Chapter 7 The Rescue

The day after I learned about my grandmother, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me.

Every rustle of the trees made me flinch. Every shadow between the pines looked too dark, too still.

Donald had left me near the cabin that morning after promising, “I’ll be close if you need me.”

At the time, I thought it was just another one of his overprotective gestures part wolf, part worry.

But as the sun began to set, the forest changed.

The calm that had lingered all afternoon turned uneasy. The air grew heavier, the birds quieted, and a faint scent of smoke drifted through the air.

I tried to ignore it. I told myself I was imagining things.

I wasn’t.

When I stepped outside to gather wood for the fire, a low growl came from the trees.

Not the kind of growl you hear from a dog.

Deeper. Hungrier.

My breath hitched.

“Donald?” I called softly.

No answer.

The growl came again closer this time.

Then a figure stepped out of the shadows.

He was tall, wild-looking, his clothes torn, his eyes glowing red. There was something wrong about him his movements too jerky, too unsteady, as if he was barely holding on to his human shape.

“Found you,” he rasped.

I stumbled back, heart hammering. “Who are you?”

He grinned, teeth sharp. “You don’t know yet, do you? What you are.”

“I’m not”

“Don’t lie to yourself,” he snarled. “I can smell it on you. The power. The healer’s blood. Just like your grandmother.”

The mention of her name made me freeze. “You knew her?”

He stepped closer, his eyes flickering with rage. “She betrayed our kind and now her little descendant carries her curse.”

My pulse spiked.

The rogue lunged.

I barely had time to react before something massive crashed between us black fur, golden eyes, a snarl that shook the air.

Donald.

His wolf form was bigger than I remembered, his presence filling the space like living shadow. He didn’t hesitate he struck with precision, fury, and purpose.

The rogue hit the ground hard, rolling back into the dirt with a guttural snarl.

“Stay behind me!” Donald’s voice echoed through my mind, not spoken but felt deep and commanding.

I couldn’t move. My hands shook as the rogue lunged again, claws flashing. Donald met him midair, the impact cracking through the clearing.

It was chaos fur, teeth, and snarls. The sounds were wild, primal, terrifying.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. The sight of Donald fighting wasn’t just violent it was powerful, deliberate. Every movement was meant to protect me.

More rogues appeared from the trees two, then three. Their eyes glowed with that same hateful red light.

I gasped, backing away until my shoulders hit the wall of the cabin.

Donald growled low, standing between me and them. His fur bristled, his body tense. The other wolves circled, waiting for an opening.

Then, one of them lunged straight for me.

I screamed but before he reached me, a blinding flash erupted from my wrist.

The crescent mark burned bright, silver fire racing up my arm.

The rogue yelped, flung backward by an unseen force.

The others froze, confusion flashing in their eyes. Donald took that moment leaping forward, knocking one down, forcing the rest to scatter.

It was over in seconds.

The clearing fell silent again, the smell of earth and smoke heavy in the air.

Donald stood still for a moment, chest heaving, eyes glowing faintly as his body shifted back into human form.

He looked exhausted but unhurt.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t move.

“Clara,” he said softly, his voice rough but gentle. “Are you alright?”

I nodded shakily. “I… think so.”

He glanced at my wrist. The mark still glowed faintly. “You used your power.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said quickly. “It just happened.”

He took my hand, turning it gently to see the mark. “The moon’s blessing reacts to danger. It’s your wolf’s instinct protecting you.”

I stared at the silver light, heart still racing. “So this… this is real.”

“Yes,” he said. “Every part of it.”

I swallowed hard. “And the rogues they came for me?”

He nodded slowly. “They can sense your awakening. Power draws attention especially from those who want to destroy it.”

I sank down onto the porch steps, my legs weak. “This is too much, Donald. I can’t live like this running, hiding, fighting things I don’t even understand.”

He crouched beside me, his eyes soft. “You won’t have to face it alone. You’re one of us now whether you accept it or not.”

I looked up at him. “You keep saying that. ‘One of us.’ But I’m not.”

He smiled faintly. “Then explain the light on your wrist.”

I didn’t answer.

Because there was no denying it anymore.

Whatever was inside me wolf, healer, whatever name it carried it was real. It was awake. And it was growing stronger.

Donald stood and offered me his hand. “Come back with me to the pack. It’s not safe here anymore.”

“I can’t just leave everything behind,” I said quietly. “This was my home.”

He looked toward the trees, then back at me. “Home is wherever you’re safe. Right now, that’s with me.”

I hesitated, staring at his hand. His words were simple, but they carried weight protection, promise, something I didn’t know how to name yet.

Finally, I took his hand.

The moment our skin touched, the mark on my wrist pulsed once warm, calm, certain.

Donald’s expression softened. “The bond’s stronger now.”

I sighed. “You keep saying that like it’s a good thing.”

“It is,” he said quietly. “Because it means I can always find you.”

His words should’ve scared me, but instead, they settled something deep inside me like a truth I hadn’t wanted to accept was finally making sense.

As we walked away from the cabin, the forest felt different. The fear was still there, but beneath it was something else strength.

The crescent mark shimmered faintly in the fading light, and I realized something that made me stop for just a moment.

The glow wasn’t just reacting to him. It was reacting to me.

To who I was becoming.