Chapter 01

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in hues of molten gold and dusky violet. Rory, a wisp of a girl with hazel eyes flecked with green, curled beneath her floral comforter, its familiar scent of lavender and linen soothing her. The day had passed like so many before—meandering through the quiet streets of her small town, feeling the weight of an unspoken longing pressing against her ribs. A longing for something more, something just beyond reach.

As sleep crept in, her reality unravelled like threads in the wind, pulling her into something deeper.

Then, she was there.

No longer in her bedroom, but standing in the heart of an ancient forest. The towering trees stretched towards the heavens, their gnarled branches entwining like fingers whispering secrets to the sky. The air was thick with the scent of pine needles and damp earth, cool and electric against her skin. She hadn't simply drifted into this place—one moment she had been warm in her bed, and the next, she stood on the yielding moss, the hush of the woods wrapping around her like a second skin.

A low growl rumbled through the silence.

It wasn't just a sound; it was a force, vibrating through the ground, through her bones. She turned, her pulse hammering, and saw him.

A wolf, massive and regal, his fur the colour of fire at dusk, his eyes twin embers smouldering in the night. He stood tall, his head held high, an air of knowing in his gaze. His growl deepened, the sound a rolling thunder that shook her to her core.

Rory's breath caught. Fear bloomed in her chest—primal, instinctive. And yet, something else stirred within her, something unexpected. A strange familiarity, a connection that defied reason. She couldn't run. She couldn't even move. She could only stand there, ensnared by the sheer force of his presence, by the unspoken challenge in his gaze.

Then, the wolf shifted.

His growl softened into a murmur of sound, his gaze searching hers. He took a step forward, and instead of recoiling, Rory felt herself drawn in, as though invisible threads were pulling them together. A current passed between them, something ancient and unbreakable.

The wolf's voice was not a sound but a feeling, a resonance deep within her bones.

"Do not fear, little one," the whisper hummed through her. "I have waited for you."

Rory's mind reeled. Her lips parted, but the words tangled in her throat. The wolf's gaze bore into hers, unrelenting yet reassuring, the fire within them burning not with threat, but with purpose.

"Who…who are you?" she managed, her voice no more than a breath.

The answer was a ripple in her mind, an unspoken promise.

"I am the one who will guide you," the voice murmured. "I am the one who will show you who you truly are."

The world trembled. The trees blurred, their edges dissolving into shadow. The wolf's form flickered like a flame in the wind, and then, all at once—

She woke.

A gasp tore from her lips as she sat bolt upright, her heart slamming against her ribs. The floral comforter twisted around her legs, heavy and suffocating. The night was still, the air in her room too quiet, too real. But the dream clung to her like mist, the scent of pine still teasing her senses, the wolf's voice echoing in the cavern of her mind.

It had only been a dream.

And yet, her hands trembled as she pressed them against the mattress, her body alive with something she could not name. The wolf's ember eyes burned behind her eyelids, his words a whisper beneath her skin.

Something was coming.

And deep down, Rory knew—this was only the beginning.