at exactly 3:17 a.m.
Adrian's eyes snapped open. He was on his feet before the echo faded, hand already on the pistol at his hip. Elara jolted awake on the couch, heart pounding from a nightmare she couldn't remember — until she realized the sound had been real.
Another howl rose, closer this time. Then another.
Silas appeared from the hallway, shotgun in hand, his face carved in grim lines. "They've been circling for hours," he said. "I thought they might wait for sunrise. Looks like I was wrong."
Adrian moved to the boarded-up window, peering through a narrow crack. His jaw tightened. "Half the pack. Maybe more."
Elara stood, fear and disbelief swirling through her. "Half the what?"
Before anyone could answer, a loud, splintering crack shook the front of the house. One of the boards over the window buckled inward, claws raking through the gap.
"Down!" Adrian barked, shoving her toward the floor just as something heavy slammed into the door.
The wolves came fast. Shadows darting past the windows, teeth flashing, claws tearing. The first burst of gunfire ripped through the night — Silas firing at the front, Adrian at the side. The air filled with the stench of gunpowder and wet fur.
Elara pressed herself against the wall, her breathing ragged. But then it happened — a sound she couldn't place, like a low, thrumming heartbeat inside her skull.
Her vision sharpened. The world slowed. She could hear them — the scrape of claws on wood, the rumble of breath in chests that weren't hers, the distant thud of paws against earth.
And beneath it all… a pull. A force tugging at her from somewhere deep in her bones.
A window shattered behind her, spraying glass. Adrian was there in an instant, catching a wolf mid-leap and slamming it into the wall with inhuman strength. But another crashed through the kitchen, straight toward Silas—
"No!" The word ripped from her throat.
Light.
It poured from her hands, silver and cold, slamming into the wolf like a physical blow. The creature yelped and stumbled back, eyes wide with something that looked like fear before it turned and fled.
Adrian froze. Silas froze. For a heartbeat, the only sound was the soft hiss of her breath.
"What… was that?" Silas whispered.
Elara stared at her trembling hands. The light was gone, but she could still feel it — the thrum, the pull, the strange certainty that it belonged to her.
Adrian's gaze on her was unreadable, but his voice was sharp. "We're leaving. Now."
"They'll track you," Silas warned. "Not just the pack. Others will have seen that."
Adrian didn't answer. He grabbed Elara's hand, pulling her toward the back door. "Then we move faster."
The night outside was thick with fog, the shapes of wolves shifting in and out of sight. Somewhere beyond them, something bigger waited — she could feel it watching.
And for the first time, she wasn't sure if it wanted to kill her… or claim her.