Rein's POV
....
My finger brushed over the leather cover of the book.
It felt warm beneath my touch,too warm for something that hadn't been exposed to fire or sunlight. The strange markings on it pulsed like veins under my skin. I couldn't explain why, but my chest tightened as if something within me recognized it… yearned for it.
And then something happened.
The world around me tilted.
The ground fell away. My vision blurred, and a sharp wind whipped against my face. My body jerked forward, as if pulled by invisible threads. I barely had time to scream before everything turned black.
And then I felt cold, so cold it made me shiver.
It wasn't the normal kind of cold that creeps into your spine. This one pressed into my lungs. I landed hard on something soft and damp.
Grass? Or dirt?
When I opened my eyes, I realized I was no longer in the room.
It was dark. So dark. There wasn't even a sliver of moonlight in the forest. Tall trees surrounded me, their branches clawing at the sky like skeletal fingers. A distant howl echoed from far away, making my skin crawl.
I pushed myself up, dazed and confused.
"What the hell…" I whispered.
I was in a forest.
A forest.
My mind scrambled, looking for a reasonable explanation. Had I fallen asleep? Been drugged? But the grass under my hand felt real. The damp earth. The air smelled like moss, pine, and something more primal.
I took a deep breath and tried to stand up, but my balance was off, odd, even.
Pain shot through my leg and I collapsed with a gasp. I looked down.
And screamed.
My legs weren't legs anymore. At least, not human legs. Silver fur ran down my limbs. My fingers..no, my paws...trembled, claws digging into the earth.
"What… What is happening to me?" I asked myself, nearly breaking into tears.
I shouldn't have gone to that breeder's protest.
Panic surged.
I tried to stand again, wobbling on my unstable limbs. My wolf instinct fought with my human logic, telling me to run… to howl. I staggered forward,awkward, unsure. Heart pounding like a drum.
Leaves crackled beneath my feet. A breeze rustled the canopy above, and for a moment, I could hear everything. The hum of insects. The flap of bat wings. The heartbeat of a nearby deer. My ears flicked, twitching atop my head.
"I'm a… a wolf?" I said, though the words came out as thoughts, not sound.
I had no idea how to walk in this body, let alone run or fight. But somehow, my muscles remembered. Slowly, my legs steadied, and I limped deeper into the woods, leaves brushing my fur like whispers.
Then I saw her.
A figure stood between the trees—golden-brown skin, long silver-red curls that shimmered like moonlight. She was barefoot, dressed in a flowing white gown. She looked unreal, glowing slightly in the dark like moonlight wrapped in skin.
She turned toward me. Instantly, I froze.
She had my face.
No… not my face. I had hers.
The body I now occupied.
Her eyes were the same eerie amber as mine—knowing and sad.
"Rein," she said softly. Her voice didn't echo through the air. Instead, it rang in my head like a memory. "You have come."
I stumbled backward, trembling. "You are Syria," I said—or maybe thought. I wasn't sure anymore.
"Yes," she nodded, "and no. I am what is left of her."
She stepped forward, brushing my fur gently with her hand.
"You are not here by accident. You were destined to die. You were the chosen one. The book is a key is a link between me and you."
My breath hitched.
"Why me? Why am I in your body?" I asked.
Hearing my question, her expression grew heavy and sorrowful.
"Because I wasn't meant to survive. I was born to rule, but I was betrayed before I could claim what was mine. My kingdom was destroyed. My people scattered."
She looked up at the sky cold, distant.
"I was captured later. They thought I was a breeder," she said bitterly. "But I was a princess. My blood was sacred. They never cared, thinking I was bragging. They saw me as just a nameless woman, never realizing the last heir of Lunaris was still alive."
Her eyes glistened.
"I fought. I tried to escape. But they caught me and sold me at auction. When I realized I would be sold to a man I didn't know for breeding. Icommitted suicide by bitting my tongue ."
"Why me?" I asked again, stepping closer.
She smiled. "Because your soul burns like mine fierce and rebellious. You would not bow. Not to fate. Not to man."
A lump formed in my throat. "But I do not even know how I can help you. I don't even know who I am anymore."
"You are the bridge," she whispered. "And the storm."
She stepped back and pointed behind her at a tree old and gnarled, its bark carved with the same runes from the book.
"There is danger coming. A force greater than you can understand. You must escape, Rein. Not just for yourself, but for me. For us. There are secrets buried in that house. In that book. And powers you do not yet understand."
"I don't…"
Her head snapped toward the shadows, fear flashing in her eyes.
"They found me," she whispered. "No… not yet…"
She turned back to me. "Rein! You must leave. Wake up!"
"Wait! Who found you? I do not understand!" I shouted. I could not just leave. Not without knowing everything—about my powers, about this world, about her.
"Wake up!" she screamed—and the forest exploded with light.
And then… silence.
I jolted upright in my bed, gasping from the shock.
I was back in the mansion, in my new room. The book lay open on my lap, glowing faintly before fading and closing again, turning back into dull leather once more.
I touched my face… then my leg.
I was human again.
Maybe it was a dream.
But the pounding of my heart said otherwise.
Because I remembered everything.
The fur. Syria.
And her last words echoed in my mind:
"You must escape."
I was planning on doing that anyway.