LOGIN“What?” My voice came out soft, uncertain. I looked at Fitch, trying to tell whether I’d misheard him.
“Bernice met her mate six months ago in the hospital—a human boy who was fighting cancer,” he said quietly. “Terminal. There was no chance of survival… medically.” He paused, his voice dropping lower. “At the time, I had already rejected you. And she had just lost her mate. So I… chose her as my moonshadow.”
I nodded weakly. A genuine wave of sorrow welled up inside me—for her.
“Did you and she… ever actually get together?”
The moment the question left my mouth, I already knew the answer.He lowered his gaze and nodded. Of course. Why had I even asked?
I let out a sigh,
“Why do you always bring me into the woods?” I laughed as I looked at Fitch.We were walking deeper into the forest, farther and farther from where he’d parked the car. My hand was still firmly clasped in his—and I wasn’t in any hurry to let go. Neither, apparently, was he. A faint sting lingered along my arm, yet the contact brought with it a strange, almost intoxicating satisfaction.“Trust me,” Fitch chuckled, a glint flashing in his eyes. “You wouldn’t want to see me turn into a silver wolf in broad daylight.”I mentally tapped myself on the head. Of course. Humans weren’t supposed to know that werewolves existed. The realization felt oddly surreal—just a week ago, I’d been one of those completely ignorant humans myself.“
He stared at me, delight rippling through his eyes simply because I was standing so close to him.“After I rejected you, my wolf refused to speak to me for weeks. It knew everything—and still wanted to go to you. I did everything I could to avoid you, but that bond kept working against me. All I wanted was to look at you every day. I even convinced my friends to go with me to the bakery where you worked.”When Fitch said that, a smile finally curved his lips, and I couldn’t help smiling too.“That’s when I realized I had to act. If I truly wanted to sever the mate bond completely, there was only one way—by marking someone else. All I needed was an unattached, compatible she-wolf. I would mark her and make her my future Luna. That’s why Bernice appeared. Her mate was dying, and she was about to lose
When we left the classroom, the air still carried the faint trace of something tightly wound finally being eased. We didn’t mention Bernice again, but the silence between us had gained a shared, unspoken weight. The bell had rung long ago; the hallway was completely empty.“Are we… going to the rest of our classes?” Fitch leaned against the wall and turned his head to look at me. His voice was quiet, tentative, threaded with a subtle urge to escape this place.I looked at him. The fluorescent lights from the classroom cast small shadows against his lashes. All my worries about rules and attendance suddenly felt very far away.“Why not?” I heard myself say.The corner of his mouth lifted—not in triumph, but like someone finally letting out a breath. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of
“What?” My voice came out soft, uncertain. I looked at Fitch, trying to tell whether I’d misheard him.“Bernice met her mate six months ago in the hospital—a human boy who was fighting cancer,” he said quietly. “Terminal. There was no chance of survival… medically.” He paused, his voice dropping lower. “At the time, I had already rejected you. And she had just lost her mate. So I… chose her as my moonshadow.”I nodded weakly. A genuine wave of sorrow welled up inside me—for her.“Did you and she… ever actually get together?”The moment the question left my mouth, I already knew the answer.He lowered his gaze and nodded. Of course. Why had I even asked?I let out a sigh,
“Friends hug each other, don’t they?”Before Fitch even finished the sentence, an embrace swallowed me whole, stealing the air from my lungs.Gasping, I clutched at his back. The tension in his arms eased a little at my response. When he finally let go, he flashed me a sly smile. He knew I understood exactly what game he was playing.Only two days had passed since that “we’re just friends” conversation. I should have known he’d have a follow-up move—what man who genuinely wanted to pursue something serious would ever be content with stopping at just friends?When he arrived at my house, he didn’t ring the doorbell. He only sent a text. That was my request. I had no desire to explain to my parents why the man I’d been avoiding like the plague just months ago was now picking me up for school in a perfectly intact car.I slid into the passenger seat. The moment I fastened my seat belt, Fitch handed me an enormous box of chocolates, his grin bright enough to light up a cloudy day. I sighe
Everything had been arranged. Fitch would arrive at exactly nine—Cody was at school, our parents at the office. The living room would become an island, which was precisely what we needed: a conversation with no audience.I knew the word werewolf would keep surfacing in the air, like a verdict still under deliberation. My parents should never hear any of this—just as I shouldn’t be sitting here, waiting for an answer.According to the plan, we were supposed to keep our distance. He on the sofa, me in the armchair, the coffee table stretched between us like a hastily drawn boundary. It was necessary—whenever Fitch came too close, something inside me began to slip out of control. Now I understood why. And I wished I didn’t.The doorbell rang right on time. I counted to three before standing, as if delaying a few seconds might change something.The moment I opened the door, I froze.Fitch stood in the morning light like a crumpled sheet of paper. Dark shadows pooled beneath his eyes, brui







