The fourth strike splintered the door.
Wood cracked down the center.
Sierra's pulse pounded in her ears.
Her mother didn't move toward the door.
She moved toward Sierra.
"Go upstairs," her mother whispered.
"No."
Another blow.
The hinges screamed.
"Mom, who is it?"
Her mother's voice trembled for the first time in years.
"They are not pack."
Cold settled in Sierra's stomach.
Not pack?
Another hit.
The door burst inward.
Three figures stepped inside.
Black cloaks. Silver insignia at their throats.
Not rogues.
Not North Pack.
Older.
Colder.
The one in front lowered his hood.
His eyes were pale gray.
Emotionless.
"Sierra Nocturne," he said.
Her name sounded wrong in his mouth.
Her mother stepped in front of her instantly.
"You were told never to come here."
"We were told she had not awakened," the man replied calmly.
His gaze shifted to Sierra.
"She has."
Sierra's breath caught.
"I don't even have a wolf," she said.
The man's eyes sharpened.
"That is what concerns us."
Her mother grabbed Sierra's wrist tightly.
"You need to leave."
"Mom..."
"Now."
The cloaked man stepped forward.
"You cannot hide her anymore, Elara."
Sierra froze.
Hide her?
Her mother, Elara , straightened slowly.
"She was supposed to remain dormant."
"Dormancy ended the moment she issued a command," the man said.
Command.
The growl.
The field freezing.
Her heart synced.
Sierra's mind raced.
"I didn't command anyone," she whispered.
All three cloaked figures looked at her.
"You silenced a dominant wolf mid shift," the man said. "That is not human."
Her mother's grip tightened painfully.
"You said she wouldn't awaken without both lines present," Elara snapped.
Both lines?
The man's eyes flickered.
"That was the theory."
Sierra felt the ground tilt beneath her.
"What lines?" she demanded.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Then the man delivered it without hesitation.
"She is not human born."
The words hit like a physical strike.
Sierra's ears rang.
Her mother didn't deny it.
"She was never human," the man continued. "She was sealed."
Sealed.
Sierra stepped back.
"No."
"You were bound at birth," he said. "Your wolf was suppressed."
"Why?" Sierra's voice cracked.
Her mother's face broke.
"Because if they had known what you were..."
"What am I?" Sierra demanded.
The cloaked man answered first.
"You were born from two bloodlines that were never meant to merge."
The air felt thin.
"Which bloodlines?" Sierra asked.
The man studied her carefully.
"Alpha lineage," he said. "And Luna Sovereign blood."
The words meant nothing.
And everything.
Her mother whispered, "They would have killed you."
Sierra's stomach dropped.
"Who?"
"The High Council," the man said evenly.
Not Elders.
Higher.
Older.
"The prophecy did not say two Alphas would be bound to a girl," he continued. "It said a Sovereign would awaken when both dominant lines reconnected."
Reconnected.
Sierra's mind flashed...
Lucan.
Kade.
The heat in her spine.
Her growl freezing the field.
Her heart syncing.
"No," she breathed.
Her mother looked at the cloaked men in fury.
"You promised she would have until college. Until full maturity."
"Her presence has already triggered Alpha responses," the man replied. "The academy is unstable."
Unstable.
Because of her.
"You don't get to take her," Elara said, stepping fully in front of Sierra.
"We are not here to take her."
The room went still.
"We are here," the man said, "to confirm."
"Confirm what?" Sierra asked.
He looked directly at her.
"Whether she is the Sovereign."
The word felt heavy.
Ancient.
Wrong.
"And if I am?" Sierra asked.
A pause.
Then...
"Then both Alphas will not survive the bond."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Her mother closed her eyes briefly.
"You swore you wouldn't tell her that yet."
"She deserves truth," the man replied.
Sierra's pulse roared.
Two Alphas.
Die.
Because of her?
"I don't want any bond," she whispered.
The cloaked man stepped closer.
"You do not choose Sovereign blood."
His pale gaze darkened slightly.
"It chooses war."
Outside, the wind shifted violently.
Branches scraped against the house.
Then...
A distant howl echoed through the forest.
Not one.
Two.
Sierra felt it in her bones.
Her chest burned.
The cloaked men stiffened.
"They feel her," one of them murmured.
Her mother went pale.
"That's too soon."
The man looked at Sierra one last time.
"If both Alphas fully awaken to her at once," he said quietly, "the binding will begin."
"And when it begins," he added,
"It cannot be stopped."
Another howl.
Closer.
And this time...
Sierra felt something inside her answer.
