LOGINThe first pale light of dawn seeps through the slats of my office blinds, painting thin lines across the carpet. I stand at the window, pulling back the edge of the blinds to watch the city wake beneath me. The streets are quiet, peaceful—unaware of the betrayal I've uncovered through the night. My
The evidence glows on my screen like a digital confession, but it's not enough. I need more—something concrete, something undeniable. My fingers move across the keyboard with deliberate precision, each keystroke a small act of vengeance. The wolf in me wants blood, wants to tear through the building
The light from my computer screen casts blue shadows across my office, the only illumination besides the small desk lamp I've angled away from the door. My body aches with the recent memory of transformation, muscles still remembering a different shape, but my mind is sharp, honed by suspicion and t
By the time I reach the final button, my breathing has steadied. My reflection in the cracked mirror shows a woman reassembling herself piece by careful piece. The scratches at my collarbone will be hidden by the high neckline. The shadows under my eyes can be concealed with makeup. The wildness in
The crisp trousers slide over my legs, covering the scratches and bruises that map last night's journey. The fabric whispers against my skin, a language of civilization, of humanness, of control. I smooth nonexistent wrinkles from the material, a ritual of normalcy that grounds me in this form, in t
Lucas in the park that night weeks ago, his silhouette backlit by streetlamps as I completed my transformation in the shadows, thinking myself unseen. His strange calm when he approached, as if finding a colleague hunched and feral among the trees was nothing extraordinary. Lila noticing my monthly
Phones ring in shrill succession, staccato bursts of noise that cut through the otherwise seamless calm of my office. I sit surrounded by polished surfaces and sharp lines, reviewing case files with meticulous attention. Outside, the firm hums with purpose—associates conferring in hushed tones, the
Shadows smother the day, snuff its last embers, wrap around my office and choke out the light. I let them, let them hide me, shroud me, keep me safe until I'm ready to emerge. My own breath is loud in the silence, the careful breaths of a swimmer beneath ice, rising just enough for air, just enough
The guard’s flashlight bounces ahead of him, a sluggish searchlight, illuminating desks and doors and things best left unseen. I hold my breath as he nears my office, a soundless eddy in the stream of his passing, then wait until his echo fades to switch on the lamp. Its small, sickly light does not
My finger hovers, poised above the lamp's switch, ready to cut off its jaundiced circle of light. It traces the etched line of my cuticle, clean but for one frayed edge that catches my nail, the barely noticeable mar of a perfect day, a perfect life. I let my hand drop, retreat from that weakness. T







