**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SHADOWED POWER**
Monday dawned like any other, sunlight pooling through the windows of the pack house and birds chirping lazily outside. Koda stirred, nestled in the soft warmth of his bed, the memories of a peaceful weekend still lingering like morning mist. The movie marathons, the laughter, the fluttering emotions from the kiss he'd shared with Tristian—they all felt surreal. But it had happened. Tristian had kissed him, and Koda hadn't pulled away.
Breakfast was casual. Orion cooked pancakes while dancing to some old rock song, flipping them with exaggerated flair. Zara and Nova bickered over syrup choices, and Tristian sat beside Koda, shoulders brushing, stealing glances.
Everything felt normal. Calm.
But calm has teeth.
---
That afternoon, whispers of unease trickled through the pack. A neighboring ally sent word about border patrols catching unfamiliar scents. No attacks. Not yet. But tension began to lace the air like static before a storm.
Despite this, school resumed as usual. Koda returned to classes with the others, and the routine helped ground him—until his body betrayed him.
He'd been feeling off for days: flushed skin, sensitive hearing, bursts of energy that dissolved into fatigue. But by midweek, it became worse. His skin felt too tight. His chest burned with heat that wasn't fever. His head throbbed, and every scent in the hallway overwhelmed him.
During history class, he stumbled against his desk, vision swimming.
"Koda?" Tristian's voice was right there, his hand steadying him. "You okay?"
"I—I don't know," Koda mumbled.
After school, Tristian pulled him aside in the parking lot.
"Your scent—it's changing."
Koda blinked at him. "My what?"
Tristian looked thrown, as if he'd spoken too much. "Forget it. You're burning up. I'll walk you home."
They didn't get far.
As they reached the edge of the school gate, a sleek black car rolled to a stop with a sinister purr. The window lowered. A familiar face leaned out.
His stepfather.
"Get in the car," the man said, voice sharp and unreadable.
Koda froze. Breath caught. He was suddenly five years old again, flinching at shadows.
"I said get in the car."
"No," Tristian said firmly, stepping between them.
"I wasn't talking to you, pretty boy."
Orion had appeared by then, standing tall behind Koda. His playful smile was gone.
"Leave. Now," Tristian growled, his voice lower than Koda had ever heard it.
"You don't make decisions for him. He's still mine."
"No," Koda whispered, voice shaking. "I'm not."
The man's eyes narrowed. "This isn't over." He sped off, tires screaming against the pavement.
---
That night, the fever spiked. Koda collapsed in his room, limbs shaking, bones aching. Tristian caught him just before he hit the floor.
"We need to get him help," Tristian told Orion, who nodded and lifted Koda like he weighed nothing.
Back at the packhouse, the room blurred around him. His skin burned. His spine twisted. He cried out, body arching, bones cracking beneath his skin.
"No... No, it can't be—" Tristian murmured, watching in horror and awe.
Koda's eyes flashed gold for just a second. Claws started to form—then receded.
The shift didn't complete. But it was enough.
Tristian called his mother.
"Mom," he whispered, voice tight. "koda he h he is shifting for real this time .
"Are you sure?"
"He was right in front of me , I saw it. But he's scared. His body's resisting it."
"Keep him close. If he's awakening, the trauma might make it worse. His instincts will be unstable."
Koda remained unconscious for hours. When he woke, Tristian was still at his side.
"You're safe," Tristian whispered.
"I... I don't understand. What's happening to me?"
Tristian looked torn. "You're not alone anymore. I'll help you figure it out."
---
Koda didn't go back to his house. Tristian refused to let him.
"Stay here," he said. "We'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe."
Koda nodded slowly, eyes haunted but grateful. He was given a room near Tristian's and nursed back to strength with warm meals, gentler words, and stolen smiles.
But outside the safe walls of the packhouse, darkness stirred.
His stepfather wasn't finished. He was meeting with men in the dark—strangers with power in their voices and hunger in their eyes.
"He's just a boy," the man said. "But he's changing. I can't control him anymore."
"We'll handle him," one of the strangers said. "And if he's what we think he is... we'll use him."
Back in the packhouse, Koda curled beneath fresh blankets, unaware of the storm gathering.
But something in him stirred.
The wolf.
**TO BE CONTINUED...**
See you guys in chapter sixteen soon