The strain of using her evolving powers, combined with the emotional weight of her past, began to manifest in Elara's dreams. They were vivid, unsettling, and often prophetic. She saw flashes of Mara's scattered rogues regrouping, their rage simmering, and new alliances forming in the shadows. But more disturbingly, she dreamt of a figure, cloaked and shadowed, pulling strings, seemingly manipulating both Thorne (even in his death, his influence lingered) and Mara from afar. This suggested a larger, unseen player in the complex game.
Beyond dreams, Elara discovered a subtle new facet to her powers. She could now, with immense concentration, not just project thoughts or sense emotions, but also send out a very faint, almost imperceptible mental pulse – a 'beacon' designed to be felt only by those attuned to her unique frequency, perhaps her birth pack. It was a long shot, a needle in a haystack, but it was a desperate attempt to reach out across the vastness of the shifter lands.
Maddox, aware of her new capabilities and her unsettling dreams, encouraged her to refine this new skill. He saw the potential not just for finding her family, but for communication across immense distances, a strategic advantage previously unimaginable. The pursuit of Elara's past intertwined with the growing awareness of a more insidious, overarching threat.