Calyn's POV
I can't stop shaking.
It's been three hours since I killed the rogue wolf, and my hands still won't stop trembling. I'm sitting alone in my room, staring at my palms like they belong to someone else.
I took a life. Deliberately. Completely.
And the worst part? I liked it.
The power that flooded into me, the rush of strength, the way every cell in my body sang with stolen energy—it felt incredible. Like I was finally whole.
That terrifies me more than anything Morgana could do.
A knock on my door makes me jump.
"Calyn?" It's Rowan's voice. "Can I come in?"
"Yes," I manage to say.
He enters, and one look at his face tells me he knows. Of course he knows. He was there, watching from the treeline with Rhea when I killed that wolf.
"You haven't eaten," he says, setting down a plate of food. "Morgana says you need to keep your strength up."
"I'm not hungry."
"Eat anyway." He sits across from me, those silver eyes—my eyes now—studying my face. "You're in shock. That's normal."
"Normal?" I laugh, and it comes out broken. "There's nothing normal about enjoying murder."
"You didn't murder him," Rowan says firmly. "He was already sentenced to death. You were just the method of execution."
"That's what Morgana said. But it doesn't change how it felt." I look at him. "Does it get easier? Killing?"
His jaw tightens. "Yes. And that's the dangerous part."
The honesty surprises me. "How many have you killed?"
"More than I can count." He doesn't look away. "As Alpha, I've executed traitors, enemies, threats to my pack. Some deserved it. Some..." He trails off. "Some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And you're right—it does get easier. Until one day you realize you don't feel anything at all anymore."
"Is that what happened to you?"
"Yes." The word is quiet. "I became exactly what everyone expected. The Ice Alpha. Cold. Ruthless. Efficient. I stopped seeing wolves and started seeing problems that needed solving."
"What changed?" I ask.
He looks at me for a long moment. "You did."
My breath catches. "What?"
"When I heard about you—an omega who survived three days buried alive, who fought back against her own pack, who refused to stay dead—something woke up in me. Something I thought I'd killed years ago." He leans forward. "You reminded me that strength isn't about how much power you have. It's about what you choose to do with it."
"I just killed someone and enjoyed it," I say bitterly. "That's not strength. That's—"
"Human," he interrupts. "You're allowed to feel things, Calyn. Even dark things. The question is: will you let those feelings control you, or will you control them?"
Before I can answer, Morgana's voice echoes through the tree: "Lesson two! Everyone to the main room! Now!"
Rowan and I exchange glances. That was fast.
We hurry to the main room where Morgana is waiting with Rhea. Between them stands a girl—maybe sixteen years old, with scared eyes and bound hands.
My stomach drops. "No. Not again. I can't—"
"Relax, Void child." Morgana waves dismissively. "This one lives. Today's lesson is about control, not consumption. Meet Lily. She's a rogue omega who's been stealing from nearby packs. The Council wants her executed, but I have other plans."
Lily's eyes are wide with terror as she stares at me. "Please don't kill me. Please, I'm sorry, I was just hungry—"
"I'm not going to hurt you," I say quickly.
"Correct," Morgana agrees. "You're going to drain her. Just enough to weaken her. And then you're going to stop. No consumption. No death. Just control."
"That's impossible," I protest. "Every time I use my power, it wants everything. It doesn't stop until—"
"Until you make it stop," Morgana finishes. "That's the whole point, child. Your power is like a wild animal. Right now, it controls you. But with practice, you'll learn to put a leash on it. To command it instead of being commanded."
I look at Lily's terrified face. "What if I can't stop? What if I kill her?"
"Then you kill her," Morgana says coldly. "And we find another test subject. But I don't think you will. You have more control than you realize. You stopped draining Matthias and his wolves, remember? You chose mercy."
"That was different. That was my brother—"
"No difference." Morgana cuts me off. "Power is power. If you can control it once, you can control it every time. You just need to believe you can."
I turn to Rowan desperately. "This is insane. I could kill her—"
"You won't," he says with absolute certainty. "I've seen you fight your instincts before. You're stronger than your power, Calyn. You just don't know it yet."
His faith in me should feel good. Instead, it feels like pressure crushing my chest.
"Please," Lily whimpers. "I don't want to die."
Neither do I. But if I don't learn control, I'll end up killing someone I care about eventually.
I take a deep breath and step toward Lily. "I'm going to try not to hurt you. But you need to stay very still, okay?"
She nods, tears streaming down her face.
I close my eyes and reach for the power inside me. It surges up immediately, hungry and eager. It wants to consume. To drain. To take everything.
No, I tell it. Not everything. Just a little. Just enough.
The power fights me, screaming to be released fully. But I hold it back, forcing it into submission.
I open my eyes and release just a trickle of energy toward Lily.
The drain is immediate. Her face goes pale and she gasps. I can feel her strength flowing into me—but this time, I'm controlling the flow. Regulating it.
The power howls inside me, demanding more. Take it all! Consume her!
No, I growl back. I'm in charge. Not you.
Sweat drips down my face as I fight to maintain control. It's like trying to hold back a flood with my bare hands.
Lily's knees buckle. She's weakening fast.
Stop, I command the power. That's enough.
But it doesn't want to stop. It never wants to stop.
"Calyn," Rowan's voice cuts through my concentration. "You're losing it. Pull back now."
Lily collapses to her knees, barely conscious. I'm taking too much. I need to stop. I NEED TO—
And then something clicks.
I imagine a door in my mind. I picture myself closing it, locking the power away behind it.
The drain stops.
The connection breaks.
I stumble backward, gasping. Lily falls forward, unconscious but breathing.
Morgana laughs—actually laughs. "Well done! Sloppy, but effective. You closed the channel. Locked away the power." She claps her hands together. "That's the key to control, Void child. You can't destroy your nature, but you can cage it. Let it out when you choose, and lock it away when you're done."
I'm shaking so hard I can barely stand. Rowan catches me before I fall.
"You did it," he says quietly. "You stopped."
"Barely," I gasp. "It fought me every second. It wanted to kill her."
"But it didn't." He helps me to a chair. "Because you're stronger than it."
Rhea is checking on Lily, making sure she's okay. "She'll recover. Might be weak for a few days, but she'll live."
Relief floods through me. I didn't kill her. I actually controlled it.
Morgana approaches with a cup of that terrible glowing liquid. "Drink. Your body needs to recover from fighting your own power."
I drink it down, not even caring about the taste anymore.
"Get some rest," Morgana orders. "Tomorrow's lesson will be harder."
"Harder?" I can barely lift my head. "How can it possibly be harder than this?"
Her smile is terrifying. "Tomorrow, you learn to drain multiple targets at once. And then you learn to give the power back."
My eyes widen. "Give it back? I can do that?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. We'll find out tomorrow." She waves us away. "Now go. You're cluttering up my workspace."
Rowan helps me back to my room. I collapse onto the bed, completely exhausted.
"You should be proud," he says. "Most Voids never learn control. They get consumed by their own hunger."
"How do you know that? I thought Voids were extinct."
"They are. Now." His face is grim. "Because they all eventually lost control and had to be put down. You're the first Void in three centuries to actually fight back against your nature."
The weight of that settles over me. "No pressure, right?"
He almost smiles. "Get some sleep. You earned it."
He starts to leave, but I grab his hand. "Thank you. For believing in me. For not being afraid."
"Oh, I'm terrified," he admits. "But not of you. I'm afraid of losing you to this power. Of watching you become something that can't come back." His silver eyes meet mine. "So don't let that happen. Stay yourself, Calyn. No matter what."
He leaves, and I'm alone with my thoughts.
I close my eyes and immediately see Lily's terrified face. Feel the power howling to consume her. Remember how hard it was to stop.
This is just day one. I have three months of this.
Can I really do this? Can I learn to control something that wants nothing more than to destroy everything I touch?
Sleep finally claims me, pulling me into darkness.
But my dreams are worse than before.
I'm standing in a throne room made of bones. Dead wolves everywhere—Rhea, Rowan, Matthias, Senna, all drained and empty.
And I'm sitting on the throne, eyes blazing silver, wearing a crown made of stolen power.
"This is your destiny," Morgana's voice whispers. "Not because of prophecy. Because of choice. Every time you use your power, you take a step toward this throne. The question is: will you stop walking? Or will you claim what you were meant to be?"
I wake with a scream.
But this time, something's different.
The door to my room is open. And standing in the doorway, silhouetted by moonlight, is a figure I don't recognize.
Not Rowan. Not Rhea. Not Morgana.
Someone else.
"Hello, Calyn," the stranger says. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."
My power surges up automatically, ready to defend.
But the stranger just smiles. "Don't bother. Your power won't work on me." They step into the light, and I see their face clearly.
My mother's face.
But that's impossible. My mother has been dead for five years.
"Surprised?" she asks, and her voice is wrong—too cold, too cruel. "You should be. Because I have so much to tell you about what you really are. And trust me, child—everything you think you know? It's all a lie."
She holds out her hand, and I see something that makes my blood freeze.
Her eyes are glowing. Not silver like an Alpha.
Not green like Morgana's magic.
Black. Pure, absolute black.
Like looking into a void.
"You're not my mother," I whisper.
"No," she agrees. "I'm something much more interesting. I'm what you'll become when Morgana's training is complete. I'm your future, Calyn. And I'm here to make sure you don't try to fight it."