Hazel Blackwood pov :
Sixteen.
For an ordinary human teenager living beyond the borders of the dense northern woods, turning sixteen was a milestone of freedom. It meant driving lessons, high school parties, and taking the first tentative steps into adulthood.
But within the ancient, blood-sworn territory of the Blackwood Pack, sixteen was not just a number. It was a sacred, biological reckoning. It was the age of the First Shift. It was the exact moment the universe stripped away your childhood and forced you to meet the primal, violent beast resting deep within your soul.
I stood frozen in the center of my massive bedroom, staring blankly at my pale reflection in the antique floor-length mirror.
I was wearing the traditional ceremonial garb of the North. It was a breathtakin
