Torn Apart

As my transformation took hold, my eyes flared with a deep crimson light. Fangs extended, nails split and regrew, and my bones cracked as they stretched and realigned. My true nature clawed its way to the surface.

Before the guards could intervene, I lunged straight for Elsa. Just as I was about to strike, a powerful force caught me mid-air and held me suspended. My wolf writhed, instinctively searching for the source of the interference, but I had no time to react. A pulse of energy slammed me across the hall like a discarded doll. My back crashed into the wall with a bone-jarring thud. Dazed, barely able to breathe, I lifted my head, and then I saw him.

Thorne Varkas.

That was when I realized I had already lost.

Darkness closed in fast.

I watched as my wolf spirit slipped from my body, dragged into an abyss of shadows. Hailey and I, once connected, were torn apart. Our hands lost grip, and I plummeted into the void alone.

Everything dissolved into blackness as I collapsed, unconscious, on the cold stone floor.

“Anna!”

My father’s voice cracked as he watched his daughter fall, powerless and broken.

Panic spread like wildfire.

Screams echoed through the hall, gasps rising from horrified spectators. Women clutched their chests, eyes wide with shock. Elsa played her role perfectly; tears trailing down her face as she whimpered.

“She tried to attack me, Lucien. I didn’t know what to do,” she choked out, pretending to be terrified.

“You’re alright now,” Lucien muttered, holding her close as his gaze hardened on me. His jaw tightened, fury smoldering in his expression.

An eerie silence settled over the crowd, thick and heavy.

---

“Ugh…”

I awoke with a pounding headache. Light stabbed at my eyes. Every part of me ached, my limbs weighed down like stone.

The room was cold and damp, more a dungeon than a cell.

Dim light glowed from overhead panels. No windows. Just bare concrete walls and a thick steel door.

This wasn’t a place meant for ordinary prisoners. It was a cage built for beasts, for things like me. But why was I here?

I groaned, forcing myself upright against the wall. My legs trembled beneath me. My mouth was dry and cracked.

I reached inward, calling out for Hailey, for the wolf I had always known.

Nothing.

She didn’t answer.

Panic gripped me. I focused harder, digging deep to force the shift.

A sharp breath escaped me as I strained, but my body didn’t change.

No Hailey. No shift.

Then, the door creaked open.

Thorne Varkas entered with the same intimidating authority he had always carried. His presence alone commanded attention.

With a casual wave, he dismissed the guards.

He stood still, arms folded behind him, staring directly at me.

We locked eyes for a long moment. Then, slowly, he smiled.

---

“Uncle,” I whispered, moving forward to embrace him.

He let out a short laugh. “How are you, little one?”

I clung to him, tears sliding down my cheeks. The sight of him brought a strange sense of comfort.

“You’re alright now,” he murmured in his low, steady voice.

---

Flashback

Thorne Varkas, my father’s younger brother and a master mage. Revered across the Lycan world. He had long suppressed his wolf, devoting himself to the arcane arts.

He had broken curses that no other could, but always at a cost.

I remembered his warnings from when I was a child. He had never liked how close Lucien and I had grown. It unsettled both him and my father.

One day, I had overheard a conversation between them.

“Watch Jacob carefully,” Thorne had said. “The boy hides danger in plain sight, and that danger will one day unravel everything. Especially Anna.”

“She’s meant for greatness,” he had continued, “but she can’t reach it if she stays tied to the son of your enemy. Pairing them was a mistake.”

His words had dripped with urgency.

“Stop being dramatic,” my father had laughed. “They’re just kids. As for Jacob, I’ll deal with him.”

Outside, Lucien and I had laughed freely, playing under the sun, oblivious to the shadows forming around us.

End of flashback

---

“What were you thinking, exposing yourself like that?” Thorne scolded.

“He rejected me, Uncle. In front of the entire pack!” My voice trembled with frustration.

“Then forget him. He was beneath you. You’ve got bigger things ahead than crying over someone unworthy,” he snapped, his irritation unmistakable.

“Come. We’re leaving this city. There’s someone I need you to meet, someone who can shift the path ahead of you.”

I blinked in confusion, raising my hand as if to stop him.

“Wait… what? Who is this person?”

“He’s someone who holds great significance. To you, and to us. Your father agreed with this plan.”

“My father knew about this?”

“He did. And he supported it. You’ll understand everything soon,” he assured me as he turned to go.

---

I stayed behind, clenching my fists as I tried again to call Hailey.

I concentrated, forcing every muscle in my body to obey. My face twisted with effort, sweat trickling down my spine.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing, child?”

“I’m trying to connect with my wolf. I can’t feel her,” I whispered through clenched teeth.

“You look like you’re about to break a vein,” he muttered. “Stop. Your wolf has been suppressed. You won’t need her for now, not until you learn control.”

“What?” I breathed, stunned.

My eyes snapped open, heart pounding.

“You took her away?”