Awakening

The room pulsed with an energy so raw, so primal, that even the shadows seemed to retreat. Leah's body burned from the inside out, her skin feverish, her breaths uneven.

Damon was still gripping her shoulders, his crimson eyes wide with something she had never seen in him before—fear.

"Leah," he breathed, his voice softer now, careful.

She could barely process what was happening. A foreign force—something ancient—coiled inside her, shifting, testing the limits of her body like a beast stretching its limbs for the first time in centuries.

Then, the whispers started.

You are not just theirs.

You were never just human.

You are the key. The bridge. The end and the beginning.

Leah gasped, clutching her head as her vision swam. She saw flashes—of wolves bowing, of shadows slithering between worlds, of a great battle raging in the darkness. And at the center of it all—her.

"Leah, focus," Damon commanded, his grip tightening. "Stay with me."

Her breathing slowed, and for a moment, she felt herself slipping—falling into something vast, endless.

Then—pain.

A sharp, searing crack split through her spine, and she screamed, arching as if something inside her was trying to break free.

Damon cursed, his hands moving to steady her. "Damn it, what's happening to you?!"

Leah's fingers dug into the floor, her nails scraping against the wood. "I—I don't know!"

The room trembled. Books tumbled from the shelves, candles flickered wildly. The air thickened with power, as if the very fabric of reality was shifting around her.

And then, just as suddenly as it started—

Everything went still.

Leah collapsed forward, panting, her body drenched in sweat. Damon caught her before she hit the ground, his strong arms wrapping around her trembling form.

She was exhausted. But beneath the fatigue, something had changed.

She felt different.

Stronger.

Damon brushed a damp strand of hair from her face, his touch lingering. "You scared the hell out of me," he muttered.

Leah swallowed hard, forcing herself to look at him. "I—I think I just—"

She stopped.

Damon's expression shifted, his brows furrowing. "What?"

Leah's eyes flickered to her hands.

Her nails—once short and unremarkable—had sharpened into something inhuman. The tips gleamed like obsidian, pulsing faintly with the same eerie energy that still thrummed in her veins.

And then there were her eyes.

She caught her reflection in the window behind Damon—

Her irises were no longer their usual soft brown.

They glowed with a brilliant silver-blue, the same shade she had seen in her visions.

Leah's breath caught.

She wasn't just changing.

She was becoming something else.

Damon followed her gaze, his eyes darkening when he saw her reflection. A slow, dangerous smirk curled his lips.

"Well," he murmured, tilting her chin up so she had to meet his gaze.

"Looks like you're not just human after all."

---

The night stretched on, but neither Leah nor Damon could sleep.

Leah sat on the bed, wrapped in a loose sweater, her mind racing. She flexed her fingers, watching the strange shimmer of power dance along her skin.

"What the hell am I?" she whispered.

Damon, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, exhaled through his nose. "That's the million-dollar question."

There was something feral in the way he watched her now—not fear, but understanding. As if he had been waiting for this moment.

Leah shivered.

Whatever was happening to her… it was only the beginning.

A sharp knock on the door shattered the silence.

Kai's voice was calm, but laced with tension. "We have a problem."

Damon swung the door open. "What now?"

Kai stepped inside, his golden eyes sweeping over Leah before flicking to Damon. "The Elders are making their move. They sent an envoy."

Leah's stomach twisted. "They know."

Kai nodded. "And they're not here to talk."

Damon cracked his knuckles, his grin sharp and wicked. "Good. I was getting bored."

Leah's hands clenched at her sides.

If the Elders wanted a fight, they had no idea what they were walking into.

Because she wasn't just Leah anymore.

She was something new.

Something powerful.

And she wasn't going down without a war.