Chapter 8

Clarissa’s POV

I felt my hopes stirred.

I felt like I was not useless.

I felt an awakening within me.

The next morning, I joined Tessy and Drey at the clearing which served as a training ground for warriors.

“Again,” Drey said, his tone calm but firm.

My breathing was uneven while my arms ached. My knees wobbled from the fifth time I’d been knocked flat on my back.

“I think I’m done,” I said quietly.

“No,” Tessy replied beside me, handing me a water bottle. “You think you’re done. But you’ve got more in you.”

I wasn’t so sure.

This was my second week at the Riverside pack. Drey had gently asked if I wanted to train. At first, I said “no” because I couldn’t see, couldn’t shift and didn’t even know if my wolf was still inside me.

But Tessy had nudged me until I gave in.

So here I was-sore, confused, and frustrated beyond reason.

Drey stepped forward again. “This time, don’t focus on the move. Focus on the feeling. You’ll sense where I am. Your body knows more than you think.”

That sounded like something out of a movie.

Still, I squared my shoulders, steadied my feet and raised my hands.

I could hear him circling me. His steps were quiet and careful. I tried to track his breathing but my own heart was pounding too loudly. My palms were slick. Every second felt like an eternity.

Then-I moved.

Instinctively, I felt a shift in the air and heard a sound too soft to explain.

I ducked just as he swung an arm toward my shoulder.

There was a breathless pause.

“Good,” Drey said. “Try again.”

I almost smiled.

Almost.

By the third round, my body felt like it was made of stone but I didn’t stop.

Not because I was strong.

But because, for once, I wanted to try.

Not because I had to.

Not because someone threatened me.

Because I wanted to know what it felt like to be something more than helpless.

I moved to block another strike but I was too slow. His palm tapped my side and I stumbled back, out of breath.

Then suddenly… everything shifted.

It happened in a blink.

I wasn’t standing on the training field anymore.

I wasn’t hearing the birds or feeling the sun on my skin.

I was somewhere else-somewhere cold.

And dark.

And terrible.

I saw blood and movement of shadows. I heard screams echoing through unfamiliar halls. A woman’s voice was calling my name

“Clarissa!”

It was Tessy.

I blinked.

Everything spun. My knees buckled. The world tilted.

And then nothing.

When I woke up, I was lying on a soft mat inside the training center. My breathing was shaky and my throat was dry. Drey was beside me, one hand gently resting on my shoulder. Tessy was near my head, brushing my hair back from my forehead.

“She’s okay,” Tessy whispered, probably more to herself than anyone else.

“What… what happened?” I croaked.

“You passed out,” Drey said softly. “During training.”

I tried to sit up but the room spun again.

Tessy pressed my shoulder back down. “Take it easy.”

My skin was cold and my chest ached. Something deep inside me trembled-not from the physical fall but from what I saw.

It hadn’t been a dream.

I was sure of it.

It felt… real.

“I saw something,” I whispered.

Drey leaned closer. “What did you see?”

I hesitated. How could I explain what just happened? Would they think I was broken in the head?

“There was blood… and silver… and someone screaming,” I said slowly. “It wasn’t here. It was somewhere else. Somewhere awful.”

The room fell silent.

Then Drey asked, “Was it a memory?”

“No,” I whispered. “It hasn’t happened yet.”

…..,.........

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

I kept feeling like I was on the edge of something like a door in my mind had cracked open. A storm on the horizon, waiting to break.

The vision haunted me.

I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know if it was real. But deep in my chest, I felt something stir-a presence I hadn’t felt in years.

My wolf.

She didn’t speak.

But she was there.

Watching. Waiting.

Like she knew something I didn’t.

…………………………………………………

The next morning, Tessy brought me tea and sat on my bed, cross-legged like we were old friends.

“Want to talk about it?” she asked gently.

I sipped slowly. “Do you believe in visions?”

She didn’t answer right away.

Then, “I believe the moon goddess gives gifts to those who survive what they weren’t meant to.”

I looked up, startled.

“Not everyone who gets a gift wants it,” she added. “Sometimes it’s born out of pain. But that doesn’t make it less real.”

“Do you think that’s what this is? A gift?”

She shrugged. “I think it could be. Or maybe a warning. Either way… it’s worth paying attention to.”

Later that day, Drey knocked on my door.

“May I come in?”

His voice was always so calm. Like he knew how to walk through storms without leaving footprints.

“Yes,” I said.

He entered and sat on the edge of a nearby chair. I could hear the worry in his breathing, even if he didn’t say anything.

“Visions,” he said quietly, “aren’t common. But they’re not unheard of either. Especially in wolves whose connection to the spiritual realm is... heightened.”

“Why would I have that connection?”

“Because of everything you’ve endured,” he said. “Because you’ve been through fire and didn’t burn. That changes a person. It wakes something inside them.”

I swallowed. “It didn’t feel like power. It felt like pain.”

“Often, they’re the same thing,” he said gently.

I didn’t know what to say to that.

So I said nothing.

But in the silence, I realized something:

I wasn’t alone anymore.