Ashley blinked in disbelief, then let out a soft, almost mocking scoff. “So… what you’re actually saying is that werewolves are real?” she asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.Thomas nodded solemnly, his expression serious and unwavering.“Yes. They’re very real. And they’re not just some story in a book or movie. They’re here—in this town. Every time you hear on the news that someone was attacked by a mountain lion… it’s a lie. A cover-up. It wasn’t a lion. It was them. Werewolves.”Ashley’s eyes widened as she stared at him, stunned. The words swirled in her head, too many truths hitting her at once like a wave. “Wait… so you’re telling me we’ve been living among werewolves? All this time?” she asked, her voice climbing. “How do you even know this? How could you possibly know?”“Because,” Thomas said, pausing before revealing the weight of his identity. “I’m a werewolf hunter. I always have been. Long before you were born.”Ashley took a small step back, processing. “You’re a…
Noah stepped quietly to Enoch’s side at the riverbank, his eyes scanning the ripples dancing on the water. "Hey... what’s going on with you lately?" he asked gently, his voice low and concerned. "You’ve been distant. Like... really off. Is something wrong?"Enoch didn’t look at him. His gaze stayed on the river. "I’m fine, Noah," he said curtly.Noah sighed, not buying it for a second. "Come on, Enoch. Don’t do that. Don’t brush me off with ‘I’m fine’ and expect me to pretend like everything’s normal. This isn’t you. I know you. You can talk to me, alright?"There was a heavy silence between them. Enoch finally let out a long, weary breath. "Why do you always let Collins get his way?" he asked suddenly, his tone sharp and unexpected.Noah blinked, caught off guard. "What? What are you talking about?"Enoch turned to face him now, eyes clouded with frustration. "I’m talking about the fact that you’re still letting him go to that school, stirring up trouble over one random girl. H
Nightfall. Dinner was quiet, save for the gentle clinking of cutlery against porcelain. But then Fighter broke the silence, his voice low but firm.“I need to go back to the spot where Reina was killed. Yeah, I know it’s risky this late at night, but I won’t be there long,” he said, setting his fork down. “I just… I need to know if I’m the one who did it or not. I can’t move on without finding out the truth myself.”Raymond looked up, brows furrowed in concern. “You really don’t remember anything, do you?”Fighter shook his head slowly, frustration clear in his eyes. “I’ve tried—so many times—but my mind’s just blank. I’m hoping that if I get there, maybe if I smell something familiar or touch something… maybe it’ll trigger something.”Derek glanced at Raymond, silently urging him to consider it.“I think we should let him go,” Derek said, his tone level. “He needs to clear his conscience. The next full moon is still a while away, and the woods won’t be crawling with hunters or polic
“Hey…” Derek said softly as he stepped into the room, a gentle smile stretched across his lips. His gaze landed on Ashley, who lay on the hospital bed with her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling in silence.Her head turned slowly. “Derek,” she whispered in a shaky voice, her throat dry with emotion as she made a feeble attempt to sit up.“Hey, hey… no need to sit up,” Derek rushed to her side, voice low and calming. He placed a hand gently on her arm. She sighed in resignation, giving a small nod before easing herself back down onto the bed.“Hi, Ashley,” Fighter greeted from a few steps away, his voice hesitant, unsure.Ashley turned her head to him, forcing a faint smile through the obvious pain on her face. “Fighter,” she responded quietly, the effort clear in her voice.Derek knelt beside the bed, his brows furrowed in concern. “How are you feeling?” he asked, even though the answer was written all over her face. It crushed him to see her like this—broken, hollow—but he knew w
“We need to uncover who’s responsible for this attack,” Noah, the Alpha of Collins’ pack, growled, pacing in front of the others. His expression was grim. “What kind of careless werewolf leaves a trail behind after a kill? No attempt to clean up the body? No effort to hide the evidence? That’s reckless.”“This is dangerous,” another pack member added. “We’ve lived in the shadows for years, hidden from the humans. Now one careless act could bring everything crashing down. Whoever did this could expose us all.”Noah turned sharply to Collins, eyes narrowed. “I’m assigning you to investigate this. Find out who did it, and report back to me.”Collins blinked in disbelief, stepping forward. “Me? Why me? Why does it always have to be me?”“Because you’ve been... distracted lately,” Noah snapped. “You’re keeping things from me. I feel it. You’ve gone rogue on a few runs. And now you’re playing college boy? You think I don’t notice when my own pack member starts acting shady? I want answers.
“Fighter.”The moment her tearful voice cracked through the phone, he didn’t waste a second. Fighter darted up the stairs, panic already tightening his chest.“Maggie?” he called, voice urgent. He found her near the doorway, sobbing uncontrollably. Her entire body trembled.“What happened? Why are you crying?” he asked, rushing over. Derek appeared behind him, frowning with concern.Maggie barely managed to speak between sobs. “Ashley’s... Ashley’s mom is dead.” Her voice broke completely as she collapsed into Fighter’s arms, clutching him like she’d fall apart otherwise.Fighter froze. “What?” His heart sank. Derek stepped closer, alarmed.“Where’s Ashley?” Derek asked, the panic in his tone rising.“She fainted when she heard. Her dad’s taken her to the hospital.” Maggie clung tighter to Fighter’s hoodie, her sobs not easing.Fighter's jaw clenched. “What happened to her mom?”“She went camping... Mr. Fair said something attacked her. Some kind of animal. In the woods.” Maggie wiped