The world didn't just explode, it ignited the moment Amanda's palm pressed against the rune stone, the glowing carvings burst into blinding light. The once faint gold turned molten silver, lines of fire racing through every rune until the entire stone blazed like a beacon against the twilight sky. A thunderous boom echoed, though no one had struck the stone. Wind surged across the clearing, whipping hair and snapping uniforms. The trees on the ridge bent low as if bowing. In the distance, a chorus of wolves howled, sharp and urgent, their voices rolling across the mountains like a warning.
Amanda gasped as power, a force like she had never felt before lanced through her body, hot and unbearable, crawling through her veins like liquid lightning. Her knees buckled, but she couldn't let go. Her hand was fused to the stone, her chest heaving as though she was being pulled apart from the inside. Students screamed, one stumbled backward and fell. Even the cocky ones froze, staring wide-eyed.
"Enough!", Mrs. Rook's sharp voice cut through the chaos but Amanda barely heard.
Her vision blurred, silver sparks darting across the edges of her sight. Her pulse raced, drumming in her ears and then nothing. The ground tilted violently, her body went weightless and she collapsed.
"AMANDA!", Skylar shouting her name was the last thing she heard before the world went black.
---
When Amanda woke up, the world was hushed and strange. She lay on damp earth, her head heavy and her skin clammy. Her eyes fluttered slowly and the first thing she saw above her were the pine trees swaying gently, shadows flickering against the fading sky. The chatter of students filled the clearing in a low, nervous hum. Her body felt drained, like every ounce of strength had been siphoned away, yet beneath the exhaustion a strange afterglow lingered an echo of the stone's pulse thrumming deep inside her chest.
"Don't move", Skylar's voice said sharply beside her. Amanda turned slowly and saw that he was kneeling, his arm braced protectively across her as if shielding her from something. Amanda blinked at him. His golden eyes were unsettled, burning in a way she hadn't seen before, not just irritation but something rawer.
"I'm fine", she whispered hoarsely.
"You collapsed", he pointed out.
"I- I know, it's just, It was just… the stone. It felt-", she stopped, shuddering as she remembered the flood of energy. Words failed her, alive, that was how best she could describe it to herself, that stone had been alive, and for one terrifying second, so had she in a way she'd never known before. Behind Skylar, the rest of the pack students stood frozen in a half circle. Tessa's face was a storm of emotions, her mouth parted in shock, her eyes blazing with fury, her fingers curled into claws at her sides.
"She's not even alpha-born", Tessa snapped, her voice rising above the whispers. "She shouldn't have touched it!", she shouted but no one answered and no one dared. Mrs. Rook finally stepped forward, her expression stiff, pale.
"That's enough, the trip is over, everyone, back to the bus", she said.
Her tone brooked no argument, though it trembled faintly at the edges. Amanda pushed herself upright despite Skylar's hand pressing her shoulder back down. She wobbled to her feet, brushing off the dirt, her legs shook, her body screamed to collapse again, but pride stiffened her spine. For some reason she didn't want them to see her like that, weak, she didn't want to give Tessa that satisfaction.
---
The ride back to Moonridge was silent. The bus rattled down the winding road, carrying a load of stunned, whispering students. Amanda sat near the window, her forehead resting against the cool glass. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the rune stone's blazing light, heard the howls in the distance, felt the electricity still humming in her bones. Her body ached, but it wasn't pain. It was something deeper, stranger, like the stone had branded her from the inside out. Skylar sat in the seat across the aisle, his posture rigid, his jaw clenched tight. He hadn't spoken since they left the ridge, but Amanda could feel his gaze flick toward her more than once. Every time she glanced at him, he looked away. Tessa sat two rows back, her eyes drilling into the back of Amanda's skull. The surrounding air reeked of jealousy and venom. Mrs. Rook didn't look at Amanda once. Her lips were pressed in a thin, grim line as if she'd seen something she desperately wished she hadn't.
---
By the time they returned to the Blackthorne estate, Amanda was exhausted. She grabbed Skylar's hand as they walked into the building. He turned and looked at her.
"What is it?", he asked with an impatient tone.
"Don't tell my mom what happened today", Amanda said carefully.
Skylar tilted his head at her curiously.
"Please", she added softly.
Skylar stared at her for a few minutes, assessing her before he shook her hand off and walked inside, saying nothing. Amanda sighed, then followed after him. She made it through dinner without touching her food, barely listening to Samuel's attempts at casual conversation or her mother's worried glances. She excused herself early, climbed the endless stairs to her room, and collapsed onto her bed, but rest didn't come. Every time her eyes closed, she saw the stone, she felt the power racing through her veins. She pressed her hand to her chest, right where the locket lay warm against her skin. The metal pulsed faintly, almost in time with her heartbeat.
"What the hell is happening to me?", she whispered into the dark.
---
The creak of her bedroom window being opened, pulled her from her restless half sleep. She sat up sharply, heart racing.
"Relax", it was Skylar's voice. She turned to see him perched on the ledge of her window, the night air drifting in around him. His dark hair was tousled, his golden eyes sharp even in the shadows. He moved with the silent grace of something more wolf than man as he stepped inside.
"What are you doing here?", Amanda hissed, tugging the blanket tighter around her. He ignored the question, scanning her from head to toe.
"Are you still dizzy?", he asked finally, breaking the silence that had settled over them.
"No", she lied, her body did in fact still feel like lead.
"Don't lie to me", his tone was cold, but something in his eyes betrayed him, concern, though he tried to bury it beneath steel.
Amanda swallowed.
"I'm fine. You don't have to check on me", she repeated.
Silence stretched between them. He leaned against her desk, arms folded, trying to look indifferent, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed him.
"What happened back there?", Amanda asked quietly.
"Why did the stone react to me like that?", she finally gathered the courage to ask.
Skylar's jaw tightened.
"It wasn't supposed to", he said stiffly.
"That's not an answer", Amanda fired back.
His gaze flicked away.
"It doesn't matter. Forget it."
Her frustration flared.
"How am I supposed to forget it? Everyone saw what happened. That stone… it felt like it knew me. Like it was alive and-"
"Stop", his voice cut through hers, sharper than she expected. He stepped closer, his eyes burning down into hers.
"If you don't know what is going on with you, how the hell am I supposed to know? Hell! I should be the one asking you these questions!", he yelled.
Amanda's breath hitched. The air between them was too tight, too charged. She wanted to push him away, demand answers, but her body betrayed her, drawn to him despite the wall he kept trying to build.
"You looked scared", she whispered before she could stop herself.
His eyes darkened.
"I wasn't scared", he denied immediately.
"Yes, you were", she answered back.
For a long moment, they just stared at each other, silence stretching taut. Then, suddenly, he turned and headed for the window again.
"Look, all I'm saying is if you're a human in a pack of wolves, maybe you should stay away from things you don't know. That means staying away from the ridge and stay away from the stone", he warned her.
"That's it? That's all you're going to say?", Amanda called after him, but he didn't answer. His body shifted once more into shadow as he slipped out into the night.
Amanda sat frozen on her bed after he left, the echo of his presence lingering like static in the air. Her pulse was still racing, her skin hot despite the cool night. Something had changed between them that night, something neither of them wanted to admit but neither could deny, and as Amanda lay back against her pillow, one uncomfortable thought pressed heavy on her chest:
The stone hadn't just reacted to her, for some strange reason, it felt like it had chosen her.