Calyn's POV
"We need to run. Now."
Rowan's voice cuts through my shock. He's already moving, pulling me to my feet while Rhea shifts back into her wolf form.
"Wait—" I stumble, my legs still shaking from whatever just happened. "Those wolves I drained—are they dead?"
"Unconscious," Rowan says shortly. "They'll wake up weak but alive. Which means Senna will know exactly what you can do now. We need to move before she comes back with reinforcements."
He's right. But my mind is spinning with questions. What else did my father bind? What am I really?
Rhea growls, urgent and impatient.
Rowan shifts in one fluid motion, and suddenly I'm being lifted onto his back—the massive black wolf from the forest. I grab fistfuls of his fur as he takes off running, Rhea flanking us.
We race through the Enclave's tunnels, past shocked wolves who press themselves against walls to let us pass. Everyone's staring. They all felt what I did—that surge of power that poured out of me.
They're afraid of me now.
We burst out of the mountain into daylight. Rowan doesn't slow down. He runs for what feels like hours, deeper into the wilderness, far from the Enclave.
Finally, we reach a stream in a hidden valley. He stops and shifts back to human form. I slide off, my legs barely holding me up.
"Where are we going?" I gasp.
"Somewhere Senna can't track us," Rowan says. He's breathing hard, scanning the forest like he expects another attack any second. "The Enclave is compromised now. She knows where it is."
Guilt crashes through me. "This is my fault. I brought danger to your people—"
"You didn't do anything wrong," Rhea interrupts, shifting back to human. "Senna would've found us eventually. She's been planning this for years, Calyn. You're not responsible for her obsession."
"But those wolves—I hurt them. I drained their power and I didn't even know how—"
"That's why we need to figure out what you are," Rowan says firmly. "Fast. Because if Senna spreads word about your draining ability, every pack in the region will either want to capture you or kill you."
"Kill me?" My voice comes out small. "Why would they want me dead?"
"Because you're a threat," he says bluntly. "Catalysts are valuable. But a wolf who can drain power? That's dangerous. That makes Alphas vulnerable. They'll see you as something that needs to be eliminated."
The words hit me like a punch. I survived the pit. I escaped my brother. I found sanctuary. And now I'm being hunted all over again—but this time, by everyone.
"I need water," I whisper. My throat is bone dry, and my hands won't stop shaking.
Rhea gestures to the stream. "Go ahead. We'll keep watch."
I stumble to the water's edge and drop to my knees. The stream is clear and cold. I cup my hands and drink desperately, then splash water on my face.
For a moment, I just stare at my reflection.
I look different. Thinner. Harder. There are dark circles under my eyes and a healing cut across my cheek. I barely recognize myself.
Who am I?
Not the girl who grew up in the Merewood house, protected and educated.
Not the omega who was buried alive and left to die.
Not even the Catalyst that Rhea and Rowan thought I was.
I'm something else. Something unknown.
Something my own father was afraid of.
A twig snaps behind me.
I whirl around—but it's just Rowan, approaching carefully. "You okay?"
"No." The word comes out harsh. "I'm not okay. Everyone I've ever trusted has either betrayed me or lied to me. My brother threw me in a pit. My best friend planned it. And now I find out my father—the one person I thought was good—he did something to me. He locked something away inside me and never told me."
"He was protecting you," Rowan says quietly.
"From what?" I demand. "What could be so terrible that he'd bind my power? That he'd hide the truth from me my entire life?"
"I don't know." Rowan crouches beside me. "But whatever it is, we'll figure it out together."
"Why?" The question bursts out of me. "Why do you even care? You don't know me. You don't owe me anything."
His silver eyes meet mine, intense and unwavering. "Because I know what it's like to be controlled by something you don't understand. To have power you never asked for thrust on you." His voice drops. "I became Alpha at fifteen. I didn't want it. Didn't choose it. But everyone expected me to be strong, ruthless, perfect. They made me into something I hated."
I see the pain in his face—raw and real.
"For fourteen years, I've been playing a role," he continues. "The Ice Alpha. The one who shows no weakness. No mercy. And I've hated every second of it." He looks at me. "But you? You're not playing a role. You're fighting to discover who you really are. That's brave. That's real. And that's why I'm not letting anyone take that choice away from you."
Something in my chest loosens. For the first time since I crawled out of that pit, I don't feel completely alone.
"Thank you," I whisper.
He nods and stands, offering me his hand. "Come on. We should keep—"
A howl splits the air.
Close. Too close.
Rowan's entire body goes rigid. "That's an Ironwood hunting call."
My blood turns to ice. "Matthias?"
"His wolves, at least." Rowan pulls me away from the stream. "They must've tracked us from the Enclave. Rhea!"
Rhea appears from the trees, already in wolf form, ears flat against her head. She growls low—a warning.
"How many?" Rowan asks.
She holds up one paw. Five claws extended.
Five wolves.
Rowan curses under his breath. "We can't outrun them with Calyn on foot. She's too weak to shift."
"I can fight," I say, even though my voice shakes.
"You can barely stand," he counters. "And we don't know if you can control your draining ability. If you use it on us by accident—"
"Then what do we do?" I'm trying not to panic, but I can hear them now—paws pounding through the forest, getting closer every second.
Rowan looks at Rhea, then back at me. "Rhea will lead them away. I'll stay with you."
No. The word sticks in my throat. "You can't fight five wolves alone—"
"I'm an Alpha," he says simply. "I can handle it."
Another howl. Even closer now.
And then I see them—five massive wolves crashing through the trees. They're bigger than normal pack wolves, clearly elite warriors. And they're headed straight for us.
Rowan shifts instantly, putting himself between me and the attackers.
Rhea takes off in the opposite direction, howling to draw their attention. Two of the wolves peel away to chase her.
That leaves three.
They circle us, snarling. One of them shifts to human form—a scarred man with cold eyes. I recognize him. Darius. One of Matthias's most brutal enforcers.
"Calyn Merewood," Darius says, smiling cruelly. "The Alpha wants you back. Dead or alive—his choice. But I'm hoping for dead. After what you did to Marcus and his patrol, we all want a piece of you."
"I'm not going back," I say, trying to sound brave even though I'm terrified.
"You don't have a choice." Darius nods to the other wolves. "Take her. Kill the black wolf."
They attack.
Rowan meets them head-on, a blur of fur and fangs. He's fast—faster than any wolf I've ever seen. He takes down one attacker with a vicious bite to the throat.
But the other wolf circles around, heading for me.
I back up, looking for anything I can use as a weapon. My hand closes around a large rock.
The wolf lunges.
I swing the rock with all my strength, catching it on the side of the head. It yelps and staggers.
But then Darius is there, shifting mid-stride. His hand wraps around my throat, lifting me off the ground.
"You always were weak," he hisses. "Even before you became omega trash."
I can't breathe. Black spots dance in my vision.
Rowan roars and charges toward us, but the remaining wolf intercepts him, dragging him down.
No. No, this can't be how it ends.
I survived the pit. I survived Senna. I will NOT die here.
That heat builds in my chest again—the power I don't understand. It surges up, demanding release.
But this time, I don't fight it.
I let it explode.
Energy pours out of me in a massive wave. Darius screams and drops me, clutching his chest. The wolves fighting Rowan collapse mid-attack, whimpering.
But something's different this time.
I'm not just draining them.
I can feel their power flowing into me. Strength. Speed. Heightened senses. It's like I'm absorbing everything that makes them strong and making it mine.
Darius falls to his knees, his face gray. "What... what are you?"
I stand over him, and I feel different. Powerful. Dangerous.
"I don't know," I tell him honestly. "But you're going to tell Matthias exactly what you saw here. Tell him I'm not the weak omega he buried. Tell him if he sends anyone else after me, this is what will happen to them."
Darius's eyes are wide with terror. "You're a monster."
"Maybe." I lean closer. "But he made me one."
I release my hold on the power. The energy flows back—not all of it, but enough that they can move again. Darius scrambles backward, then shifts and runs, his remaining wolves limping after him.
Rowan shifts back to human, staring at me with an expression I can't read.
"Did you feel that?" I whisper. "I didn't just drain them. I took their power. I made it mine."
"I felt it." His voice is strange. "Calyn, that's not just a Catalyst ability. That's—"
"What?" I demand. "What is it?"
Before he can answer, Rhea bursts back through the trees, bloodied but alive. She shifts and her face goes pale when she sees me.
"Your eyes," she breathes. "Calyn, your eyes."
"What about them?"
Rowan pulls out a knife and holds up the reflective blade. I look into it.
My eyes aren't brown anymore.
They're glowing silver.
Just like Rowan's.
"That's impossible," Rhea whispers. "Only Alphas have silver eyes. And you can't just take an Alpha's eye color unless..."
"Unless what?" My voice is shaking.
Rowan's face is grim. "Unless you didn't just drain their power. Unless you absorbed their Alpha essence."
"I don't understand what that means—"
"It means," he interrupts, "that you're not a Catalyst. You're a Void. A wolf who can consume the power of others and make it permanently yours." He pauses. "They're extinct. The last one was killed three hundred years ago because they were considered too dangerous to exist."
The world tilts.
I'm not just powerful. I'm not just rare.
I'm the one thing the werewolf world fears most.
"They'll come for you now," Rhea says quietly. "Every pack, every Alpha, every Council member. They'll hunt you down and kill you."
"Why?" I can barely get the word out.
Rowan's silver eyes—the same color as mine now—meet mine with terrible understanding.
"Because you don't just threaten their power, Calyn. You can steal it. And that makes you the most dangerous wolf alive."