The Pack's Divide

The night after the attack, there was nothing. They’d escaped in the nick of time, but not without consequences. There was a tautness in the air between them. Serena sensed it in every glance, every unspoken word they shared. There was the Onyx wolf she had no words in which to speak, but all she had wanted was to understand him, more than anything, but the closer she came to the shadow at the center of that beast, the more he drove her away from their mouths that spoke affection to her.

Lucian sounded irritated, his furrowed brow unable to figure out how to accommodate them in the same area without murdering her. He’d been her guardian, always willing to shield her, but now he was losing control — not just of their safety, but of her.

And Elias had retreated further still. He strolled with them, though he seemed to be elsewhere. With stiff shoulders and blank eyes. She could feel the battle raging within him, man versus wolf. The two halves of him were pulling him inside-out, and she felt the strain.

“Fine,” Serena said to no one in particular, her eyes fixed on nothing in the darkness streaming in. The Onyx wolf was scratching again at her mind, clawing, louder than before. It had hung like a burden, something she couldn’t unmake.

Lucian followed her, worry etched on his face. “There’s no running now, Serena. We need to find answers."

The words penetrated inside Serena’s heart. He meant well, she knew, but listening was more difficult than ever. "I know. I just … I don’t know what I can do anymore.”

They went further into the woods. It was as though the world were holding its breath, the sounds of the night muted. They had been traveling for hours when they found themselves in the lands of some mysterious pack, an ancient pack that was older than any of the packs they had encountered so far.

Kaelen was a pied longcoat with a wise, piercing gaze; he was the pack leader. An elder, the sort of man who felt like he had lived a thousand lives, though he was no more than a year or two older than Lucian and Elias. His pack was different. What they had here was not simply a pack of wolves, but a family, from a time long before time itself, the forefathers of the original werewolf bloodline. They contains things the others do camouflage.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Kaelen said softly, and with steadiness. "We know of the Onyx wolf."

Serena’s heart fluttered, skipped a beat. She had been searching for answers, and they had come. “But the look in Kaelen’s eyes indicated that what he understood could be more than she was prepared to hear.

Kaelen belted toward her, colliding in full-force. “There is a prophecy,” he continued, “when a wolf will help either make or break the balance of our world. That wolf is you, Serena. You’re the answer to what comes after.’ ”

A shiver danced up her spine. The words surrounded them, like a dark prophecy.

“Yes, the Onyx wolf is in you,” Kaelen went on, “but it’s not as simple as you think.” The Onyx wolf is merely a dark shard of something older, a power slumbering for centuries. But when you do, you will have the tools to shred the currently dominant paradigm of wolves. If you deny the offer, the equilibrium will be broken.’ ”

Kaelen’s words landed on Serena like a blow to the stomach. She had always known the Onyx wolf was dangerous, just not in this way? And this was far beyond what she could fathom.

Lucian stepped forward and his voice was taut with concern. "Is there a way to stop it? Can her do it without self-destructing?”

Kaelen shook his head slowly. “The Onyx wolf is much too powerful. Control will come at a price. It’s Serena’s choice: If it will consume her, or she will battle it.’ “But there are consequences to every choice.”

Serena choked on the air. She had known she was more than a lone wolfling, frothing and furious, always, but only now did she realize how impossibly she was twined together with something greater than herself. She held the power to end or rescue the pack system, the entire werewolf kingdom.

Lucian's eyes locked on hers, a storm brewing between them. He wanted to save her from this, keep her from bearing this burden — but Serena was going to have to work through this herself, he was starting to realize.

“I can’t do this Lucian,” she said, choking up under the weight of prophecy now fastened on her back like the lead weights soothed on weasely witches to keep them from floating away. “I don’t know how to do both of the wolf I was and the wolf I’m becoming.”

Lucian’s face went soft, an even sadness in eyes. "I know. But I can’t abandon you. I will still be here, whatever you decide.”

It was Elias, the one who had been silent during the discussion. “This might not be my forte. Not anymore." There was fear in his voice, and he seemed to be battling, in the flesh, a tempest. “The prophecy … it’s not only about you. It’s about all of us. If you fully become wolf Onyx, what will become of the rest of us? And I don’t know if I can tame the beast in me.”

Those words made Serena’s heart tighten. Every second invited the space between them to stretch. Elias was backing off, afraid of what he would turn into in their shared power. She didn’t blame him for it, but the loneliness was becoming unbearable.

There was an air of authority in Kaelen voice when he spoke again. “The prophecy is being fulfilled. You need to decide, soon. The balance is thin, and time is running out.” ’

Serena felt the world spinning out of control around her. It was like the weight of the world was resting on her chest and it was choking her to death. This power, this burden — she never asked for it. But it was her — and now she had to decide whether to embrace it or fight it.

Lucian stood next to her, and his hand was over hers but did not touch it. Whatever it is,” he whispered, “I’ll be with you.

But Serena didn’t know if that was enough anymore. The red Andraste had faced an internal struggle, the call of the Onyx wolf became clearer, compelling her to follow his steps, she didn’t know for how long she could fight against his call.

At sunset, Serena approached the tree line and peered into the dark. A potential option lay like an anchor, so grim, so terrible to envision, before her. In the end she was forced to choose: accept the Onyx wolf and lose everything she’d ever fought for, or refuse and lose everything she tried so fucking hard to save.

She was like a warn in a forest that stood still around . The winds were changing, and with them her fate.