183 Chapter 183 First Wolf Awakening
Briar’s POV 1
I watched Damien and Elena through blurred vision as waves of agony crashed over me. Every bone in my body felt like it was shattering and rebuilding itself from the inside out.
The pain was beyond anything I had ever imagined possible. I had endured plenty of suffering in my life, but this was a torment that made everything else seem trivial.
Screams tore from my throat when I could manage them, but most of the time the pain left me doubled over and gasping for air that wouldn’t come.
Asher dropped to the ground beside me and pulled me against him, his arms wrapping around my trembling body. His skin felt surprisingly cool against my burning flesh.
Through the haze of pain, I glimpsed Damien and Elena standing directly in front of us. But above their heads, the full moon blazed down like a spotlight, casting everything in silver light.
Elena knelt down near me, though she kept her distance. Her eyes held a gentleness I had never seen before as she studied my face.
“Stop fighting it. Let yourself surrender to what’s happening.”
Her voice was soft, almost soothing.
I wasn’t fighting anything. What was she even talking about?
“I don’t understand,” I managed to gasp between clenched teeth.
“Try to breathe through it. The first transformation is always the most brutal,” Elena said quietly.
Another scream ripped from my chest as something fundamental shifted inside me. The change felt like my very essence was being rewired.
183 Chapter 183 First Wolf Awakening
Asher suddenly jerked away from me, and I turned to look at him in
confusion. I tried to push myself up to standing, but my body felt completely foreign.
When I attempted to walk toward Asher, my legs wobbled beneath me like I was learning to walk all over again.
Elena rose to her feet, and suddenly everyone seemed to tower over me. Even Asher looked impossibly tall from where I stood.
I glanced down at myself and froze. My hands and feet had vanished, replaced by paws covered in black and white fur. I stumbled backward in
shock.
“I’m a wolf. I’m actually a wolf,” the thought screamed through my mind.
“Yes, you are,” Elena’s voice responded clearly.
But her lips hadn’t moved. I stared at her in confusion.
“What just happened?” I asked aloud.
“We’re communicating through the pack bond. Mind linking. It’s possible because you technically never stopped being part of our pack,” Elena explained.
“Are you reading my thoughts?” Panic edged my mental voice.
“No. We can only hear what you choose to share with us. The connection can be opened or closed at will. But it only works within our pack,” Elena said patiently.
“Make it stop. This is freaking me out. And my name isn’t Briar,” I protested.
“It is your name. Why do you keep refusing to accept the truth? They took you from us when you were just six months old. You’re our daughter,” Elena said firmly.
No. This couldn’t be real. I had spent my entire life being taught to despise wolves, to hunt them down and destroy them. I couldn’t possibly be one of
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183 Chapter 183 First Wolf Awakening
them. This was completely insane.
I turned to look at Asher, who was watching me with an unreadable expression. He was the one who had brought Damien and Elena here in the first place.
“You’re a wolf too,” I said, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
“I was sent to help you awaken your wolf side. A wolf raised by humans will never naturally shift. They need to be surrounded by their own kind to unlock their true nature,” Asher explained calmly.
“You lying bastard,” I snarled, taking several unsteady steps backward.
“Listen to me,” he started.
“Go to hell,” I shouted, spinning around and bolting into the dense forest. My new wolf body moved awkwardly as I tried to navigate the unfamiliar terrain.
Behind me, I heard fabric ripping and the sound of pursuit. Heavy paws pounded against the forest floor, gaining on me rapidly.
I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw a massive wolf charging after me. With those familiar eyes, I knew immediately it was Asher.
He tackled me to the ground with surprising gentleness, pinning me beneath his larger frame. His wolf form was intimidating, but his eyes held the same warmth I remembered.
“You can’t run from the truth forever,” he said through the mind link.
“I trusted you. I thought what we had was real,” I said, struggling beneath his weight.
“What we have is more real than anything else in this world. But that’s a conversation we need to have when you’re ready to listen,” he said, finally releasing me.
I scrambled to my feet, my wolf instincts gradually making movement feel more natural.
183 Chapter 183 First Wolf Awakening
“You’ve been working for them this entire time,” I accused.
“I was trying to help you find your way home. Koa and Nico are wolves too. We all belong to Damien and Elena’s pack. They’re nothing like what you’ve been told. It’s the Hunters who are the real enemy,” Asher said firmly.
The weight of his words settled over me like a heavy blanket. Everything I had believed about my life, my purpose, my identity was crumbling around me. The people who had raised me had built their entire existence on lies, and the creatures I had been taught to fear and hate were apparently my real family.
I looked back toward the clearing where Damien and Elena waited, their patience unwavering despite my dramatic exit. For the first time in my life, I felt truly lost, caught between two worlds that seemed impossible to
reconcile.
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