Chapter 1 : The Girl With the Golden Eyes

The dream came again.

She was running barefoot through a forest soaked in moonlight, the trees blurring past her like ghosts. The wind howled through the branches, sharp with the scent of pine and blood. Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, but she didn’t slow down. She couldn’t.

Something was chasing her.

But it wasn’t fear that kept her moving. It was fury.

In the distance, a silver wolf stood alone beneath the blood moon, watching her. Silent. Still. The moment she saw it, something inside her howled.

“Ariya...”

The voice was soft but clear spoken like a memory.

Aria jolted upright in bed, her sheets tangled around her legs, her skin slick with sweat. Her pulse thundered in her ears as she reached for the lamp beside her bed, the light flickering on and throwing long shadows across the room.

It was just a dream.

But it felt too real. Every time.

She sat on the edge of her bed, gripping the edge of the mattress, trying to catch her breath. Her fingers shook as she pushed her damp hair off her forehead.

She glanced toward the mirror hanging across from her bed.

And froze.

Her eyes… they weren’t brown. Not entirely. Just for a second, they shimmered gold, glowing faintly like coals in the dark

She blinked, and the glow vanished.

“Get a grip,” she whispered to herself. “You’re fine. It’s just a dream.”

But deep down, she didn’t believe that anymore.

Downstairs, the scent of pancakes drifted through the air. Aria pulled on a hoodie and joined her best friend Tasha in the kitchen. The two had been inseparable since middle school, and Tasha had a habit of showing up uninvited but always with food.

“You look like death,” Tasha said cheerfully, flipping a pancake. “Another nightmare?”

Aria rubbed her eyes and sat down at the table. “Yeah. The same one. I’m running through the woods, and there’s this… voice calling me. It keeps saying the name Ariya.

Tasha raised a brow. “That’s... not creepy at all.”

“I know, right?” Aria gave a weak smile. “I’ve never even heard that name before.”

“Well, maybe your brain’s just bored,” Tasha said. “All those fantasy books are leaking into your dreams.”

“Maybe,” Aria murmured, but her thoughts were far away.

Her phone buzzed on the table.

DUSKWIND HIGH ALERT

A large wolf was spotted near campus this morning. Students are to remain indoors during breaks. Animal control has been notified.

Tasha stared at the screen. “A wolf? Here? What, did it take a wrong turn from the mountains?”

Aria’s heart skipped. A wolf.

Just like in her dream.

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t.

The school halls were louder than usual.

Everyone was talking about the wolf.

“I heard it was the size of a horse.”

“No way, I saw a pic, its eyes were glowing.”

“Maybe it’s escaped from a zoo or something?”

Aria kept her head down, trying to drown out the voices. But as she walked towards her locker, the air shifted. Her skin prickled. Her heartbeat slowed.

Something, someone was watching her.

She looked up.

Outside the window, across the courtyard, stood a wolf.

Not a photo. Not a shadow. A real wolf. Grey-furred. Massive. Silent.

Its silver eyes locked onto hers calm, intense, almost... human.

A chill ran down her spine. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew those eyes.

Had she seen them before? In a crowd? In school?

Then, in an instant, it was gone.

“Aria?” Tasha’s voice snapped her out of it. “What are you staring at?”

Aria turned, dazed. “You didn’t see that?”

“See what?"

“There was a wolf,” Aria whispered. “Right there. It was watching me.”

Tasha gave her a look. “I think you need sleep. Like, real sleep.

But Aria barely heard her.

That wolf it had known her. She felt it in her bones.

And in the center of her palm, something began to ache. She pulled back her sleeve and stared at the birthmark she’d always had a faint crescent moon.

For the first time in her life, it didn’t feel random.

It felt like a warning.