Chapter 5
1179 Words
Morning haze clung to the treetops, soft and silver, drifting like breath over the training fields. The air smelled of dew, fresh earth, and a hint of wild magic that always lingered around the Hale and Stone heirs now that all four had shifted. Birds stirred in the canopy above, but their songs were muted beneath the hum of anticipation.
Aurora stretched her arms over her head, sunlight catching the reddish-gold strands in her hair. Beside her, Ember cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders, restless energy radiating off her in waves. Kaiden paced, barefoot in the grass, broad shoulders tight with concentration. Lyra walked beside him, her twin, practically vibrating with excitement.
Because today was more than training.
Today was the first day they would train as adult wolves.
And the first day their future as leaders began.
Crystal and Dustin stood near the edge of the clearing, watching the next generation prepare. Crystal’s hand rested gently over her heart—still protective, still mother, even though her daughters now towered in their wolf forms. Dustin observed quietly, arms crossed, Maverick rumbling faintly in approval inside him.
Bane and Lizzy were there as well, leaning against one another, the pride in their eyes unmistakable. Talon and Sophia hovered in the minds of their children, eager and awake.
“Alright,” Dustin called out, voice firm. “Warm-up laps. Solara, Vespera—keep your humans centered. Rhydderch and Astaera, don’t push too hard too fast.”
Aurora and Ember shared twin grins—because pushing too hard too fast was practically what they were made for.
“Race you,” Aurora whispered.
Ember snorted. “You’ll lose.”
“Please,” Kaiden cut in. “Both of you would lose.”
“Oh?” Lyra lifted a brow. “Big talk for someone who face-planted shifting two days ago.”
Kaiden’s ears flushed pink. “I was adjusting.”
“Adjusting to gravity?” Lyra teased.
Crystal tried—and failed—to hide a laugh.
Dustin cleared his throat. “Children—run.”
They shot forward instantly.
The four heirs streaked across the clearing, bare feet pounding the grass, breath rising in clouds. The world blurred around them. Their wolves pulsed beneath their skin, wild and eager.
Solara whispered through Aurora’s mind, warm sunlight and wind:
Faster. Let them keep up if they can.
Aurora pushed harder.
Vespera curled like a night wind inside Ember’s chest:
Burn them.
Ember surged forward, overtaking her twin by inches.
Kaiden let out a sharp breath as Rhydderch rumbled:
Let us show them strength.
His muscles tightened, steps lengthening, speed doubling.
Lyra burst into laughter as Astaera’s voice chimed bright as starlight:
Wings without wings. Go, little moonbeam. Fly.
Lyra sprinted until her feet barely touched the earth.
They were a streak of light and shadow weaving through the trees—four wolves in human skin, their power growing with every breath.
When they circled back to the clearing, Dustin nodded approvingly.
“Good. Now shift.”
Silence dropped, expectant.
Aurora inhaled—and Solara rose.
Light flared around her, golden-white, feathers of radiance shimmering along her spine as her body elongated. Bones shifted. Muscles rippled. Her wolf emerged in a burst of brilliance:
Solara — tall, elegant, fur shimmering sun-gold with flecks of pale blue, her eyes molten amber.
Ember followed, exhaling a darker light—indigo and violet swirling like night fog. Her wolf exploded outward, sleek and powerful:
Vespera — deep midnight fur tipped in glowing silver, her eyes a haunting amethyst.
Kaiden and Lyra shifted next, the siblings moving in almost perfect sync. Their transformations were quicker now—less painful, more controlled.
Kaiden’s wolf—Rhydderch—appeared in a flare of storm-gray light, his massive form cloaked in charcoal fur streaked with metallic silver, eyes sharp and ember-bronze.
Lyra’s wolf—Astaera—flowed forward like stardust, her coat a pale silvery white with swirling lunar patterns beneath the fur, eyes soft glowing lilac.
Crystal’s breath caught.
Lizzy placed a hand over her mouth.
Bane wiped away a suspicious tear.
“They’re… incredible,” Crystal whispered.
“They’re ours,” Lizzy murmured.
Dustin and Bane exchanged a look—one that said future alpha and beta, right there.
“Form a circle,” Dustin commanded.
The four wolves obeyed instantly, paws thudding softly against the earth.
“Today’s training,” Bane said, stepping forward, “is about synergy. You are not just wolves. You are leaders. You are heirs. And you are linked—Hale and Stone bloodlines woven tighter than ever before.”
Solara lowered her head respectfully.
Rhydderch dipped his massive shoulders.
Vespera flicked her tail, focused and fierce.
Astaera hummed softly, light pulsing beneath her fur.
The adults stepped back—and the heirs moved.
They flowed like a single entity.
Solara dove left.
Rhydderch countered right.
Vespera streaked between them like a shadow-flame.
Astaera leapt above them in a silver arc.
They weren’t just shifting.
They were learning to fight together.
To breathe as one.
To move as one.
To become the force the supernatural world would one day depend on.
When Dustin finally called for a break, the four wolves collapsed happily into the grass in a tangle of paws, tails, and glowing eyes.
Lyra shifted back first, landing on her back and laughing breathlessly.
“That—was—AMAZING!”
Kaiden shifted and flopped beside her. “I think Rhydderch wants another round.”
Aurora shifted next, stretching. “Solara agrees.”
Ember shifted last, eyes bright. “Vespera says all of you are slow.”
“Oh please,” Lyra snorted. “She’s just dramatic.”
“I’m dramatic?” Ember pointed at her wolf’s lingering stardust shimmer. “Look who leaves glitter when she shifts.”
“It’s moonlight,” Lyra huffed. “Not glitter.”
Crystal and Lizzy approached with water and snacks, passing them out like the mothers they were—proud, exasperated, and glowing.
“You four,” Crystal said softly, kneeling beside them, “are the future of this pack. Of our people. And you’re already becoming who you were born to be.”
Aurora leaned against her mother.
Ember leaned against her sister.
Kaiden sat with his back against a tree, breathing deep.
Lyra rested her head on her twin’s shoulder.
The moment was peaceful.
Warm.
Perfect.
Then Astaera’s voice shimmered like frost in Lyra’s mind:
Someone is watching us.
Lyra stiffened.
Rhydderch echoed, deep and grave in Kaiden’s chest:
Not pack.
Solara whispered, uneasy:
Not friendly.
Vespera’s growl echoed like a night wind:
Danger.
Aurora slowly rose. Ember followed.
Kaiden pushed to his feet.
Lyra’s breathing quickened.
Crystal sensed the change instantly. “Children?”
Kaiden’s eyes darkened. “Someone is here.”
The forest fell silent.
The air shifted.
And from the shadows—
not one creature—
but a presence, cold and ancient, brushed against the boundary of their minds.
A whisper.
A warning.
A beginning.
The new threat had awoken.
And it had just found the heirs.
- Writer
