Chapter 17 The Shift
ARYA
I looked outside the window, where pack members were going about their daily routines. Training, talking, laughing. Basically having a normal life. A life I’m starting to realize I’m never going to have again.
“The amulet,” I said suddenly, turning back to the people in the room with me. “If I take it off, my wolf emerges, right? And the suppression magic ends?”
“In theory,” Bardon said cautiously. “But Arya, you can’t control a wolf you’ve never met. She could be feral, dangerous. And releasing that much suppressed power at once—”
“Could kill me. I know.” I pulled the amulet out, staring at the glowing moonstone. “But it could also make me powerful enough to stand up to a Lycan King.”
“Or it could prove to him that you’re exactly what he’s looking for and he will show his dominance” Helena pointed out gently.
She was right. Either way, I was gambling.
But I’d been playing it safe my entire life, letting others make decisions for me, trying to be what everyone else wanted.
Look where that had gotten me.
But an eight hundred year old Lycan? Did I want to mess with him? All i’ve heard about him were horror stories. He wans’t gentle. And like Bardon said, only merciful on some days, depending on his mood. He has lived long enough that tricks won’t work on him. Do I even have any?
I shook my head, getting rid of the doubtful thoughts. That would only make me keep palying safe. It might get me imprisoned again.
“I need to do this on my own terms,” I said firmly. “Before he arrives. Before he can control the narrative.”
“Arya—” Ryker started.
“I’m doing this, Ryker. With or without your support.” I met his eyes and lowered my voice to a gentle murmur. “But I’d really like to have it.”
He stared at me for a long moment, conflict warring across his face. Finally, he sighed and nodded.
“Fine. But I’m staying with you the entire time. If something goes wrong—”
“If something goes wrong, get everyone away from me.” I looked at the others. “As they said, my wolf has been caged for twenty three years. When she emerges, she might not be… gentle.”
“We’ll clear the training grounds,” Cyrus decided. “Give you space. But we’ll have healers standing by.”
“And I’ll guide you through the process,” Bardon offered. “I’ve seen this done before. It won’t be easy, but you can survive it.”
“When?” I asked.
He checked the sun’s position. “You have six hours until they arrive. I’d suggest sooner rather than later. You’ll need time to adjust before you face the king.”
Six hours.
In six hours, everything would change.
Again.
“Let’s do it now,” I said. “Before I lose my nerve.”
They led me to the training grounds, a wide clearing surrounded by trees. Pack members had been cleared out, giving us privacy. Only Cyrus, Helena, Ryker, and Bardon remained.
I stood in the center of the clearing, my hands shaking as I reached for the amulet’s clasp.
“Once you remove it, there’s no going back,” Bardon warned one last time. “You’ll be visible to every supernatural being with the senses to feel it. The Lycan King. His enemies. Anyone hunting Moonbornes. They’ll all know you exist. And there are a lot of them.”
“I know.” I swallowed thickly.
“You’ll be in tremendous pain. The wolf emergence at your age, with this much suppression—it’s going to hurt worse than anything you’ve ever experienced.”
“I know.”
“And your wolf might not listen to you at first. She’s been caged, suppressed, denied her entire existence. She’ll be angry.”
“I know.” I turned to him sharply. “Are you trying to talk me out of this?”
“No.” He smiled sadly. “I’m making sure you understand what you’re choosing. Because Arya? Once you do this, you can never be invisible again. You can never go back to being just another wolf in just another pack. You’ll be the Moonborne heir. And everyone will want a piece of you.”
“Good.” My voice was steady now, certain. “Let them try.”
I unclasped the amulet and braced myself for the impact. Something dramatic like howling winds and trees moving.
Nothing happened. I snapped one open and looked around the place, wanting to be sure if I really did.
“When is it–” my question was cut off by a loud sound.
I think it came from me.
PAIN.
Searing, white-hot pain that started in my chest and exploded outward through every nerve. I screamed, falling to my knees as something hot flooded my system.
“Arya!” Ryker was there, trying to reach me, but Cyrus held him back.
“Don’t touch her! You’ll only make it worse!”
My bones felt like they were breaking and reforming. My skin was too tight, too small to contain what was trying to emerge. I could feel her clawing her way to the surface with twenty-three years of rage behind her. My body dealt with the aftermath, the raw pain rolling through me from her agger. She was fire.
‘LET ME OUT!’
Her voice wasn’t a whisper anymore. It was a roar that shook the foundation of my mind. Louder than any growl I have ever heard.
“I’m trying!” I gasped, tears streaming down my face. “I don’t know how!”
‘STOP FIGHTING ME!’
I was fighting her? I didn’t know how. My body’s every instinct screamed to push back against this invasion, this other consciousness trying to take control.
“Arya, listen to me!” Bardon’s voice cut through the pain. “You have to submit to her. Just this once. Let her take control so she can emerge. Then you can find balance.”
Submit. That was te one thing I’d sworn never to do again. But this was different. This wasn’t submitting to someone else’s will. This was accepting myself. All of myself. And maybe, stopping this pain too.
I forced myself to inhale a deep breath and let all my muscles relax, as best as I could when it felt like I was being torn open from the inside out. I stopped stopped fighting and let her power consume me.