Kara's POV
"Come closer," a voice whispered from the trees. "Come to us."
Kara wiped her tears and looked up. The forest had grown darker, the moonlight barely breaking through the thick trees above. She wasn't alone anymore.
"Who's there?" she called out, her voice shaking.
No answer came, just more whispers floating around her. They seemed to come from everywhere at once.
Kara stood up, her heart beating. After Zane's announcement about loving Lena, she'd run blindly into the bush. Now she had no idea where she was.
"Show yourself!" she demanded, trying to sound brave even though her hands were shaking.
The whispers grew louder. "This way... follow us... we know who you are..."
Against her better judgment, Kara started to walk toward the voices. They seemed to know something about her—something she badly wanted to know herself.
The whispers led her deeper into the woods. Twigs snapped under her feet as she pushed through thick bushes. The trees seemed to close in around her, but the voices kept pulling her forward.
"Just a little further," they offered. "We'll show you everything."
Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet became soft and wet. The sound of flowing water filled her ears.
Kara froze. She knew that sound. It was the river—the same river where Sasha had drowned ten years ago.
"No," she whispered, backing away. "I can't go there."
But the sounds grew more insistent. "Don't you want to know the truth? About who you really are? About what happened that day?"
Memories flashed through Kara's mind: seven-year-old Sasha splashing in the water, laughing. Then the current getting stronger. Sasha's terrified face as she was pulled under. Kara reaching for her sister's hand but getting nothing but water.
"It wasn't your fault," the voices whispered. "Come closer and see."
In a dream, Kara stepped forward. The muddy bank dropped down sharply to the black water below. The river rushed wildly, swollen from recent rains.
One more step and she would see. One more step and maybe the guilt would finally end.
Kara leaned forward—
Strong arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her backward. She screamed as she fell into someone's chest, away from the river's edge.
"Are you trying to kill yourself?" a deep voice asked in her ear.
Kara fought to break free. "Let me go!"
"So you can jump into the river? I don't think so."
The man turned her around to face him. In the dim light, she could see his striking features—black hair, strong jaw, and most shocking of all, silver eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness.
It was the same man from earlier. Dante.
"The voices," Kara said, still looking toward the river. "Didn't you hear them?"
Dante's face turned serious. "What voices?"
"They were calling me. They said they knew who I was."
Dante's grip on her arms tightened. "Listen to me carefully, Kara. There are things in these woods that prey on lost souls. Things that use your deepest wants against you."
"But they knew about Sasha, about what happened here."
"Of course they did. They read your thoughts, your fears." Dante looked around nervously. "We need to leave. Now."
But Kara couldn't move. After ten years of avoiding this place, she was finally here—where everything had gone wrong, where her life had changed forever.
"I couldn't save her," she whispered, fresh tears running. "She was right there, and I couldn't reach her."
Dante's face softened. "Is that what you believe happened?"
"I was there! I saw her drown!"
"Did you?" Dante asked quietly. "Did you see her body?"
Kara opened her mouth to answer, then stopped. She hadn't. No one had. They'd looked for days, but Sasha's body was never found.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying not everything is as it seems." Dante pulled something from his pocket—the silver necklace he'd shown her earlier. "This belonged to your mother, didn't it?"
Kara nodded, puzzled by the sudden change of subject.
"Look at the symbol." He held it up in the moonlight. What Kara had always thought was just a pretty design now looked like something else—a strange marking with curved lines making what looked like a moon caught in branches.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's the mark of the Changelings," Dante said. "Half-human, half-something else. Your mother was one of us."
"Changelings?" Kara repeated. "Like in fairy tales?"
"The stories got some things right. We're children who were switched at birth."
Kara's head was spinning. "That's crazy. I'm not—"
"You're not Alpha Blackwood's daughter," Dante said strongly. "You never were. Haven't you always felt different? Haven't you always known something wasn't right?"
Kara thought about how she'd never been able to shift into wolf form like the others. How her feelings weren't as sharp. How her father had always looked at her with something like sadness.
"If I'm not his daughter, then who am I?" she asked.
"You're one of us," Dante said. "And you have powers they can't even imagine."
Before Kara could ask more questions, a howl cut through the night—then another, and another.
"The pack," Kara said. "They're looking for me."
"They're hunting you," Dante amended. "After what happened at dinner, do you really think Zane wants to find you for a friendly chat?"
Kara remembered the shame, how everyone had stared at her when Zane announced his love for Lena.
"I have nowhere to go," she revealed.
"Come with me," Dante held out his hand. "I can show you who you really are. I can teach you how to use your skills."
The howls were getting closer.
"What powers?" Kara asked.
Instead of answering, Dante put his hand on a nearby tree. Silver light flowed from his fingers into the bark. The tree shook, and then, impossibly, its branches began to bend and move like arms.
Kara gasped, stepping back.
"That's just the beginning," Dante said. "You can do this too. And much more."
The howls were very close now. Kara could hear paws beating on the forest floor.
"I don't know if I can trust you," she said.
"You don't have to trust me," Dante answered. "But you do have to choose. Right now."
A large black wolf burst through the woods, its blue eyes fixed on Kara. Zane.
Dante stretched his hand one more time. "What will it be, Kara? A life of lies with people who harmed you? Or the truth about who you really are?"
The wolf growled, taking a step toward them.
Kara looked at Zane, then at Dante's offered hand.
And she made her choice.