A POWER THAT WAS NEVER MEANT TO EXIST

Cassian’s words hung between us, heavy and unshakable.

"You’re something that wasn’t supposed to exist."

The fire beneath my skin hadn’t faded. It still burned, pulsing, begging to be set free.

I could feel Cassian’s tension, the way his body remained taut, his every instinct telling him to be ready to act.

Not to protect me.

To stop me.

And that realization cut deeper than any blade.

My hands trembled, still glowing faintly, the golden light flickering over my skin.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

Cassian’s red eyes burned into mine, searching.

“You weren’t supposed to be born, Sienna,” he said carefully. “Your bloodline—your power—it shouldn’t exist.”

My chest tightened.

“That doesn’t make sense,” I choked out.

But it did.

It made too much sense.

The way the Council had hunted me from the moment they learned who I was.

The way Darius recognized something in me that I hadn’t even understood.

The whispers in my head.

The visions of things I’d never seen.

It was all connected.

Cassian exhaled, dragging a hand through his dark hair, frustration bleeding through his features.

“The Council has spent centuries keeping bloodlines pure, controlling who ascends to power.” His jaw tightened. “But you? You weren’t created by them. You weren’t controlled. And that makes you their biggest threat.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“So what?” My voice shook. “They wanted to kill me because I was—what? An accident?”

Cassian hesitated.

And that silence told me everything.

My stomach dropped.

I took a shaky step back.

“Oh, my gods,” I whispered. “They weren’t just trying to kill me. They were trying to erase me.”

Cassian’s red eyes darkened. “Yes.”

The weight of his answer pressed against my chest, suffocating.

I had spent my whole life believing I was just another wolf.

That I was ordinary.

That I had simply been born unlucky.

Now, I knew the truth.

I wasn’t supposed to exist.

I wasn’t supposed to have this power.

And yet, here I was.

I let out a shaky breath, my arms wrapping around myself.

Cassian watched me carefully, his body still wound tight with tension.

I hated that.

I hated that he wasn’t sure if he should trust me anymore.

“You’re afraid of me,” I said, barely above a whisper.

Cassian’s jaw clenched.

“I’m afraid of what they’ll do to you,” he corrected.

It should have comforted me.

But it didn’t.

Because I could still see it—the hesitation in his eyes.

A part of him was afraid of me.

I turned away, staring at my hands, the glow finally beginning to fade.

“I don’t even know what I am,” I admitted. “How am I supposed to fight something I don’t understand?”

Cassian took a step closer, his presence a solid weight behind me.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said, his voice softer now.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to believe him.

But doubt still clawed at the edges of my mind.

We kept moving, pushing deeper into the abandoned lands, where no pack dared to claim territory.

Cassian remained silent, but I could feel him watching me, always waiting, always assessing.

Not just for threats.

For signs of change in me.

And maybe he was right to.

Because something inside me was shifting.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could feel it stirring, the same raw power that had burned through me before.

And worse.

I could feel Darius watching too.

Not physically.

Not through the bond.

But in a way I couldn’t explain.

Like he was waiting.

Like he knew what was coming.

Like he knew exactly what I was becoming before I even did.

Night fell, and we made camp near the edge of a cliff, where the land stretched into a vast, endless valley.

Cassian sat by the fire, his red eyes glowing in the dark, his body still coiled with unspoken tension.

I couldn’t sit still.

I stood near the edge, staring at the moon, at the stars that seemed too far away.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” Cassian muttered.

I didn’t turn.

“Then maybe you should stop listening.”

He sighed, standing. Within moments, he was beside me, his warmth seeping into my skin despite the space between us.

“You can be angry,” he said, his voice calmer now, more measured. “But it won’t change what you are.”

I exhaled sharply, turning to face him.

“And what exactly am I?”

Cassian held my gaze, his red eyes dark with something heavy, something unreadable.

“The most dangerous thing in the world,” he murmured.

Not a threat.

Not a warning.

Just a fact.

Something inside me tightened.

Before I could answer, before I could process the weight of his words.

The ground beneath me shook.

Cassian’s head snapped up.

A cold wave of power crashed through the air, sending a violent shiver down my spine.

The sky split open.

A crack of gold and darkness, energy pouring into the valley below, swirling like a storm brewing on the horizon.

Cassian moved instantly, grabbing my wrist, pulling me back toward the fire.

But I was frozen.

Because I knew what this was.

I recognized it.

It was the same power that burned inside me.

Something deep and ancient.

Something awakening.

A figure stepped from the shadows, silhouetted against the storm.

Tall. Confident.

Eyes like liquid gold, glowing with dark amusement.

Darius.

He smiled.

"It’s time, little one."