Dahlia’s POV

What the fuck was wrong with me? The same way people from movies jerk up with wide eyes from a bad dream or when the cops are about to raid a criminal's house was the way I jerked up after hearing that voice. The only difference was that it wasn’t a movie, and I wasn’t the cute, skinny girl with a mysterious past. I was just… me. Fat, lonely, and completely losing it.

I heard that voice again.

[SYSTEM ONLINE. USER IDENTIFIED: MOON-BLESSED. STATUS: AWAKENING LOCKED POWERS…]

Was I supposed to feel honored? Blessed? Enlightened? Because all I felt was mildly constipated and deeply confused. Did I just awaken a system we were taught about in science class? That couldn't be real, could it?

I clutched my pillow like it was the only thing keeping me from going into a mental breakdown. A voice in my head? And as if that wasn't scary enough, it spoke about powers like I was the chosen one from some fantasy novel. I almost expected a fairy with a clipboard to show up and hand me a mission.

I blinked at the ceiling. “Okay. What the actual hell?”

Maybe I was dreaming, or possibly I was in a kind of sleep so deep that it broke the rules of logic. But then my fingers tingled, and my heart beat like it had heard a war drum. The air vibrated. Or that was me vibrating.

Something was definitely happening. And it had started since I clocked seventeen. The weird moonlight dream, a glowing woman who dressed like she got lost on her way to a royal wedding in a galaxy far, far away.

All of this wasn't normal. I thought of calling Dad, but I decided against it. He was going to say I imagined it anyway. There was no point in calling him. I would have called my stepmom, but I thought we were close until she enrolled me in this school. Apparently, that's a no too.

I slid out of bed like a criminal escaping a crime scene. My feet touched the floor, and the cold bit me.

I glanced at the clock. "Fuck".

Biology class was starting in a few minutes. I should get to class before Ms. Hale does.

Ms. Hale was one of those teachers who would make you sleep with one eye open. And the way she smiled at me made my skin itch. As if she knew something about me that I don't know.

I rushed to my dresser. Not that I had anything cute to wear. Fashion and I have a complicated relationship. It offers me tents… or stretchy lies. But today I had no time to worry about that. I grabbed my black leggings—the ones that held me like a grudge—and a dark green hoodie that said, “Don’t talk to me unless you’re a snack.”

Hair? Fluffy curls, tied into a messy bun. Edges? Don’t ask. Lip gloss? Always.

If I were losing my mind, which I believe is already happening, I wasn't going to be caught dead without shiny lips even though my head was going to be down while I walked.

I carried myself as fast as I could down the hall to the class. Today wasn't one of the days to notice bullies around. I had to get to the class before Ms. Hale. Just another day in Northmont, the academy where wolves ruled, secrets walked, and I, the lonely human, tried to survive without becoming lunch.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Ms. Hale had somehow gotten there before me. By the time I reached the biology lab, my nerves were fried and my soul was halfway to heaven. To tell you how fast I ran.

I saw her standing, head down in the textbook before her, with her perfect posture, ice-blonde hair, and lipstick red like fresh blood. She wasn't looking up when I quietly entered, but I knew she smelled me. Her nostrils flared slightly, like a predator catching a new scent in the wind. That's what wolves do. They perceive you even before you're close, and funny enough, I wish I was one. If not for anything, but for that ability.

“Take your seat, Miss Reed,” she instructed without turning. “Today’s lesson will be… enlightening.”

Great. That wasn’t suspicious at all. She didn't notice I came late, or she pretended not to.

I sneaked into my seat, trying to become one with the chair. My desk neighbor, a guy with sideburns that looked like they had their gym routine, scooted slightly away from me. I was used to that. My body took up space people would rather not share. It was fine, normal, and expected.

“Today,” Ms. Hale began, marker in hand, “we’re discussing lunar influence on blood resonance in hybrid wolves.”

Of course. Why not start the day with something that sounded like a dark spell?

She turned to the board and began sketching a diagram of a wolf under a full moon. “As you all know, the moon does not simply affect our shifts. It speaks to our blood—activating dormant traits, enhancing aggression, and in rare cases… unlocking ancestral power.”

Unlocking? My ears perked up.

Ms. Hale’s eyes flicked to me. Just a glance. But it felt like she’d licked my soul.

I shivered.

She continued. “Hybrid wolves—especially those with divine lineage—are more sensitive to moon resonance. Their systems may activate under emotional stress, physical challenge, or age milestones.”

Seventeen.

I swallowed.

Age milestone, huh?

I took out my notebook and started pretending to take notes, but really I was scribbling moon resonance.? Ancestral blood? System = real? Like a maniac.

The class went on. Students raised their hands. Questions flew, but I stayed quiet. But something was rising inside me. A weird warmth. Like my body had turned into a ticking clock, and it was counting down to something I didn’t understand.

And then… I felt it.

[SYSTEM ALERT: POTENTIAL ATTACK DETECTED. EVASIVE MANEUVER ADVISED.]

I blinked and looked up.

Three desks behind me, I saw Chloe, Brigg, and the twin. The usual suspects. Known for being rich, ruthless, and allergic to the idea of a fat girl being smarter than they were.

They were staring at me.

I felt it in my spine before anything happened.

Chloe leaned toward her desk. Her fingers twitched.

Brigg adjusted something under his sleeve.

One of the twins whispered, smirking.

HOSTILE ACTION INCOMING. 3… 2… 1…]

I ducked.

A little glittery object—like a perfume bottle—flew over my head and smashed into the wall.

The room went silent.

Ms. Hale turned slowly, her gaze burning holes into the floor.

“What,” she said in a voice so calm it made me want to hide, “was that?”

No one answered.

I sat still, breathing hard, trying to figure out how I knew. How I moved. How I wasn’t covered in whatever that stuff was.

[SYSTEM NOTE: USER INSTINCT RESPONSE – ACTIVATED. LEVEL: 1.]

Holy hell. The system was real. It was helping me. I didn’t know whether to scream or cry.

Something inside me had woken up.

Dahlia's POV

There I was—sitting in class, my heart pounding still replaying what just happened in my head. Did I just escape bully with the help of a system? I gazed back to meet the stare of the furious faces of my bullies. Their disappointed faces gave me a kind of relief. Students chuckled from all angles of the class as no one dared laugh aloud in Ms Hale's class. Once she turned from the board, everything went silent.

[SYSTEM NOTE: USER INSTINCT RESPONSE – ACTIVATED. LEVEL: 1.]

Oh sure, System, no big deal. I just dodged a glitter bomb mid-class like some plus-sized ninja. That's totally normal. It happens every day, right?

By the time Ms Hale resumed her creepy lecture, I was no longer hearing her words. My head was buzzing, but not in a cute, romantic way. More like a horror movie sound effect before the killer shows up. A lot was going on in my brain, each time she mentioned the bloodline, something shifted in me. Something I couldn't explain, and I was sure it wasn't the newfound system.

I survived the rest of the class pretending to take notes but really just scribbling "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME" a dozen different ways in the margins of my notebook. The bell rang, and the rest of the students filed out like they'd been freed from prison. I walked more slowly and carefully, as though the floor might fall out from under me.

Back in my room, I slammed the door, locked it, and threw my backpack across the bed. Then I stood in front of the mirror. Just stood and stared at my reflection, with the hope of seeing who I was gradually turning into.

And then I saw a faint flicker of black glow in my body. This wasn't my usual under-eye circles or the normal shadow of forgotten joy that had clung to me since I lost my Grandmother. It was a soft black shimmer under my skin. Like my bones were glowing. It was like something was moving under my flesh, and didn’t care if I was scared. It remained on my skin like it was sent there.

“What the hell…” I whispered.

I leaned closer and rubbed my eyes. Maybe they aren't seeing properly again. I mean, a lot had happened since I clocked seventeen. I might have also lost the ability to see well. But the glow was still there.

[SYSTEM ONLINE. MOON-BLESSED CONFIRMED. BLOOD ACTIVATION IN PROGRESS.]

“Oh come on,” I groaned. “What does that even mean? Blood activation? I’m not a damn iPhone.”

I slapped my cheeks, but there I was, still glowing.

The mirror stared back at me as it knew too much, and I stared harder.

Was this what the students who had bullied me earlier in class saw? Was that why they threw that perfume bottle? Maybe my black glow scent was disturbing their nostrils. They're wolves and good with scents.

I stepped away and began pacing. My hoodie because too hot, my skin tingled like I was about to burst out of it. I pulled it off, and the glow danced across my forearms, like moonlight trying to sneak out of my pores.

I did what any rational girl would do. I ran to the bathroom, shut the lights, and locked the door like I was about to perform a ritual. In the darkness, the glow got stronger.

Faint black veins shimmered beneath my skin, weaving patterns up my arms like vines. My body didn’t feel like mine anymore. It felt ancient. Like someone had lived in it before me.

I sank to the floor.

“What are you turning me into?” I asked the empty room.

[SYSTEM RESPONSE: UNLOCKING HERITAGE MEMORIES. STANDBY.]

“Yeah, well, I didn’t consent to any of this,” I muttered. “So go ahead and keep your creepy blood stories to yourself.”

Suddenly, my vision swirled. I was no longer in the bathroom.

I saw flashes—memories, maybe. Or hallucinations. A giant black wolf running through a silver forest. A woman with glowing eyes whispering my name. A burning castle. And moonlight—everywhere.

I came back to the bathroom floor, gasping as I had just drowned in myth.

“Okay,” I whispered. “I’m either the chosen one or I need very strong meds.”

Still buzzing, I dragged myself back to my bed. I lay down like someone who just escaped a cult meeting. I promised I was never going to skip meals again, but right now it's not looking like I was ready to keep that promise. There was no way I would go out this way.

The System was quiet now. But my skin wasn’t. It hummed like it was waiting for what I didn’t know.

There was a knock on my door.

I sat upright. My heart nearly exploded. Who the hell would knock on my door? No one ever knocked on my door. People avoided me like I was contagious. I hope the knock wasn't coming from my head again.

I tiptoed to the door, peeked through the peephole, but all I saw was an empty hallway.

Another knock came, and this time it was from the window.

I turned slowly. Then I saw a note stuck to the glass. I opened the window and grabbed it.

"We saw what happened in class. Don’t think you’re safe now."

There was no name or signature on the note, but I didn't need anyone to tell me who they were. The twin. Brigg. Chloe. The Royal Rejects of course.

My fingers trembled with full power, but not with fear. This would be the first time since I was admitted to Northmont High that I wasn't feeling helpless, thanks to my newfound system.

I shoved the note into my drawer and shut it.

I went back to the mirror. The glow was still there. Like it had always been inside me, waiting.

"I dare them," I muttered.

And the System responded:

[SYSTEM MODE: READY. USER STATUS: AWAKE.]

Dahlia's POV

I couldn't say when I fell asleep, but somehow I think I did. I could remember that before I fell asleep, my body was still humming like a music box, and the glow was still on my skin as if I had swallowed a galaxy. I was sure I didn't make it to dinner, and my stomach was singing protest songs. I checked my bag and saw a half-eaten pack of cream chips in it.

Dinner of champions.

I ate a few, tossed the rest aside, and curled into a ball like one of those sad, abandoned dogs you see on shelter posters. But instead of sadness, I was glowing. Literally.

I woke up to a soft knock, which, honestly, was almost more suspicious. No one normal knocked on my door.

I dragged myself to the door, cracked it open, and blinked.

There she was.

A girl with wide, cute brown eyes, a big smile, and hair tied up in little space buns like she just stepped out of a cartoon. She was holding a suitcase and a drink pouch like she was moving in and going to a picnic all at once.

“Hi! Oh my gosh, you must be Dahlia! I’m Soraya. I just transferred in. They told me I’d be rooming with you. This place is huge, right? You’re so pretty, by the way. I love your hair. And your lips! And your skin. Like, wow. Are you wearing highlighter? No? That’s just your face? You’re literally glowing!”

I froze.

Literally glowing?

My mind went into emergency lockdown mode. Could she see it?

No. She was still talking. Like, full-on speed train talking. And I realized she wasn’t even reacting to the glow. She was just throwing compliments like glitter.

Did that mean only I could see it? Or was she just so extra that nothing fazed her?

“Thanks,” I muttered, eyes squinting as I stepped aside. “Room’s all yours. Don’t trip over any emotional baggage lying around.”

She rolled her suitcase in like she was moving into a five-star hotel, already chatting about how she had been homeschooled most of her life, how her dad ran a spell-cleaning business for werewolves, and how she once saw a witch levitate her mom’s entire fridge out of the kitchen because she was mad about expired milk.

Soraya. What a name. She didn’t even sound real.

And yet there she was—sitting on her bed, swinging her legs, asking me fifty questions in five minutes like I was a human trivia card.

“Do you have a favorite subject? Is biology as creepy as people say? What’s up with the teachers here? Why are the wolves so serious? Also, do you have snacks? I’m starving.”

I blinked.

No one had ever talked to me like this. Like I wasn’t invisible. Like I was… normal. Or even interesting.

She didn’t look at me like I was a science project or some school-wide joke. She didn’t flinch, sneer, or whisper. She just smiled.

“You’re gorgeous,” she said again.

My heart almost short-circuited.

No one had said that to me since Grandma died. Not my father, or even my damn mirror.

I mumbled a weird “thanks” and turned away before my eyes could get stupid.

The glow was still there. But she didn’t mention it. Maybe it really was just for me to see.

We got ready for class.

I stared at my clothes like they were landmines. Everything I had was now too thin, light, and revealing all of a sudden.

The glow had faded a little but not completely. I needed to cover it up. So I did what any paranoid half-magic girl would do—I layered.

Black tights under black pants. Long-sleeve top. Big coat. Hood up.

“Uh… are we going to school or trekking across the tundra?” Soraya joked as I walked out of the bathroom looking like an apocalypse prepper.

“I’m cold,” I said.

“In August?”

“Yep. Cold in the soul.”

She laughed and didn’t ask again. Bless her.

We walked to class together. A practical session was happening, and I couldn’t afford to skip it. Missing this would affect my grades even harder than my dignity already had.

Class was awkward. I sweated bullets under all the layers. The teacher gave me a weird look, like she was trying to figure out if I was hiding a weapon or just had a terrible sense of fashion. I avoided everyone.

After class, Soraya caught up with me and linked arms like we were old friends. The whole walk back to the dorm, she talked nonstop—about teachers she hated already, wolves that looked like failed models, and how the cafeteria chicken tasted like regret.

I listened and laughed.

For once, it felt… okay.

Back in our room, she sprawled across her bed with her shoes still on and started telling me about her ex, who tried to impress her with fire magic and nearly burned his eyebrows off. I told her about Ms. Hale’s “I know your secrets” stare, and she screamed like we were telling ghost stories.

By the time the moon was up, she was asleep. Sprawled diagonally across the bed, one sock off, mouth open.

I sat by the window, looking out at the moon again.

***************

Kyren’s POV

Sleep has become a stranger to me for the past few weeks.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling like it owed me answers. It wasn’t just the usual noise in my head—pack business, school, the Royal Council’s latest drama. It was the mate thing. The one thing I had been trying to ignore since I turned eighteen. Every Alpha had to choose eventually, and I could feel the pressure building like a storm behind my eyes.

But nothing felt right. I've got no face, scent, or girl. Not even close.

So I got up. Threw on a hoodie and went out.

The night was cold and quiet. I walked past the training field, planning to shift and sprint into the woods, but then I saw movement near the cafeteria. Someone was sneaking around the side, ducking under the shadows.

I paused. It was a girl, and not just any girl. The fat one. Dahlia Reed.

She was meeting with a staff member I didn’t recognize. They exchanged something like a food pack. Dahlia shoved it into the pouch of her hoodie. Then she looked around—checking her surroundings—and walked off fast.

I don't blame her. The bullies won't let her eat in peace during the day, so she has to choose the night. I wonder why she gave in to bullies with such a huge body. She could just throw one person a punch, and that would be the end of it.

But I was caught off guard because I expected her to head back to the dorm, but she wasn’t. She was heading deeper. Past the last of the lights. Past where any student was supposed to go alone.

I followed quietly.

I didn’t know why. Maybe I thought she was up to something, or I just wanted to make sure she didn’t get eaten. And it could be the pull. That strange tug that had been humming in me all day.

She walked through the trees, not looking back once. She moved like she was used to hiding and stopped in a small clearing—bare dirt, with no benches or lights. The only source of light there was the moon.

She sat down. Opened the food. Ate in silence. Bit by bit, like this was her moment of peace. She drank water from a small bottle and leaned back against the tree.

Then I saw her skin glow black.

Black light pulsing from under her skin like fire in reverse. Like ink made of stars. My breath hitched.

What the hell was that?

Before I could stop myself, I stepped forward.

A branch cracked, making her turn.

She froze when our eyes met.

She went wide-eyed, shocked, scared, and glowing. I didn’t speak because I lost words. Instead I walked closer, slowly, and sat beside her. Her glow didn’t stop, and she didn’t move either.

Neither of us said anything. The silence between us was heavy, as if something ancient was sitting between us.

Then my wolf stirred, and her familiar scent hit me.

“What! Impossible!” My eyes went wide.