha, Pack.

Nothing here was actual. It could not be. And still, every part of me knew the truth in his words, as though my bones had been yearning for them.

Selene turned to Mark.

A few feet away he stood frozen, eyes wide and glassy with horror, lips somewhat parted. The cocky confidence I had formerly admired in him had totally shattered.

"A human observed this," Selene pointed out. "That makes things more complicated."

Mark at last had his voice. Elara... what the heck these people are?

I gulped. My throat felt sore. “Mark, you should go. Right now.

"Don't," he begged, moving closer to me. “Don't let them do this. You are causing me to panic.

Selene cocked her head and examined him as though he were a bug pinned on a board.

She retorted, "He knows nothing." "That makes him a liability."

The word made ice flow through my veins.

"No," I answered coldly, leaving Adrian behind before he could stop me. "He's not a burden. He is simply human.

Many wolves tightened up. Selene’s brow curved. "You stand up for him."

"I'm urging you not to harm him."

Adrian then faced me at last after turning. "Elara..."

"Please," I begged. "Whatever this is... avoid letting me view that."

Something unintelligible passed across Selene's features.

She lifted one hand following a protracted pause. "Leave," she told Mark. "Run. Forget tonight's happenings. We will know whether you mention it.

Mark knew without being told twice.

Breath coming out in shattered sobs, he dashed down the street, shoes sliding on slick pavement.

Everything fell down on me the instant he vanished.

My knees gave way.

Arms instinctively locked around me, Adrian caught me before I landed. The heat, awareness, something near to relief sent a jolt through my body.

“Easy,” he murmured. "I've got you."

I held onto him, my fingers digging into his damp shirt. My senses burned red hot. I could hear heartbeats—not only his but also others. Smell blood, pine, rain, anything wild and fascinating that spun my head.

I murmured, "This can't be real."

Selene said, "It is, and it's long past due."

They transported me to the woods.

I don't recall consenting to it. Just that at some point the street lights vanished, the houses engulfed in darkness, and trees stood all about us like old sentinels. 

The pack circled us without crowding, moving with unsettling silence. Adrian never let go of my hand.

The pull got stronger the further down we traveled.

Every move felt like something I had done before. Like returning to a location I had never been.

We stopped in a clearing bathed in moonlight. The clouds had opened to expose a full moon so brilliant it hurt to view.

Selene faced me straight on. She asked, "Tell me, have you observed changes?"

I stopped myself. Then nodded. "I sense everything. Smell more. I hear more."

She grinned somewhat. "Your awakening has begun."

"Awakening into what?" I inquired.

Her eyes shone. You are a latent werewolf.

The term reverberated through me. Werewolf.

I chuckle softly. "That can't be possible."

She continued, "And yet, your blood says otherwise."

Adrian pressed my hand. He replied cautiously, "Elara's mother was human. "Before she was born, her father vanished."

Selene's grin became piercing. "Disappeared is a sort of beautiful term."

My tummy fell. “You know my father?”

"I knew of him," Selene answered. "He had power. Old blood. And negligent.

"What came upon him?" I inquired.

She looked steadily at me. "He went against the wrong people."

The clearing looked to be shrinking.

And me? I enquired. "Why am I... like this?"

Selene's voice grew quiet. "Because his blood didn't die with him. It slumbered. Waiting.

Waiting on what? "For you," she said softly, as though she could read my mind.

My feet thumped the ground.

I gasped and grabbed my chest as heat flashed inside me—sharp, unbearable, like something trying to rip its way out.

"Elara!" Adrian got me as once more I screamed.

Pain flew through my bones and muscles. Screaming, I fell apart as my senses erupted—every sound too loud, every smell too overpowering.

I begged, "Make it stop!"

Selene concentrated intently. "It's going faster than we thought it would."

Adrian appeared enraged. “You said she had time!”

"I remarked most do," Selene corrected. "But Elara isn't most."

The moonlight seared white- hot.

I arched, something old and violent gushing through my veins as a sob broke from my throat.

Then… Silence.

The discomfort went as quickly as it had arrived.

Lying there, I gasp, heart thumping.

I pushed myself up slowly.

Things appeared different.

sharper. More straightforward.

I could see every leaf shivering in the wind. Listen for the far-off rush of water many kilometers away. Smell Adrian: his dread, his need, his tie to me—it so obviously sent my head spinning.

I reached my hands. They were trembling.

"What you did to me?" I mumbled.

Selene looked like she was about to pray.

She said, "Nothing." "I just watched it."

Adrian gave me a gaze like he was witnessing both a miracle and a disaster all at once.

He croaked, "You survived your first surge. "Unchanging."

"What does that imply?"

Stepping closer, Selene remarked, "It means your power is immense."

My stomach turned around. "I'm not seeking power. Give me my life back.

She let out a low chuckle. "You were never supposed to live normally."

Adrian stiffened. Enough.

Selene looked at him coldly. "You've gone soft."

"And you have turned cruel," he spat.

Her lips arched. "Tell me, Adrian, have you told her the truth?"

My breath stopped. "What truth?"

He turned aside. Selene spoke for him.

"Your connection was never a coincidence."

The globe shifted. I whispered, "What bond?" my voice hardly heard.

Selene stared right into me. "The kiss opened it. Still, it predated that by quite a bit.

I shook my head. “Not at all. That is not.."

She stated just, "You are his fated mate."

The phrases smacked me like a real punch.

Adrian's silence rang throughout.

And Selene continued, her voice falling, "that makes you a threat to every Alpha who fears what you might become."

A shiver of fear ran down my spine.

"What will I become?"

Selen smiled: deliberate, aware, and awful.

"A Luna," she remarked, "who could unite or destroy us all."