Bella had been carrying another question in her mind for weeks now, one she had asked both her father and Cristal multiple times: Where was her wolf?
They had told her she was already of age, past her 18th birthday. She had waited eagerly, hoping to feel that powerful connection, that inner presence she had heard other wolves talk about, the voice of their wolf, guiding and supporting them. But there was only silence inside. When she had pressed Cristal for an answer, the healer had explained, in her usual clinical tone, that due to the rogue potion Bella had been given just before her 18th birthday, her wolf had been forced into hiding.
"It sometimes happens," Cristal had said, almost dismissively. "Your wolf is there, dormant, and will return when it’s ready. When you are ready."
That
