A wolf’s whisper

Marilyn’s pov

The morning light slipped through the curtains, painting stripes across the room like bars. I lay there for a while, listening to the sounds of life outside the window, voices, paws on gravel, laughter echoing faintly through the packhouse halls. Everything seemed normal, but it didn’t feel normal.

It felt like everyone was holding their breath.

When I finally came downstairs, the conversation in the dining room stopped for half a second before continuing again, too quickly. I pretended not to notice, but the weight of their eyes followed me as I passed. The wolves here moved with a quiet kind of confidence I couldn’t imitate. Every gesture, every glance meant something, and I didn’t know the meanings anymore.

Caroline waved me over, trying to mask the tightness in her smile. “You okay?”

I poured coffee and tried to sound casual. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

She hesitated. “Just… don’t let anyone bother you. People talk. You know how it is.”

That didn’t help. “What are they saying?”

“Nothing important.” She avoided my gaze, which meant it was absolutely something important.

I didn’t press her. Instead, I took my mug and stepped outside. The air was cool, rich with the scent of pine and damp earth. It tugged at something inside me, something deep and almost familiar. My heart kicked harder as I walked farther from the house, drawn toward the trees.

I used to love this forest. As a kid, I’d sneak away from my lessons just to chase butterflies or climb rocks, my parents’ laughter following behind. Now, the silence of it made me ache.

A sudden breeze swept through, carrying the faintest trace of something musk, rain, and heat. My stomach tightened before I realized why. Liam.

I turned, and there he was at the edge of the path, his posture straight and expressionless His dark hair caught in the sunlight, his sharp jaw set as if he’d been carved by the angels.

“Out here alone?” he asked. His voice was even, but it carried the kind of authority that made my pulse quicken.

“I needed air,” I said.

He nodded once. “The pack’s been unsettled since your arrival.”

I shrugged “I didn’t ask to be here.”

“I know.” His gaze softened, almost like he was trying to be kind. “But you are. And the forest remembers you, even if you’ve forgotten it.”

Something in his tone made my skin prickle. Before I could reply, he turned and walked away, leaving only his scent behind which was warm and wild, impossible to ignore.

Back inside, I found Caroline again, helping set up breakfast for the elders. “You might want to keep your head down,” she whispered. “They’re in one of their moods today.”

“I’ve faced worse moods,” I said, trying for confidence I didn’t feel.

But I wasn’t prepared for what came next.

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

The elders entered like a storm of old power and judgment, settling at the long table as if they owned the air around them. They spoke to Liam first, nodding gravely, then their attention slid to me.

“So,” one of them said . a tall man with graying hair and a voice like a frog “The city girl returns.”

His companion chuckled. “Does she remember which end of the forest she shouldn’t go to?”

A few soft laughs rippled through the room. My cheeks burned. I looked to Caroline, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I remember enough,” I said quietly.

The third elder leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “Enough to shift?”

The laughter stilled. My throat went dry.

When I didn’t answer fast enough, he sneered. “Ah, so not yet. A wolf in name only, then. Tell me, child, did the city make you forget what you are or are you simply too human now to remember?”

The words hit like a slap, sharp and humiliating. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“I….i am a wolf by nature.” I stuttered.

“Then shift my dear, you shouldn’t just be a wolf by name. You should have a soul mate within you, one that can guide you and share your instincts.” He continued.

I swallowed hard.

My heart was beating fast as if I was in a courtroom and I was being sentenced to life imprisonment.

“She doesn’t even smell like a wolf.” Another scoffed.

And then a voice I didn’t expect cut through the silence.

Liam’s voice sliced through the tension.

“That’s enough.”

It wasn’t loud, but the tone carried the kind of authority that froze the entire room. The elder who had mocked me blinked, his smirk fading.

“She doesn’t smell like a wolf .” he muttered.

“And I heard it,” Liam said. He stood at the end of the table, tall and calm, though the muscle in his jaw ticked. “You will remember that she’s under my protection while she’s here.”

Something in his words made my heart stumble. Under his protection. I should have felt grateful, but the humiliation in my chest drowned everything else.

The elder leaned back, grumbling, “Forgive me, Alpha, but we’ve always held our young to the same standard. It’s strange to see one of our own return without her wolf or doesn’t have any.”

The words twisted in my stomach, but Liam’s eyes locked on the man with a quiet, dangerous stare .” You’re right. It is strange. Which means you’ll show her patience until she finds her way again.”

The man’s mouth snapped shut.

Liam didn’t look at me, not once, but the message in his voice was clear enough. he would tolerate no more insults. Still, when the elders finally turned back to their food, I couldn’t sit still. My hands trembled under the table, my throat tight with something between shame and anger.

Caroline reached out to touch my arm. “Marilyn, it’s fine. He shut them down. Please don’t feel bad,”

“No,” I said, standing so fast my chair scraped. “It’s not fine.”

The room went quiet again. I didn’t wait for anyone to stop me. I pushed out the door and into the cool air, my heart racing as I stumbled toward the trees.

The further I went, the lighter I felt like the weight of their stares couldn’t follow me past the forest edge. My boots sank into soft earth, leaves whispering above me. The wind caught my hair, carrying the scent of pine, soil, rain.

I slowed near the riverbank, the same one I’d visited as a child. The sunlight shimmered on the surface, and I caught my reflection eyes wide, uncertain, angry. “They think I’m weak,” I whispered. “They think I’m not one of them.”

The forest didn’t answer. But the silence felt alive.

I closed my eyes. That same strange pressure stirred in my chest again, the same one I’d felt around Liam. My heart raced. The sounds of the forest grew sharper.The hum of insects, the rush of water, I had never felt full of life and power before.

And then, faintly, a voice.

Finally, it said.

I spun around, heart hammering. “Who’s there?”

Nothing. Only the rustle of the trees.

But the voice hadn’t come from around me. It had come from within.

I pressed a hand to my chest, breathing hard “No. No, this isn’t—”

Yes, the voice murmured again, softer this time, like a thought brushing against mine. “You hear me now.”

My knees weakened. I fell to the ground, staring at the forest floor as a rush of warmth flooded my veins. It wasn’t pain, it was something older, deeper. Recognition.

Images flashed behind my eyes: the moon, silver and full . a running shadow beside me with fur, wind, the wild beat of freedom.

I gasped, shaking my head. “What are you?”

You know, the voice said. You’ve always known. You just stopped listening.

I swallowed hard, tears blurring my vision. The bones in my body began to crack, and I could faintly see my fingers grow claws. the scent of pine sharp and real. Every part of me felt awake and alive in a way I never had before.

- [ ] For a long moment, I stayed there, trembling, letting the sound of my breathing blend with the rhythm of the earth. There were sprinkles fur on my hands.

When I finally stood, the whisper lingered like an echo.

“You are a wolf Marilyn “

I looked toward the packhouse in the distance, anger and confusion twisting together. I didn’t understand what was happening, not fully, but I knew instantly something inside me had shifted. I didn’t want to go back now, atleast not with claws on my fingers.

The elders’ laughter still rang in my ears, but now it fueled me instead of breaking me. I wasn’t a city girl anymore, not just human. Something ancient was stirring, something that had waited far too long to be heard.

I wiped my eyes and looked back at the forest one last time.

The wind brushed against my cheek, warm and steady. And then I fell to the ground, crying out in pain as fangs forced their way through my gums.

“You are a wolf Marilyn, don’t let them tell you otherwise.”

Just as I was regaining consciousness, I heard a faint footstep approach.