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.