All Chapters of Beneath the Wolf Moon: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

I hadn’t planned on going out that late. The air was crisp, the kind that made your lungs ache a little with each breath, and the streets were almost deserted. It was just after curfew, and most of the town’s teenagers were either glued to their phones or holed up in their rooms. Lucas had gone back to his place earlier, and I’d insisted on a solo walk to clear my head. The events of the last few days were swirling around in my mind like a storm I couldn’t escape—Savannah, the humiliations, the constant pressure from my family, and the odd instincts I couldn’t explain.I kicked a stray pebble across the sidewalk and shivered. My jacket was thin, not nearly enough for the cold that had settled over the neighborhood. I drew the collar closer and considered turning back. But something—a whisper of curiosity I couldn’t suppress—pushed me forward.The park wasn’t far. A few flickering streetlights illuminated the path, creating long shadows that stretched like fingers across the ground. My

The morning air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of autumn leaves as I walked into school. My backpack felt heavier than usual, but not because of books or notebooks—it was the weight of anticipation pressing down on me. Savannah had been quieter the last few days, but I knew better than to trust that silence. Quiet didn’t mean harmless; it meant she was planning. Always planning.Lucas fell into step beside me, his sandy blond hair catching the sunlight, brown eyes alert. He didn’t need to say anything for me to know he was already analyzing the hallways, the students, and the potential threats. That’s Lucas—always thinking three steps ahead. I trusted him more than anyone in this school, but even he didn’t know everything. And I wasn’t about to tell him everything I was starting to realize about myself.We reached the entrance to the cafeteria, and the familiar hum of chatter filled the air. I felt my pulse quicken as I scanned the crowd. My instincts were sharp today, almost too

The air was heavy with late-afternoon warmth as I stepped into the quiet of the park near the edge of town. The sun hung low, golden, painting the world in long shadows that stretched across the grass. I had come here for a moment alone, to try to sort through the storm of thoughts and feelings swirling in my mind. But the moment I walked onto the secluded trail, I realized I wasn’t alone.“Fancy seeing you here,” a voice said, low, smooth, and teasing.My heart thudded in my chest before I even turned. Blue eyes—intense, sharp, mesmerizing—met mine. Jaxon.I froze. “I—uh, I didn’t know you were here,” I stammered, trying to regain my composure, though my chest felt tight and my stomach twisted in ways I didn’t fully understand.He stepped closer, long strides covering the distance between us effortlessly. “I could say the same to you,” he murmured, voice teasing but edged with something darker. “But maybe I was hoping I would.”My cheeks flushed, heat rising fast as I tried to look an

The late afternoon sun filtered through the library windows, casting long golden slants across the floor. I tried to focus on the stack of textbooks in front of me, but my mind kept wandering. My hands absently flipped pages, lingering over diagrams and footnotes, but I wasn’t really reading. Too many thoughts, too much tension, too many pieces of a puzzle I didn’t yet understand.Lucas was beside me, sketching something in his notebook. He’d gone unusually quiet today, which was concerning, considering he was usually a constant chatterbox. I had learned, over the months, that when Lucas went silent like this, it usually meant he was thinking, or worrying, or both. And with him, thinking and worrying often intersected in ways that mattered.I glanced up at him. His sandy blond hair caught the sunlight, glinting almost gold. His brown eyes were fixed on the page, sharp, serious, and—something I hadn’t seen in a while—tense.“Lucas?” I asked softly.He didn’t respond at first, his pencil

The hallways were chaotic, a maze of students laughing, shouting, and shoving their way to their next class. I hugged my books to my chest tighter than usual, trying to make myself invisible, to blend in. I didn’t even know if that was possible anymore. Savannah’s shadow seemed to follow me everywhere these days, her green eyes calculating, her smirk lingering like a threat I couldn’t escape.“Hey, Quinn!” a voice called, sharp and sweet at the same time. I froze. The sound of my name echoed unnaturally in the hall, and I turned to see Savannah, perfectly poised, her hair bouncing, a group of her usual minions behind her. They all had that same sneering, rehearsed laughter ready to launch at me like a coordinated attack.I gritted my teeth. I had expected this. But I didn’t expect just how dangerous it could feel this time. Something in the pit of my stomach warned me that today was different. The way she looked at me, the subtle tilt of her head—it was like she had plotted this moment