Chapter 9

Riley woke to the sound of her ragged breathing.

For a moment, she wasn't sure where she was. Her heart pounded, her skin damp with sweat, and the world around her felt wrong. Too sharp. Too loud.

The faint crackle of the old cabin settling against the wind sent a ripple of awareness down her spine. She could hear Nova's slow, steady breathing from the cot. The rustling of fabric as Kieran shifted on the couch. The distant howl of something far beyond the trees, its eerie call vibrating through her bones.

Her senses were too sharp.

Too alive.

She pressed a hand against her chest, willing her pulse to slow, but it was useless.

Something was changing.

The room smelled like dust and old wood, but underneath it, she could pick out the distinct scent of Kieran's blood. It filled her nose, thick and metallic, sparking something inside her that she did not want to acknowledge.

Panic flared.

She scrambled to her feet, moving too fast, too smoothly. Her body felt weightless, yet coiled tight like she was seconds from springing forward. The movement sent a fresh wave of dizziness through her skull.

She needed air.

Without thinking, she pushed the door open and stepped outside.

The night was cold against her overheated skin, but the chill did little to ground her. The forest stretched before her, dark and endless, but instead of fear, all she felt was hunger.

Not for food.

Not for anything she could name.

Her fingers curled, nails pressing into her palms as she sucked in a sharp breath. Everything felt too much. The wind whispered through the trees, carrying scents she shouldn't have been able to distinguish. The damp earth. The faint traces of other animals in the distance. The lingering scent of wolves in the air.

Her stomach twisted.

What was happening to her?

A rustle behind her made her stiffen.

She turned sharply, muscles tensing, only to find Kieran watching her from the doorway.

He looked worse than before. His skin was pale, almost too pale, and even in the dim light

Riley nodded slowly, unsure how to put into words what was happening to her because she wasn't even sure what it was. How was she supposed to explain the way her body felt too wired, too aware, too wrong?

Kieran stepped forward, moving with the quiet grace of a predator, but she noticed how he swayed slightly, how his fingers clenched around the doorframe like he needed the support.

"You shouldn't be up," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Funny. I was about to say the same to you."

She scowled but didn't argue.

Kieran studied her for a long moment, his golden eyes scanning her like he was seeing something she couldn't. Then, softly, he asked, "You felt it, didn't you?"

Riley stiffened.

She wanted to lie. To say she was fine, that nothing was wrong, that she had just needed air.

But she couldn't.

Because she had felt it.

That strange, unnatural energy pulsing through her veins, the way her senses had sharpened, the hunger curling deep inside her like a beast waiting to be set free.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered.

Kieran exhaled, his smirk fading. "I don't know."

That terrified her more than anything.

Kieran always seemed to have the answers. He understood this world in a way she didn't, and if he didn't know what was happening to her, then what hope did she have?

Her chest tightened.

"I think it's the mark," he admitted, voice lower now, like he wasn't sure he wanted to say the words out loud. "It's changing you."

Riley shivered. "Into what?"

Kieran didn't answer right away. His gaze flickered to the trees, his expression unreadable. "That's what we need to find out."

Riley turned away, running a hand through her hair. The night stretched before them, dark and endless, and for the first time, she felt something calling to her from the woods. Something she couldn't name.

It scared her.

And worse

It excited her.

She shook the thought away and forced herself to focus. "You said we were going to see a friend. Someone who could help."

Kieran nodded. "Yeah. But we'll have to leave at first light."

"Why not now?"

"Because we're already being hunted," Kieran said grimly. "And traveling at night makes it easier for them to track us."

Riley swallowed hard. She hated how logical that was.

Kieran watched her, his golden eyes flickering in the moonlight. "Try to get some rest, Riley."

She wasn't sure she could.

But she nodded anyway, stepping back toward the cabin. She could feel Kieran's gaze on her as she disappeared inside, the weight of unspoken things hanging between them.

Something was changing inside her.

And she wasn't sure if she should fight it

Or let it take over.

Riley lay on the worn-out couch, staring at the ceiling, but sleep refused to come.

Her entire body felt restless like energy was thrumming beneath her skin, refusing to settle. Every creak of the cabin, every gust of wind against the wooden walls, made her muscles tighten as if she were waiting for some unseen danger to lunge from the shadows.

She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to take slow, steady breaths.

Kieran had said the mark was changing her.

But what?

Her stomach twisted.

She thought back to the way she had moved in the woods, the way she had felt the presence of the wolves before seeing them, the unnatural speed that had carried her away from Callum's attack.

No human should be able to do that.

A sharp pain bloomed behind her ribs, making her suck in a breath. It wasn't like the usual aches of exhaustion or injury, it was deeper like something inside her was stretching, shifting, awakening.

She pressed a hand to her chest, swallowing hard.

This isn't normal.

Footsteps.

Riley's eyes snapped open.

For a moment, she thought she had imagined it. But then she heard it again, the faint sound of movement just outside the cabin. Slow. Purposeful.

She sat up carefully, every nerve in her body suddenly alert.

Nova was still asleep on the cot, her breathing slow and even. Kieran was slumped in the chair near the door, his body tense even in unconsciousness.

Whoever was outside wasn't one of them.

Riley moved without thinking, slipping off the couch as quietly as possible. Her heart pounded in her chest as she crept toward the window, carefully pulling back the curtain just enough to see outside.

The forest stretched into darkness, thick and unmoving. But the feeling of being watched pressed against her skin, making the hair on the back of her neck rise.

Something was out there.

She turned toward Kieran, about to wake him, but before she could speak

The door burst open.

A dark figure lunged inside, moving impossibly fast.

Riley barely had time to react before a heavy weight slammed into her, knocking her to the floor. A hand clamped around her throat, pinning her down. She gasped, struggling, but the grip was like iron.

Golden eyes gleamed above her.

Not Kieran's.

Callum.

"Did you really think you could run from me?" he whispered, his grip tightening just enough to make her pulse spike with panic.

A low growl rumbled from across the room.

Then Kieran was moving.

He collided with Callum in a blur of motion, ripping him away from Riley and slamming him into the wooden wall with enough force to crack the old boards. Callum snarled but barely looked winded, his smirk sharp as ever.

"Missed me, Wolfe?" he taunted.

Kieran didn't hesitate. He lunged again, this time aiming to kill.

The cabin exploded into chaos.

Riley scrambled backward, her breath coming fast as Kieran and Callum tore into each other with savage intensity. Claws flashed, fists landed with sickening thuds, and the scent of blood filled the air.

Callum was toying with Kieran. That much was clear. He was too fast and every time Kieran tried to land a decisive blow, Callum dodged at the last second, laughing like this was all just a game.

A blur of movement to Riley's left caught her attention.

One of Callum's wolves, bigger than the others she had seen before, his face twisted in a vicious snarl, was charging straight for Nova.

Riley moved.

She didn't think. She didn't hesitate.

One second she was crouched near the floor, the next she was launching herself forward, intercepting the wolf before he could reach Nova's sleeping form.

Her body reacted on pure instinct.

She grabbed the wolf by the arm and threw him.

Not pushed. Not shoved.

Threw.

The massive wolf hit the opposite wall so hard that the wooden panels cracked on impact. He slumped to the floor, groaning, his eyes wide with shock.

Riley froze.

Her breath came in sharp, uneven gasps.

She looked down at her hands, at her fingers that had moved with unnatural strength, at the way her body had reacted without hesitation.

That wasn't normal.

That wasn't human.

Callum's laughter cut through the chaos.

"Oh, that's interesting," he mused, dodging another strike from Kieran with infuriating ease. His golden eyes flicked toward Riley, full of something dark and knowing. "Looks like someone's finally waking up."

Riley's stomach dropped.

She didn't have time to process what he meant, because, at that moment, Nova woke up.

She sat up, groggy and disoriented, her eyes widening as she took in the destruction around her. "What the hell"

The wolf Riley had thrown suddenly surged forward again.

Riley reacted instantly.

She spun, moving faster than she should have been able to, grabbing the wolf's wrist mid-strike and twisting hard. A sickening crack echoed through the cabin as he howled in pain, collapsing to his knees.

Her breathing was ragged, her heart hammering, but she barely felt the exhaustion.

She felt alive.

Powerful.

Wrong.

Callum was watching her like a predator who had just caught the scent of something rare and valuable.

"Now that," he murmured, stepping back toward the open door, "is something worth chasing."

Kieran lunged at him again, but Callum was already moving. He ducked the attack with effortless ease, retreating toward the exit. His injured packmate scrambled after him, growling in pain.

Callum smirked. "We'll be seeing each other again soon, Riley."

Then, before Kieran could reach him, he was gone.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Riley was still breathing hard, her entire body trembling.

Nova was staring at her. Not at Kieran. Her.

"What the hell was that?" Nova whispered.

Riley didn't have an answer.

Kieran turned toward her, his golden eyes unreadable. "We need to go," he said, voice tight. "Now."

Riley swallowed hard, her fingers still shaking.

She had known something was changing.

But after tonight after what she had just done

She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what she was becoming.