Chapter Nineteen

Breaking the Wolf

The forest smelled of ash and blood. My blood.

I had survived the night, but survival had left me hollow. My arms trembled as I dragged myself back to Lucien’s cave, my body a map of wounds. Yet even in exhaustion, the shadows still whispered under my skin, restless, alive.

Lucien was waiting. He leaned against the stone wall, arms crossed, silver hair gleaming faintly in the dawn light. His coal-dark eyes swept over me, unreadable.

“You lived,” he said softly. “Good. Now we see if you can do more than cling to life.”

I dropped to my knees, chest heaving. “I need rest.”

He stepped forward, crouching so his face was inches from mine. “Rest is for the dead. You asked me to make you stronger. Did you think strength came without cost?”

My jaw tightened. “I’ll pay it. But if I collapse now, I’m useless.”

Lucien studied me for a long moment, then straightened. “Very well. One hour. After that, we break your wolf.”

The words jolted me. “Break her?”

His smile curved, sharp and dangerous. “To rebuild her.”

---

When the hour ended, I stood in the clearing again. My body ached, but Lucien gave no time for hesitation. He drew a circle in the dirt with his boot.

“Step inside.”

I obeyed, my pulse quickening.

He raised his hand, and the shadows thickened around us, forming a barrier that sealed the circle. Then he spoke words I didn’t understand, low and ancient, and the mark on my palm burned.

My wolf stirred uneasily inside me.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

Lucien’s gaze burned into mine. “Your wolf is fractured. She has been shackled since birth, starved by rejection, caged by fear. To wield true power, you must face her—and decide whether she serves you, or consumes you.”

The ground trembled. A shape peeled itself from my body, coalescing into a silver wolf. Her fur gleamed under the moonlight, her eyes glowing with feral light.

My wolf.

She bared her teeth, circling me with a growl.

“She’s angry,” Lucien murmured, his tone almost reverent. “Years of silence. Years of being ignored. You starved her, Kimberly. Now she wants blood.”

The wolf lunged.

I barely dodged, the swipe of her claws slicing across my arm. Pain flared, but this time it wasn’t just physical. It tore through my chest, raw and searing, like betrayal.

You left me, a voice growled in my mind. You begged for scraps instead of claiming the sky. You let Mona steal what was ours.

Tears stung my eyes even as I lashed out, shadows striking my wolf. She dodged easily, her speed blinding. “I had no choice,” I gasped.

Her snarl cut through me. You chose weakness. You chose silence. And now you beg Lucien to give you strength when you already had me.

Her words ripped into me, harsher than any wound Derrick had ever inflicted. I staggered, clutching my chest. “I didn’t know how—”

You didn’t try.

She leapt, slamming me to the ground, fangs bared above my throat. My shadows surged in panic, lashing out, but she tore through them as though they were mist. Her teeth grazed my skin, and terror spiked.

“Enough!” I screamed, shadows exploding outward in a violent storm. The blast hurled her back, but she rose instantly, unshaken.

Lucien’s voice carried through the storm. “You cannot destroy her. She is you. Either master her—or be devoured.”

I forced myself to my feet, chest heaving, blood dripping from my wounds. My wolf stalked forward, eyes gleaming, every step dripping with accusation.

Choose, she growled. Submit to me. Or kill me and remain nothing.

My heart pounded. I thought of Derrick’s boot on my chest, Mona’s smile, Catherine’s scorn. All the times I had bent, endured, survived.

No more.

I raised my trembling hands, shadows coiling, the mark on my palm blazing like fire. “I won’t kill you,” I whispered. My voice shook, but it grew steadier with each word. “And I won’t submit.”

The wolf paused, her ears flicking.

“I need you. And you need me. Alone, we’re broken. But together—” I bared my teeth in a snarl that surprised even me. “Together, we’re unstoppable.”

The wolf growled, circling once more, testing. Then, with a flash of silver light, she lunged.

I didn’t dodge. I caught her, shadows wrapping around us both. Pain seared, my body convulsing as her power poured into me. My vision went white. For a heartbeat, I thought I was dying.

Then silence.

When I opened my eyes, I was on my knees in the circle, trembling, drenched in sweat. My wolf was gone—no, not gone. She was inside me, whole, awake, burning brighter than ever before.

Lucien stepped into the circle, his eyes gleaming. “Well done, little wolf.”

I looked at my hands, shadows curling naturally around my fingers, no longer fighting me. They felt like an extension of myself now, like claws and fangs. My wolf’s voice whispered in my mind, not with accusation, but with fierce certainty. We are one.

Exhaustion nearly toppled me, but triumph kept me upright. For the first time, I wasn’t fractured. I wasn’t silenced.

I was complete.

Lucien crouched, his gaze sharp but approving. “You’ve taken your first true step toward mastery. But remember—Derrick won’t wait for you to perfect yourself. He’s already moving.”

My stomach tightened, but I lifted my chin. “Let him. When he comes, I’ll be ready.”

Lucien’s smile was sharp and dangerous. “Good. Because the Blood Alpha won’t stop until either he breaks you

… or you break him.”

And as the shadows curled tighter around me, I finally believed I could do it.