Chapter 5

A Mysterious Voice

The jungle around me is infinite, a dark void that extends well beyond the limits of my vision. With each stride, my limbs seem heavier and heavier, and the pain becomes worse. I am breathing in short, uneven breaths, and the cold night air is filled with white mist. Even if my body is pleading with me to stop and give up, I continue to go on, motivated only by my determination.

After that, my legs collapse under me.

I fall to the cold ground, and my eyesight starts to fade at the edges. I try to anchor myself by digging my fingers weakly into the earth, but it doesn't work. My body shakes with fatigue, and the feeling of betrayal and sorrow wraps around me like a heavy iron chain. I shut my eyes and let the coolness of the earth to permeate into my scorching flesh.

That’s when I hear it.

Get up, little wolf.

The voice is deep and powerful, swirling about me like fog. It slithers into my head, solid but curiously soothing.

I don’t move. I don’t even open my eyes. Maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe the beating, the rejection, the exile maybe it’s finally breaking me.

But then I hear it again, more forceful this time.

Do not let them win. The suffering is your weapon.

My fingers twitch. A sudden blast of wind sweeps through the woods, and with it, something within me stirs. My wolf. She’s been mute, feeble, receding into the background while my world disintegrated around me. But now, she raises her head, ears perked.

The voice speaks again, a whisper in my bones. Use it.

A peculiar feeling spreads through my limbs. My body is bruised and feeble, yet deep in my center, a flame burns. It’s weak, like the dying embers of a fire, but it’s there. A whisper of something tremendous, something old.

“What… are you?” My voice is just a whisper, cracked and broken from anguish.

Not yet,  the voice whispers. First, you must choose.

A chilly fear crawls through me. “Choose what?”

Power, it says plainly.  Or death.

The words send a chill down my spine. My wolf stirs restlessly, feeling something that I cannot. I want to question it, to demand explanations, but my body betrays me. The tiredness is too tremendous. The anguish too intense.

You cannot fight in this state, the voice continues.  But I can assist you if you allow me.

I swallow hard. My body is on the edge of collapse. If I don’t accept, I will perish out here, alone in the woods, forgotten by the very people who were meant to love me.

A flood of resentment swells in my chest. No. I won’t let them win.

“What do you want in return?” My voice is hoarse, but steady.

A lengthy pause. Then, Everything.

Before I can realize what it implies, a scorching fire surges through my veins. My back arches off the ground as pure, unadulterated energy floods through me. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It burns, engulfing me from the inside out, but it doesn’t hurt. Instead, it wakes something deep inside me. Something primordial.

My wolf howls, a sound I feel more than hear.

Then, darkness fills me entirely.

When I wake, the air is motionless, dense with an eerie calm. My body no longer hurts. The weakness, the pain it’s all gone.

I sit up, my breathing slow and controlled. My hands quiver when I gaze at them. There’s something unusual about me, something I can’t quite place.

Then, I feel it.

A rush of raw strength under my skin.

I inhale forcefully, every sensation intensified, every nerve alight with renewed vitality. The night feels strange. The air smells fresher, the trees look higher, the breeze whispers secrets only I can hear.

Good, the voice purrs. You are awake.

Panic flutters in my chest. This isn’t normal. This isn’t simply some lingering adrenaline rush. Something within me has altered. I can feel it, buzzing under my skin like a latent storm yearning to burst loose.

I heave myself to my feet. My legs stay solid, stronger than before. The tiredness is gone, replaced by something strange. I extend my fingers, experiencing the tingling sense of power dancing at my fingertips.

“What did you do to me?” My voice is calm, but my heart pounds against my ribs.

I gave you what you needed,  the voice continues,  and took what I was owed.

A shiver rushes down my spine. “What do you mean?”

A chuckle, low and knowing. You’ll see.

A burst of wind whips through the woods, and suddenly, the presence departs. The night returns to its regular stillness, leaving me standing there, breathless and scared.

Then, a new sound reaches me footsteps.

I whirl around just as a man appears from the darkness.

Damien.

His silver eyes sparkle in the moonlight, piercing and scrutinizing. His countenance is inscrutable, but I notice the spark of astonishment in his eyes as he glances at me.

"Lily," he says, moving closer. "What happened to you?"

I open my lips to answer, but before I can, a piercing agony slashes through my chest. I gasp, slumping over as white-hot anguish flares under my ribs.

Damien comes to my side in a second, his grasp solid as he steadies me. "Lily!"

The anguish grows, sweeping through me like wildfire. My eyesight blurs. My knees buckle.

I claw at the ground, my body convulsing. A low growl rumbles in my throat, deeper than anything I’ve ever produced before. My beast is clawing to the surface, frantic, enraged. The tingling force under my skin swells into a rush, something primal and uncontrolled.

Then, the voice returns, quiet but victorious. Now, it begins.

The earth underneath me fractures. The trees surrounding us quiver as an invisible force ripples through the air. Damien curses, moving back as my body arches off the ground, enveloped in an unseen fire.

Then everything goes dark.