I didn't know when it started.
Maybe it was the moment I stepped through the portal
Or when I saw a man turn into a wolf.
Or when they called him Alpha…
…and then Sovereign.
Or maybe—
It had been building long before that.
The questions wouldn't stop
They circled in my head endlessly.
Too fast.
Too many.
Too heavy.
What am I?
What did my parents do?
What was that thing in my house?
Why do those wraiths feel familiar?
Who is Cyris really?
My breathing slowed—but not in a good way.
Everything around me still moved.
The pack.
The Guardians.
The world I didn't understand.
But inside me—
Something was starting to crack.
"Baby."
Cyris's voice came from somewhere close.
I tried to answer.
But my voice didn't come out.
The ground felt… unstable.
Like it wasn't fully there anymore.
"…I'm fine," I said quietly.
But I wasn't.
Not even close.
The sounds around me began to blur.
Voices fading into something distant.
The air felt heavier.
Harder to breathe.
My chest tightened.
"I just need a moment…" I whispered.
But the moment never came.
Instead—
Everything came at once.
The storm.
The voices.
My aunt lying still.
The light bursting from me.
The darkness.
The memories.
The wraiths.
All of it.
Too much.
"…Baby."
This time, Cyris's voice was closer.
Sharper.
My vision blurred.
"I don't understand anything…" I whispered.
And for the first time—
There was fear in my voice.
Real fear.
"I don't know what's happening to me…"
The ground tilted.
Or maybe it was me.
"I don't know who I am anymore…"
Silence rushed in.
Not peaceful.
Not calm.
Overwhelming.
And then—
Everything went dark.
The last thing I felt—
Was him.
Strong arms catching me before I hit the ground.
"Baby."
His voice was low.
Controlled.
But there was something else in it now.
Something I hadn't heard before.
Worry.
The world around us stilled.
Even the wolves.
Even the Guardians.
Everything paused.
Because something was wrong.
Not outside.
But with me.
"…She's exhausted," someone said in the distance.
"No," another voice replied quietly.
"This is more than that."
Cyris didn't respond.
He just held me closer.
And for once—
He didn't look like the Sovereign.
He didn't look like the Alpha.
He looked like someone who realized—
This wasn't going to be as simple as he thought.