Ashridge hadn't slept since the moon returned.
Though most of the pack remained unaware, the land itself was stirring. The soil had shifted. The trees leaned closer. The sky hung heavy — not with storm clouds, but with expectation.
Something had awakened.
Evelyn Blake hadn't spoken since that night in the clearing. Since the glow. Since the voice. She sat on her bed, knees drawn to her chest, eyes wide but vacant, as if she were seeing something no one else could.
Lucian hadn't left the hallway outside her door. He hadn't shifted again. Hadn't returned to the pack house. Hadn't eaten. His eyes stayed silver. His body tense.
Because her heartbeat — or the one beneath hers — had changed.
It wasn't pulsing with fear anymore.
It was… steady.
Like it knew it had finally returned.
⸻
"She hasn't said a word?" Riven asked.
Lucian shook his head, his voice low. "But she's seeing things. I can feel it."
They stood just outside the cabin, the morning light fractured by the trees. Birds didn't sing today.
Riven held the ancient book in both hands, the pages cracked and fragile. "There's more in here. About the one they called the Echo. She was a vessel. A carrier. She held the memory of a fallen wolf god."
Lucian's eyes narrowed. "You think that's what Evelyn is?"
"I think she's more than human. And less than wolf. I think she was never meant to be born… but something made her anyway."
Lucian's voice turned sharp. "She's not some… thing."
Riven didn't flinch. "I didn't say she was. But you need to prepare yourself. She may not stay Evelyn for long."
Lucian's growl cut through the trees.
⸻
Evelyn didn't recognize her own hands.
They looked the same. Pale. Slim. But they moved differently now. When she reached for the blanket, her fingers curled in ways she didn't remember learning. When she stood and walked to the mirror, her feet didn't stumble like they used to.
And her reflection…
It was still hers.
But behind her eyes, something watched.
"I remember stone walls," she whispered to herself. "I remember dying."
The mirror shimmered for a split second.
And Evelyn blinked.
⸻
She came out of the room quietly. Lucian had been sitting on the floor, head bowed, fingers tangled in his hair. He looked up immediately when he sensed her.
Her eyes met his.
She wasn't scared anymore.
He stood slowly. "Evelyn?"
She nodded once. "I think I remember who I was."
Lucian didn't move. Didn't speak.
"I think I died," she continued, stepping closer. "And then… I came back. But not as me. Not fully."
"Then who are you?" he asked.
She looked up at him, unblinking.
"I don't know. But she's been waiting for me to listen."
⸻
Back in the cave miles beyond the Ashridge border, the rogue wolves circled slowly. The figure at the center of the stone circle was no longer fully wolf, nor man. He stood tall, bare-chested, tattoos of ancient markings glowing faintly across his skin.
He was once called Moren.
The last Echo's mate.
And he had felt her return.
He raised his head to the clouds, inhaled the new moonlight, and whispered the name only he remembered:
"Elhera."
The name flew across the wind like a spell.
⸻
Lucian froze in place the moment he heard Evelyn speak it.
"What did you say?" he asked, tone sharper than he intended.
Evelyn looked dazed, like she hadn't realized she'd spoken at all. "That name… it just came to me. I don't know what it means."
But Lucian knew.
And it terrified him.
"Elhera wasn't just a wolf," he said. "She was the daughter of the first Alpha. The bloodline that vanished. The one that was erased."
Evelyn's heart pounded louder. "Then why is she inside me?"
"I don't know."
"But you're scared of her," she said.
Lucian looked away.
"Yes."
⸻
That night, Evelyn dreamed.
Only this time, it wasn't a dream. It was memory.
The skies burned crimson. Wolves in armor charged across blood-soaked fields. She stood atop a stone tower, arms raised, howling not in sorrow — but in vengeance.
"You will not forget us!" she screamed.
A blade pierced her back.
She fell.
And everything went black.
⸻
She woke up gasping, sweat pouring from her skin.
Lucian was already at her side. He didn't ask what she saw. He didn't need to.
The heartbeat in her chest wasn't alone anymore.
It was merged.
⸻
The next morning, she stood on the porch with her arms crossed. The forest didn't scare her now.
"I think I was her," she said without turning. "Or maybe I am her. I don't know."
Lucian stood beside her. "You're still Evelyn."
She shook her head. "Maybe. But I'm something else too."
Silence stretched between them.
"I feel strong," she admitted. "But not safe."
Lucian's hand brushed hers. "I'll protect you. No matter what you are."
"But what if I don't need protection anymore?" she asked.
Lucian looked at her then.
And realized…
She wasn't the same girl he'd carried out of that forest.
⸻
Far beyond the valley, in the ruins of the first Alpha's keep, Moren knelt beside a pool of ancient moonstone water. He touched its surface gently, and the image rippled.
Evelyn's face stared back at him.
"Elhera," he said again.
He stood.
And began walking toward Ashridge