CHAPTER 84 — Soraya’s Wolf Form Awakens

POV: Soraya

The night was deceptively calm—so still the desert air felt like held breath. I had stayed in the training courts long after Kaide left, practicing the grounding techniques from the Zehrael scrolls. Silver sparks still flickered faintly along my palms, like moonlight trapped under my skin. The fortress torches swayed in gentle patterns as if nothing in the world was wrong.

Which should have been my first warning.

I stood alone near the edge of the courtyard, letting the cool wind soothe the tension in my chest. The day had been heavy—Azhara’s threat, Zarek’s looming alliances, whispers that the desert would soon bleed again. But for one brief stretch of quiet, I finally felt a sliver of balance settling inside me.

Then I smelled it.

Sweat. Metal. A scent that didn’t belong to Ashra.

My breath hitched. My wolf stirred in alarm.

Before I could react, a gloved hand clamped over my mouth.

I twisted, but another arm locked around my waist, lifting me off the ground. A third figure emerged from the shadows—hooded, masked, eyes gleaming like the edge of a blade.

“Zarek sends his regards,” the man hissed.

My heart slammed into my ribs.

Not again. Not this.

I bit down hard on the hand covering my mouth. The man hissed and jerked back, and I dropped to the sand. I barely had time to gasp before another attacker lunged forward, swinging a chain meant to snare my wrists.

I ducked—but the chain clipped my shoulder. Pain flared. My vision blurred with panic and rage.

“Bind her,” one ordered. “Alive. He wants her alive.”

Alive.

Alive for Zarek.

A cold fire erupted in my chest.

“No,” I whispered. “Not again.”

The ground trembled beneath my feet as my wolf surged violently upward. Light burst across my skin, white and blistering. The men cursed and stumbled back.

I screamed.

The shift ripped through me—bones cracking, muscles stretching, claws forming, eyes burning bright silver. Pain tore my body apart, but beneath it was a wild, ancient power begging to be unleashed.

Then the pain vanished.

I hit the ground on all fours, sand flying beneath massive paws.

My wolf had taken over.

The men froze in terror as the full moon-marked beast rose before them—twice the size of a normal wolf, fur shimmering like molten silver, eyes glowing with Zehrael fire.

“Oh gods,” one whispered. “What is she?”

I roared.

The sound split the night.

They ran—but not fast enough.

I lunged, claws slicing through armor, jaws crushing bone. Training grounds echoed with their screams. One tried to stab me; I bit through the blade. Another scrambled toward the gate; I leapt and crushed him beneath my weight.

Blood soaked the sand. The scent of fear fed my wolf, drove her sharper, wilder.

Then more footsteps echoed from the fortress halls—Ashra guards rushing toward the noise.

But my wolf didn’t stay.

Something tugged inside me—pulling me away from the fortress, away from safety. A whisper of instinct. A pull toward the dunes. Toward danger. Toward a place I did not understand.

Run.

Run.

Run.

My legs moved before my mind could stop them.

I bolted through the outer gates, slipping through shadows before any guard caught up. The sand under my paws felt like fire and wind combined. I raced past the borders of Ashra, past the safe dunes, into the wild expanse where the desert grew darker and harsher.

Everything blurred—the scent of night, the sting of wind, the metallic taste of recent kills. My wolf didn’t distinguish direction or destination. She only followed instinct.

And instinct led me far too close to the human territories.

The first arrow struck my flank.

I snarled, spinning, but more whistles cut through the air. A volley of arrows rained down, slicing past my ribs, embedding in my shoulder, one grazing my neck. My wolf roared in agony, staggering backward.

“Desert demon!” a human voice shouted. “Shoot again!”

Desert demon.

My wolf shuddered violently. She hadn’t meant to cross the boundaries. She hadn’t meant to be seen. But humans didn’t care—anything monstrous, anything glowing, anything unfamiliar was a threat.

Another arrow flew. I managed to twist—barely—but it cut deep across my side.

Instinct screamed: Run.

I bolted into the dunes, leaving a trail of blood. The wind swallowed my tracks but not fast enough. My wolf trembled, limbs weakening. The world tilted. The glowing vision dimmed.

Not safe.

Not safe.

Find home.

But every direction blurred into shifting dunes.

My wolf staggered, collapsed once, then pushed back up on shaking legs. The arrows lodged in my body burned like fire, poison seeping in. Pain blurred my thoughts, dragging me down, pulling me under.

I stumbled through the sand until the moon blurred in the sky. My wolf slowed. Breath hitched. Paws buckled.

Then the shift hit again—violent, uncontrolled.

I collapsed, bones cracking, skin tearing as fur receded. Heat tore through me like lightning. I screamed as I shifted back—half-human, half-wolf, bleeding and shaking.

Sand scraped my skin. Wind whipped my hair.

I tried to crawl. I tried to breathe. But my limbs gave out, heavy as stone.

The world dimmed into darkness, edges curling inward as consciousness slipped away.

The last thing I felt was the cold kiss of night air on my cheek… and the hollow thud of my heartbeat slowing.

Then nothing.