understood that the things I didn't know

disarray I was at that point tangled in. Grayson had cautioned me - no, *insisted* - that I avoid her. His eyes had gotten extremely frustrated wh

y desire for understanding what was befalling me, I needed to track

that I'd had some significant awareness of her - about my life - was completely false. It wasn't simply that I'd never known t

the storage room of the house she'd left me. The air was thick with dust, and the little

ward, I f

ch, circling, a sort of language I didn't perceive from the outset. In any case, the words "Lunar Counc

el

your heredity isn't one to be trifled with, nor is it something I can safeguard you from for eternity.

yn. They will attempt to involve you for their own benefit. And keeping in mind that I've kept you

the future of both the werewolf world and the human world. And there are for

lov

of them-had known about the power inside me. And now, with her gone, it se

as the pieces of the puzzle clicked together. Everything sta

n and familiar. Something about it called to me-something ancient. The trees seem

now how to shift-didn't know what would happen w

chest intensified, like something inside me was waking up. It wasn't just

m my mind but from my body. A deep, aching pressure at the base of my spi

ody moved on its own, compelled

red. My senses heightened-every scent, every sound, every motion in the forest was like a flood.

y fought to hold onto control. My bones cracked and shifted

s too

wasn't mine anymore. I wanted t

-cut through the fog of

, forcing me to ground myself. Grayson's grip

You're okay.

in this form, I could hear the protective tone, the wa

the overpowering wildness that surged inside me. Grayson didn't let go,

e transformation slow, my body shifting back, bones cracking back into pla

ng my face, searching for something

voice shaky, my throat dry.

fade. "That's the power you have inside you, Eve. It's

balance. The weight of what had just happened-the sheer for

ught entered my head: *It's not just the power I can'

son's usual steely control was broken, replaced with somet

as soon as I walked in, h

," I muttered, still feeling the

ed closer, his voice low, dangerous. "You're not ready. You need to train. You

, the weight of them almost suffocatin

y. "You'll learn. But it's going to be hard

I said, my voice shaking with something crude and genuine.

mething clearly that made my heart shudder - something *real*. He

some vulnerable young lady. I had a power inside me. Something old. Furthermore, interestingly, I understood I wasn't simpl

rning, I fo

ist, glowing faintly in the moonlight. The same symbol I h

my destiny. And I wasn't ready.