Chapter 4: Awakening Under the Eclipse

The cave Elliot provided became my temporary refuge. He spoke little, but his actions were steady and thoughtful. He always handed me food and fresh water at the exact moments I needed them and treated my minor wounds with herbs he gathered. Days passed in an almost deathly silence, but I knew this was merely the calm before the storm. The Bloodclaw Pack would never truly let me go. To them, a former wife still alive was a lingering stain on their pride.

The humiliation and bitterness wrapped around my heart like poisonous vines, tightening their grip with each passing day. Nightmares plagued my sleep, filled with Lucas’s cold, accusing eyes and his mother’s sharp, mocking words.

Elliot stood watch at the cave’s entrance, silent and immovable like a stone sentinel. His presence was my only faint sense of security.

“You are consumed by hatred,” he said one night, breaking the long silence as he stirred the fire. His voice was low and steady, not a question but a statement.

I curled up closer to the flames and didn’t deny it. “Why shouldn’t I hate?” My voice trembled with suppressed anger. “Ten years of devotion, and all I got in return was being called ‘trash,’ discarded like worthless refuse.”

“Hate can drive you forward, but don’t let it consume you.” He looked up, his deep green eyes glinting in the firelight. “Your worth is not for others to decide, especially not a group of ignorant fools.”

“But they did decide! The entire Bloodclaw Pack, the whole Werewolf Society—all of them deemed me worthless! A barren, useless woman!” My voice cracked as I let the emotions I’d buried burst free.

Elliot watched me quietly, waiting until my sobs subsided. “What they judge is only within the limits of their narrow understanding of ‘bloodlines.’ But the universe is vast, Isabella. The secrets of bloodlines stretch far beyond what the Bloodclaw Pack could ever comprehend.”

He stood and walked to the mouth of the cave, gazing into the pitch-black night. “Tonight, there’s an eclipse.”

I followed his gaze and saw nothing but heavy clouds obscuring the sky.

“The night of a lunar eclipse is when the power of shadows reaches its peak. It’s also a time when certain ancient, forgotten bloodlines resonate most deeply,” Elliot said, his tone carrying an air of mystery. “Close your eyes, Isabella. Don’t look with your eyes. Feel with your heart. Sense the shadows around you. They’re not mere voids. They’re another form of light, another kind of power.”

Skeptical yet drawn by his words, I hesitantly closed my eyes, trying to push away all distractions. At first, there was only darkness and the faint crackle of the fire. But gradually, something began to stir within me.

I felt as if I could touch the edges of light and shadow within the cave—the flickering, elongated silhouettes cast by the fire. They weren’t just empty darkness; they seemed alive, flowing like a slow-moving current.

A faint yet unmistakable resonance stirred deep within me, as though something in my core was answering the rhythm of the shadows around me.

“Do you feel it?” Elliot’s voice seemed to come from a distance. “This isn’t a defect, Isabella. It’s your gift—your power. The world misunderstood it. Your Eclipse Bloodline has always been connected to shadows.”

Eclipse Bloodline. The phrase struck me like a lightning bolt, shattering the fog in my mind.

At that moment, the clouds outside seemed to part, as if an unseen force had swept them away. The night sky cleared, revealing a full moon hanging high above. But its edges began to darken as a shadow crept slowly over its surface—the eclipse had begun.

When the shadow wholly consumed the moon, an overwhelming surge of power erupted from deep within me. It was like a dam breaking, flooding every inch of my being with unrelenting force. The resonance was no longer faint; it was a full awakening.

“Ahh—!” A cry tore from my throat as pain consumed me. My bones and muscles felt as though they were being shattered and reshaped. A clash of searing heat and icy cold raged within me, their extremes tearing through my body.

Silver light burst uncontrollably from within me, enveloping me in its radiance. My once-mousy brown hair transformed before my eyes, turning into shimmering strands like liquid silver. My pupils shifted, becoming pure, luminous silver orbs.

A wave of immense energy radiated from me, sweeping outward with such force that the fire in the cave was extinguished—not by wind, but by the overwhelming power of the shadows I now commanded. Howls echoed from the distant forest, filled with fear and submission.

The pain subsided as suddenly as it had begun, leaving in its wake a profound sense of control and clarity. I could feel the movement of every shadow around me as though they were extensions of my own body, fluid and obedient to my will.

I raised my hand, and with a mere thought, a tendril of shadow coiled itself around my fingers, as tame as a loyal pet.

Elliot knelt before me, his head bowed low. His voice, trembling with awe, broke the silence. “Welcome back, Your Highness. The Eclipse Bloodline has returned to the world.”

I stared at my transformed hands, at the silver glow still emanating faintly from my skin. The power coursing through me was unmistakable. Cold despair and hopelessness had indeed been the keys to my awakening. I was never a failure.

Lucas, you will pay.