Calyn's POV
I wake up to silence.
Not the peaceful kind. The wrong kind. The kind that comes after a battle.
I force my eyes open. I'm lying in the crater I created—the one made when I released all my stolen power. My body feels hollow, like I'm made of paper instead of flesh and bone.
Rowan's face appears above me. He looks terrified. "Don't move. You're barely conscious."
"Did it work?" My voice is barely a whisper. "Did I stop them?"
"You stopped everyone." He helps me sit up carefully. "When you released that power, it knocked out every wolf within a hundred yards. The Council army retreated. They're regrouping at the border, but they're afraid to attack again."
"And her?" I ask. "My future self?"
Rowan's jaw tightens. "Gone. She disappeared the moment you emptied yourself. Like she was never here."
"Maybe she wasn't." Morgana appears, leaning heavily on her staff. She looks exhausted. "Time magic is tricky. The moment you changed your path, her timeline collapsed. She might have ceased to exist entirely."
"Or she's just biding her time," Rhea adds grimly. She's got a nasty cut across her shoulder. "Either way, we have a bigger problem. The Council knows where we are now. They'll be back with reinforcements."
"Then we leave," Rowan says immediately. "We can't defend this position against an army."
"Leave?" Morgana laughs bitterly. "And go where? The Deadlands are the only place the Council can't legally enter. The moment we cross back into pack territory, Calyn becomes fair game."
"She's fair game anyway," Rowan argues. "At least out there we can move, hide, fight on our terms—"
"She can't fight!" Morgana snaps. "She just gave away all her power! She's completely defenseless!"
The words hit me like a slap. She's right. I can't feel my power anymore. That constant hunger, that dark presence inside me—it's gone. I'm empty.
I'm weak.
"Can I get it back?" I ask Morgana. "The power?"
She studies me with those green eyes. "You're a Void. You can always take more power. But..." She hesitates. "After what you just did—releasing instead of consuming—I don't know if your nature will be the same. You might have changed something fundamental."
"Good," I say firmly. "Maybe changing is exactly what I needed."
A howl echoes from the border. Then another. The Council wolves are calling for backup.
"We need to decide now," Rhea urges. "Stay and fight, or run and regroup."
Before anyone can answer, I feel it.
A pull. Like a rope tied around my chest, tugging me toward something. I turn to look at the deepest part of the Deadlands—the dark forest Morgana warned us never to enter.
"What is it?" Rowan asks, following my gaze.
"Something's calling me." The pull gets stronger. "Something in there."
Morgana's face goes white. "No. Absolutely not. That's the Heart of the Deadlands. Nothing living goes in there. Even I don't venture that deep."
"Why not?"
"Because that's where the first Void was created." Her voice drops. "Three hundred years ago, a witch tried to create the perfect weapon. She succeeded. And that Void consumed everything—the witch, her entire coven, every living thing for miles. The Heart has been poisoned by void energy ever since. Nothing survives there."
"But something's calling to me," I insist. The pull is getting painful now, like hooks in my ribs dragging me forward.
"It's a trap," Rowan says. "Your future self probably set it up. Some kind of spell to lure you—"
"No." I shake my head. "This is different. It feels... old. Ancient. Like it's been waiting for me."
Another howl. Closer this time. The Council army is advancing again.
"We're out of time," Rhea says. "They're coming."
I make a decision. "I'm going into the Heart."
"That's suicide!" Morgana protests.
"Maybe. But staying here is definitely death." I look at them. "If the first Void was created there, maybe there's something in the Heart that can help me understand what I am. Maybe there's another way besides consuming or being consumed."
"Or maybe there's just death," Rowan says quietly.
"Then at least I'll die trying something instead of running." I start walking toward the dark forest.
Rowan catches my arm. "You can barely stand. You have no power. You'll die in minutes."
"Then come with me." I meet his silver eyes. "All of you. We face this together or we die separately."
They exchange glances. I can see them weighing the options: certain death from the Council army, or possible death in the Heart.
"I'm in," Rhea says first. "I didn't survive this long by playing it safe."
Morgana sighs heavily. "You're all insane. But fine. At least in the Heart, I can use my magic freely. Out here, I'm limited by the wards."
Rowan looks at me for a long moment. "You know this is probably a trap, right?"
"Probably," I agree. "But what choice do we have?"
He nods slowly. "Then we go together."
We start walking into the dark forest. The trees here are worse than the rest of the Deadlands—completely black, twisted into horrific shapes, like they're frozen mid-scream. The ground feels spongy and wrong beneath our feet.
The pull gets stronger with every step. It's not painful anymore. It's almost... welcoming.
"Something's wrong," Morgana mutters. "The Heart shouldn't feel inviting. It should repel us."
"Maybe it recognizes Calyn," Rhea suggests. "She's a Void. Maybe it sees her as kin."
"That's what worries me," Morgana says.
We walk for what feels like hours. The forest gets darker, denser. Even Morgana's magical light seems dimmer here, like the darkness is eating it.
Then we emerge into a clearing.
In the center is a massive crater, like something exploded here long ago. And in the middle of the crater is a pool of liquid that glows with sickly purple light.
"The Heart," Morgana whispers. "I've only seen it once, fifty years ago. It looks exactly the same."
"What is that liquid?" I ask.
"Concentrated void energy. The essence of the first Void who died here. It's been pooling for three centuries, growing stronger."
The pull is overwhelming now. Every cell in my body is screaming at me to go to that pool. To touch it. To drink from it.
"Don't," Rowan says, reading my expression. "Whatever that thing is, it's not safe."
"I know." But my feet are already moving. I can't stop them.
"Calyn!" Rowan grabs me, but I shrug him off.
"I have to," I hear myself say. "It's why I came here. Why we all came here."
I reach the edge of the pool. Up close, the purple liquid looks almost alive, swirling and pulsing. When I lean over it, I see my reflection.
Except it's not my reflection.
It's my mother. My real mother, not the future version. She's smiling up at me from the pool.
"Calyn," she says, and it's her voice. Actually her voice, not an imitation. "My beautiful daughter. I've been waiting for you."
"Mom?" Tears blur my vision. "But you're dead. You died five years ago."
"I did. But a part of me remains here, in the Heart. A memory. An echo." Her smile is sad. "I came here when you were still in my womb, trying to find a way to save you from the prophecy. This place showed me the truth about what you are."
"What am I?" I ask desperately.
"Not a monster. Not a weapon." She reaches up, and somehow her hand breaks through the surface of the liquid. "You're a choice, Calyn. A chance for our kind to evolve beyond the hierarchy that's strangling us. But only if you're willing to embrace both sides of your nature."
"What does that mean?"
"Touch the pool," she says. "Take back your power. But this time, don't take it from others. Take it from the source. From the void itself."
"That's insane," Morgana shouts from behind me. "The void energy will consume her!"
"Or it will complete her," my mother counters. "She gave away stolen power. Now she needs to claim power that's rightfully hers. Power that comes from understanding what she truly is."
I look at Rowan. He's terrified, but he nods slowly. "Your choice. I'll stand by you either way."
I turn back to the pool. To my mother's smiling face.
"Will it hurt?" I ask.
"Terribly," she admits. "But you've survived worse. And when it's done, you'll finally understand why your father feared you. And why I loved you anyway."
I take a deep breath.
And plunge my hands into the void.
The pain is instant and absolute. It feels like every cell in my body is being torn apart and rebuilt. The void energy pours into me, and it's nothing like the stolen power I had before. This is raw. Primal. Ancient.
This is what a Void truly is.
I scream, but I don't let go.
Behind me, I hear Rowan shouting. Morgana chanting something. Rhea's panicked voice.
But I can't focus on them. All I can feel is the transformation happening inside me.
My eyes burn. When I finally open them, I can see everything—the magical structure of the world, the life force in every living thing, the connections between all wolves.
And I understand.
I'm not meant to consume. I'm meant to balance. To redistribute power from those who hoard it to those who need it.
The Council fears me because I threaten their control. But I'm not their enemy.
I'm their reckoning.
The void energy settles, and the pain fades. I pull my hands out of the pool.
They're glowing. Not silver like an Alpha. Not black like my future self.
Gold. Pure, radiant gold.
"What happened to you?" Rowan breathes.
I look at him, and I see everything—his fear for me, his hidden guilt about something, his desperate hope that I'll survive this.
"I evolved," I say simply.
My mother's reflection smiles. "Well done, daughter. Now you're ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To face what's coming." Her smile fades. "Your future self didn't cease to exist. She's coming back. And next time, she won't come with an army. She'll come alone. Because she's figured out how to steal your new power."
The pool goes dark. My mother's image disappears.
And from the forest behind us comes a voice.
My voice. But wrong. Corrupted.
"Found you."
We spin around.
My future self steps out of the shadows. But she's different now. Worse. Her black eyes are bleeding darkness, and her body is partially translucent, like she's becoming pure void energy.
"You changed the timeline," she says, advancing. "You became something I never did. Something better."
She smiles, and it's the most terrifying thing I've ever seen.
"Which means if I consume you, I'll become it too. I'll take your golden power and make it mine. And then? Then I'll be unstoppable."
She lunges.