The night air was still.
Too still.
Sienna sat outside the training hall, her fingers curled around a flask of water Sage had given her. She hadn't drunk it yet. Something felt… wrong.
A distant howl shattered the silence.
Then another. Closer. Urgent.
Within seconds, the alarm bell rang from the pack watchtower.
"Rogues!" someone screamed.
Sienna shot to her feet.
Guards rushed past her. Chaos exploded in every direction — wolves shifting, weapons being handed out, pups being ushered into hiding.
She turned to run toward the center of the chaos, but a guard blocked her.
"Stay here. You're still a prisoner," he barked.
Sienna didn't listen.
She heard a child's cry.
⸻
In the edge of the forest, near the training shed, she saw him — a small boy, trapped beneath fallen wood, sobbing as a rogue wolf circled nearby.
Sienna shifted.
Her wolf erupted from her like fire — fast, furious, more powerful than she'd ever imagined.
The herbs Victor had used to suppress her had worn off.
She was finally free.
She tore across the field, slamming into the rogue with full force, teeth snapping. Her claws raked across its chest.
The rogue didn't stand a chance.
She stood between the boy and danger, growling until more pack members arrived.
⸻
Daemon was one of them.
He saw her — glowing silver in the moonlight, blood on her fur, standing like a guardian over the pup.
His heart stopped.
Not a curse.
Not a weakness.
She had saved one of his.
⸻
After the battle, Sienna limped back into human form. Her arms were scratched, but her eyes burned bright with fire.
Villagers stared.
For the first time, no one hissed. No one flinched.
A woman approached — the mother of the boy she'd saved.
Tears filled her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you for saving my son."
Sienna froze.
Then nodded, unsure what to say.
Daemon stood nearby, silent — watching. Something inside him shifted. The fear, the prophecy, the lies — they were starting to unravel.
And in the ruins, he saw one thing clearly.
She had chosen them.
Now maybe, just maybe, he would choose her.