My insides were burning.
The pain I had felt in the forest had lessened, but the fire still lingered deep within me like something was scorching my veins from the inside.
I wanted to open my eyes, but it felt impossible.
I tried to move, to sit up, to do anything but my body wouldn't respond.
I tried to part my lips and speak, but no sound came out.
It felt like I had become paralyzed… stiff and lifeless, like wood.
Where was I?
Then I heard footsteps approaching.
Muffled voices followed, distant and unclear, as though they were coming from underwater.
A click sounded, then the soft thud of a door closing.
"Is she okay?" That was the first sentence I managed to catch.
"…her temperature keeps dropping." A familiar female voice replied, and even through the fog in my mind, I knew it had to be Ellen.
The girl continued, her voice tense. "I have never seen anything like this, Alex."
Alex?
Alexander was here.
"Do everything in your power to make sure she is alright," Alexander's voice came next...firm, commanding, leaving no room for argument.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then the door banged shut. It seemed Ellen had left.
"You're hiding something, Alex." Another voice spoke, one I recognized immediately.
Lucian.
"I need you to call Carolina and tell her to get down here as soon as she can," Alexander ordered.
"You think this is beyond Ellen?" Lucian asked, his voice lowered. Even though it was hard to catch, I could hear the seriousness in it.
The next words Alexander said were too faint for me to hear.
My body still refused to respond, but somehow, with everything in me, I forced my eyelids to flutter.
Just a little.
My vision was blurry, but I could make out two figures standing not too far away.
Alexander and Lucian.
They were speaking quietly, their faces tense, their bodies stiff as if something heavy was hanging over them.
I tried to focus harder, tried to hear what they were saying…
But the burning in my chest surged, and the room tilted.
Darkness swallowed me again.
Even as I slipped away, I could still hear their voices, like echoes.
"Anna," the name reached my ears faintly, almost like a whisper.
"Anna," it came again, clearer this time.
And then...
"Anna."
My eyes snapped open.
I wasn't in bed anymore.
I was standing on the stairs...familiar ones.
"You seem so lost today."
My gaze fell on the pregnant woman standing at the foot of the stairs.
"You've been doing well these past few days, but today…" She shook her head, disappointment evident in her expression.
The beautiful pregnant woman before me was familiar. This situation was familiar. The name she called me was familiar.
It was just like the dream I had a few days ago.
"If you feel under the weather, why don't you rest?" she asked with a gentle smile, her green eyes warm.
I didn't reply. I didn't know what to say...I was confused. One minute ago, I was lying paralyzed in the dark pack house, and now I was standing on the stairs of my old home… which felt strangely unfamiliar.
The burning sensation from earlier was gone, as if it had never existed.
I moved my leg and realized I could walk.
"I'm sorry, ma," I said, managing a small smile now that I could speak.
"You're dismissed for today, Anna," she said, and without waiting for a response, she walked away.
Dismissed?
I didn't know where to go or why I was even here.
A part of me wanted to walk around the pack house, to reminisce about the old days but I didn't understand why that feeling was so strong.
Instead, I decided to follow the path she had taken.
I walked through the familiar corridor until I stopped in front of our old parlor.
Muffled voices came from inside.
The door was slightly ajar.
I hesitated for a moment, then shifted closer, my fingers brushing lightly against the wood as I peered through the small opening.
Celina was sitting on a single couch, and another woman stood not too far from her.
I could see them more clearly now.
The standing woman had her back turned to me at first, her posture straight, her presence oddly commanding.
Something about her felt… familiar.
Then, as if sensing something, she turned.
My breath caught.
Her face seemed familiar also...
I was sure I had seen her before.
But where?
No matter how hard I tried to remember, nothing came.
Just a strange, unsettling sense of recognition that refused to fade.
Then suddenly...
"Who's there?"
The woman's voice rang out, sharp and alert.
A jolt of panic shot through me.
My body tensed, instinct screaming at me to run but before I could even take a step back, the door was pulled open.
I froze.
We stood face to face.
Up close, the sense of familiarity hit even harder, almost suffocating.
Her pair of green eyes narrowed slightly as they swept over me.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
My lips parted, but no words came out.
I didn't know what to say.
I just stood there, staring at her, my mind racing, trying desperately to come up with something...anything.
My heart pounded loudly in my chest, each beat echoing in my ears.
The woman's expression shifted as her mouth moved again, clearly saying something but I couldn't hear her.
Not a single word.
The sound around me faded, like everything was being pulled underwater again.
My vision blurred.
The edges of her face softened, distorting.
And then
Darkness crept in.
My eyelids grew heavy.
Too heavy.
I couldn't fight it.
The last thing I saw was her figure standing right in front of me… fading.
My eyes snapped open.
I gasped, my chest rising sharply as air rushed back into my lungs.
I was lying on my bed.
In my room.
The one I knew so well...every corner, every detail familiar and grounding.
Not like the other place.
Not like the stairs… or the parlor… or that woman.
For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, my heart still racing as if I had been running.
It had felt so real.
Too real.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
What… was that?
A dream?
It couldn't have been.
It felt too vivid...too real and this place too, I knew I wasnt supposed to be here too.
Slowly, I pushed myself up, my hands pressing against the mattress as I steadied my breathing.
My heart was still racing.
I lifted a hand to my chest, as if to calm it, but the rhythm refused to slow.
"How did I get here…?" I whispered.
Some secomds ago I was was standing in front of that lady and now here.
I was getting so confused and worried at the same time at what was going on.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to recall it clearly, to piece it together but i still couldn't make sense of what was going on.
Frustration bubbled up inside me.
My gaze darted around the room, searching if there was any difference with from my bedroom in my pack but it was the same.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
The bed.
The walls.
The silence.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Then I heard screams behind the closed door.
My head snapped toward the door.
Voices...loud, panicked...echoed from outside my room.
Shouting.
Crying.
Chaos.
My heart lurched.
I threw the covers aside and rushed to the door, pulling it open.
"Hello?" I called out, my voice unsteady.
No answer.
Just more screams.
I stepped out into the hallway and froze.
Fire.
Flames licked up the walls, devouring everything in their path. Smoke curled thickly through the air, choking and heavy.
The house
My home.
The place I had grown up in.
It was burning.
"No…" the word slipped from my lips, barely a sound.
My eyes darted around wildly, trying to make sense of it, trying to understand how this could be happening then...
I saw it.
A figure moving through the chaos.
Familiar.
My breath caught.
A black wolf.
My wolf.
"Kate…" I whispered, my voice trembling.
Relief flooded me for a split second.
"Kate!" I called out louder.
But she didn't stop.
Didn't even turn.
She just kept walking.
Straight toward the flames.
My chest tightened.
"No...Kate, stop!" Panic surged through me as I broke into a run.
The heat grew stronger, biting against my skin as I pushed forward, desperate to reach her.
"Kate, don't!" I screamed.
But it was too late.
She walked into the fire.
Just like that.
Gone.
"No!" My legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed to the floor.
Tears blurred my vision as a broken sob tore from my chest.
"Kate!" I screamed, my voice cracking, desperate, helpless.
I could only watch as my wolf burned before me.
------
I gasped and suddenly opened my eyes.
I sat up so fast my head spun.
My breath came in sharp, panicked gulps as I looked around, disoriented.
I was back at the dark blood pack.
The air felt still, as if the world had paused.
"Elena." Alexander's voice.
I turned my head and saw him sitting beside me.
My eyes welled with tears all over again.
They spilled down my cheeks uncontrollably as I sucked in a shaky breath.
"Alex…" I whispered.
It was the first time I had ever called him that.
Alexander's eyes widened slightly, and he leaned closer, his hands rising to cup my face.
"What is it, Elena?" he asked, his voice low and tight with worry. "Are you in pain?"
I shook my head, but the tears wouldn't stop.
"I can't feel my wolf, Alexander," I choked out.
He was looking at me with a confused expression on his face, his brows drawn together.
"I know you can't feel your wolf, but..."
"No." I cut him off quickly, my voice breaking. "It's gone."
The words tasted like death.
My chest tightened again, but this time it wasn't because I couldn't breathe...it was because my heart felt like it was splitting apart.
"This time it's gone for real," I whispered, shaking my head helplessly. "And it's not coming back."