Page 79 of Taken By The Wolves
We all brace.
No wolf and bear stand this close without a challenge, but here they are.
And then, without warning, Ahya shifts again.
This time, fur peels back slowly, elegant in its transformation. Her limbs stretch longer, and her paws shrink. And where a bear cub lay seconds ago, a furred wolf pup now blinks up at us with sharp blue eyes and a wagging tail.
Gasps echo around the room.
“She’s so young,” Robert murmurs. “That kind of control shouldn’t be possible.”
“She doesn’t know it’s control,” I say. “She’s justherself.”
She yips, tail whipping wildly, and bounds across the rug toward Evan, who’s still in bear form. She leaps and licks at his massive paw, then spins around and skitters toward Scarlet, circling her once before flopping right into her lap. Scarlet laughs, burying her fingers in Ahya’s silky fur.
“She’s showing them who she is,” Scarlet whispers.
And then Ahya shifts again, from wolf back tohuman, bare and glowing, her cheeks flushed from the energy. She laughs in a bubbling, radiant sound that fills the whole room with light. She claps once, then shifts right back into a cub and lunges at Coran like the chaos of existence is her favorite game.
Hunter scrubs a hand over his face, his voice stunned and reverent. “That’s… evolution.”
“She’s showing us what’s next,” Goldie says softly, her eyes wet. “That division on species lines isn’t our future.”
I look at my brothers. At Scarlet, who is smiling through tears. At Finn, still in wolf form, his eyes locked on our daughter like he can’t look away. At Evan who lowers his massive head in a slow, respectful gesture toward the cub and pup tangled on the rug.
Ahya shifts again, mid-tumble, wolf to girl to bear, and collapses in laughter.
“We’ll take her to the bear clan compound,” Hunter repeats, firmer this time, finally convinced.
And just like that, it’s decided.
The girl born of violence and miracle will be taken into the heart of the bears’ world. A place we were never supposed to venture.
39
FINN
The convoy winds through narrow forest roads as we follow Hunter’s truck toward the compound. It’s a thirty-minute drive, and the further north we go, the quieter it gets, like the trees themselves are braced for what’s to come.
Nixon sits beside me in the passenger seat, eyes forward, one hand clenched against his knee. He hasn’t said a word since we crossed into bear territory, but the tension pulses off him in waves. I don’t know if it’s possible to be ready to face the people you’ve been told are your enemy your whole life without a sense of trepidation. Even so, he gives off the silent command of a man preparing for a fight he hopes he doesn’t get dragged into.
Scarlet is behind us, humming something soft to Ahya as the baby plays with the edge of her sleeve.
The compound comes into view as the road flattens. High fences wrap around a sprawling stretch of old stone buildings tucked into the base of a mountain ridge. There are watchpoints at the corners. Bears don’t believe inpassive defense, it seems.
Hunter’s truck rolls through the gates first. We follow close behind.
And within seconds, the scent of wolf we’re emanating sets the compound into a frenzy.
I see them before they shift, bears in human form gathering near the central courtyard, their nostrils flaring as our truck rolls to a stop. Their instincts hit like a tidal wave. One by one, fur rips through flesh, and massive bodies fall to four paws.
A defensive ring forms around the path ahead.
Nixon opens his door slowly, stepping out with his chin high and his eyes locked on the largest bear approaching us. I climb out the other side, rolling slightly on the balls of my feet in case this goes south fast.
But Hunter steps between the lines before the growls escalate.
His arm lifts, strong, steady, and drops over Nixon’s shoulders like they’ve been blood brothers since birth.
