Chapter 69: We Rise Together.
Bella was still on her knees, her hands pressed into the dirt. Her chest was tight, her breathing uneven. She was shaking, her whole body trembling as though she’d run for miles, but she hadn’t moved at all.
Her wolf was still there, inside her, heavy and demanding, she couldn’t block its voice out.
"Get up," her wolf said.
Her lips parted. Her throat burned. "No... I can’t. I can’t even breathe."
"Yes, you can."
"I feel like I’m dying," Bella whispered.
"You are not dying. You are changing."
Bella’s nails dug into the soil. She shook her head, her face wet from tears she hadn’t realized were still falling. "She’s gone. My mom—she’s gone."
Silence for a moment. Then the wolf’s voice came again, harder.
"The bond broke. The pain you feel is proof. But if you stop now, then her death is for nothing. If you stop now, she dies in vain, they win."
Bella bit her lip hard. Her whole body trembled. "I can’t stop shaking. My chest hurts. My head is spinning."
"Because you’re holding back," the wolf snapped. "You’ve always held back. Your body is stronger than you think, but you keep fighting me. Stop fighting me."
Bella pressed her palms against her ears, though it did nothing. "You’re too loud. Everything is too loud."
At once, her senses snapped wider open. She froze, her hands falling away.
She could hear it all. Her ears caught every sound, sharp in her mind, until she thought her skull would split.
Bella gasped and clutched her head. "It’s too much. Make it stop!"
"Control it," the wolf ordered. "Focus. Choose one sound and block out the rest."
"I don’t know how!"
"Then learn. Right now. Or you die."
Bella’s breath came in short bursts. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to focus. The sounds pressed against her like waves, but she picked one—the steady hum of crickets close by. She held onto it, drowning out the rest.
Her pulse slowed a little. The pressure in her skull eased.
She opened her eyes. "I did it... kind of."
"Not kind of. Do it again. Stronger this time."
Bella clenched her jaw. She searched the noise again, overwhelmed by how much there was, but she pushed everything aside until she caught the soft heartbeat of something close, maybe a rabbit, hidden in the brush.
Her eyes widened. "That’s an animal."
"Good," the wolf said. "You’re starting to listen like me."
Bella’s stomach twisted. "This doesn’t feel right. I don’t want this."
The wolf growled. "It doesn’t matter what you want. This is what you are. What you’ve always been. You can run from it, but you cannot change it."
Bella forced herself to her feet. Her legs were weak, trembling under her, but she stood anyway. "If I’m really this... then why now? Why am I manifesting now? After all this while?"
"Because it’s finally time. Your grief broke the cage," the wolf said. "Your pain opened the lock. Now nothing can hold me down anymore."
Bella shook her head, backing up a step. "You’re saying my mom had to die for this to happen?"
Silence.
Her hands curled into fists. "Answer me!"
The wolf’s tone dropped lower. "Her death is not why. It was the trigger. The truth is this: you were always going to face it. You were always going to awaken. Nothing could stop it forever."
Bella pressed her hands against her chest. Her heart was hammering so hard it hurt. "I don’t know how to do this. I can’t even handle... this. I can’t even breathe. I feel like I’m going to explode."
"Better to explode now than when our enemies come for us," the wolf said. "If you can’t master this, they will smell your weakness. And they will destroy you."
Bella froze. Her stomach dropped. "Enemies? Who are you talking about?"
"You already know," the wolf answered. "The ones who sent the demons. The ones who watch even now. They wait for your weakness. And you are still too weak."
Bella’s eyes darted around the trees. Every rustle made her tense. "You’re lying. You’re just trying to scare me."
"Look at yourself," the wolf snapped. "Your body is shaking. Your senses are wide open. You reek of fear. You think they can’t smell it? You think they don’t know exactly what you are right now?"
Bella’s throat tightened. She swallowed hard. "So what do I do? Just... turn into a wolf? Rip everything apart? Is that what you want from me?"
"You are already a wolf," the wolf said flatly. "You are my vessel. My other half. And if you don’t let me through, if you keep locking me up, then when they come, they will kill you. They will kill us both. And everyone you care about."
Bella’s head dropped forward. Her hair stuck to her damp face. "I can’t do this. Not right now. Not when I just lost her. I can’t."
The wolf’s voice hardened again. "You can. And you will. Or you won’t survive, we won’t survive!"
Bella lifted her head slowly, her chest still aching, her breaths uneven. "You keep saying that. But you haven’t shown me how. You just keep yelling at me."
"Because you don’t need any petting, you’ve been weak for so long. You need pressure. You need fire. That’s how you learn. You think you’ll get time to practice later? You think your enemies will wait until you’re ready?"
Sweat rolled down her temple, her hands shook so badly she could hardly keep herself steady.
"Stop shaking," it growled. "You can’t afford to be this weak."
"I’m not weak," Bella said, her voice breaking anyway.
"You are now. I keep telling you, if you can’t master this, they will smell it on you. They’ll come for you. And they won’t stop until you’re torn apart."
Bella squeezed her eyes shut. Her throat was tight. "You keep saying that, who are they? Who the hell am I supposed to be fighting?"
"Rival wolves," the voice answered. "The ones who’ve been watching. You think you’ve been careful, but you’ve been moving blind and careless. You’ve been walking around like a prey. But, that ends now."
Bella gritted her teeth. "Careless?" she scoffed, "I’ve been running for my life! I don’t even know who I am anymore."
"That’s the problem," the wolf said. Its tone was sharp but steady. "You’ve forgotten your past life. You need to awaken soon, Bella. Not later. Now. You need to tap into me. Into my power. I’ll guide you, but you have to open the door."
Her hands balled into fists against the ground. "And if I can’t?"
"Then we will both die."
Bella flinched at how blunt it was. No comfort. No soft words. Just truth.
The wolf pressed on. "You need to remember the life you had before this one. Who you were. You weren’t human, Bella. You weren’t weak. You were born to fight, to lead, to survive. That memory lives inside you, but you’ve been drowning it with fear. Let me pull it out."
Her lips trembled. "A past life? That’s insane."
"It’s the truth. You’ve carried this bloodline longer than you realize. And you need to relearn what your body already knows, how to fight like a wolf, how to think like one. Instinct isn’t enough. You need skill. Discipline. Precision. You’ve been acting human too long. That ends now."
Bella’s chest ached, but something inside her stirred at those words. The idea that she wasn’t just fumbling, that maybe deep down the knowledge was there, waiting, made her pulse quicken.
The wolf’s voice softened just a fraction. "You don’t have to do this alone. You’re surrounded by enemies, yes, but you’re not without allies."
Bella swallowed hard. "Who? Who can I trust?"
There was a pause, then the wolf spoke with a strange warmth Bella hadn’t heard before. "Luca Damaris."
Her head snapped up, her eyes wide. "Luca?"
"Yes," the wolf said. "He is more than an ally. He is—" the voice rumbled low, like it was almost smiling, "—he is ours. His wolf will always fight for you. He will carry you through when you stumble. He already has."
Bella shook her head, trying to process. "So he’s not my enemy?"
"No," the wolf said firmly. "Never. He is your greatest ally. You were made to fight together. To rise together. His blood recognizes ours. His soul knows yours, even if you don’t see it yet."
Bella’s stomach flipped. She thought about Luca, the way he had always been right there, anchoring here, fighting for her, standing by her, the ritual he risked himself to perform on her before she came to the forest...
"Then why hasn’t he told me?" she whispered.
The wolf growled, not at her, but at the thought. "Because you weren’t ready to hear it. Because you still hide from what you are. But his wolf waits. His wolf calls for you every time he fights by your side. When the moment comes, he will not hesitate. And neither should you."
Bella sat back, her legs numb from kneeling so long. She hugged her arms around herself. "You make it sound like all of this is set in stone. Like I don’t even get to choose."
"You do choose," the wolf said. "You choose whether to awaken or die. You choose whether to keep pretending to be human or accept what you are. But if you’re waiting for the danger to pass—you’ll wait forever. The danger is already here."
Her hands trembled harder. "You keep saying awaken. How? How do I even do that?"
"You stop doubting. You open the door and let me through. It will hurt. It will break you, but when it’s done, you will finally rule with power."
Bella’s breath came faster. The memory of the pain earlier, the fire crawling under her skin, the claws she thought she saw in her reflection—it terrified her.
"I don’t know if I can handle it."
"You can," the wolf insisted. "Because you already have. You just don’t remember. You were a fighter before. You’ll be a fighter again. And this time, I’ll be with you. Guiding you."
Bella pressed her face into her hands, shaking her head. "What if I mess it up? What if I lose control and hurt the people I’m trying to protect?"
The wolf’s voice was blunt again. "Then you learn and sharpen your wolf abilities until control is no longer a question. That’s what awakening is. It’s not just power, it’s discipline. It’s connection. With me. With your past. With him."
Her chest tightened at that last word. "Luca."
"Yes," the wolf said, low and sure. "With Luca. You don’t understand yet, but his wolf has been waiting for ours. He will not betray you. He cannot. His place is at your side, always. Trust him."
Bella stared at the ground, her mind racing. She wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe she wasn’t alone in this mess.
"Why do you sound so certain?" she asked softly.
"Because I know," the wolf said. "I remember what you’ve forgotten. And when you awaken, you will remember too. You’ll see. You’ll feel it. You’ll know that everything I’ve told you is true. He is ours. And together, we will not fall."
Bella’s chest rose and fell with uneven breaths. She didn’t answer right away. She just sat there, shaking, staring at her trembling hands.
The wolf didn’t press her this time. It just waited. Its presence heavy, patient, unyielding.
Finally, Bella whispered, "Okay. I’ll try. But you have to help me. I can’t do this alone."
"I will," the wolf said. "I am you. You are me. We rise together."