A THRONE OF SHADOW AND SOULMATES

"Hey! You're gonna drown out there!"

I heard a voice cut through the rain

I stopped mid-stride, water splashing up my jeans. The storm had turned my school

quad into a sea of puddles, lightning slicing the sky above the old stone buildings. I could feel the wind so cold with the rain drips and my hair clung to my face as I spun toward the sound.

Under a drooping oak tree stood a guy leaning against a sleek black sports car, the kind that didn't belong anywhere near student housing. He looked like he'd stepped out of another world, too composed for the chaos around him.

Derek Clawson.

Tall, broad-shouldered, his storm-dark hair slicked to his head. Even through the rain, I could see it - his eyes, faintly red. The first flash I dismissed as lightning. The second one made my pulse jump.

I clutched my folder of mythology notes tighter, though most of the pages had already turned to pulp. "I'm fine!" I shouted over the thunder.

"Not everyone needs a shiny car to survive a drizzle."

Derek's grin cut through the rain like light through smoke. "Fiery. I like it. Are you always this friendly, or just with me?" It was obvious that he said this Sarcastically. 

Trust me I definitely shot back

"Are you always this annoying, or just with girls who have better things to do?"

He turned off the car and started toward me, moving slowly and deliberately.

"I've seen you in mythology class," he said, voice dropping just enough to make me hear it over the rain.

"You write like the world's ending." Flirty right well

My chest tightened not because of his words, but because he'd noticed me at all, but I had to act cool I didn't let him know how nervous I was that he even noticed I existed.

"What's your deal, Clawson? You stalk everyone or just me?"

He laughed, the sound low and rough. "Only the ones who stand out." Gosh he's too flirty

Cold rain trickled down my neck, but heat bloomed in my cheeks.

I turned away. "Save it. I don't fall for wolf-in-leather types."

"Wolf?" he echoed with a smirk I couldn't see. "Interesting choice of words."

My mother's voice echoed in my mind, soft and casual from the night before.

"Your dad and I are heading to the forest, little pie. Back soon." In case you don't know I'm the little pie, it's just a pet name my mother calls me

My mother had married into that secret world - werewolves hiding behind human faces, but unfortunately I had been born on the border of both. Too human for the pack, too strange for everyone else.

Lost in thought, I didn't see the car until its bumper clipped my leg.

The impact spun me sideways. My folder flew open, papers and sketches scattering like feathers. Ink bled into the puddles, my work dissolving into a watercolor blur.

The car screeched to a stop.

My body hit the pavement, palms stinging, rain hammering my back. For a few seconds, all I could hear was the storm and her own heartbeat. Then the driver's door opened.

Derek.

He was out of the car and running toward me, eyes glowing brighter-red, unmistakable now. For a split second, I could swear I saw claws flex at his fingertips. Then they were gone.

"You okay?"

He said, voice cutting through the downpour. "I didn't see you-rain's crazy."

He reached for my hand. For an instant, I almost let him. Then instinct - something old and sharp - screamed no.

"I'm fine," I said, shoving myself up. "Just try not to run over people next time."

His jaw tightened. Most girls giggled or flirted when Derek Clawson looked at them.honestly I was not feeling it what the other girls felt then I snapped back. And that made me an interesting target .

He crouched beside me. "Let me fix this," he said softly. "I'll replace what you lost."

I grabbed one of my ruined essays, crumpled and soaked. "Keep your guilt money.

Drive better."

We both reached for the same page - a sketch of a golden wolf. Our fingers brushed.

Zap.

A jolt shot through my hand, up my arm - not pain, not electricity, but heat, raw and alive.

My breath caught. Derek froze too, eyes wide, the same shock mirrored there. For a moment, the world was nothing but rain, thunder, and the strange hum between them.

"Derek! What's taking so long?"

The voice cut through everything. Sharp, annoyed, perfect.

Joanna Linfield. Her dark hair, untouched by rain, her heels clicking against the wet pavement as if the storm itself obeyed her.

Her gaze landed on me - soaked, scraped, clutching my ruined notes - and her smirk deepened.

"Oh. So this is what's keeping you."

"Back off, Joanna," Derek muttered without looking at her.

I stood, gathering what was left of my papers. The spark still burned under my skin, wild and confusing. "I'm fine," I said stiffly. "Next time, try headlights."

As I turned to leave.

"Wait," Derek called. His tone had changed - lower, commanding. Even the rain seemed to hesitate.

I stopped. Slowly turned.

"What's your name?" he asked.

For a second, I considered lying. Then, for some reason I couldn't explain, I didn't.

"Skye."

And boom I was gone, running into the storm before he could say anything else.

Derek stood there, rain pouring over him, my name echoing in his mind. Skye. It fit - wild, unpredictable, untouchable.

Joanna folded her arms. "Forget her. She's nobody. A broke scholarship girl who doesn't know her place."

He barely heard her. The energy he'd felt - that spark - wasn't human. It was wolf magic. Ancient. Rare.

A low growl built in his chest, swallowed by thunder.

Somewhere beyond the university walls, a wolf's howl answered.

He'd come to Northbridge to escape the pack - the expectations, the training, his father's shadow.

I stumbled into her dorm, dripping wet, hair plastered to my neck.

I slammed the door shut and leaned against it, breath coming hard.

My reflection in the mirror caught me off guard - pale face, wide eyes, and a faint golden glow pulsing where blue should've been.

"Great," I muttered. "Now I'm hallucinating."

I peeled off my hoodie and tossed it aside, glancing at the desk where my ruined notes lay.

The golden wolf I sketched shimmered faintly beneath the lamplight, the ink spreading into something that looked almost alive.

My phone buzzed. A text from Mom.

Made it to the forest. All good, little pie. Love you.

My chest tightened. I wanted to reply - to ask what was really going on out there - I she didn't. Instead, I sat on my bed and stared out the window, where thunder rolled and lightning carved the sky in half.

Somewhere distant, a wolf howled.

I looked back at my reflection. The glow in my eyes didn't fade. It pulsed - faint, then stronger, like something ancient remembering itself.

"This isn't the end of the storm, the wind howled harder. The sound wasn't just weather anymore. It was a call.

And deep down, I knew - this was only the beginning.