Little By Little Our Story Begins

I didn’t sleep.

How could I?

A werewolf. He said he was a werewolf. Like, straight up just dropped that word like it was normal. Like it was part of the weather report or something.

And me?

I didn’t scream or run or slap him across the face like any sane person would do. I just sat there. Like an idiot. Letting it settle. Letting it sink in.

Because deep down... it felt right.

As crazy as it sounded, something inside me already knew. The dreams. The visions. The pull. Everything fit into place too perfectly. I didn’t want to believe it, but it didn’t feel fake.

And that was the scariest part of all.

By morning, my head felt like it’d been in a blender.

I stood in the mirror and stared at myself. Pale face. Red-rimmed eyes. Hoodie still on from last night. I looked like someone who lost a fight with the universe.

I brushed my hair and tried to shake it off. Pretend like it was just a dream again. A really, really weird dream. But the moment I looked down at my hand—the hand that touched him on the ice—I felt it again.

That buzz. That energy. That damn connection.

I was losing my mind.

The door creaked behind me.

Glendale.

Her eyes landed on me, and something in them flickered. Guilt? Fear? I didn’t know anymore.

“You okay?” she asked softly, tugging off her boots.

“Yeah,” I said quickly, too quickly. “You got back late.”

“Work was a mess,” she muttered, walking past me to her room. I stared after her, my jaw tightening. I wanted to ask. I wanted to confront her about the night at the bar, about the hickey, about the way those loan sharks laughed in our face.

But I couldn’t.

Not yet.

I had enough chaos rolling around my head. One fight at a time.

At school, I didn’t see Dominic. Not in class. Not in the halls. Not even during lunch when every girl was gossiping about how amazing he was during the match.

“He’s like, not human,” someone giggled at the table behind me.

My fork froze mid-air.

“No seriously,” another girl laughed. “He got tackled and just... stood up. Like a robot or something.”

I dropped my fork.

Sarah leaned closer. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just not hungry.”

“Did you hear? He didn’t show up today. Like, at all. Maybe he got injured worse than they thought.”

Or maybe he was hiding.

From me.

From what he told me.

I walked out of the cafeteria and pulled out my phone. No messages. No texts. Not that I expected one.

I walked toward the field. I didn’t know why. Maybe I just needed air. Maybe I hoped he’d be there. Sitting on the bleachers or pretending to train like nothing happened.

But the field was empty.

Except... no, wait.

A shadow.

Someone was there.

It was him.

Dominic.

Sitting on the edge of the bleachers, hunched over, staring at nothing.

I froze. Just for a second.

Then I walked over, slow and unsure, my heart pounding louder with every step.

He didn’t look up until I was a foot away.

His eyes were darker today. Not just tired. Not just dead. They looked... pained.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” he said quietly.

“I didn’t think you’d show up at all.”

He looked away. “I shouldn’t have.”

“Then why did you?”

He shrugged, his fingers clenched tight around a water bottle. “Maybe I wanted you to hate me. Would make things easier.”

“Why would I hate you?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“You saw what I am. What I did. In your visions. You think I don’t know what that means to you?”

“I don’t even know what it means to me,” I snapped. “I’m still trying to process the fact that I’ve apparently died before. Multiple times. Because of you. Because of some messed-up past life drama that I didn’t ask for.”

Silence.

I sat beside him, leaving some space between us.

“You could’ve lied to me,” I whispered.

“I thought about it.”

“So why didn’t you?”

He looked at me finally, eyes burning. “Because I’ve lied for years. I’m tired of hiding. Tired of pretending to be something I’m not.”

I swallowed hard. “What if I said I can’t handle it?”

His jaw tightened. “Then I’d leave.”

That hurt more than I expected.

But it was honest. And that was something.

“I don’t hate you,” I said softly. “I don’t trust you completely either. But... I don’t hate you.”

He looked down at his hands. “I never wanted you to get involved. Not this time.”

“This time,” I echoed, the words cold on my tongue.

“I don’t remember all of it,” he confessed. “But I know you always die. And it’s always my fault. One way or another.”

“You said you don’t age. That you’ve been alive for centuries.”

“Yeah.”

“So what keeps you going?” I asked before I could stop myself. “Why keep living if all it brings is pain?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Then, “I thought maybe one day, I’d get it right.”

I stared at him.

“I thought maybe, if I found you again, I’d fix it. Save you. Or at least stop myself from hurting you again.”

I felt my throat tighten. That look in his eyes—it wasn’t just guilt. It was grief. Centuries of grief.

“I’m scared,” I whispered.

“So am I.”

We sat there in silence. The wind picked up, and I shivered without meaning to. Dominic noticed. Without a word, he took off his hoodie and draped it over my shoulders.

It smelled like him. Soap and pine and something warmer.

“I should go,” I said, standing up.

He nodded.

But before I could leave, I turned to face him again.

“Were there others?” I asked.

“Others?”

“In your life. Other girls. Other...me’s.”

He hesitated. “There were...versions of you. Faces that reminded me. But never you. Not really.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

So I left.

But his hoodie stayed on my shoulders.

When I got home, the house was dark. Glendale wasn’t back yet. Or maybe she didn’t plan to come back tonight. I didn’t know anymore.

I curled up on the couch, hoodie still wrapped around me, and stared at the ceiling again.

My phone buzzed.

A text from an unknown number.

I saw you with him. You need to be careful. He’s dangerous.

My stomach dropped.

Who is this? I typed back.

No response.

I stared at the screen, heart racing, the message burning through my chest.

Another buzz.

You’ll see soon enough.

And just like that, the screen went black.