Eva’s was asleep, but her body tensed and turned restlessly against the covers. A cold sweat covered her forehead, and her hands were clenched tightly around the blanket.
In her dream, she stood in a vast, open field. The sky was a dull gray, and the wind carried whispers she couldn’t quite understand. Before her stood two boys—both around the age of ten. Both her sons. Both hers, yet so different.
One had silver eyes, burning bright with fierce pride. A golden crown rested on his head. He stood tall, regal, confident, just like Max. His presence warmed her like sunlight.
The other boy had dark hair, like shadows wrapping around him. His eyes glowed crimson, and in his hand, he held a dagger. Not threateningly, but as if it was simply part of who he was. His presence was cold, heavy. And yet, his eyes looked sad—like he already knew what the world thought of him.
Eva’s breath caught in her throat.
“My boys…” she whispered in the dream, her heart aching as she reached for them.
Then she heard a voice. Soft, distant, yet filled with the weight of destiny.
Danielle.
“You will choose… but only one will stay.”
The words echoed like thunder across the field. Eva looked around frantically, shaking her head.
“No,” she said. “No, I won’t choose. I love them both.”
But the world around her began to shift. The ground cracked, splitting the two boys apart. The crowned son stood on one side, the daggered son on the other. The distance between them grew until Eva could no longer reach either of them.
“I won’t choose!” she cried, running forward.
But no matter how fast she moved, they drifted farther away. Danielle’s voice came again, colder now.
“You must. One will rise. One will fall. This is the cost of power.”
Eva screamed.
She jolted awake in her bed, gasping for air. Her hands flew to her belly, cradling it protectively as her heart pounded in her chest. Sweat soaked her hair and gown. Her lips trembled.
“No…” she whispered. “I will not be like you!”
The door burst open. Tiana rushed in, her eyes wide with panic. “Eva? What happened?”
Eva couldn’t speak for a moment. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to calm her breathing. Tiana sat beside her, brushing the hair from her face gently.
“It was a vision,” Eva said, her voice hoarse. “They were both there. My sons. One had a crown, and the other… a dagger. Danielle was there. She said I had to choose.”
Tiana frowned, gripping Eva’s hand tightly. “It was just a dream. You’re tired, overwhelmed—”
“No.” Eva shook her head, voice rising. “It wasn’t just a dream. It felt real. I saw their faces, Tiana. I saw what they could become. One strong. One dangerous. One loved… and one feared.”
Tiana’s heart ached watching her sister like this. “Eva, listen to me. You are not our mother. You are nothing like Danielle.”
“She chose one of us!” Eva shouted, sitting up straighter. “She chose me, and she made you suffer for it. She let love turn into power. She let fear make her destroy everything!”
“And you already aren’t like her,” Tiana said softly, tears filling her eyes. “You love too hard to ever destroy them. You would die before choosing between them.”
Eva’s face crumbled. “But what if I have to, Tiana? What if the vision was a warning? What if one of them is meant to destroy the other?”
“Then we stop it,” Tiana said firmly. “Visions aren’t promises, Eva—they’re possibilities. And you’ve already changed so much. You’ve turned pain into power. You’ve built a home, a pack, a future.”
Eva placed her hands back on her belly, feeling for movement. The wolf child kicked again, strong and sure. The other remained quiet. A soft pressure, nothing more.
“I don’t know how to love one without hurting the other,” Eva whispered.
“Then love them both equally,” Tiana said, placing her hand over Eva’s. “Love them like you always have—with everything you are. No crown. No dagger. Just a mother’s heart.”
Eva leaned into her sister, letting herself cry. Letting herself feel everything she’d been holding in—fear, guilt, love, hope. Tiana held her close, just like she used to when they were girls.
