The cold stone of the training yard bit through Luna's thin jacket, but she didn't move.
If she did, they'd laugh harder.
"Pathetic."
Caius's voice cut through the yard, loud enough for everyone to hear.
A few of the others snickered. None of them stopped him. None of them ever did.
Luna kept her head down, her fingers curling into her sleeves.
Not weak.
Just… surviving.
"Tell me," Caius went on, circling her slowly, "how does it feel to be the only one without a wolf?"
That one hit.
Hard.
A ripple of laughter followed, sharper now, more confident. Crueler.
Luna swallowed, her throat tight. She had heard it all before. Every whisper. Every insult.
Rejected.
Broken.
Nothing.
Her chest ached—but she refused to let it show.
Caius stepped closer, lowering his voice just enough to make it worse.
"Even your own wolf didn't want you."
Silence pressed in for a second.
Then—
Something answered.
A low, unfamiliar growl.
Luna froze.
It wasn't Caius.
It wasn't anyone in the yard.
It came from inside her.
Her breath hitched.
Again.
The sound echoed through her chest, deeper this time—fierce, restless, alive.
Not human.
Not… normal.
The world tilted.
Sounds sharpened. The scrape of boots, the shift of fabric, the sudden stillness around her.
The laughter had stopped.
Luna lifted her head slowly.
Caius wasn't smiling anymore.
His expression had changed—just slightly—but enough.
Enough to notice.
Enough to feel.
Fear.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
The thing inside her moved again.
Awake now.
Hungry.
Aware.
"What… is that?" one of the boys whispered.
Luna didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Because she didn't know.
Her fingers twitched. Her palms burned, like something beneath her skin was trying to break free. Her teeth ached. Her senses stretched too far, too fast.
Too much.
Too strong.
Caius took a step back.
For the first time—
He hesitated.
A strange, dangerous thrill curled through Luna's chest.
Not fear.
Not weakness.
Something else.
Something that didn't want to stay quiet anymore.
The air shifted.
Heavy.
Wrong.
And then—
The shadows behind them moved.
Not like light.
Not like darkness.
Like something alive.
Luna's breath caught.
Her wolf—no, whatever it was—lunged inside her mind.
One instinct. One command.
Turn.
Her head snapped toward the shifting dark.
Caius followed her gaze, confusion flashing across his face—
Then fear.
Real fear.
Because something was there.
Something that didn't belong.
And Luna's pulse spiked as the presence pressed closer, unseen but undeniable.
Watching.
Waiting.
For her.