ISLA'S POV
My hand flies to my stomach as another wave of heat crashes through me.
It's not painful exactly, but it's intense. Like something inside me is stretching after being caged for twenty-three years. Like my body is remembering something my mind never knew.
"What does that mean?" I ask, my voice shaking. "What happens when my wolf wakes up?"
Cassian is still standing at the edge of the bed, his entire frame rigid with tension. When he speaks, his voice is carefully controlled—like he's holding back something dangerous.
"It means you'll be able to shift," he says. "It means you'll be stronger, faster, more powerful than any regular werewolf. It means the bloodline that was hidden inside you will finally reveal itself."
"I don't understand," I say. "I'm wolfless. I've always been wolfless. That's just... that's what I am."
"No," he says, and there's something almost like compassion in his tone. "That's what someone made you be. There's a difference."
