Chapter 1

The ashes of the bonfire were still smoking at my feet.

"Avery."

Hudson's voice came from behind me. I didn't turn around, and instead just wiped the corners of my eyes with the back of my hand.

"What are you doing standing here alone?" He walked up to me, his brows furrowed. "The party is over."

I didn't speak. The surrounding wolves were still rowdy. People were whistling, fighting, and howling. The waves of sound crashed over me, piercing my eardrums like needles.

My mental walls were naturally thin, making the noise feel like torture to me. I instinctively covered my ears and crouched down.

"Again?" Hudson crouched down, pulled a pair of noise-canceling headphones out of his pocket, and put them directly over my ears.

The world went quiet in an instant.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"I've got training in a bit," he said, standing up and brushing the dust off his pants.

"I'll come get you when it's over. Don't walk back alone in the dark."

"Wait for me here."

For a brief moment, I started lying to myself. Maybe the stray thought I caught earlier was really just a hallucination caused by my weak walls.

He still took care of me.

Immediately after, a few of his friends ran over and dragged him away to the training field.

He told me to wait for him by the field, so I stayed right where I was. That wait lasted exactly two whole hours.

The wind around the training field blew harder and harder. I curled up on the bench, my teeth chattering.

The price of having a weak wolf was that I couldn't regulate my body temperature like others. The cold seeped into my bones bit by bit, and my fingers had already gone numb from the freezing wind.

It wasn't until I was shivering all over that Kevin walked by and noticed me.

Seeing how terrible I looked, he offered to escort me back.

I shook my head. I was afraid that when Hudson came out he would only see an empty bench.

I had promised to wait for him. I couldn't break my word, so I just asked Kevin to mind-link Hudson for me.

Ten minutes later, Hudson ran out of the woods, panting heavily.

"Why didn't you contact me? You just sat out in the cold wind for that long?"

I pointed at my head and gave a helpless shrug.

The truth was, my wolf was too weak to support a mind-link. My phone was dead, too, so I simply had no way to reach him.

If I hadn't run into Kevin, I really didn't know how long I would have waited.

Hudson suddenly realized his mistake. A flash of guilt crossed his face, but in the end, he offered no explanation.

He took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. "Let's go. Let's go home."

Walking along the small dirt path, he didn't say a word. His fingers were just tapping rapidly on his phone screen.

A strong scent drifted into my nose along with the night breeze. It was heavy and dominant.

I knew for a fact he didn't have that scent on him before he went to the training field.

As we got close to the edge of the woods near my house, someone called out to Hudson.

That overpowering scent hit my face, and Hudson walked straight toward them.

"Why are you guys here?"

"The party is just on the other side of the woods. We came to grab you on the way." The girl's voice was confident and loud.

I recognized her as Clara Vance. She was the top student in the academy and the most dazzling presence on the cheer squad.

And I recognized the hoodie she was wearing, too. It was Hudson's favorite one.

"Alright. Give me a minute. I'll drop her off first," Hudson replied casually.

Clara's best friend rolled her eyes and let out a scoff. "Oh, if it isn't Hudson's little shadow."

She looked me up and down. "Playing the victim so someone will come save you again? If your wolf is useless, just stay inside and stop embarrassing yourself."

"She's not faking it." Hudson frowned, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. "Avery has bad night vision. It's too dark out here."

"Not faking it?" The girl continued. "Tonight is Clara's night, and she's insisting on dragging you down. What a buzzkill."

My face burned, and my chest felt tight.

"Go with them. I can walk back by myself."

"Are you sure? You..."

I didn't wait for him to finish. I limped away into the pitch-black path.

Faint, cruel laughter drifted from behind me.

"Hey, Hudson. Are you really not going to babysit your weakling?"

"Drop it."

"Hahaha..."

My footsteps froze. In the past, if anyone dared to make fun of my weakness, he wouldn't hesitate to bare his fangs.

But now, he barely even defended me. Was it because that person was Clara?

The woods were so dark I couldn't see my own hands, and tree roots twisted across the ground.

Distracted and walking too fast, my foot slipped. I fell hard, and a sharp pain shot through my ankle.

My eyes stung. It felt so incredibly unfair. Hudson never used to be like this.

Growing up, he always held my hand tightly whenever we walked through these woods. When did I turn into a burden he was so eager to shake off?

Footsteps quickly approached. "Avery!"

The bushes behind me were roughly pushed aside. Hudson rushed over and pulled me up from the ground.

"Why are you trying to act so tough?"

He crouched down, his fingers brushing my swollen ankle. His movements, however, were extremely gentle.

"Hold on," he said. Then he turned his back to me and crouched lower. "Get on."

I leaned against his back, breathing in his familiar scent.

That little flame in my chest sparked to life once again.

He still cared about me.