21
Sleep was impossible. I lay on the narrow cot in the healing tent, staring at the canvas ceiling while my mind raced through everything Moira had revealed. Eclipse Covenant. The bloodline thought extinct. Powers that could enhance entire packs during battle.
The bond mark on my wrist pulsed steadily now, not with warning but with something deeper recognition, perhaps, or awakening. Silver light played beneath my skin like captured starfire, and I could feel energy building in my bones, demanding release.
Around me, wounded warriors stirred restlessly in their sleep. Some muttered words I couldn't understand, their voices carrying strange harmonics that seemed to resonate with the power flowing through me. Whatever was happening, it was affecting more than just myself.
"Can't sleep either?"
I turned to find Elena sitting beside a warrior whose leg had been shattered in the ambush. Her hands glowed with faint golden light as she worked to accelerate his healing, but her eyes were fixed on me with uncomfortable intensity.
"How long have you been able to do that?" I asked, nodding toward the light emanating from her fingertips.
"Since about an hour after you returned from battle." She flexed her fingers experimentally, watching the golden radiance dance across her skin. "I was tending Marcus's wounds when it first manifested. The light just... came. Like it had always been there, waiting."
I sat up carefully, my stitched wounds protesting the movement. "Has anyone else experienced similar changes?"
"Half the healers, from what I can tell. And some of the warriors are reporting enhanced senses, increased strength." Elena's voice dropped to a worried whisper. "Selene, what's happening to us?"
Before I could attempt an answer, the tent flap opened to admit Moira. The elderly healer moved with purpose, carrying an armload of ancient books and scrolls that looked older than the compound itself.
"Good, you're awake," she said, settling the materials on a nearby table. "We need to talk."
She gestured for me to join her, spreading one of the scrolls across the table's surface. The parchment was covered in symbols I didn't recognize, interspersed with diagrams that seemed to show wolves surrounded by various forms of radiant energy.
"Eclipse Covenant records," Moira explained. "Hidden in our archives for generations, waiting for someone with the bloodline to activate their power."
I studied the diagrams, noting similarities to what I had experienced during battle. "These wolves, the ones surrounded by light they look like they're sharing their energy."
"Exactly. The Covenant bloodline could create temporary pack bonds with any wolves willing to accept their power. Not the permanent mate connections you're familiar with, but battlefield alliances that enhanced every participant's abilities."
Elena moved closer, her golden light flickering as she examined the scrolls. "Is that what's happening now? Some kind of pack bond manifestation?"
"A weak echo of one," Moira confirmed. "Selene's power is so strong that it's affecting nearby wolves even without conscious direction. If she could learn to control it, to focus it deliberately..."
She trailed off, but the implications were clear. With proper training, I could potentially enhance every Nightshade warrior simultaneously, creating a force capable of standing against Kael's superior numbers.
"How long would that training take?" I asked.
Moira's expression was grim. "Years, normally. The Covenant children began learning control as toddlers, spending decades mastering abilities you're discovering by accident."
"But we don't have years," Elena observed. "We have hours."
"Which is why we're going to attempt something that's never been tried before." Moira pulled another scroll from her collection, this one covered in what looked like ritual instructions. "Forced awakening. Dangerous, potentially fatal, but theoretically capable of unlocking your full potential in a single session."
I stared at the scroll, noting symbols that seemed to writhe and move when I wasn't looking directly at them. "What exactly would this ritual involve?"
"Pain," Moira said bluntly. "The kind of controlled trauma that forces supernatural abilities to manifest in self-defense. Combined with specific meditation techniques and energy channeling exercises."
"And if it fails?"
"Then you die, your power is lost forever, and Nightshade falls to Bloodfang forces." Her obsidian eyes met mine without flinching. "But if it succeeds, you become what your bloodline was always meant to be a living weapon capable of turning ordinary wolves into legends."
The choice wasn't really a choice at all. Kael's forces would reach the compound within hours, and without some dramatic advantage, the coming battle would be a massacre.
"What do you need from me?" I asked.
Moira smiled, though there was no warmth in the expression. "Everything you have, and probably more than you think you can give."
She began gathering supplies crystals that hummed with stored energy, herbs that made my nose burn, implements I didn't recognize but that radiated ancient power. As she worked, more healers and warriors filtered into the tent, drawn by forces they couldn't name.
"Word is spreading," Elena observed quietly. "About what you did during the ambush, about the power you're manifesting. Half the pack is terrified, but the other half..."
"The other half sees hope where there was none before," completed a familiar voice.
I turned to find Darius entering the tent, his armor replaced by simple clothes that showed the extent of his injuries. Bandages covered his chest and arms, and he moved with the careful precision of someone managing significant pain.
"You should be resting," Moira scolded.
"I should be preparing my pack for annihilation," he replied grimly. "Unless Selene's ritual provides the miracle we need."
He approached the table where Moira had spread her materials, studying the ancient scrolls with the tactical mind of a born strategist. "How certain are you that this will work?"
"Not certain at all," Moira admitted. "The records describe successful awakenings, but they also mention failures. Messy, violent failures that left entire bloodlines extinct."
"Encouraging," I muttered.
Darius caught my eye across the table, his expression serious. "If you're not ready for this, if you have any doubts, we can try other options. Evacuation, negotiated surrender, something that doesn't risk your life."
"And let Kael win?" I shook my head firmly. "He'll never stop hunting me, Darius. Even if I ran to the furthest corners of the world, he'd follow. The only way this ends is with one of us defeated permanently."
"Then we'd better make sure it's him," Elena said quietly.
Moira finished her preparations and turned to address the growing crowd in the tent. "Everyone except Selene needs to leave. What we're about to attempt requires absolute concentration, and witnesses will only complicate matters."
But as the healers and warriors began filing out, Darius lingered beside the table.
"Whatever happens," he said quietly, "know that you've already done more for this pack than anyone had a right to expect. You don't owe us your life."
"No," I agreed. "But I owe myself the chance to become who I was always meant to be."
He nodded slowly, understanding passing between us. Then he too left, leaving me alone with Moira and the ancient power that waited to consume or transform me.
"Are you ready?" the healer asked.
I looked down at my hands, watching silver light play across my fingers like liquid starfire. Somewhere beyond the tent walls, Kael's army was advancing, driven by obsession and the promise of conquest. In a few hours, they would reach the Nightshade compound and demand my surrender.
They were going to be very disappointed.
"I'm ready," I said.