Chapter 11

The night air was crisp and biting as Riley stepped out of the cabin. The sky above was still deep with the remnants of night, though hints of dawn bled across the horizon in streaks of gray and violet. She shivered, but not from the cold.

Elena walked ahead, her steps slow but deliberate, her presence commanding without effort. Kieran followed closely behind Riley, silent, watchful. Nova hesitated at the threshold, arms crossed.

"I swear, if this turns into some 'ancient ritual in the woods' thing, I'm out," Nova muttered under her breath.

Riley almost smiled, but the tension in her chest made it impossible.

Because despite everything despite the exhaustion in her bones, the fear coiled in her gut there was something else stirring inside her.

Something she didn't recognize.

Something that was waiting.

Elena led them down a narrow path through the trees, her movements unhurried, as if she wasn't guiding Riley toward something that could change everything.

Finally, they reached a clearing. The space was wide, ringed by towering pines, the ground damp from the night's lingering moisture. The air smelled of earth and something richer, something ancient.

Elena turned to face Riley, her green eyes sharp in the half-light. "Take off your shoes."

Riley blinked. "What?"

Elena exhaled, clearly expecting resistance. "You need to feel the ground beneath you. It'll help."

Nova scoffed. "Okay, this is getting ritual-y."

Kieran shot her a warning look, but Riley barely noticed.

She hesitated. Then, slowly, she slipped off her shoes, letting the damp grass press against her bare feet. The earth was cold, and grounding, but it didn't ease the tension winding through her muscles.

Elena watched her. "Now close your eyes."

Riley swallowed, her pulse fluttering. "Why?"

"Because I need you to stop thinking and start feeling," Elena said simply.

Riley clenched her jaw, but she obeyed.

The moment she closed her eyes, the world around her shifted.

The sounds of the forest became sharper the rustling of leaves, the distant hoot of an owl, the scurrying of something small beneath the underbrush.

The scent of pine and damp wood filled her lungs, but beneath it, she could pick out other scents, more distinct. Kieran earthy, warm, edged with the metallic bite of lingering blood. Nova is citrusy and sharp, laced with adrenaline.

And Elena

Riley's brow furrowed.

Elena smelled like nothing.

Or rather, she smelled like everything.

Her scent shifted wood smoke one second, something floral the next, then something deeper, richer, wilder. It was impossible to pin down.

"You feel it, don't you?" Elena's voice was quiet, coaxing.

Riley swallowed hard. "I"

A jolt of something shot through her, fast, unexpected. A flash of heat curled up her spine, burning beneath her ribs. She inhaled sharply, her hands twitching at her sides.

Her senses were too alive.

Too sharp.

And the worst part?

It felt good.

Riley's breathing quickened.

Something was changing inside her, stretching, waking up.

Her fingers twitched again, and she swore, for half a second, her nails felt longer.

She snapped her eyes open, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "What the hell was that?"

Elena watched her carefully. "That," she said, "was your instincts taking over."

Riley's stomach twisted. "That wasn't normal."

"No," Elena agreed. "It wasn't."

Silence stretched between them.

Nova shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, can someone please start explaining in full sentences instead of vague, cryptic nonsense?"

Elena's gaze never left Riley's. "Your body is adapting. Whether you want it to or not."

Riley clenched her jaw. "Adapting to what?"

"To what you are," Elena said simply. "To what you were always meant to be."

The words lodged in Riley's throat like a stone.

"I wasn't meant to be anything," she bit out.

Elena smiled, but it wasn't warm. "That's where you're wrong."

Riley's hands curled into fists at her sides. "I don't believe you."

Elena tilted her head slightly. "Then let me prove it."

She took a slow step back, giving Riley space. "Attack me."

Riley blinked. "What?"

"You heard me."

Riley shook her head. "I'm not"

"You can," Elena said. "And more than that? You want to."

A slow, icy feeling crept down Riley's spine.

Because the worst part was

Elena was right.

The heat beneath her skin, the sharpness in her senses, the way her body itched to move, to strike

It was there.

Waiting.

Elena smirked like she could see Riley's struggle. "Afraid you'll lose control?"

Riley grits her teeth. "No."

"Then prove it."

Riley took a step forward.

Kieran tensed, but he didn't stop her.

Nova muttered something under her breath, but Riley barely heard it.

She didn't know what she was doing. Didn't know what was about to happen.

But her body did.

Her muscles coiled, her pulse slowing not from fear, but from something else. Something focused. Something predatory.

She lunged.

Fast.

Faster than she should have been able to.

But Elena was faster.

She moved before Riley could reach her, twisting just out of reach, her movements too smooth, too practiced.

"Again," she said.

Riley growled in frustration and attacked again, this time feinting left before striking from the right.

Elena dodged easily.

"You're thinking too much," she said. "Stop trying to fight like a human."

Riley's breath came in sharp bursts. "I am human."

Elena's eyes gleamed. "Not anymore."

The words hit Riley like a shockwave.

Her vision blurred, her body burning from the inside out. Her pulse slammed against her ribs, but it wasn't panic. It wasn't fear.

It was hunger.

Not for food.

Not for anything human.

Elena moved again, too fast, to fluid, and something inside Riley snapped.

Her body reacted.

She spun without thinking, dropping low before surging up-fast, predatory, instinct taking over.

And this time

She struck.

Her fingers wrapped around Elena's wrist before the woman could fully dodge, and Riley twisted hard.

Elena's expression barely changed, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes approval.

Then, just as quickly, she yanked herself free and took a step back.

Riley was breathing too hard.

Her skin was too hot.

She looked down at her hands.

Her nails were longer. Sharper. Claws.

She gasped, stumbling back, staring at them in horror.

Nova swore under her breath. "Oh, hell no."

Riley felt sick.

This wasn't happening.

This couldn't be happening.

Elena gave her a slow nod. "There it is."

Riley sucked in a ragged breath, her hands still trembling. The claws were retracting, but too slowly, like her body was reluctant to let go of what had just happened.

She lifted her gaze to Elena, her vision swimming. "What's happening to me?"

Elena's expression was unreadable. "You're waking up."

A cold shiver crawled up Riley's spine.

"I don't want this," she whispered.

Elena sighed, crossing her arms. "That doesn't matter."

Kieran stepped forward, his voice tight. "She needs time."

Elena shot him a look. "She doesn't have time."

Riley barely heard them.

Her breathing was shallow, her body still too tense, her mind spinning.

Because she had felt it.

The power.

The hunger.

And the worst part?

For a split second

She liked it.

Riley backed away, her breath coming fast, the sharp tang of panic coating her tongue. She flexed her fingers, half-expecting the claws to reappear, but they had already retracted, leaving only the ghost of their presence behind.

This wasn't real.

It couldn't be real.

She was just a girl. A normal girl.

Except she wasn't.

And deep down, she had always known something wasn't right.

"You're lying," she whispered.

Elena arched her brow. "Am I?"

Riley's jaw clenched. "I'm not I can't be"

"Feral?" Elena finished for her.

The word sent a fresh wave of nausea through Riley's gut.

Because that's what she was now, wasn't it? A thing of instinct. A thing of hunger.

A monster.

"No," she said, shaking her head, her voice barely holding steady. "No, I won't be like them."

Elena's expression didn't change. "That's up to you."

Something in the way she said it made Riley's pulse stutter.

She wanted to believe she had a choice, that she wasn't doomed to become one of the mindless creatures whispered about in werewolf legends.

But the way Elena looked at her steady, unshaken, like she had already seen what Riley would become sent cold dread pooling in her stomach.

Riley turned sharply to Kieran. "Tell me this isn't true."

Kieran hesitated.

That hesitation told her everything.

Her breath caught in her throat. "You knew."

Kieran's expression was tense, golden eyes dark with something unreadable. "I suspected."

A humorless laugh escaped her lips, sharp and bitter. "You suspected?"

"I didn't want to believe it," Kieran admitted, his voice low. "But Riley you felt it, didn't you?"

She had.

That was the worst part.

She had felt everything.

The power. The speed. The instinct that had taken over, guided her body before she even knew what she was doing.

It was terrifying.

And it felt right.

Riley sucked in a sharp breath, pressing her hands against her temples. Her thoughts were unraveling, spinning too fast for her to catch.

Elena spoke again, voice calm. "You don't have to lose yourself to it."

Riley lifted her gaze, her vision swimming. "But what if I do?"

Elena studied her for a long moment, then said, "Then there won't be anything left to save."

The words hit like a punch to the ribs.

Riley swallowed her throat tight.

Because despite everything despite the fear clawing at her chest, despite the truth settling into her bones like a weight she could never put down

A small, treacherous part of her already knew:

She wasn't the same girl she had been yesterday.

And she never would be again.