Chapter Two

“I told him to stop.”

My voice bounced off the concrete walls and died in the silence of the holding cell.

But no one believed me. Hell, I didn’t even believe myself.

Because no matter what excuses I made, the fact remained—I’d killed someone. With my bare hands.

My stomach turned at the memory. His blood on my hands, soaked into my clothes. His face frozen in that final moment.

I’d killed him. And the worst part, the part I couldn’t admit out loud, was how much I’d enjoyed it.

What’s happening to me?

I’d knelt there in that alley, frozen, until my muscles finally let me move. The second they did, I ran.

But I barely got down ten blocks before the cops stopped me.

I didn’t fight when the cops showed up and cuffed me. What was the point? Marcus had it all on video. Monster girl with glowing eyes and claws, ripping out the golden boy’s throat.

I ghad stared at my reflection in the toilet earlier and felt my heart drop at the sightb of the stranger staring back at me. Hollow eyes, face bloody.

It infuriated me so I washed my face off, and scrubbed my blood staied hand so hard until they bled but even hours later I still felt dirty.

The heat was still there too, coiled under my skin like something alive, getting stronger every hour.

I had no idea what was happening, but I needed to make it stop. Before it turned me into something worse.

The claws. I shuddered every time I thought about them.

I’d tried not to think about it because it didn’t make sense. It felt like something out of the fantasy books I used to read.

But it wasn’t fiction. It happened to me.

How was that even possible? Things like that weren’t supposed to exist.

Footsteps echoed from above and I sat up.

Theo’s parents, probably. I’d heard them earlier. His mother was screaming, sobbing, cursing my name. She’d sworn to use everything she had to make sure I rotted in prison for the rest of my life.

I couldn’t blame her. I wouldn’t.

I deserved whatever punishment they gave me.

I’d caught a glimpse of my own parents through the small window in the door earlier. Mom’s face was white as paper. Dad looked hollowed out, like someone had scooped everything important out of him.

Nineteen years they’d loved me. Sacrificed for me. And I’d repaid them by becoming a murderer.

“Why didn’t you just stop?” I whispered to the empty cell. “I begged you to stop.”

The heat spiked again and I pressed my forehead against the cool wall, trying to breathe through it, but my bones ached and my skin felt too tight.

I wanted to scream. From the heat, the pain, everything I’d done. All of it.

But I couldn’t. When it got too much and I couldn’t breathe anymore, I slid down the wall and buried my face in my hands, and as I thought about Theo,  a sob tore out of me.

-----

I don’t know how long I cried. But when I opened my eyes again, I wasn’t in the cell.

I was in a forest. Trees stretched endlessly in every direction, lit by silver moonlight.

I frowned and took a few steps forward. Where was this? How did I get here?

I was about to move when a wolf the size of a horse appeared in front of me…from nowhere.

Its fur was so white, it almost glowed.

Her eyes met mine, ancient yet gentle, the same eyes I’d seen in my reflection back in that alley.

“It’s time to go home, princess.”

The voice filled my head, smooth and powerful and impossibly feminine.

A wolf was speaking to me.

I am running mad.

“Who are you?” I stepped forward, reaching out. “What am I? And what the hell is going on?”

“You already know.” She started to fade, her form dissolving into moonlight and mist.

“Wait! Please!” My fingers closed on empty air. “I don’t understand!”

But she was gone.

-----

I jerked awake, heart pounding. 

Fuck it was just a dream but a fucking weird one at that.

What just happened?

Whta type of a dream was that?

First the trances, then the heat, the pain, then the claws that had aided in killing murder now I was speaking to a wolf in my dream..

This can’t be my life.

My eyes were blurry in tears as I dropped to my knees.

Mary always talked about how merciful God was. Perhaps if I prayed this once He would have mercy on me and deliver friom whatever demon has taken over me?

But before I could think of the right words to say…a shadow moved outside my cell..fast and silent, that i scrambled back into the corner, my heart almost jumping out of my mouth.

The figure stepped closer—a man, tall enough that he had to duck through the doorway. His shoulders filled the frame, perfectly filling out the blue suit that looked very expensive. 

He looked around the room slowly before they landed on me. His Ice blue eyes were cold as they locked onto me for a total of five seconds before he reached for the cell lock and with a twist of that large hand, the lock shattered. Broke apart like it was made of plastic.

“No.” I pressed harder against the wall. “Stay back. What are you? How did you—”

He stepped inside, moving like a predator. Smooth and controlled, like violence in an expensive suit. 

“We need to leave.” His voice was deep and calm, “The compulsion on the officers won’t last much longer.”

“Compulsion?” I stared at him. “Are you here to kill me? I swerar i didn’t mean to kill him.”  

“My name is Thorne.” He crouched down, bringing those strange eyes level with mine. “I’m not here to kill you, Elara. I’m here to keep you safe. But I cannot guarantee that safety if you don’t shut up and follow me now.”

“How do you know my name? How do you—”

But before I could complete my question, the heat exploded inside me with a force so strong it would habe brought meeto mu knees if i wasn;t already on the ground.

I screamed as every nerve in my body caught fire at once. My spine arched and my bones ground together like they wanted to break. I clawed at my jacket, my shirt, trying to get away from skin that felt like it was burning me alive, trying to escape the pain.

“It’s too hot! Please—make it stop—”

“Damn it.” Thorne’s arms went around me, lifting me like I weighed nothing. “Hold on.”

Everything blurred as he moved with me in his arms. Hallways stretched and bent. Officers stood frozen with blank stares, not moving, not seeing. Then cold air hit my face and Thorne was running. Not running—flying. Moving faster than anything human could move.

I screamed from the pain, from fear, from how wrong everything was. My bones felt like they were breaking and healing with each impossible step.

“Just hold on. Please hold on” His voice rumbled in his chest against my cheek. 

His tone was so reassuring that it cut through the panic but the pain and the burning dudnt stop. In fact it felt like it was getting worse each second and my throat was aching from screaming.

The full moon hung overhead, huge and bright, so close I felt like I could touch it. Like it was pulling something out of me.

We were in what seemed like a forest…a bush perhaps that was nearby, but somehow looked so far away from civilization.

“Please.” I pushed weakly at his chest. “Put me down. Something’s wrong.”

Thorne set me down carefully and stepped back, staying close. His eyes caught the moonlight and reflected it back with an amber glow that definitely wasn’t human.

My legs gave out the moment he released me and I hit the grass, gasping.

“Nothing’s wrong, Elara.” He crouched again, watching me with an intensity that should have terrified me. Instead, it felt like something to hold onto. “What’s happening to you is normal. You’re turning for the first time.”

“Turning?” The word came out between gasps. “Turning into what?”

The heat peaked and another scream built in my throat.

Thorne’s expression softened. “You’re a werewolf.”