Lucid

CHAPTER 13 - FOREVER GUARDING

Ayden.

I heard her call my name, but I didn't answer.

I couldn't.

A howl would give me away, and I wasn't ready to be seen. Not yet.

But she knew I was here.

She always knew.

"Your mom sent me," Celine said, her voice carrying through the trees. "She said you ran off after an involuntary shift."

I stayed hidden within the blackened tangle of the forest, my breath coming in short, controlled exhales. The shifting—it was getting worse. Day by day, it felt like something wild was trying to claw its way out from beneath my skin.

I used to be able to resist it. Born wolves had better control than turned ones. That's what they always said. But none of that mattered anymore. Not with everything that was happening to me.

"You don't have to be scared," she continued, her voice gentle. "You know I can help you. Just come out, please?"

I wanted to.

I did.

But this life was a daily fight for control. A struggle just to survive. Even moving all the way out to Blue Hawk hadn't been enough to keep myself together.

"Please, Ayden."

Her words wove through the night, settling into the hollow ache in my chest. There was something about the way she spoke—calm, unwavering.

Safe.

I took a step forward, my paws pressing against the cold earth. Slowly, I emerged from the shadows into the silver glow of the full moon.

The wind threaded through my thick black fur, cold enough to sink into my bones. I should've been warm. My coat was dense, my mane full.

But I wasn't.

Celine tilted her head slightly, her pale eyes unwavering. "It's not the moon. And it's not your sense of danger."

I knew what she meant. The three causes of uncontrollable shifting.

The full moon. Instinctive fear. And the third—

"You're in pain," she said softly.

I lowered my head.

As I should be.

"But this pain isn't physical," she continued, stepping closer, "It only feels like it."

Her eyes never left mine. Slowly, she reached out, her palm resting against my head before gliding down my neck. Her touch was warm, steady. She knelt beside me, fingers curling gently into my fur.

"Why?"

I didn't know.

I didn't know.

Then, without warning, she wrapped her arms around me.

The world stilled.

A shudder ran through me, deep and involuntary. My body ached, my limbs trembling as the shift began. My fur thinned, retreating into my skin. My bones cracked, realigning, reshaping.

It took minutes, but it felt like forever.

By the time I was human again, I was weak. Shaking.

Celine held me as I collapsed into her, my breath ragged, my face buried in her shoulder. The sobs came before I could stop them, raw and unrestrained.

"I don't know what to do, Celine," I choked out. "I don't know what to do."