Aria's POV

By the time I arrived home the house was filled with the smell of burnt toast and something sweet. Grace, my foster mother was in the kitchen attempting to prepare my favorite, cinnamon pancakes, even though the mix had clearly expired. She had her apron dusted with the flour, and batter on her cheek.

She turned when I stepped in. “There’s the birthday girl. How was school?”

I was a bit hesitant, and said the safest thing to her. “Fine.”

She looked me in the face a second, then shook her head as though she did not believe me, but did not feel inclined to insist. "We saved you something," said she, giving me a plate with half a pancake on it, folded like a taco.

My foster dad, Tom, lifted a mug in my direction from the couch. “Eighteen today. You’re officially old enough to pay rent now.”

I smiled politely and sat down to eat. I didn’t have the heart to tell them the day had been like all the others... sharp, cold, unkind.

They tried, in their own way. They did not have much, but they gave me as much as they could give. I couldn't ask for more.

I tried to sleep early that night. The moon was already up and looking through the torn curtain over my window. I leaned over on my side and pulled my blanket over my head.

Immediately my eyes feel into deep sleep, the dream came back again.

I was running barefoot through the forest, tree whizzing by, air bursting out in ragged, hard gasps. I could hear the growl from behind me. Inhuman, guttural, low. Behind me, a black monstrous wolf crept, his teeth shone, his eyes flamed like fire.

I could feel my legs on fire and I wanted to shout out but couldn’t. The forest was endless and I could feel fear in my chest like smoke.

And suddenly a white, dazzling light from above, cut through the trees like a knife. The wolf stood still. Snarled. Then it disappeared like smoke in wind.

I dropped on my knees, gasping.

And then I woke up.

My sheets were tangled around me. My skin was clammy. I stared at the ceiling, my heart pounding, throat dry.

Same dream. Again.

It had started the week I turned sixteen. I never told anyone. Not even Tammy.

The next day at school the halls were more full of excitement than usual. It was Friday. Party day.

I held my head down, praying that I could reach the first period without being noticed. Unfortunately it didn't work.

Savannah cornered me at my locker, and smiled like a cat that had got a mouse in its paws.

"Happy birthday, again," she smiled. “It's still your birthday week. Still thinking about the party?"

"I don’t...I don’t think I will...” I mumbled.

"Oh, that's too bad," she said taking something from her designer handbag. A tiny little square box, wrapped in silver paper. “Because I have your birthday gift right here. And Kian... well, he told me to make sure you came.”

I blinked at her. “Kian?”

She grinned. “Yup. Asked about you specifically. Said it would be... interesting to see you there.”

For a second, the world stilled. My chest fluttered...that dangerous little thing called hope spreading like wildfire in my ribs.

“I’ll... think about it.”

“Oh, come on. You’re eighteen now. Live a little.” She winked, tossed her hair, and disappeared into the crowd.

I found Tammy at lunch and told her everything.

She gave me that look... the one that said she loved me, but also thought I had the common sense of a soap bar.

“Aria. It’s Savannah. She could gift-wrap a landmine and smile while it explodes. Don’t trust her.”

“I know,” I whispered. “But... what if it’s not a trick? What if he really did ask?”

Tammy’s face softened. “You really like him.”

“I know I shouldn’t. But yes.”

She sighed, long and deep. “Fine. But I’m coming with you.”

My heart lifted just a little. “Thank you.”

That night, I pulled out the only decent dress I had, a navy blue one Grace had found at a thrift store last year. It was snug, but it fit. I stared at myself in the mirror. Not pretty. Not glowing. But... maybe not invisible either.

We walked to the party together. The music thudded from blocks away. The moment we stepped inside, the air changed. Loud. Crowded. Glittering.

Tammy followed close, looking around.

I tried to breathe, to smile, to be like others.

But when Savannah saw me she was all teeth and warm.

“Aria! You came! she said, in a loud voice. "You look... nice.”

She looked me up and down and although the words were polite, I could sense the smirk in them.

Tammy nudged my arm. “Let’s go. We don’t belong here.”

But Savannah looped her arm through mine before I could move. “No, no, you have to say hi to Kian. He’s been waiting to see you.”

I blinked. “Kian?”

“Mhm.” She grinned wider. “He asked me to invite you, remember? He’s right over there.”

Tammy’s voice was sharp beside me. “Aria, don’t.”

But I wanted to believe. Just this once. That maybe it wasn’t a joke. That maybe he had asked. That maybe tonight could be different.

So I stepped forward. My legs felt like they weren’t mine.

He was over the drink table, talking to Amira,his mate, or so people in town say. Amira the most beautiful girl in town, most people say she has the blood of the moon goddess. But as he saw me his face turned towards me.

As soon as our eyes met I forgot to breathe.

I walked up, slowly, smoothing a stray hair into my ear.

“Hi,” I said, my voice too soft. “Kian… thank you for asking Savannah to invite me.”

He looked at me like I’d just spat on his shoes.

“Excuse me? Invite who?” he said, loud enough for people nearby to hear.

“I… I thought…”

“You thought what?” He stepped closer. His voice was ice. “That I asked for you? That I wanted you here?”

The room started to quiet. More people were turning. Phones came out.

“What business do I have with someone like you?” Kian sneered. You are not even worth looking at. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?"

The crowd laughed.

I stood there stiff, my heart racing against my chest.

He looked away from me, meaning that he was already finished with me.

Then Samantha’s voice cut in behind me. “Oh my god, are you crying?” Her camera was pointed at my face. “She actually thought he liked her.”

“Pathetic,” someone else said. “Did you see what she wore?”

“Oh look she even wore a little necklace,” Savannah added with a mock pout. “How cute.”

Before I could stop her, Savannah reached out and ripped the necklace from my neck.

The chain snapped. Something inside me cracked with it.

The crowd burst into cruel laughter as the snapped chain clattered to the floor.

My fingers clawed at the space around my neck...empty. Cold.

I had never taken it off. Never in my life.

A burning, pain wracked sensation shot up my spine, like a wildfire, spreading through my bones. My knees gave in. I was gasping for air.

Tammy yelled something, but her voice was far away, muffled, as if I was underwater.

The laughter.

The lights.

The music.

It all spun together, and then dropped into silence.

The air grew heavy.

People started to back away, phones still raised. Something in the room had shifted.

“What the hell…” someone whispered.

That’s when the lights above flickered.

The glass punch bowl exploded on the table behind me.

My skin felt like it was tearing open from the inside.

I dropped to my hands and knees.

And screamed.

Lightning flashed through the skylight above us. The music cut off completely.

My vision blurred, and I felt something move beneath my skin. My bones cracked...my jaw unhinged, my fingers tore into claws.

The room was screaming now, not laughing. Running.

“She's shifting!”

“No—no way, she’s not one of us!”

“She’s not...she’s not even wolf-blooded!”

Tammy's face was filled fear and surprise.

Then a burst of red light lit up the ceiling. The moon outside twisted, changing, warping. Not silver, but crimson.

Thunder crashed.

The windows shattered.

My eyes snapped open, but they weren’t my eyes anymore.

People froze in place.

“She’s...her eyes...oh god, look at her eyes!”

“Silver and Red—what is that?!”

“She’s not normal, she’s not supposed to be...she’s...”

They screamed again as I rose to my feet or what was left of me.

Fur white and black as day and night covered my arms. My teeth were longer than any beta’s. My breath steamed in the cold that had suddenly swallowed the room.

The ground trembled under me.

Kian had stepped back, his face pale.

His lips parted in shock.

The boy who humiliated could not find a single word.

I stared at my hands at the monster I had turned into and a sob came out of my throat.

I ran.

Past the broken doors. Into the woods.

My legs moved like lightning. Branches clawed at me. The air was ice in my lungs.

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

The sound of my own breathing was foreign. The howl rising from my chest wasn’t mine.

What am I?

I ran until there were no more voices. No more lights. Just trees.

And darkness.

Kian’s Pov

I still cannot believe what I saw tonight. Nothing, in all my nineteen years on this earth, ever shocked me as this. Before my very eyes a human girl turned to a wolf.. Not just any wolf. Her fur was white and black, like night and day mixed together. But what got to me the most were her eyes. One was the color of the full moon, glowing silver, the other was golden, like that of an Alpha. I had never seen anything like it.

That shouldn't be possible. In our world, humans never become wolves. It's forbidden for any werewolf to bite a human. It's one of our oldest laws. So how did this happen?

I was still thinking about it when a loud, heavy knock hit my door. It made me jump. Before I could even stand up, the door burst open. My father walked in.

Alpha Marcus.

My nightmare.

People feared him. I fear him. All of us in our pack were aware that he was cold, merciless, and would stop at nothing in order to have what he desired. He was a leader, a killer and a warrior. And unfortunately, my father.

He’s not just feared. He is fear. The stories about him are whispered in corners and passed down in warnings. They say he ripped the heart out of a traitor with his bare hand. They say he burned an entire rogue camp to the ground... wolves, women, pups all because they looked at him the wrong way.

He is the reason other Alphas stay away from our land. He is power. He is death. Even I his son, he doesn't look with love.

I lost my mother at a very tender age, I still don't know how she truly died... some say it's my father that killed her because she disobeyed him, while others said another rouge pack killed her in a war, and some say she died of natural causes. There also strange rumors that say she is alive but hidden were no one can find her.

Growing up, my father would lock me up for days, if he felt I was being too kind to the servants, for days he would lock me up without a drop of water, he would say, "Kian, you are the son of the most feared and powerful Alpha, you can't show kindness, because kindness makes you weak." At some point I got tired of the constant punishment, so I had to do what he wanted, become heartless, become feared.

People see me, and shake when I walk pass them, I can smell their fear, sometimes I like it, but othertimes, I don't know, it can be lonely. I know over the years, I have changed, I use to tell myself that it's just an act so my father doesn't get angry with me, but somehow it has become part of me...I am now my father, but I believe I still have a heart.

My father came into the room with a firm face and his low voice frightened me, as always.

No matter how tough I had become, I was still very scared of him.

What happened today, Kian? he growled, harsh, cold, quiet. That quiet was the worst of it. It meant rage was hiding underneath.

"Nothing really, sir," I said, trying not to sound weak.

"Nothing?" he repeated, stepping closer. "The news is everywhere. A girl transformed at the party. You were there, were you not?"

"I... I was, sir," I stammered.

"So?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"She just started shifting. Right there. No bite, no warning. She just... changed."

Father went quiet. He looked at me as though he had something very serious on his mind, and was trying to remember something he had forgotten a long time before, and then he said in a very low tone,

What colour were her eyes?

"One eye was silver, like the moon. The other was red, like an Alpha’s."

He closed his eyes for a second. Then opened them slowly, stepping back, his expression turning strange. Almost fearful.

He sat down on my bed, like someone in shock, "After so many years, after looking for so long, I finally found her" he whispered. "It’s her."

I blinked, confused. "Who?"

He turned to me, "Did something happen before she changed?" He asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure sir"

"Think Kian...Think."

"Now I remember, yes. I think she changed after they pulled a necklace from her neck."

He stood up immediately, "What necklace, what did it look like?"

"I really don't know sir, I didn't get a good look at it."

He turned away from me, deep in thoughts and then he turned to me slowly, his eyes sharp. "Listen, Kian. You must make her fall in love with you. You must marry her."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "But father, I already have a mate. Amira."

He moved so fast I didn’t see it. His hand grabbed my shirt and slammed me against the wall. The breath left my lungs.

"Your mate," he growled, his face inches from mine, "is whoever I say it is. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, trying to keep fear down.

He let go of me and I thudded onto my feet, with my heart pounding.

"That girl is your mate now. You will make her love you. Marry her. Get her pregnant."

I gathered all the courage in me and said, "but I don't even like her. I don't know her"

He turned to me immediately, "It doesn't matter whether you like her or not!" he shouted. Then he said in a soft deadly voice. "All you need to do is to get her to fall in love with you. Marry her. Get her pregnant. After she bears you a child, she will be gone. Then you are free to be with anyone you wish."

I looked at him dumbfounded.

"Gone?" I asked.

He stared right straight into my eyes. His next words sent a chill down my blood.

"Yes gone, we kill her."

Everything inside me stopped, deep down, I didn't want to kill anyone, but I know better than to defile my father or act weak.

I tried to control my breathing, my father can sense a weak breathing from afar.

"Okay sir," I said softly, barely able to speak. "

"Good" he said. "Once she gives you a child, we kill her. That child will carry the blood we need. Her death will set you free to rule with no weakness."

I didn't even know when I stood up so fast my chair fell. This man is a monster, but I couldn't say a word, I just nodded. Whatever father wants, father gets. And if I refused doing it, he would disown me, strip me of my name and inheritance, and even banish me to the outcast.

"For power? For the future of this pack? , Alpha Marcus can do anything.

But one thing kept bothering me, why this particular girl, why is he bent on having this girl, I have never seen him like this...if we go by our laws, this girl is an abomination that should be banished to the outcast fraction, so why her... what exactly is she

I went silent for a little while, then I asked, "Why is she so important? What is she?"

He started pacing the room. His steps were slow and heavy.

"She’s the key. The one who can break the curse. The solution we have been looking for. If you have a child with her, that child will carry power like no other. It will make you the strongest Alpha to ever live."

He stopped and looked at me hard.

"Kian, that girl is your goldmine...our gold mine . You must let go of any distraction. I have big plans for you. But you must do this first."

I swallowed hard. My mouth felt dry. "But how are you sure it's even her?" I asked.

He paced the room, his fingers slowly rubbing his chin, then he finally spoke, "the seer had already seen it, and all the signs during her transformation were what he had pointed out."

"Listen Kian, we don't have much time, You have until you turn twenty-one. Two years. That’s all."

"But... that’s not enough time..."

He walked up to the door and turned back to stare at me.

"If I were in your shoes, I will start now." Get rid of Amira. Kick her out of your life. She is a distraction."

Then he walked out, banging the door behind him.

I sat motionless on my bed. I was trembling. A storm was raging in my mind.

I love Amira, I truly do, but I have seen first hand what my father can do if he isn't obeyed. The first girl I ever liked, father didn't like her, he told me to end it, but I refused, I wasn't going to allow my father dictate my life, but then one day, she went missing, and till date, no one has ever seen or heard from her. Deep down, I know my father had a hand in it. So since then, when he says jump...I only ask, how high.

I have to put whatever feelings I have aside, and get this done, the earlier I handle this, the faster it will come to an end. But how do I trick a girl I don't even find attractive?

I need to think fast, very fast.

Aria's pov

The morning ray flashed across my face.I groaned and rolled slightly, but the light followed, burning hot against my eyelids. The light was sharp, and invasive, like it had been waiting for me.

I felt something cold pressed against my back, causing my body to quiver at the sensation. I didn't know were I was, but it felt like I was lying on damp ground with leaves clinging to my arms, grit and stuck to my skin. My mouth felt like it was full of mud and sand... like I had bitten my tongue on a nail. I tried to swallow and ended up gagging instead.

A headache throbbed in my head, and I could feel my heart beating so fast, I winced, clutching my temples with my palms, my hands were shaking as I tried to breathe through it.

“What… what kind of nightmare did I have?” The words rasped out of me, almost soundless.

I blinked my eyes open, and for a moment, everything blurred. Green light, shadows, tall shapes swaying in the distance. My lashes fluttered until the shapes sharpened into trees...endless trees surrounding me.

My chest tightened. Where am I?

I sat up really fast, I felt a sharp pain stabbing me, behind my eyes, I groaned, and clutched my head again, it felt like the world was spinning around me. I tried to catch my breath but it was like the tighter I tried to hold it, the faster my heart beat.

My hands brushed against the coldness of my bare breast, and that was when I realized I was naked... completely naked. My legs, my arms, even my belly was covered in dirt. My skin was caked with mud, bruises forming over my hips and ribs, scratches blistering on my thighs.

I quickly put my arms over my chest, curled up like I could shrink inside myself. A strangled sound broke from my throat as I pulled my knees up, wrapping myself together, trying to cover what I could.

My hands immediately flew to my neck, and it was completely empty, at this point I realized that, it wasn't a dream... everything actually happened, and then just like that, the memories came flooding in...Savannah’s grin, her hand yanking at my chain. The snap of metal.The sudden fire crawling up my spine.My bones cracking, my skin tearing open, my scream twisting into something monstrous.The room going still. Then screaming. Everyone screaming.Kian’s face, pale, stunned.

I rocked back against the ground, shaking my head violently, my hands gripping fistfuls of my hair.

“No, no, no...” My voice cracked. “That wasn’t real. It couldn’t have been real. What exactly happened to me. When I looked at my reflection in a glass last night, I looked like a... a...”

The words tangled in my throat.

No that can't be, because in Ravenstone, humans didn’t just turn into werewolves, not unless there was a curse or a bad reason... infact for as long as I have been here, there has never been an account of a human turning to a werewolf. Werewolves are born...not made.

Then why did I remember claws? Why did my body still ache like it had been ripped apart from the inside?

I ran my hands down my arms, over my ribs, my thighs, as though I had to touch every inch of me to remind myself that I was still human. My fingers shook over the bruises, over my bare flesh.

I wanted to vomit.

“Oh God,” I whispered, curling tighter. “What’s happening to me? What am I?”

My heart swelled and sank. I drew quick and shallow breath, gasping with each breath, like my lungs wasn't functioning properly. Hot tears streamed down my face, with dirt, and smeared mud on my cheeks.

I rested my forehead against my knees and tried to rock myself on little motions. But the images wouldn’t leave. The sound of my scream turning inhuman. The way their faces had shifted, from cruel amusement to terror. The way no one had reached for me, not even Tammy.

"Am I cursed?...What the hell am I?" I screamed out in frustration.

"A werewolf," a voice from behind the tree said, startling me.

My head turned around to it, my body shaking back involuntarily. I could not make out his face, but only a hand reaching up out of the shadows, with a pair of baggy jeans, a faded polo, and slippers.

I paused for a moment, deciding if I should take it or not, but what choice did I have, so I grabbed the clothes out of his hands, pressing them against my chest, and hastily putting them on. My fingers scrambled on the buttons, my hands kept shaking and I nearly dropped the shirt twice.

After I had finished dressing up, I cleared my throat, my voice small.. “Who… who are...?”

Before I could get the words out, a person came out from behind the tree.

“Lucian?” I whispered, my voice laced with disbelief.

Lucian never talked to anybody not even his fellow outcasts. He lived far from the heart of Ravenstone, always alone. People called him Solivagus. The loner. I’d catch him standing just beyond the school fence, half-hidden by the trees, watching a few times, but I’d never thought much of it… until now.

“Why are you here?” My voice faltered as I was asking the question.

He moved slowly, bridging the distance between us, his eyes were fixed on me like he was trying to pierce through my soul. "I think what you should be saying is...thank you."

I opened my mouth and no words came out, I was trembling, my hands were clammy. “Th… thank you.”

He just stood, staring at me, then he put his hands into his pocket and pulled something out.

My necklace.

I froze for a second, "how did you find it?"

He didn't reply, he just held the chain in his fingers and swung it like it was nothing, but to me it was everything.

"Here," he said, giving me the necklace.

My heart was beating so fast as I took it from his hands, my fingertips brushed his in the quickest touch. I felt shivers run down my spine, but I just cleared my throat and said, "thank you again."

And with that, he turned and started walking away without another word.

"Wait" I screamed in desperation, "please... wait.”

He paused in his step, but he didn't turn around.'

I took a deep breath, trying to control myself "Earlier you said I am a werewolf?"

He turned and nodded his head, "Yeah, that was what I said."

"But how... how can I be a werewolf, I'm human."

His eyes roamed over me for a few seconds,without a single word , and then finally he said, "Are you?"

"Am I what?" I yelled in frustration.

"Human?" he responded with a faint smile.

I took a deep breath again, "please why won't you just answer me directly."

He bit his lower lips, "Well when you stop denying and fighting it, you will accept who you really are."

"But humans can't be werewolves, isn't that like a taboo, and abomination?"

He walked closer to me, his boots making no sound on the wet ground. He bent down till our faces were nearly at the same level, his eyes pierced into mine. "That's correct," he replied

My eyes open wide in fear, I could hear the sound of my heart beat... fast and unsteady. "That makes me an...an abomination?"

He smiled and got up, "maybe... maybe not. Go find out who you truly are...when you do, you will have all the answers you need."

He turned again to walk away.

"But I can't go back out there, what if the news have spread, they will eat me alive...why don't I just...go with you?"

He paused again, and turned back to me, "The world is a scary place, Moon and for you to survive it, you must learn to conquer your fears."

"Moon! who is moon?" I thought out loud. My name is Aria, I snapped back, more anger in my voice than I intended. "Not Moon."

He smiled...just a little curling of his lips, “isn't it?" he asked.

"No it isn't," I replied back confidently.

"Hmm," he said bitting his lips, "How sure are you?" his eyes roamed all over my body, "Go home Moon and face your fears... You never know...the world may just surprise you."

And with that he turned to leave, leaving me speechless, but then he stopped again, "Oh! Protect that necklace like your life depend on it and never take it off your neck ever again."

And then he went off into the forest and I stood there in mud, barefooted, my heart beating hot, my fingers clenched to the necklace and my head full of a lot of questions which I could not answer.