Vanda VuK's point of view.On my sixteenth birthday, I experienced my first shift in the heart of the open fields, surrounded by a hundred men. My body twisted and contorted, muscles stretching in ways I had never known. I couldn't cry out, couldn't shed a tear. Instead, I bit down hard, grinding my teeth until I cracked two in the back of my mouth. The sharp fragments fell onto the grass, and when I looked up, my father stood there, arms crossed, nodding in approval.Among those watching was Charles, standing beside his father. He had shifted a year before, but his father—our Beta—kept a firm hand on his shoulder, making sure he didn’t intervene. Helping me would have been seen as a weakness, an insult to my strength.When we were children, Charles and I spent most of our time together, imagining battles and fending off pretend rogues in the forest. It was our sanctuary, a place where we could create any story we wanted. Alexa often played along, crawling under tree roots and pretend
Last Updated : 2025-02-28 Read more