CHAPTER 33: SOMETHING DANGEROUS II

The room was silent except for the faint sound coming from the burning candles Calandra had placed around the circle on the floor. Their flames were flickering without wind, glowing in colors I had never seen fire glow before—blue, green, and a strange silver that reminded me of my own eyes. The air was thick, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.

The witch stood in front of me, tall and still, her hood falling back to reveal sharp cheekbones and pale lips. Her eyes looked like dark glass, unreadable. When she spoke, her voice was low but clear.

"You’ve been marked by the Alpha," she said again. "And not with an ordinary mark. This one carries power—power that does not belong to a breeding mate."

I blinked at her, my fingers curling against my thighs. "I don’t understand. He did mention something about power. He just..." I hesitated, my cheeks heating. "He just marked me."

Calandra’s lips rose into the ghost of a smile, but there was no warmth in it. "Do you think marks are only for possession? Alpha Dawn has given you a piece of his strength by that marking. A dangerous piece. It’s a gamble—if you can carry it, it will make you stronger. But if you can’t..." She trailed off.

My stomach tightened. "If I can’t?"

Her eyes glinted. "Then it will destroy you. Or him. Or both."

I stared at her, a knot of panic forming in my chest. "Why would he do that? Why risk it?"

"That," she said simply, "is what you must ask him. But from what I see, this mark is not only a gift—it is also a tether. A bond that runs both ways. If you lose control, you could kill him. And if he loses control, he could kill you."

The room spun slightly. I gripped the back of a nearby chair to steady myself. "You’re lying. This is just another trick to scare me."

"I do not waste lies on girls who don’t understand their own power." Her gaze softened slightly. "You are not weak, Bambi. You’ve been made to think you are, but you’re not. The Alpha chose you for a reason—and it’s not the one you believe."

Her words made my heart beat faster. "Then what is the reason?"

Calandra tilted her head. "Do you want to know the truth? Or do you want to keep believing you’re just a toy?"

I swallowed hard. "The truth."

"Good." She stepped closer until the edge of her cloak brushed my knees. "When the Alpha marked you last night, he awakened something dormant inside you. Something you were born with. Not every she-wolf carries it. It is rare, older than the packs themselves. Power runs in bloodlines, hidden until it is called. And now, it has been called in you."

Explains why I opened my eyes to my scratches on his body. Scratches I made. And it made sense why he was unbothered about it.

I shook my head. "No. I’m nobody."

An Omega. A servant.

"Enough." Her voice cracked like a whip. "Say it again. Say it until it becomes the lie you know it is. You are not ’nobody,’ Bambi Scout. That’s what they want you to think. But power doesn’t care for titles. It doesn’t care for rank. It sleeps where it chooses and wakes when it wills."

Her words sent a shiver through me. "What... what does this mean for me?"

She stills. "I know you are an Omega."

My heart skipped.

"Don’t panic. This remains a secret between you and I. When you walked in, i couldn’t bring myself to smell your position because someone already used their power to hide your smell."

Yes. The Luna.

"But, you are more than an Omega."

"I don’t understand..."

"It means," she said, her eyes locking onto mine, "that you are now more than a breeding mate. You are a threat."

My breath caught. "A threat to who?"

"To everyone who wants to control you. The Luna. The Alpha. Even me."

I staggered back a step. "You’re trying to scare me."

"No," she said softly. "I’m trying to prepare you."

The door swung open before I could reply.

Alpha Dawn stepped back into the room, his dark eyes flicking from Calandra to me. "What did you tell her?" His voice was sharp, like a blade unsheathed.

I panicked. He definitely heard her conversation but his expression tells me he didn’t hear.

Calandra didn’t flinch. "The truth."

"Why did you do a spell to make me not eavesdrop on your conversation? What truth are you speaking of?"

She said nothing, stubbornly keeping her mouth sealed.

His jaw clenched. He looked at me then, his expression unreadable. "Leave us."

Calandra raised a brow. "You’ll regret sending me away now. She needs to learn what she’s carrying, or it will eat her alive."

"I said leave," he repeated, his tone a low growl.

For a long moment, she stared at him. Then, without another word, she drew her hood back up, stepped over the glowing runes, and left the room. The door closed behind her with a soft click.

The silence that followed was heavier than before.

"What did she tell you?" He growled.

"I can’t say it."

"Why not?"

"She asked me not to. Didn’t you hear us?"

"I didn’t. I couldn’t. She ensured that I didn’t."

I took a silence breath of relief.

"I hear your heartbeat. I see your sweat on your brows. I hear your sharp breaths. What did she tell you?"

"Nothing you should know. Can I go now?"

He walked toward me slowly, each step deliberate. "She told you too much."

"She told me the truth."

His eyes flashed. "And what will you do with that truth?"

I stared at him, my chest rising and falling fast. "Why me, Dawn? You gave me something that could kill us both."

"I marked you." He bit out.

"You gave me something I can’t handle."

He stopped in front of me, so close I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. "Because you’re the only one who can hold it."

My breath caught. "You don’t know that."

"I want you as my Luna." He cupped my cheek.

"That is a very selfish thing to do. You gave me a power because you wanted me to qualify as a Luna without realizing what the power would do to me."

He doesn’t know I was an Omega. He doesn’t know the power he had passed down to me through the marking was too much for me as an Omega.

I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. "I’m not—I can’t do this. I’m scared all the time. I want to run."

He reached out, his hand cupping my jaw again, but this time his touch was gentler. "Being scared doesn’t make you weak. It makes you normal. A normal werewolf. But strength is what you do with that fear."

I bit my lip. "And if I can’t control it?"

"Then I’ll control it for you." His thumb brushed my cheek. "I won’t let it hurt you."

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to steady my breathing. When I opened them again, his gaze was still locked on mine, fierce and unyielding.

"Teach me," I whispered. "If what she said is true, teach me how to control it. Don’t keep me in the dark anymore."

Something flickered in his eyes—approval, maybe. Or relief. "Good," he murmured. "We’ll start tonight."

He stepped back, his hand falling away from my face. "But you need to know something first. This power—it changes things. Once you learn to use it, you can’t go back to what you were. People will see you differently. They’ll fear you. They’ll hate you. They’ll try to destroy you."

I swallowed hard. "They already do."

A small, dangerous smile touched his lips. "Then you’re ready."

---

The rest of the day passed in fleeting seconds. Dawn left to handle Pack affairs, and I stayed in his quarters, pacing the room like a caged animal. Servants came and went with food and water, but no one spoke to me. Every time I caught my reflection in the mirror, I didn’t recognize the girl staring back.

As the sun descended, the door opened again. Dawn stepped inside, his shirt sleeves rolled up, his hair slightly disheveled.

"Come," he said simply.

I followed him out of the room, down a hallway lit by torches instead of electric lights. We descended a narrow staircase that led to an underground chamber. The walls were stone, the air cool and damp.

At the center of the chamber was another circle drawn in chalk and powder, larger than the one Calandra had used. Symbols I didn’t understand spiraled outward from the center.

"What is this place?" I asked quietly.

"An old training room," he said. "No one comes here anymore. It’s where I learned to control my wolf when I was a little."

I stepped inside, my heart thudding. "And you want me to..."

"Stand in the circle."

I hesitated. "Will it hurt?"

"Yes." His honesty was blunt. "But you’ll survive. You always do."

I drew a shaky breath and stepped into the circle. The symbols flared faintly under my feet, like embers waking.

"Close your eyes," he ordered.

I did.

"Now, listen." His voice was low but steady. "Feel your heartbeat. Feel the mark inside you. It’s there, waiting. Call it."

"I don’t know how."

"Yes, you do."

I swallowed, trying to focus. My heartbeat sounded in my ears. Under it, something pulsed—strange, warm, alive. It was like a second heart beating inside me.

"I feel it," I whispered.

"Good. Now let it rise."

A shiver ran through me. The warmth spread from my chest to my arms, my legs, my fingertips. My skin tingled.

"Open your eyes," he said.

I did—and gasped.

My claws were out. My bones had gotten rough. My claws came out. A scream pierced through me. A scream that trembled the walls. My hand trembled but not from anxiety but from the powers within.

"What... what is this?" My voice came out as a growl.

"Power," Dawn said simply. He stepped closer but didn’t touch me. "It’s yours now. Control it."

"I don’t know how!"

"Yes, you do," he said again. "Breathe. Focus. Don’t fight it. Guide it."

I tried. My hands trembled, it was like holding a storm. I thought of all the times I had been powerless, all the times I had been hurt, and something inside me hardened.

The light steadied.

Dawn’s eyes glinted. "Good. Very good."

I looked at him, my breath coming fast. "I can feel you," I whispered. "Through the mark. I can feel your heartbeat. I can hear it!"

My sensitive hearing deepens at that moment and I began to hear his heartbeat even louder. Something I never thought would happen till I died.

My sensitive smelling followed behind. Every smell in the room came rushing to my nose. From the dusty smell to dusky, addictive smell of Alpha Dawn.

"That’s the tether," he said. "It works both ways."

"Does this come once in a while?" My voice came out in another growl.

"It does. For now." He said softly. "But, you need to do something for it to be permanent."

"What’s that—?" I’m interrupted by animalistic growl.

I looked around, trying to figure out what it was. It wasn’t Alpha Dawna and it was only both of us in the room.

"Fret not." The voice echoed in the room.

"Do-do you hear that?"

Alpha Dawn frowned. "What?"

"He doesn’t." The voice came again. "I’m in your head not in the room. Stop searching for me."

My heart beat quickened.

Then, for the first time in my life, I feel a wolf figure walk into my mind. It is white and has yellow glowing eyes.

My breath came out sharp.

"Hello. My name is Freya. Your wolf."

My eyes widened.

My wolf???

As I was about to reply, everything disappeared as if it were never there. My bones went softer, my claws dug back in, my fangs disappearing as well. My glowing eyes went back to its usual color.

"Enough for tonight," Alpha Dawn interrupted. "You’re not ready for more."

All the powers I had sank back into my chest like water draining from a pool. I swayed slightly, exhausted.

Dawn stepped forward and caught me before I could fall. "Easy," he murmured. "It takes a toll the first time."

"You have to get used with the powers. If you want to become a Luna, you will need times hundred of the powers you just handled right now."

"I never said I want to be a Luna. You forced that down my throat."

"Well, good thing the decision does not lie with you."

---

That night, lying alone in the guest bed in his quarters, I couldn’t sleep. My body ached from the training, but my mind was racing.

And for the first time, I realized something terrifying.

I could be the Luna, holding a power too dangerous for me to handle.