The forest feels unusually alive tonight, humming beneath my feet as though it knows something I don't. Every step I take is swallowed by the thick carpet of leaves, but I still feel the earth pulsing. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's because of what happened earlier. Maybe it's because the bracelet is missing.
My fingers curl into my palm. I keep replaying the moment in my head.
Liam's hand brushing mine.
His eyes drifting to my wrist.
The sudden tightening in my chest when I realized the bracelet my bracelet, is gone.
It should not be gone. It cannot be gone.
That bracelet is the one thing that has always kept me grounded, the one thing my mother said I must never lose, the one thing I have worn since I was a child barely old enough to speak. And now it has disappeared on the same day strange energy surged through me in front of Liam.
Coincidence?
No. Not with my life.
The moonlight filters through the tall trees, painting the path ahead in silver. Elder Mirena's lodge sits at the far northern edge of the territory, tucked between ancient oaks like a secret the forest protects. The older wolves say the trees whisper to her and she whispers back. They say she knows things before they happen. I used to think they exaggerated.
Now I'm not so sure.
I reach the small stone steps and pause. Something presses on my lungs, heavy as if the air itself warns me to turn around and pretend none of today happened. But I knock anyway.
The door creaks open almost immediately.
Elder Mirena stands there with her silver hair braided down her back and her eyes sharper than any wolf in the pack. She looks at me for only one second before she steps aside and gestures for me to enter.
"I have been expecting you, child."
My throat tightens. "You have?"
She nods once, her expression unreadable. "Sit."
Her lodge smells like burning sage, dried herbs, and old books. There are carvings on the wall, wolves, moons, symbols I don't understand. The air is warm, almost too warm, as though something in here breathes.
I sit.
Mirena settles across from me. Her gaze drifts to my bare wrist.
"You lost it," she says quietly.
I swallow. "Yes."
"You didn't misplace it. It was taken."
My heart jumps. "Taken? By who?"
"Not 'who.' Not yet. But it was pulled from you, child. Your bond to it weakened."
"I don't understand."
Mirena leans forward. "You felt it today, didn't you? A surge. A spark. Something waking inside you."
I don't answer. I don't need to. She already knows.
Her voice softens. "Liora… you have been suppressing your nature for too long."
I stiffen. "What nature? I'm a wolf."
Her eyes lock with mine. "Wolves do not glow."
My breath stops.
She saw.
Of course she saw. She always sees.
"I didn't glow," I whisper, though even as the words leave my mouth they sound childish.
"You did."
Mirena stands, moves toward a shelf and returns with an old leather-bound book. She places it gently before me. On the cover is a symbol, half moon, half blood-red star.
"What is this?"
"History," she says. "Yours."
I open it with hesitant fingers. The pages are filled with handwritten notes, drawings of creatures with eyes like mine, symbols I've never seen before. One drawing makes my skin prickle. A girl in a flowing cloak, a faint light glowing from her chest, and around her wrist, my bracelet.
"This…" My voice trembles. "This looks like me."
"It is not you," Mirena says. "But it could be. Blood remembers."
I look up sharply. "Elder Mirena, please. Stop speaking in half sentences. Tell me what is happening to me."
She holds my gaze with a seriousness that dries my throat. "There are legends of beings born between realms. Creatures that carry the energy of two worlds. They were rare. Protected. Feared. And hunted."
I blink slowly, feeling my pulse in my ears.
"What does this have to do with me?"
"You are not like the others in this pack, Liora. You never have been."
My chest tightens. "So what am I?"
For the first time, she hesitates.
"You are something the old world warned about," she whispers. "A bridge. A key. A danger. And a hope."
I shake my head. "That means nothing to me."
"It will." Mirena's expression darkens. "Especially when the vampires begin to move again."
My heart stutters. "Vampires? They haven't bothered wolves in decades."
"That is what the pack believes. Not what is true."
She walks toward the window. Moonlight paints her face in silver shadows.
"There is one who watches you," she continues. "One who has watched you from the moment you were born."
"Who?"
Her eyes glow faintly. "Queen Serapha."
I freeze.
I have heard the name whispered only once or twice in childhood stories. The hidden queen. The silent ruler of the clans. The one with crimson eyes and a voice that could bend shadows.
"She has no reason to watch me," I say quickly.
Mirena sighs. "Child… she has every reason."
Before I can ask what that means, Mirena's posture shifts. Her eyes narrow as though she senses something far away.
"She is restless tonight," she murmurs. "The queen. Her attention drifts toward us. Toward you."
A cold tremor runs through me.
"Why me?"
"Because of what you carry."
"What do I carry?" I snap, frustration cracking through my voice. "Why won't anyone just say it plainly?"
Mirena steps closer and touches my cheek gently, like a grandmother comforting a frightened child.
"Because plain truths ruin worlds."
Her words settle like stones in my chest.
She withdraws her hand. "You must find your bracelet before she does."
"How?" My voice sounds small.
"You will feel it."
Her eyes bore into mine. "You always have."
I stand slowly. My hands tremble at my sides. "What do I tell my parents?"
She shakes her head. "Nothing. Not yet. They cannot be the ones to break this truth."
My stomach twists. "I can't lie to them."
"You must," she says quietly. "For their protection."
I nod, though it hurts.
"Elder Mirena… am I safe?"
Her silence answers everything.
The walk home feels longer than usual, as though the night stretches itself to keep me in its grip. Every leaf rustle makes me turn. Every shadow feels like it's hiding eyes. Maybe it's just fear. Maybe it's something else.
By the time I reach my house, my heart is beating too fast. I take a breath and push the door open.
My mother looks up immediately from the small wooden table. My father stands near the window, his arms folded, worry written so clearly across his face that it hurts me to look at him.
"Liora," my mother breathes, relief mixing with frustration. "Where have you been? It's late."
My father's voice is calm but firm. "You disappear without a word and expect us not to worry?"
Guilt spreads through my stomach like heat. "I'm sorry. I just… needed some air."
My mother arches a brow. "You needed air for almost three hours?"
I freeze. I didn't realize it had been that long.
She steps closer and studies my face with the kind of look only a mother can give—the one that sees past every lie.
"Something happened," she says softly.
My breath hitches.
She always knows.
"I'm fine," I whisper.
"No," she says. "You're not."
My father moves toward me. "Did someone hurt you?"
"No."
Not physically.
Not yet.
He places a hand on my shoulder. "Then tell us what's wrong."
I open my mouth but no words come. What am I supposed to say? That I felt something awakening inside me like fire under my skin? That Elder Mirena thinks vampires are moving again? That Queen Serapha herself might be watching me?
I force a small smile. "Really. I'm okay."
My mother steps back slowly. The disappointment in her eyes crushes me. "You're hiding something."
My voice cracks. "Mom… please."
"Liora," my father says gently, "you know you can talk to us."
I want to.
I ache to.
But Mirena's warning curls in the back of my mind like smoke.
Plain truths ruin worlds.
"I'm just tired," I say. "I'll go to bed."
My mother reaches for my wrist instinctively—maybe to comfort me, maybe to guide me toward my room—but her hand stops mid-air.
Her eyes widen.
"Where is your bracelet?" she whispers.
My blood runs cold.
I swallow hard. "I… lost it."
The silence that follows is heavy enough to crush me.
My father's expression changes first—confusion turning into something sharp. My mother's lips part in horror.
"You lost it?" she repeats, her voice thin.
"I didn't mean to—"
"Liora, that bracelet is not just jewelry," my father says.
My mother's hands tremble. "Tell me exactly when you lost it."
"I don't know. Earlier today."
She looks at my father with panic. "This can't be happening. Not now."
He presses a hand to his forehead. "We should have told her sooner."
My heart pounds. "Told me what?"
They both fall silent.
"Mom?"
"Dad?"
My mother looks at me with eyes full of a fear I have never seen in her before.
"Liora… that bracelet was meant to protect you."
"I know."
I've always known.
But I never knew why.
She swallows hard. "Without it… you're exposed."
A chill runs through me. "Exposed to what?"
Before she can answer, a sudden pressure spikes behind my eyes—fast, sharp, and blinding. I stagger, gripping the edge of the table.
"Liora?" my father says, rushing toward me.
The room blurs. Something cold touches the back of my mind like a whisper slipping through a door I did not open.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Powerful.
Ancient.
So the seal is broken.
I gasp and press my palms to my head.
"Liora!" my mother cries.
But the voice doesn't stop.
You have grown beautifully.
A fragile spark… waiting to ignite.
The air in the room feels suddenly colder.
I have waited a long time to feel you awaken, Liora.
I choke out, "Who are you?"
My parents freeze at the question.
The voice laughs softly, echoing like it's coming through water.
You will learn my name soon enough, child.
But I already know it.
Queen Serapha.
Darkness tightens around the edges of my vision.
The world spins.
Everything goes silent.
Then—
Her voice again, whispering through me.
Find the bracelet before they do.
The pressure in my head vanishes as suddenly as it came. I collapse into my father's arms, panting.
My mother kneels beside me, tears in her eyes. "Liora… what did you hear?"
I whisper, "Her."
The fear in their faces deepens.
My father pulls me close. "We need to protect you."
My voice shakes. "From what?"
He hesitates.
My mother squeezes my hand.
They look at each other.
And for the first time in my life…
I see them afraid of me.
Sleep refuses to come that night. I lie awake, staring at the ceiling, replaying every word Elder Mirena said. Every look my parents gave me. Every whisper from the queen.
A bridge.
A key.
A danger.
A hope.
What does that make me?
At some point near dawn, I hear soft footsteps outside my window. I sit up quickly, my heart racing. For a moment I think it's my parents checking on me.
But then I sense it.
A presence.
Not wolf.
Not human.
Cold.
My breath shakes.
I force myself to the window and look out.
There's nothing there.
But I feel eyes.
Watching.
Waiting.
Searching.
For me.
For the bracelet.
For the truth.
I clutch my empty wrist.
Whatever is coming…
It has already begun.