Chapter 74: Shifted

Chapter 74: Shifted Kaya Gloria lunges at me in her wolf form, an ashen blur of muscle, rage, and pure animal power. I barely have time to throw myself sideways. Her massive paws crash into the earth where I was standing just seconds before, claws carving deep grooves into the soil. The impact alone is enough to shake the ground beneath my feet. Her growl—low, guttural, and thunderous—rattles my bones like an earthquake. I stumble to my feet and scramble back, slipping in the dirt, my palms already skinned raw. My heart is beating so violently I feel it in my throat, behind my eyes, in my ears. Every instinct in my body screams Run, but I stand firm. Because if I run now, I lose everything. Everything I know I can be. I plant my feet, breathing hard, blood trickling down my neck and ribs. I pick up a broken training staff from the ground and hurl it at her. It hits her flank with a dull thunk. She snarls, barely phased. "Come on," I rasp, half to her, half to myself. She circles me, each step measured, her golden eyes fixed on my throat. I know that look. I’ve seen wolves hunt with it. I’ve seen wolves hunt me with it. She’s not playing anymore. She’s not trying to humiliate me. She’s trying to end me. She leaps again. This time, Gloria clips my arm with her claws and I go flying. I crash into the dirt with a grunt, rolling hard across the cold ground. Pain blooms in my shoulder and back like fire, but I force myself upright again. I’ve been hurt worse. I’ve been broken before and stitched myself back together again. This won’t be the thing that kills me. It won’t. But Goddess, it actually might. She barrels toward me once more, her gray fur shimmering under the moonlight. I throw up my arms in a desperate attempt to shield my face. Her claws rake across them instead. Warm blood spills down to my elbows. She’s toying with me. Tearing me apart piece by piece. "Fight back!" she snarls in my mind, her voice echoing through the rare connection only wolves in close proximity can share. "Isn’t that what you wanted? To prove yourself? Then stand up, silver slut." I lurch forward, grab a rock, and smash it across her muzzle as she charges again. It connects. She yelps and falters for a second, and I take the chance to kick at her chest, sending her sprawling back a foot or two. My hands shake. My chest burns. I can’t last much longer. Not against a fucking wolf. Gloria rises, bloodied now—her snout stained red—but her eyes are wild and gleeful. She’s enjoying this. She’s waiting for me to collapse. And I nearly do. My knees buckle. My ribs ache with every breath. One eye is already swelling shut. And she finally lunges for my throat. No. I twist just enough to avoid the killing blow, but her teeth sink into my shoulder, tearing the tender muscle. I scream. She shakes her head, trying to rip flesh from bone, and it’s then that I realize I’m going to die. Right here in the dirt. Alone. Helpless. Useless. I’m going to fucking die. All of a sudden, I think of Magnus. Of how he looked at me after I woke from the heat. Of how he kissed me even when I was out of control, just to bring me back to myself. I think of the girl I used to be, and the woman I want to become. I think about my strength. I think about my wolf. And something shifts. Not around me. In me. A pulse, deep in my gut. A tremor that ripples through every cell in my body. My veins blaze like molten silver, and suddenly, the pain vanishes—replaced by fire, by strength, by something more. A scream escapes me—but it’s not a human sound. My skin burns. My spine arches. My bones crack. I fall to the ground, convulsing, my fingernails stretching into claws, my breath coming out in ragged pants as my jaws elongate. Fur bursts across my skin. My eyes blur, then clear—sharper, brighter. The world is suddenly louder. More alive. I’ve shifted. I’ve shifted. I stand—not on two legs, but four. The night wind blows against my thick silver-and-white fur, and I throw back my head and snarl. My limbs feel like they belong to someone else and me at once. My body buzzes with the power I can’t really understand. Across from me, Gloria freezes. Surprise flickers in her gold eyes. But only for a second. Then she charges again. Our wolves clash in a blur of fur, teeth, and blood. The world narrows down to instinct and rage. I meet her strike for strike, claw for claw, our bodies smashing into each other with the force of storms. She bites down on my leg—I tear into her side. Her claws rake across my chest—I snap at her throat. For every blow she lands, I land another. I don’t think. I feel. And I fight. I’ve never felt so alive. For the first time in my life, I actually feel it. I feel my strength. I feel my power. I feel my wolf. But she’s stronger. Still faster. She’s trained for this her entire life. And I—I feel newborn to this power, still reeling from the shock of my own awakening. She catches me in the flank, and I yelp, tumbling across the dirt. Pain flares along my ribs. She pounces. I twist mid-air and catch her throat in my jaws. This ends now. With a roar from deep inside me, I dig my fangs in and slam her to the ground. The impact shakes the earth. Her body writhes beneath mine, snarling, snapping, but I don’t let go. I tighten my grip until I taste her blood. And yet, I don’t release her. She whimpers, body shuddering, and goes still. My chest heaves. I step back, trembling, covered in blood—hers and mine. And that’s when I hear it. "Kaya!" Magnus’s voice, echoing through the trees like a ghost seeping from my memory. My ears twitch. "Kaya!" Panic floods me. Not because of him—but because of me. Because of what I just did. What I became. What he might see. What it might mean. I take one last look at Gloria’s limp form, and only thendo I snap my jaws open and bolt. I tear through the woods, my wolf feet silent on the forest floor, my breath coming fast. Branches whip past me. The night sky blurs above. I don’t stop. I can’t stop. Not until the sound of his voice fades behind me.