The Wolf of Rage

Sable's POV

---

I don't sleep.

The dream of my mother plays on repeat behind my eyes. The wolf of rage. The wolf of ice. The wolf of sight. They are bound to you. Bound. Like chains. Like destiny. Like something I never asked for.

When dawn breaks, I'm already dressed. I don't bother with breakfast. I don't bother with anything except getting out of this room. The walls are closing in. The silence is suffocating.

I need air. I need space. I need to think.

The academy grounds are quiet this early. Most students are still asleep. The ones who aren't avoid me. Word has spread about the council meeting. About what I am. About what I did at the Trials.

I'm not invisible anymore.

I walk to the training grounds. The same place where Garrick pushed me until I couldn't stand. The dirt is still marked with our footprints. The memory makes my chest ache.

"You shouldn't be out here."

I turn.

Garrick is leaning against a tree, arms crossed, watching me. He looks like he hasn't slept either. Dark circles under his eyes. Jaw tight.

"Neither should you."

"I couldn't sleep." He pushes off the tree, walking toward me. "Kept thinking about what you said. About being tired of being scared."

"I meant it."

"I know." He stops a few feet away. "That's why I couldn't sleep."

The silence stretches between us. Heavy. Charged.

"Why are you here, Garrick?"

"Because I want to understand." He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated. "You confuse me. You've confused me since the moment I saw you shift. I don't know what to do with you."

"You don't have to do anything with me. I'm not a problem to be solved."

"You're not a problem." He steps closer. "You're something else. Something I can't figure out. And I hate not being able to figure things out."

"Maybe you're not supposed to figure me out."

"Maybe." His eyes hold mine. "But I want to try."

My wolf stirs. She's been restless since the dream. Since the council meeting. She doesn't like being caged.

"You should stay away from me." My voice is barely a whisper. "I'm dangerous."

"I know." He doesn't move. "I don't care."

"You should."

"I should do a lot of things." He takes another step. "But I don't. I can't. Not when it comes to you."

The words hang in the air. Raw. Honest. More honest than I've ever heard him.

Before I can respond, a howl cuts through the morning air.

Not a normal howl. This one is deep, resonant, powerful enough to shake the trees.

Garrick's head snaps up. "That's not possible."

"What?"

"That howl. It's coming from the north. From the border." His face goes pale. "That's rogue territory."

Another howl. Closer this time.

"We need to go." Garrick grabs my arm. "Now."

---

We run.

Through the forest, past the academy walls, toward the border. The howls are getting closer. Louder. There's more than one now. A pack.

"This is bad," Garrick mutters. "This is really bad."

"What's happening?"

"Rogues. A lot of them. They don't usually come this close to pack territory."

We break through the tree line and stop dead.

The clearing is full of wolves. Massive, scarred, wild-eyed. Their leader stands in the center, a huge black beast with eyes like fire.

And they're not alone.

Two figures stand beside the rogue leader. One is Odette, her face pale but determined. The other is Dorian Voss, Garrick's cousin, his expression unreadable.

"What the hell?" Garrick's voice is sharp. "Dorian? What are you doing?"

Dorian doesn't answer. He just looks at me.

"There she is," Odette says, her voice carrying across the clearing. "The freak. The monster. The thing my father should have killed when he found her."

My blood runs cold.

"You did this?" I step forward, my hands shaking. "You brought rogues here?"

"I brought allies." Odette smiles. "The rogues don't want the Moon-Touched any more than we do. They understand what you are. What you'll become."

"And what's that?"

"A threat." Dorian speaks for the first time. "To every pack. Every wolf. Every way of life we've ever known. The Moon-Touched were hunted for a reason. They were too powerful. Too dangerous. And you're the most powerful of them all."

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know enough." Dorian steps forward. "I know you killed your own mother. I know you destroyed your pack. I know that everywhere you go, death follows."

"That's a lie."

"Is it?" He tilts his head. "You don't remember, do you? The attack. The fire. Your mother screaming as you ripped her apart."

"I was a child."

"You were a monster. You still are."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

The rogue leader howls, and the pack moves.

Garrick shifts in an instant, launching himself at the nearest wolf. The clearing explodes into chaos. Snarling, snapping, blood spraying across the grass.

I can't move.

The memories are coming back. Flashes. Fragments. Fire. Screaming. My mother's face, twisted in pain.

I did this. I killed her.

"Sable!" Stellan's voice cuts through the chaos. He's running toward me, Merrick behind him. "Sable, look at me."

I can't. I can't look at anything. The memories are drowning me.

"Sable!" Stellan grabs my shoulders, forcing me to meet his eyes. "It's not real. Whatever he told you, it's not real. Your mother died protecting you. Not because of you."

"You don't know that."

"I do." His voice is fierce. "I saw it. In my visions. I saw her hide you. I saw her fight. I saw her die. But not by your hand. Never by your hand."

The words break through the fog.

"Your mother loved you," Stellan continues. "She gave her life for you. And Dorian is using your fear against you. Don't let him."

A wolf lunges at us. Merrick intercepts, shifting mid-air, tearing into the rogue with cold precision.

Garrick is surrounded. Three wolves, circling. He's bleeding. He's losing.

I feel it before I understand it.

The power. The rage. The wolf.

She's not just stirring anymore. She's awake. And she's furious.

I shift.

The transformation is instant. One moment human, the next something else entirely. Massive. Black as midnight. Eyes glowing silver.

The clearing goes silent.

Every wolf stops. Every head turns. Even the rogues, wild and bloodthirsty, back away.

I am not a wolf. I am not a monster. I am something older. Something the world forgot.

Dorian's face goes pale. Odette stumbles backward.

"What is that?" someone whispers.

"The Blood Moon," Stellan breathes. "She's the Blood Moon."

I don't wait.

I launch myself at Dorian, pinning him to the ground. My claws dig into his chest. My teeth snap inches from his throat.

"Tell me the truth," I growl. "Or I'll tear your throat out."

He laughs. Even now, he laughs.

"The truth? You want the truth?" Blood bubbles on his lips. "Your mother wasn't killed by rogues. She was killed by us. The packs. The ones who feared the Moon-Touched. Alpha Whitmore led the attack. He killed your mother. And then he took you. Raised you. Waited for your power to emerge so he could use you."

The world stops.

"No."

"He knew what you were. He knew what you'd become. And he's been playing you from the start."

I press harder. "You're lying."

"I'm dying." He coughs. "Why would I lie?"

Garrick shifts back to human, stumbling toward us. "Sable. Don't. Don't let him do this to you."

"He killed my mother."

"Maybe. But killing him won't bring her back."

I look at Garrick. His face is bloody, his eyes desperate. Behind him, Merrick and Stellan are watching. Waiting.

I want to kill Dorian. I want to tear him apart. The rage is consuming me.

But somewhere, deep inside, I hear my mother's voice.

Be brave, Sable. Be brave.

I step back.

Dorian gasps, clutching his chest. "You're weak. Just like your mother."

"No." I shift back to human, naked and trembling. "I'm not weak. I'm not a monster. I'm not what you think I am."

I turn to Odette. She's frozen, her face white.

"You brought them here," I say. "You wanted me dead."

"I wanted you gone." Her voice shakes. "You ruined everything. You were supposed to be nothing. You were supposed to stay invisible."

"I was never invisible. You just didn't want to see me."

The rogues are retreating. Their leader is dead, killed by Garrick during the chaos. The rest are fleeing.

The fight is over.

But the war is just beginning.

---

That night, I stand at the window of my room, staring at the moon.

Stellan was right. The Blood Moon is coming. I can feel it. The power is growing, pulsing, demanding release.

Three Alphas. One prophecy. One reckoning.

And somewhere out there, Alpha Whitmore is waiting.

He killed my mother. He took me in. He raised me as a servant while he waited for my power to emerge.

He's been playing me from the start.

The door opens. I don't turn.

"You should be resting."

Garrick's voice. Soft. Concerned.

"I can't rest."

He walks to stand beside me. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." I look at him. "What would you do?"

"I'd kill him." He pauses. "But that's me. You're better than me."

"Am I?"

"You didn't kill Dorian. You had every right. But you didn't."

"It wouldn't have changed anything."

"No. But it would have felt good." He smiles, just a little. "Sometimes that's enough."

I laugh. It surprises me. "You're not what I expected."

"Neither are you."

We stand in silence, watching the moon.

"I'm scared," I admit.

"I know."

"I don't want to be the Blood Moon. I don't want to be anyone's leader. I don't want to save the world."

"Then don't." He turns to face me. "Be Sable. Be the girl who makes tea at four in the morning. Be the girl who refuses to give up. Be whatever you want to be."

"And if that's not enough?"

He takes my hand. His skin is warm against mine. "Then we'll figure it out. Together."

The word hangs in the air. Together.

I don't know if I can trust him. I don't know if I can trust anyone.

But for the first time in my life, I'm not alone.

And maybe that's enough.

---

The door bursts open.

Merrick stands in the doorway, his face pale, his eyes wild. Stellan is behind him, and for the first time since I've known him, he looks afraid.

"What happened?" I demand.

"It's Alpha Whitmore." Merrick's voice is tight. "He's called an emergency council meeting. The other Alphas are here. They've voted."

"Voted on what?"

Stellan steps forward. His pale eyes meet mine, and I see something I've never seen before. Desperation.

"On what to do with you." He pauses. "They've declared you a threat to the pack. To all packs. They've ordered your execution."

The world stops.

"For tomorrow night. When the Blood Moon rises." Merrick's jaw tightens. "They're going to kill you, Sable. And there's nothing we can do to stop them."