The whisper echoed in her skull like a dropped stone in a deep well.
"He's coming."
Arielle sat frozen on her thin mattress, every nerve pulled taut.
Her wolf had spoken—just once—but that was more than ever before. For two years, she'd believed she didn't have one. That she was broken. Defective. A burden.
But now… now something had shifted.
The wind rattled the frosted glass panes. Outside, the snowstorm twisted through the forest like a hungry beast. Somewhere in the distance, a branch cracked.
And then another.
Too heavy for snow.
Too slow for an animal.
She wrapped her shawl tightly around her shoulders, rising quietly so she wouldn't wake the others. Her bare feet made no sound on the old wooden floorboards as she stepped toward the window.
A figure stood at the tree line.
Cloaked. Still. Watching.
Her breath caught in her throat.
From this distance, she couldn't see his face—only the outline of a tall man wrapped in black, shadows curling around him like mist. He didn't move. Didn't breathe. Just… waited.
For what?
She wanted to look away. To run. But her body refused.
There was something ancient about the air around him. Like the storm bowed to him. Like the snow dared not touch him.
Then—
His head turned.
And even though he was too far to see clearly, Arielle felt his eyes lock onto hers.
Her heart stuttered. She stumbled back, nearly tripping over the bedframe.
By the time she looked again, he was gone.
Vanished like smoke.
---
The next morning dawned pale and hollow. No one else mentioned the storm. No one had seen a stranger. And when Arielle returned to the window, there were no footprints in the snow.
As if he'd never been there at all.
Had she imagined it?
Maybe she was going mad. It wouldn't be surprising—not in this place.
But deep in her bones, something had changed.
---
At midday, Alpha Gray summoned her.
She stood alone in the grand hall, the marble floor cold against her feet. The Alpha sat lazily on his stone throne, one leg slung over the other, sipping from a silver goblet.
"Omega," he said without looking at her. "Come forward."
She obeyed, head bowed.
He chuckled. "You've been having... dreams, haven't you?"
Her blood ran cold. She kept her expression blank.
"I've seen you tossing in your sleep. Heard you muttering things you shouldn't know."
He finally looked at her.
"You think you're special," he said quietly. "But you're not. Just a ghost of a mistake long buried."
A pause.
"And if you ever try to leave this pack… I'll finish what your father never lived long enough to."
Her eyes snapped to his, startled.
He smiled.
But before she could speak, the great doors to the hall blew open with a sharp bang, snow curling in behind a tall figure cloaked in black.
The guards flinched. The Alpha sat up.
And Arielle felt it in her chest—the pulse of something forgotten.
Her wolf stirred again.
He's here.
The man stepped into the hall, pulling back his hood to reveal a face carved from stone and shadows.
Eyes like silver fire.
Voice like thunder.
"I'm here for the girl."