The next morning, Salina stood in front of her boss's desk, resignation letter in hand. Her manager looked up from his computer, surprised.
"Salina? What's this about?"
She swallowed. "I'm sorry. I just... I need to leave."
He scanned the letter, his brows knitting. "You've been one of our best. Are you sure? Is this about family? Or something I can fix?"
Salina smiled tightly, her heart thudding in her chest. "It's personal. But thank you. I've appreciated everything here."
He nodded reluctantly. "If you ever want to come back..."
"Thank you."
As she stepped out of the building for the last time, the weight lifted slightly. She had made her decision. No more halfway truths. No more pretending.
But of course, Bianca didn't let her get away.
She cornered Salina later that afternoon at a café downtown, waving her phone.
"You resigned? What the hell, girl? What happened? You get dumped or join a cult or something?"
Salina forced a smile. "Nothing dramatic. I just... needed a break. Some space to figure myself out."
Bianca narrowed her eyes. "You hate yoga retreats and can't stand camping. So don't give me that soul-searching crap. This is about that guy, isn't it? The one with the animal eyes?"
Salina kept her face composed. "You watch too many movies."
"Seriously, Did he ghost you or bite you?" Bianca snorted, clearly amused by her own joke.
Salina looked down at her coffee cup, gripping it tightly. "Let it go, B. Some things aren't jokes."
Bianca blinked. "Wait... are you serious?"
Salina forced a smile and stood. "I'll text you later."
She walked away before her friend could ask more.
Because Salina knew: if she told Bianca the truth, she'd laugh.
But soon... there would be no more laughing.
Only blood. And survival.
Salina spent the rest of the day in silence.
She had boxed up her belongings from the office, dropped off her access card, and returned home with nothing but a swirling storm of anticipation in her chest. Her apartment suddenly felt too small, too mundane. The colorful throw pillows and cheerful curtains felt like props from a life that no longer fit.
She changed into jeans and a black hoodie, then pulled the curtains shut and lit every candle she had. She didn't know if it was superstition or instinct, but the flickering light felt safer than the darkness.
Her phone rang again. Bianca.
She didn't answer.
Instead, Salina pulled out the journal she had kept since college, once filled with casual observations and stupid poetry and began writing down everything she remembered from the forest, from Kade, from the transformation.
She drew a rough sketch of what she'd seen, her hand trembling as she shaded in the silhouette of the wolf.
Then she added a line underneath:
"The world I thought I knew has teeth."
~~~
By nightfall, she was pacing down the street, Kade had told her to meet him at the edge of Hollow Brook an old, mostly abandoned park just before the forest line. The place was rumored to be haunted, which meant people stayed away.
That worked in their favor.
She slipped on her jacket and tucked a small silver knife into her boot. She didn't know if it would help but it made her feel less helpless.
The streets were even quieter than the night before. She passed shuttered storefronts, a flickering street lamp, and a sleeping stray cat curled on a windowsill.
When she reached Hollow Brook, the wind cut colder. Mist clung to the earth like a warning.
Kade was already there, leaning against a tree, his arms folded.
He looked up as she approached. "You came."
Salina nodded. "I said I would."
He motioned for her to follow. "We don't have enough time. The veil between worlds is thin tonight. Lucien's kind moves better when the moon's heavy."
They hiked deeper into the woods, Salina's breath coming out in clouds. The forest pulsed with quiet energy, every crackling leaf and distant hoot of an owl felt amplified.
"Where are we going?"
"To the burial grounds. The place where my ancestors first drew blood to bind the forest. If you want to understand what's coming, you need to see what we're protecting."
Salina blinked. "You mean literal magic?"
Kade didn't smile. "The old kind. Not spells and potions. Blood and Vows."
~~~
When they reached a circular clearing lined with broken stones and moss-covered runes, Salina stopped short.
The energy here was tangible. Her skin buzzed. Her ears rang.
"This is where the first pact was made," Kade said. "Where shifters swore to guard the human world against the darkness. But that pact is fraying. Lucien wants to sever it. He believes in conquest, not protection."
Salina stepped closer to a stone carved with symbols. Her fingers brushed the surface it felt like heat hummed beneath it.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Kade turned to her. "You saw me. You didn't run. You're not just human anymore. Whether you want it or not, the forest has marked you. You're part of this now."
She exhaled, slow and shaking. "So what do I do?"
"You train. You listen. You learn who to trust. And when the time comes you fight."
Salina looked back at the runes, firelight in her eyes.
She nodded once.
The road to the Northern Ridge was barely a road at all.
Salina sat in the passenger seat of Kade's battered Jeep, the headlights cutting through thick fog as they wound through dirt trails and switchback turns. The forest grew denser the farther they traveled, its tall pines arching overhead like a cathedral of shadows. The radio was off. The only sound was the tires crunching gravel and the occasional snap of branches under the wheels.
Salina kept her arms folded, her bag between her feet. "How much farther?"
Kade's hands gripped the wheel tighter. "Another hour. Maybe less. Depends if we get followed."
She glanced at him. "Do you think Lucien knows where we're going?"
He didn't answer at first. Then "Lucien always knows. That's why we need to get ahead of him."
Salina looked out the window. The trees blurred by like sentinels watching their flight. Her fingers tingled again just like they had the night before, when she'd woken from a dream drenched in sweat, her vision filled with eyes that weren't hers.
"I keep... seeing things," she said quietly. "Flashes. Like memories, but not mine. Like I'm inside someone or something else."
Kade didn't look at her. "The bond is waking up."
She turned to him. "What does that mean?"
"It means your body is catching up to your soul. You'll start to feel the forest. The pack. Me."
Salina's throat tightened. She didn't know whether to be terrified or awed.
~~~~
They finally reached a clearing where a narrow path branched off into the mist. Kade stopped the car.
"We walk from here."
Salina grabbed her bag, stepping into the cold night. Her boots sank slightly into the soft forest floor. The air smelled of pine and damp earth and something else beneath it. Something ancient.
Kade led the way, moving silently between trees with an ease that reminded her he wasn't fully human. The forest grew darker, denser. The path twisted in ways that made Salina feel like they were walking through time itself.
Then, through the branches, she saw the first torchlight.
A massive wooden arch rose ahead, carved with symbols that glowed faintly under the moonlight. Beyond it, nestled in a protective ring of stone and forest, lay the Northern Ridge.