The old clock on the mantle ticked away, each second feeling like an eternity as I stared at Liam. His confession hung in the air between us, heavy and unbelievable.
"You're telling me," I said slowly, "that you've lived for centuries?"
Liam's eyes, usually so guarded, were filled with a pain I couldn't begin to comprehend. "Yes, Skye. I know it sounds impossible, but-"
"Impossible?" I laughed, the sound bordering on hysterical. "Liam, we're werewolves. I can turn into a bird. We just fought off a witch. But this... this is too much."
He reached for me, but I flinched away. Hurt flashed across his face, and I immediately regretted my reaction. But I couldn't help it. Everything I thought I knew about him, about us, was crumbling.
"Please," he said softly. "Let me explain."
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Liam took a deep breath and began his tale.
"It happened during the five years I was away. After you rejected our mate bond, I was... lost. I wandered, taking increasingly dangerous jobs as an enforcer. I think part of me hoped I wouldn't survive."
My heart clenched at his words. I knew our separation had been hard on both of us, but I never imagined...
"Then I heard rumors of a place where time stood still. A sanctuary for supernatural beings who needed to escape. I thought I could hide there, heal my broken heart. But it was a trap."
Liam's eyes grew distant, lost in memories. "The 'sanctuary' was actually a prison. A pocket dimension created by a powerful fae. Time moved differently there. What felt like days to us were years in the outside world."
I struggled to wrap my mind around what he was saying. "But... how did you escape?"
A grim smile tugged at his lips. "I didn't. Not for a long time. I lived lifetimes in that place, Skye. I saw empires rise and fall, experienced every joy and sorrow imaginable. And all the while, I never aged a day."
The weight of his words hit me like a physical blow. I tried to imagine it - centuries of life, trapped in a timeless prison. No wonder Liam seemed so changed, so... ancient sometimes.
"How did you finally get out?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
"The fae who created the prison grew careless. In his arrogance, he believed no one could ever escape. But over the centuries, I learned. I watched, I planned, and eventually... I found a way to break free."
Liam's eyes met mine, and the intensity in them made me shiver. "Do you know what kept me going all those years, Skye? The thought of you. Even after everything, our bond was still there, pulling me back to you."
Tears pricked at my eyes. The mate bond we shared had always been complicated, but this... I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of his devotion.
"When I finally escaped," Liam continued, "I discovered only five years had passed here. But for me... for me, it had been lifetimes."
Silence fell between us as I tried to process everything he'd told me. It explained so much - his newfound power, the haunted look in his eyes, the way he sometimes spoke of things long past as if he'd lived them.
"Liam," I said softly, reaching out to take his hand. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you went through."
He squeezed my hand, a sad smile on his face. "It wasn't all bad, Skye. I learned things in that place, about our kind, about magic. Knowledge that could help us now."
I perked up at that. With everything our pack was facing - the curse, the stolen moonstone, the looming threats - we needed every advantage we could get.
"What kind of knowledge?" I asked.
Liam's expression grew serious. "The kind that could change everything. There are truths about werewolves, about alphas, that have been lost to time. But I remember them."
He stood, pacing the room as he spoke. "The first werewolves weren't created by a curse or a bite, Skye. They were shapeshifters who chose to bind themselves to the moon, to gain power in exchange for the monthly shift."
I frowned. "But what does that have to do with-"
"Everything," Liam interrupted. "It means the power of an alpha isn't just about strength or dominance. It's about choice. About willingly binding yourself to your pack, to the moon, to the very essence of what it means to be a werewolf."
My mind raced, trying to connect the dots. "Are you saying I could... what? Unbind myself?"
Liam shook his head. "Not exactly. But you could reshape the bond. Your ability to shift into a bird - it's not a fluke, Skye. It's a sign that you're tapping into the original shapeshifter nature of our kind."
I stood, excitement building despite my lingering shock at Liam's revelation. "So I could learn to control it? To shift into other forms at will?"
"Potentially, yes. But it's dangerous, Skye. The more you tap into that power, the more you risk losing yourself to it. There's a reason our ancestors chose to bind themselves to the moon."
I opened my mouth to respond, but a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me. The room spun, and I stumbled.
Liam was at my side in an instant, steadying me. "Skye? What's wrong?"
I shook my head, trying to clear it. "I don't know, I just felt..."
Another wave hit me, stronger this time. Images flashed through my mind - feathers sprouting from my skin, claws extending from my fingers, my body twisting and changing in impossible ways.
"Liam," I gasped, clutching at him. "Something's happening. I can't... I can't control it."
Fear flashed in his eyes. "The shift. Skye, you need to focus. Remember who you are, what anchors you."
But it was too late. I felt my body begin to change, bones cracking and reshaping. But this wasn't like any shift I'd experienced before. It was wild, uncontrolled.
"Liam!" I cried out as my vision blurred. The last thing I saw was his panicked face before darkness claimed me.
When I opened my eyes, everything was different. The world seemed larger, sharper. I could hear the heartbeats of small animals outside, smell the lingering scent of our conversation in the air.
I tried to speak, to ask Liam what had happened, but all that came out was a high-pitched screech.
Liam's eyes widened in shock as he stared down at me. "Skye," he breathed. "You're... you're..."
I looked down at myself and froze. Where my body should have been, I saw feathers. Talons. Wings.
Somehow, impossibly, I had shifted into a hawk.
Liam reached out slowly, as if afraid I might fly away. "Skye, can you understand me? Do you remember who you are?"
I tried to nod, to communicate somehow, but my new body wouldn't cooperate. Panic began to set in. What if I couldn't shift back? What if I was stuck like this?
Just then, a howl pierced the night - Jake's voice, urgent and afraid. Something was wrong.
Liam's head snapped towards the window. "The pack," he said. "They need us."
He turned back to me, conflict clear on his face. "Skye, I... I don't know how to help you change back. But the pack..."
I understood his dilemma. As alpha, I needed to be there for my pack. But in this form, what could I do?
Another howl, more desperate this time.
Liam made a decision. "I have to go. Skye, please... try to remember who you are. What you are. I'll be back as soon as I can."
With one last agonized look at me, he ran out the door, leaving me alone in a body I didn't understand.
As his footsteps faded, I hopped to the window, peering out at the night. In the distance, I could see flames. The pack was under attack.
I spread my wings, an unfamiliar urge to fly coursing through me. I knew I should stay, should try to shift back. But my pack needed me.
With a screech that was equal parts defiance and fear, I launched myself into the night sky, praying I would find a way to help my pack... and to return to myself.