The scent hit me like a punch to the gut—familiar yet alien, as if I'd caught a whiff of my own perfume on a stranger. I froze, hand hovering over the pack house doorknob, every muscle coiled tight.
"Skye?" Liam called from inside, worry lacing his voice. "What's wrong?"
I couldn't answer. My mind raced, trying to place the scent. It was like mine, but sharper, with an undercurrent of something wild and angry. Before I could process it, the door flew open.
The woman standing there could've been my twin—if my reflection had been twisted by years of rage and bitterness. Her stormy gray eyes, mirror images of my own, narrowed as she took me in.
"Hey, sis," she sneered, her smile more a baring of teeth. "Miss me?"
Sister. The word bounced around my skull, impossible yet undeniable. I didn't have a sister. I was an orphan, wasn't I?
Liam appeared behind her, confusion and alarm etched on his face. "Skye, who is this?"
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The woman—my sister—barked out a harsh laugh.
"Oh, this is priceless," she said, stepping onto the porch. "The mighty Alpha Skye, speechless. Allow me to introduce myself, handsome. I'm Raven, the sister your precious Alpha pretended didn't exist."
"That's not true," I finally managed, finding my voice. "I never knew—"
Raven's hand shot out, faster than I could react. Her fingers closed around my throat, claws pricking my skin. "Liar," she hissed, her face inches from mine. "You left me to rot."
Liam moved to intervene, but I held up a hand, stopping him. This was my fight.
I met Raven's gaze, refusing to flinch. "I don't know what you think I did, but you're wrong. I never knew I had a sister."
Doubt flickered in her eyes for a split second before cold fury took over. She shoved me away, and I stumbled back.
"Still playing innocent, I see," Raven sneered. "Fine. Let me jog your memory. Fifteen years ago, two orphaned werewolf pups were taken in by a pack. One, a natural leader, was groomed to be Alpha. The other, deemed too wild, was thrown away. Ring any bells?"
Her words hit me like a sledgehammer. Fragments of memory surfaced—a tiny hand in mine, shared laughter, a promise to stick together always. How could I have forgotten?
"Raven," I whispered, reaching out. "I didn't know. I swear, I thought you were—"
"Dead?" she spat, slapping my hand away. "You wished I was. It would've been easier than facing what you did."
"That's enough," Liam growled, stepping between us. "Whatever happened in the past, you can't just show up and attack our Alpha."
Raven's laugh was bitter. "Your Alpha? Oh, pretty boy, you have no clue what's coming. I'm here to take back what's mine."
Before either of us could react, Raven's form blurred. In a heartbeat, a massive black wolf stood where she had been, lips pulled back in a snarl. She lunged at me, teeth snapping.
I dove aside, feeling the rush of air as she missed me by a hair. My own shift took hold, fur sprouting, bones cracking and reforming. But something was wrong. The change felt jagged, incomplete.
I looked down in horror to see that only half of me had shifted. From the waist up, I was still human. From the waist down, I was wolf. What the hell?
Raven paused, momentarily thrown by my bizarre appearance. It was the opening Liam needed. He shifted in one fluid motion, placing himself protectively in front of me.
"Stand down," he growled at Raven. "You're outnumbered."
As if on cue, the rest of the pack emerged from the trees, drawn by the commotion. They formed a circle around us, confusion and hostility radiating from them in waves.
Raven's eyes darted around, assessing the situation. For a moment, I thought she'd back down. Then she threw her head back and let out a bone-chilling howl.
The forest erupted into chaos. Wolves poured out from every direction, snarling and snapping. My pack, caught off guard, scrambled to defend themselves.
"You're not the only one with backup, sister," Raven's voice echoed in my mind. She was using the pack link—how was that possible?
I tried to complete my shift, to join the fray, but my body refused to cooperate. I was stuck in this half-form, useless in a fight.
Liam stood his ground, taking on three wolves at once. But there were too many. I watched in horror as a large gray wolf caught him off guard, its teeth sinking into his flank.
"No!" I screamed, my voice a mix of human and wolf. I lunged forward, not knowing what I'd do, only that I had to help him.
Raven intercepted me, knocking me to the ground. Her teeth closed around my throat, not breaking the skin, but holding me in place. Around us, the sounds of battle faded as her pack subdued mine.
"Poor little Alpha," Raven's voice purred in my head. "Can't even shift properly. Did you really think you could lead a pack like this?"
I struggled against her hold, but it was useless. In this half-form, I was weaker than I'd ever been.
"What do you want?" I managed to gasp out.
Raven's wolf form shimmered, and suddenly she was human again, straddling me with a triumphant grin. "Isn't it obvious? I want what's mine. The pack, the territory, the power. Everything you stole from me."
"I didn't—" I started to protest, but she cut me off.
"Save it. I'm not here to listen to your excuses. I'm here to make you an offer." She leaned in close, her breath hot against my ear. "Surrender your Alpha status to me, renounce your claim to this pack, and I'll let them live. Refuse, and, well..." She gestured to where Liam lay bleeding, surrounded by snarling wolves. "I think you can guess the alternative."
My mind raced. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly? This morning, my biggest concern was my strange new shifting abilities. Now, I faced an impossible choice.
"Tick tock, sister dear," Raven taunted. "What's it gonna be? Your pride, or their lives?"
I looked around at my pack—my family. They were beaten, bloody, but still defiant. Their eyes met mine, silently urging me not to give in. Liam managed to lift his head, his golden eyes fierce even in defeat.
But what choice did I have? I couldn't let them die for me.
I took a deep breath, preparing to speak the words that would change everything. But before I could, a searing pain ripped through my body. I screamed, my back arching off the ground.
Raven leaped back, her eyes wide with shock. "What the—"
The pain intensified, and I felt my body changing. Bones snapped and reformed, muscles tore and regrew. But it wasn't a normal shift. My arms elongated, becoming wings. Feathers sprouted from my skin, iridescent black in the moonlight.
As the transformation completed, I rose to my feet, no longer wolf or human, but something else entirely. A creature of myth, part wolf, part bird, all predator.
Raven took a step back, fear flashing across her face for the first time. "What are you?"
I stretched my wings, feeling power coursing through me like never before. When I spoke, my voice was a harmonious blend of human speech and avian screech.
"I am the Alpha," I declared, my words carrying across the battlefield. "And this is far from over."
Raven's pack faltered, uncertain in the face of this new development. My own pack members stirred, hope rekindling in their eyes.
But as I prepared to face my sister, to end this fight once and for all, a new scent caught my attention. My head snapped up, my enhanced senses picking up something approaching fast.
The sound of helicopters filled the air, growing louder by the second. Spotlights pierced the darkness, illuminating the chaos below.
A voice boomed out, amplified and unmistakably human: "This is the Supernatural Containment Unit. We have you surrounded. Surrender now, or we will open fire."
As wolves from both packs began to panic, as the humans closed in with their weapons trained on us all, I locked eyes with Raven. In this moment, we were no longer enemies, but fellow creatures facing extinction.
The choice I faced now was no longer between my pride and my pack.
It was between revealing our existence to the world, or facing annihilation.
And I had seconds to decide.