THE WOLFLESS GIRL

POV: Hailey

I turned twenty three days ago, and I still had no wolf. In Dark Wood Pack, that made me an outcast.

Most werewolves shifted during their teenage years. By twenty, they could communicate with their wolves and control their instincts and prepare for the responsibilities that came with adulthood.

I had never shifted, heard a wolf's voice, or felt anything stirring beneath my skin. I had stopped expecting it to happen, but that didn't mean I had accepted it.

I pushed the thought aside, pulled on my worn shirt, tied my hair back, and stepped outside. Work was waiting, and worrying about something I couldn't change wouldn't put food on my table.

The moment I stepped outside, laughter drifted from the training grounds. I knew that sound. Someone was about to make my life miserable again.

"Look who finally decided to come out of hiding.”

I recognized the voice before I turned. Brandon, one of the young warriors, stood near the training grounds with two friends. His eyes moved over me, and his mouth twisted into a mocking smile.

I ignored him and continued toward the storage building where I had been assigned to sort supplies. Apparently, ignoring him wasn't entertaining enough.

"Still wolfless at twenty, Hailey?" Brandon taunted. "Should we start planning your funeral or are you waiting for your wolf to arrive first?"

His friends burst into laughter.

I tightened my grip on the basket I carried and kept walking. I wanted to tell him that having a wolf didn't make him a better person, I wanted to ask why someone who spent every day training to become a warrior needed to humiliate a woman who had never harmed him, but I knew arguing would only give them more reason to mock me.

So I swallowed the hurt and continued toward the storage building. I had become good at pretending cruel words didn't matter. Unfortunately, pretending didn't stop them from hurting.

One day, I promised myself, I would leave Dark Wood. I didn't know where I would go, but surely there was somewhere people wouldn't look at me as though I were a mistake.

"Hailey!" Lyra called as she came striding towards me, her dark hair swung behind her, she had the kind of confidence that made people move aside without her asking. 

Unlike me, she never seemed afraid of what others thought, her eyes immediately narrowed when she noticed my expression, she glanced past me towards the training grounds.

"What did Brandon want this time?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," I replied, picking up the basket again.

"If you say that again, I'll start believing you enjoy being insulted," Lyra warned.

A reluctant smile touched my lips. "Perhaps I do, it gives me something interesting to think about while I am working."

Lyra snorted. "Your humor is getting worse. We might need to find you a healer."

I laughed despite myself.

She took the basket from my hands and helped me carry the supplies inside. Lyra was the only person in Dark Wood who never treated me like I was broken.

She didn't pity me or pretend my condition didn't matter, she simply treated me like a person. Sometimes, that meant more than she knew.

We spent the next hour sorting everything into its proper place. It was ordinary work, the kind nobody else wanted to do, but I didn't mind. 

Having something useful to do was better than standing around listening to people discuss what a disappointment I was.

When we finished, Lyra nodded toward the training grounds.

“Come on, let's watch the warriors make fools of themselves,” Lyra suggested with a mischievous grin.

I glanced at her. “Aren't you supposed to be helping with the patrol preparations? I asked.

“Later. Right now, I need entertainment,” she replied.

You mean you need to insult someone who can actually fight back? I teased.

“Exactly, it's called balance,” Lyra declared proudly.

I shook my head, but followed her, the training grounds were crowded, warriors sparred while others practiced shifting, their wolves moved effortlessly across the field. I watched them, wondering what it felt like to have something inside you that you could trust.

Would my wolf have been fierce or gentle? Would she have been the voice of confidence I had never found in myself? I had asked those questions for years without finding an answer.

Whenever I asked about my childhood, I received the same story. Alpha Victor had found me beneath an ancient oak in Crescent Forest when I was a small child. I had been alone, with no family nearby and no explanation for how I got there.

He had taken me into the pack and raised me under his protection, I was grateful to him, but he couldn't tell me where I came from.

I remembered nothing about my parents, not even a place I could call home. Sometimes, I wondered whether they had died searching for me or abandoned me because I was different. That last thought hurt, so I pushed it away.

"You look as though you're trying to solve the secrets of the universe," Lyra remarked, studying my face.

"I'm just watching," I replied.

"No, you're wondering what your life would be like if things were different," she countered gently.

 "It doesn't matter,” I replied.

Lyra studied me but didn't push. She understood that I hated being treated as though I might break if someone acknowledged my pain.

Soon, she was called away to help with patrol preparations. Before leaving, she pointed a warning finger at me.

"Stay away from Brandon unless you want to rearrange his ugly face," she advised.

I smiled. "I'll try to control myself."

"You'd better," she teased before hurrying away.

For a little while, the day felt less cruel. By late afternoon, I had finished my duties and started toward my room. I could have taken the direct path through the pack grounds, but my attention drifted towards Crescent Forest.

I stopped, I had seen those trees countless times, yet something about them suddenly caught my attention, a strange feeling settled inside me, deep and unfamiliar.

I couldn't explain it. I had no reason to feel connected to the forest, but looking at it stirred something I couldn't name. My heart thumped harder.

I took a step toward the trees, and the sensation grew stronger. For one brief moment, I thought I heard something stir inside me.

I froze, “Was that my wolf?” I wonder 

I pressed a hand against my chest and waited, nothing happened. The strange feeling disappeared, leaving me staring at the forest with my heart racing, I wanted to go closer, though I had no idea why.

Perhaps I was tired, perhaps Brandon's insults had affected me more than I wanted to admit. I turned away and hurried back to my room.

That night, I lay on my bed, listening to the distant sounds of pack life. Tomorrow would probably bring more insults, more work, and another reminder that I didn't belong.

Yet I couldn't stop thinking about the forest, I pressed my hand against my chest, hoping to feel that strange stirring again but nothing happened.

For years, I had believed my greatest problem was the wolf I didn't have. Now I wondered whether something else was missing, something connected to the childhood I couldn't remember.

One question followed me into the darkness “what was missing inside me?