Chapter One

Clarissa

The flames were burning high, their fiery embers licking the sky. It shone bright and burned fiercely yet all I felt while standing in front of it was…anger.

Anger at the being who had brought death and destruction upon me, upon those I loved. My eyes watered due to the heat that should have melted my skin and bones but I was merely looking around, trying to locate him.

The smoke that rose high in the sky made me fear for my loved ones. I couldn’t find them yet I had a sinking feeling that they were somewhere near yet beyond my reach.

I feared the fire would devour everything that mattered to me…and snatch away everyone from me.

That feeling made my heart skip a beat.

Panic encroached upon me and I began shouting hoarsely for my family.

“Mom…dad…Talia”

But I heard no response.

Surrounded by a sea of flames, I roamed around for a while before I found him…or what was a shadow of him.

“What do you want?” I screamed amidst the roaring flames that were engulfing everything in its wake.

If he heard me the first time, he gave me no indication of it. Except for the slight tensing of his shoulders. The silence was so long that I felt he would never ever reply as seconds morphed into minutes.

Then came his curt answer,

“You know what I want, you’ve known it all along, haven’t you?”

I was not surprised to realize that I knew the answer like the back of my hand. But I was surprised to discover that I didn’t mind it.

*****

I felt the heat on my skin and got up with a start. The window to my room was open and I felt the cool air splash into my face, a striking contrast to what I had been experiencing a moment ago.

A thin coat of sweat glistened on my forehead as I wiped it off with the back of my hand. Beside me, on the other bed, my twin was fast asleep, snoring lightly. I felt jealous of her ability to sleep so peacefully when I suffered from nightmares.

I had been seeing the same dream over and over for as long as I could remember. I had no idea when they had started or how, but I kept seeing it nonetheless.

I should have gotten used to it but somehow every time he asked that question, it unnerved me for some reason.

Reaching for the pitcher and the glass kept on the nightstand beside my table, I poured myself a glass of water and tried to steady my raging breath.

I then tiptoed my way around the room and walked towards the window to let the cool air splash into my face again.

Dawn was almost upon us and I could see the first rays of sun peeking through the horizon. Mom would soon be calling us downstairs for the lessons.

The thought made me groan in frustration. 

While I was deep in my thoughts, trying to make sense of my weird nightmares, Talia angrily shut the alarm that buzzed beside her nightstand by swatting it like a fly.

“Morning princess” I greeted her as she rubbed her fingers over her drowsy eyes.

She saw me standing near the window and asked, “Prince charming is haunting you again?”

Talia was the only one I confided in about my nightmares. For some reason, I never worked up the nerve to share it with my parents or others.

I huffed dramatically and replied, “how many times have I told you that he is not a ‘prince charming’?” creating air quotes around the last two words with my hands in the air.

Talia let out a yawn and stretched herself like a cat before answering, “What makes you sure he is not?”

“For starters, I haven’t seen his face. His back is always turned to me. Second, are you forgetting the sky high flames and the way I see him playing with them? Do you think I have some weird fetish for a fire controlling freak?”

“And why would you not confide in our parents? Mom is gifted, maybe she could unravel the mystery”

I shook my head at that. “You swore you won't tell anyone.”

Talia tied her hair in a ponytail and was about to get into a debate about why she felt it was a great idea to tell mom that I was having nightmares when mom’s voice reached us from below, “Girls, hurry up”

The stern voice of our mom reached us and we scampered to get ready. I was thankful that Talia didn’t pursue the topic again. 

Sharing a bathroom had its downsides as well as perks. We had seen each other naked practically every day since growing up so we had no qualms shedding our clothes and rushing into the bathroom for a quick shower while simultaneously brushing our teeth.

While brushing, Talia asked me as she stared into my reflection in the mirror. 

“You are joining us today, right?”

I was lathering up soap in my hands and I simply gave her an imperceptible nod. “Don’t chicken out at the last minute like always, you scared monkey.”

I made no comment on why their plans for the evening were more than dangerous. If mother got to know, we would both be grounded.

“Just because Mr. abs asked you to join, don’t get all too excited.”

Talia spat a mouthful of toothpaste foam in the washing basin and winked, “At least you agree he is Mr. abs.”

I shook my head at that. Talia had a huge crush on Kyler, the next in line for alpha from the Greatwood pack down south. And, every girl would drool whenever he threw a glance at her. He was the usual alpha in line with washboard abs, dark eyes, and a smile that would make the girls throw themselves at him.

Well, except me. 

I could not stand the thought of being a typical luna and giving birth to a runt of baby wolves. I had different plans in my head, ones that all the werewolves would condone.

I got out of the shower and quickly dressed in my training outfit while Talia did the same after taking a quick shower.

In under fifteen minutes, we were dressed and climbed downstairs in front of our mother who was seated at her usual spot in the study.

Mom was reading a book when we entered the room and took our seats opposite her.

“Good morning, Mom” we both chimed in a chorus and she gave a slight nod.

We seated ourselves on the two chairs and flipped open our notebooks. On the whiteboard in front of us, was a swirling set of runes that overlapped each other to form a huge circle. 

“Time?” Talia asked while I stared at the drawing trying to understand the swirls and strokes. I was nibbling at the end of my already chewed-up pencil nervously. 

“Half an hour”

“What?” I blurted out and was subjected to my mom’s stern gaze which quieted me down.

However, mom only got up went towards the whiteboard and erased the elaborate drawing with two clean swipes of the duster.

And as we watched in shock, she drew all of it in 2 minutes flat. She had made her point and I only looked at my twin sister feeling appalled before getting back to work.

She was hands down an expert in drawing these runes. Aunt Raine said she was gifted by the Goddess herself. No wonder, she could draw it in a heartbeat. Sometimes, I wondered if she could draw it even with her eyes closed.

Letting out a sigh, I began trying to draw the runes my mom had effortlessly drawn on the whiteboard.

For the next few minutes, the only noise was that of the faint scratching of our pencils against the paper.

The silence was heavy and apart from our scribbling was only punctuated by the faint shuffling of the page as mom continued to read her book.

“Natalie,” 

Dad’s voice drifted as he walked into the room and mom’s face brightened like the sun itself.

“Morning sweetheart,” Mom replied as dad plucked her up in his arms and kissed her full on the mouth.

Talia gasped. I gagged.

How could people be so in love with each other? To my parents, there was no end to their romance. It was as if they fell in love with each other over and over.

“Hayden, stop it, the girls are watching,” Mom swatted her hand playfully against dad’s shoulder but dad only pulled her harder towards himself.

I made a very graphic action of puking in front of my sister who giggled. I then turned around to look outside the window. Far away, hidden beneath the canopy of dark green leaves, I think I saw something. 

My eyes gazed intently at it and I saw that there were two dots of white looking in my direction.

No, not in my direction.

At me.

Then I blinked and they were gone as quickly as I had seen them.

What was it? I looked around to see if anybody else had noticed it but nobody was even looking outside.

It was almost as if I had imagined the dots. But, deep down I knew that I hadn’t. I was sure of it.